PA Live! Blog of the Week: Trend Hungry

NEPA Blogs will be presenting the "Blog of the Week" on WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live site: http://www.pahomepage.com/story/d/story/pa-live-blog-of-the-week-dec-23-2014/16269/78dHVL59jkO44Ely54sk-A

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Trend Hungry (http://www.trendhungry.com/) by Jessie Holeva.

When I first started out doing the Blog of the Week segment on PA Live! back in September 2011 I often found myself sharing the studio with Jessie Holeva, who presented the Trend Hungry Tuesday fashion segment every week. Jessie is no longer a regular on PA Live! but her Trend Hungry blog continues. On this blog Jessie writes about beauty, style, and fashion, with loads of links and photos and product recommendations. Jessie often models the fashions herself - another one of her many talents, along with being a blogger for philly.com and an on-air style expert for QVC.

It's been a while since I've seen Jessie - the last time, I think, was at the 2012 NEPA Blog Con - so visiting Trend Hungry is a fun way of keeping in touch with what she's been up to. And if beauty, style, and fashion are your thing, Trend Hungry is definitely a blog you should check out!

If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!

Pennsylvania French

Here's another submission from the NEPA Blogs mailbag!

Pamela lives in Mount Bethel, not too far from Stroudsburg, just south of where route 611 intersects with interstate 80, right on the border of NEPA and Lehigh Valley. But that's fine - we've expanded the definition of NEPA before, and we can do it again for Pamela!

In her first blog post, dated January 21, 2012, Pamela announced herself to the world:

My name is Pamela.

I am 50, and starting over.  I've lost pretty much everything in the past 7 years.  A long-term relationship, a career, financial security, 152 pounds, most of my self-esteem and not too much less of my confidence.  I lost my mind years ago (ask anyone who knows me)  :) 

What I do have is a dog (the world's least scary German Shepherd) and a small cozy rental cottage in the general vicinity of the Delaware Water Gap.  It's tranquil and peaceful and I truly love coming home to it every night (I'd also welcome coming home to one of the inner rings of Hell after my daily 100-mile commute, but I digress).

While it's perfectly comfortable as it is, I'm planning on making a change.  Having made a conscious decision to withdraw from society (I like how that sounds - kinda like a Tennessee Williams heroine, except without the brutish brother-in-law), I'm going to direct my attention to my home.

I've always been a fan of the "shabby" realm of decorating.  However, I find it to be very "twee" sometimes - too sugary and princess-y for my tastes.  I've found that the "French country" style is something I am drawn to.  Pale colors (cream, pale grey, white) with accents of sepia or ebony to cut the sweetness.  So, that's my goal - to transform by hand (and very limited cash) my Eisenhower-era bungalow into a Parisian oasis.

I'll be posting my challenges, attempts, successes and failures (hopefully the former outnumber the latter) and maybe by the time I'm done, I'll be ready to attempt something of a life again.

Nearly two years later, she's still going strong! Her blog, Pennsylvania French, features lots of photos and detailed instructions on how she's bringing her vision to life, as well as links to other sites that have provided her with guidance and inspiration.

Pamela's style may not be exactly your thing, but that's OK. The process that she goes through applies to anyone who is interested in making changes in the things around them to bring their own stylistic vision to life. You definitely should check out Pamela's blog!

Pennsylvania French
http://pennsylvaniafrench.blogspot.com/

PA Live! Blog of the Week: Laughing at My Nightmare

NEPA Blogs will be presenting the "Blog of the Week" on WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! site: http://www.pahomepage.com/story/d/story/blog-of-the-week-spinal-musuclar-atrophy/24023/AuyXj8Ze00e849-lTivaow

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Shane Burcaw's Laughing at My Nightmare (http://laughingatmynightmare.tumblr.com/)

I first learned about Laughing at My Nightmare on the set of PA Live! back in late December 2011. Monica Madeja, who was the show's original co-host, had read an article about a blogger in the Lehigh Valley named Shane Burcaw whose blog was attracting national and worldwide attention. Shane had a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a degenerative condition which will eventually kill him. So naturally Shane's response was to create a blog that focused on the humorous aspects of his life - a blog that resonated with readers around the globe.

Nearly three years later, Shane Burcaw is still laughing, still blogging, and still living with a condition which will eventually kill him. But now he's a published author with a huge fan base and a series of inspirational talks under his belt!

I recently got to meet Shane at the 2014 NEPA Blog Con, where he delivered the closing presentation. It was the second time we met - the first was in March 2012, at the Best Blogs of the Lehigh Valley awards. It was good to see Shane going strong. He's currently doing a series of book signings, and is planning another speaking tour. If you get a chance to meet Shane in person, do it! But if not, his fun, funny, and inspiring blog Laughing at My Nightmare is an excellent way to get to know him!

If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!

PA Live! Blog of the Week: Shoot the Moon

NEPA Blogs will be presenting the "Blog of the Week" on WBRE's PA Live! every Tuesday. PA Live! airs weekday afternoons on WBRE from 4:00 to 5:00.

Watch this episode on the PA Live! site: http://www.pahomepage.com/story/d/story/blog-of-the-week/37567/OSCuGkULqE6Tqs7Ax9ja0Q

Our PA Live! Blog of the Week this week is Shoot the Moon (http://mymoonshots.blogspot.com/).

This week's Blog of the Week is by...me! Shoot the Moon is a blog featuring my photographs of the Moon. As long as I've had a camera, I've been frustrated by not being able to get decent images of the Moon. That was until this past Spring, when I got my hands on a Nikon Coolpix P520, an advanced point-and-shoot camera with a 42x zoom. The zoom feature perfectly enlarges the Moon, and the image stabilization feature made it possible to get great Moon shots freehand (though a tripod made things much easier.) I realized that if I were to post all my Moon photos to my main blog, Another Monkey, I would soon have a blog full of nothing but pictures of the Moon - so I decided to create a new blog that was exactly that. And Shoot the Moon was born! 

If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!