Discovering new blogs: A giveaway!

Good morning all! I hope your Saturday is filled with watching football, sipping coffee, reading, hanging out with friends, soaking up the last rays of summer, and/or whatever else makes you happy. AND, I hope this chance to win $100 makes your Saturday a little better! ;)

Allie from Call Me Sassafras contacted me this past month to pitch an idea: A giveaway where participants not only needed to mindlessly click through social media links to join, but actually had to get to know us a little better in the process. Doesn't that sound fun? Plus, it's a great way to find new blogs! I've been reading Call Me Sassafras for as long as I can remember, and Allie is always funny and honest and writes about neat topics that I can't find anywhere else in my Bloglovin' feed (e.g. useful science!). In fact, you should definitely check out her giveaway post today, which includes four easy and effective ways to discover new blogs.

And now, for the main dish, here is the blog scavenger hunt to help you discover and love some new blogs!

Giveaway! A picture is worth a thousand words.

A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had been voted the "Bookish Babe Blogger" for Angie's annual Best of Blog awards! As part of my award, Angie graciously offered me free ad space on her blog and the chance to participate in her monthly sponsor giveaway. This month, the prize is an adorable Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. :) Continue reading after the jump for giveaway details.

6 Ways to Make Your Mornings More Productive

Morning is an important time. It sets the tone for your entire day, and it's home to the best meal ever (see #5 below). Since I went back to school and changed jobs last year, I've been spending a lot of time at home, so a morning routine has become more important than ever to start my day off right. Today, I'm sharing five six easy tips to help make your mornings more productive as well!



1. Don't use the snooze button. Pretty self explanatory, right? Does anyone really feel better after getting 15 extra minutes of half-sleep in the morning? I know I don't.

I like my Instagram feed pretty and filtered.

Good morning, my name is Megan, and I'm addicted to Instagram.



But really.

I love Instagram. I love looking at the gorgeous book flatlays created by Instartists like Ursula and Andie. I love adding to my never-ending wanderlust list when I see where Christie and Jenna have traveled lately. I love learning fun facts from the National Archives and American History Museum, among others. I love keeping up with friends from college through filtered and perfectly cropped squares, and I love seeing the final results of 'grammers taking 23 pictures of their lattes to make sure they captured the foam just right.



I know there has been a lot of buzz—especially in the blogosphere—about Instagram putting pressure on people to have "perfect lives," but I don't feel that way at all. Yes, sometimes when I see the vibrant colors on Melyssa's account or the crisp white stills from Helene, I wish I had fun little office accessories to photograph. But to be completely honest, if someone were to share unfiltered photos of boring, everyday things, or used Instagram to complain about what was going wrong in his/her life, I probably wouldn't follow that user. I like my Instagram feed to be full of positive, beautiful things. Is that so bad? I agree those photos shouldn't be at the expense of honesty, but I don't see why those two ideas have to be mutually exclusive.



Are you an Instagram user? What are your thoughts?

Linking up with Kenzie and Angie for their August 12x30 Challenge: photo a day! All photos in this post are my Instagram photos for the challenge.

My Top 10 Most-Read Authors

It's been a while since I've done a Top 10 Tuesday post with The Broke and the Bookish, and Goodreads makes today's theme so easy! So here are the 10 authors I've read the most books from (since 2008, when I started using Goodreads, unless the book was one of my favorites so I added it anyway, e.g. Harry Potter or The Bridge to Terabithia):

Best of Summer: Two Months in Review

Technically, I know August is still summer (and most of September), but I'm trying not to let three months go by again without a little life update from yours truly.

Most Popular on Instagram & Notable Events

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

This summer has been pretty slow thus far; I'm only taking one summer class and back to working one part-time job, but somehow having all that free time means I'm not motivated to do anything. I'm constantly thinking, "Oh, I don't work tomorrow, I can do that then...." Does anyone else get this way? Do you have any tips to get me motivated?? :) We have taken a few trips, however, in true #travelbug fashion. We attended a wedding in Hollister, I spent a weekend in Pasadena with my mom, I visited my grandparents in Pennsylvania for the Fourth of July (hence the airplane sunrise photo above), we visited some cousins at the beach in mid-July, and we just got back from a long weekend in Vail (more photos to come soon!). Hmm, now that I write it out I guess we've been busier than it seemed.... ;)

Grammar Guide: Since vs. Because

Welcome to a new series on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life: Grammar Guide! Grammar tips are something I've been wanting to share on the blog for a while, but I've always been nervous because I, too, make mistakes. What if I made a grammatical error in a post about grammar?? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?? (If I do, please feel free to point it out in the comments below, so I can fix it as soon as possible! Seriously!)

Today, I'll start with something basic but important: the difference between "since" and "because."

Summer 2015 Book Challenge: Month 3

Welcome to the third #SCSBC15 check-in! If you're new to the challenge, feel free to review the rules here. Remember, all books you've read back to May 1 count, even if you join the challenge today! Continue reading after the jump to see the current scoreboard and learn how to check in with your progress.