The 2013 Gift Guide For....[THE BLOGGER]

So, you're friend is a blogger and you don't know what to buy them for Christmas. 

Well, you're in the right place. Welcome to the next edition of your holiday gift guide! Here's what we've done so far:

[The HIPSTER]

[The VEGAN]

[The MUSIC JUNKIE]

And here is what's to come:

[The GEEK]

[The BOOK NERD]

[The VINTAGE]

[The TRAVELER]

[The DRINK SNOB]

[The DIY ENTHUSIAST]

So, about that blogger friend...here's what to buy!

Amazon Gift Card

If there is something your blogger friend needs to buy for their blog, Amazon probably has it.

A Beautiful Mess by Elsie Larson

A store I used to work at had this book, and I really wanted to buy it. It gives so many great tips and ideas for taking quality pictures. I highly recommend it.

The Best of Food Writing 2013 by Holly Hughes

I've also been wanting this book, but that's the food writer in my talking. There is literally nothing better than reading quality, well written articles about food. If your friend is a food blogger, they probably want this book too!

Journals from Target

I think Target sells the BEST journals. This is the one I have right now, and I LOVE it! It's almost filled, so I'm looking forward to buying a new journal once it's all used up! Perfect for writing up any fun new ideas for the blog.

Blog Planner

I just downloaded and printed this planner a couple weeks ago, and I LOVE it. It has made my blogging so much more organized. It's free, and if you are willing to pay a couple bucks, you can get it bound. Or you can do what I did and just print it, hole punch the pages, and put them in a three ring binder. This one was designed by Confessions of a Homeschooler, so go check it out.

Bamboo Create Tablet

I have one of these, and it's pretty awesome. It really helps when I want to actually sketch my graphics & web design instead of messing around with Photoshop. I'm using this to design a new website I plan to launch next year, Anchored in Hope.

Adobe Lightroom

I bought this for when I want to do photo editing that is a little more complex than something Google's Picasa can do. It's expensive, but if your friend is also interested in photography (and a lot of bloggers are), this is a good purchase. I use Lightroom 4, but this is the newest edition.

Ad Space

This might sound weird, but if you're a blogger, one of the things you REALLY want is free advertising on another, more popular blog. I want to do this, but I can't afford it, so I would LOVE if someone agreed to buy ad space for me. Find out some blogs that your friends sees as "role model" blogs, and try to buy ad space there.

Blog, Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho

I haven't read this, but it looks and sounds good. It also got great reviews. It's supposed to teach you all about blogging for profit while building community and being passionate...sounds good to me!

How To Blog For Profit Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup

If you have Amazon Prime and a Kindle, you can borrow this for free from their Kindle Library. I just borrowed it today, so I'll let you know how it is. Sounds promising!

External hard drive

I store all my pictures and blog-related things on my external hard drive. That way, if my computer ever crashes, I still have all my stuff! Smart, huh? Plus, this baby holds a ton of stuff. I recommend getting the 1TB - it holds a heck of a lot of stuff. 

Well, there you have it! Hope that gave you some ideas of what to buy your friend. It definitely gave me more stuff to add my list of blogging "needs"..... 

Reawakening

Hey, friends. I think it's about time this food blog comes back from the dead, don't you? 

I'm sorry its taken me a month to update. There has been a lot going on in the real world. But that doesn't mean I haven't had time to think about the site! 

A couple things. First, if you read the "about me" page on the site, you'll find the following statement: 

Memories are a big part of my life. Good or bad, wonderfully beautiful or horribly ugly, how you remember something affects your perspective of that thing. Personally, I have a lot of great memories and a lot of horrible memories. I'm sure everyone does. 

So, for me, I like to pass daisies. I like to share my experiences with others, especially in the world of baking. Yet this blog will not be JUST a baking blog. It will also be a blog about my life and who I am, which I think will make blogging much more enjoyable. 

I think it's high time I return to making this a true statement. When I revammped the site a while ago, I promised I would be focusing more on connecting memories to the food I am presenting on the site. I have failed this in a couple ways. For starters, I haven't been reflecting on memories. I also haven't been sharing many recipes. I'm back to change that!

One of the food blogs that serves as my inspiration, both for journalism and food blogging, is 17 and Baking. Elissa has a way with words that I really admire, and she always seems to be able to connect her memories to the baked goods she shares with her readers. That is how I hope to be, and the direction I want to take this blog. 

That being said, I hope you will all join me on this journey to a new, real, and beautiful Passing Daisies. Do you have ideas of things you want to see? Leave a comment. 

What are some of your favorite memories involving food? Please share!