Sometimes you just have to take a chance, a leap of faith, and hope you made the right decision. Whatever comes to mind, whether you’re talking about love, a new job, or like me, picking which flight I *might* get on to fly me to a tropical beach for a vacay with my girlfriends, you got to take a chance. Flying standby has it’s perks but there’s always the sad chance you just might not make it on a flight.

Sitting in the Philadelphia airport with a mere three hours of sleep under my belt, I’m sort of surprised I’m writing coherent sentences. It is, after all, 5:40am back home on the west coast. Sure I get up one or two times a week at 5:00am for spin class, but this morning has required strategic thinking.

Let me break it down for you.

At Airport 1, Airlines A Flight A is full and Flight B is pretty much full. Flight C leaves before B, but stops in Airport 2. Flight C is also nearly full from Airport 2 to Airport 3 (the destination). Airlines B Flight D just sends me back home (Airport 4) and that would end my trip, so let’s keep that as a last resort. There’s always Airlines C, but I’d have to fly to Airport 5 or Airport 6 to catch one of those flights. If I fly to Airport 6. where my roommate is, I could try to catching a flight with her. Only problem is Flight X, Y and Z are full, or very close to full.

Are you still following me? Didn’t think so… and I don’t blame you. You are still sleeping, you lucky ducks.

While working for Clever Girls I have discovered many amazing blogs. Right here in the Bay Area we have some of the best, at least in my opinion. The following are friends turned bloggers, bloggers turned friends, and blogs I just love to read. Links to each of their blogs can be found below with a brief description.

Where you can find ‘em

Britt + Whit // Britt and Whit are two city gals who met each other through work, became friends and started a fashion blog.

[Super Duper Fantastic] // Suki started her blog years ago as a way to stay in touch with a few friends, but it became something bigger – a way to connect with individuals and companies all over the world.

e is for eat // Jaymee, sports reporter for CSN Bay Area, is cooking her way through the alphabet. And she’s doing it quite well! Did anyone say jello shots?

L.O.V.E. – Local Organic Vegetarian Eating // Christina, an environmental studies major, and I met at school in Santa Barbara and after she moved north to San Francisco, she started L.O.V.E. as a collection of local, organic, seasonal, vegetarian dishes.

The Lipstick Giraffe // Kachet (It’s Kachét not Catch-it) is an aspiring fashionista and SJSU alumni who blogs to inspire others to look within themselves and find something that they think is special and worth sharing. What a sweetheart!

The Buena Mesa // Edita, bestie and Clever co-worker, shares her momma’s (Puppy) recipes, but also the little things in life that make her smile, and make life good.

Pretty Me This // Andrea, friend from high school and Esthetician, blogs about beauty tips, travel, her favorite go-tos, creativity and little tidbits of inspiration.

The best thing about the internet is you can connect with people all over the world, or even in your city. What are some of your favorite blogs in your area?

Stepping on my catbox — er — soapbox. I have a no tattoo bashing policy. Why? Because bashing someone’s tattoo isn’t going to change anything. That person isn’t going to wash off their tattoo because you said it was silly. That person won’t rewind time and decide to opt out of their new ink. That person really can’t do anything so why make them feel bad in the process? If you don’t like someone’s tattoo don’t say anything at all. I’ve been around people who trash other people’s tats and while yes, many tattoos are silly, dumb, idiotic, etc. I choose to keep my mouth shut. (Exceptions: discriminatory and racist tattoos — those are not okay)

But for all others, I personally believe that these are the times you hold your tongue and suck up whatever unpleasant feelings you have towards that person’s permanent ink smudge, flower, face, sun, star, name, animal, moon, phrase or symbol.

You know what? Most things in life are not permanent and in those cases, bitch away. But for times like these, respect that person’s personal style and ink choice because no matter how hard they scrub, that tattoo ain’t coming off anytime soon.

While we’re on the topic of tattoos, I figured I’d show mine. This girl’s proud of her tattoos!

Top tattoo:

• Location: Lower back.
• When and where I got it: Inked on my 18th birthday at DC Tattoos in Daly City, CA.
• Why I love it: It’s pretty original — how often do you see someone with a tattoo that looks like spray paint?
• Story behind it: In high school I was quite a rebel and really wanted something I could call my own. I found a similar picture online and showed the tattoo artist. He morphed it to what it looks like today in the colors I chose: pinks and blues. I still love it for the vibrant colors and the style originality.

Bottom tattoo:

• Location: Inside left ankle.
• When and where I got it: A tattoo parlor in Santa Barbara, CA when I was 20 yrs old.
• Why I love it: It’s tiny enough that I can
• Story behind it: Two of my best friends and I went to Reggae on the River, a music festival in Northern California. The night before you could check in and set up your campsite, everyone waits in this 15+ (est.) mile long line of cars and hang out, sleep, drink, smoke (it is a reggae festival) and pee on the side of the road while waiting to get through the gates. Romantic eh? No, but my friends and I had so much fun sitting in the car and sharing stories and reminiscing, laughing and listening to music. The next morning when it got lighter out as the sun came up we started drawing on ourselves. Why? Because we were STILL waiting for the hundreds of cars in front of us to start moving. There were markers in the car and we drew hearts and stars on our ankles and wrists. I drew a small peace sign on my ankle and colored it in with the weekend’s color theme: green, yellow and red. Two weeks later after I got back to Santa Barbara where I was going to school, I got my second tattoo of the same peace sign and color scheme I drew on my ankle that amazing weekend with my best friends.

What about you? Do you have any tattoos? Better yet, do you have any no _____ policies?

This post is underwritten by