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A Wine Story

Marisa D’Vari knows her wine – an expertise due in part to her having hosted the cable TV show, A Taste of Luxury, which featured celebrity chefs and wine makers from around the world. Today, Marisa’s views, opinions, and talents can be observed in her blog, A Wine Story. In these pages, you’ll experience culinary delights and sample some of the world’s best wines, as her journeys through Bordeaux and Languedoc will attest (don't despair Americans, there's a positive review of an American wine from an unexpected source too). In a unique post, Marisa has the chance to sample the “same” wines and views that were likely enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson over 200 years ago. Naturally, the grape is the featured subject here and in addition to reviews on the complexities and nuances of both popular and little known wines, Marisa’s knowledge and experience powers her observations on such diverse topics as Wine Etiquette and Psychology. Related blogs, restaurant reviews, video, and a fun “wine Tarot reading” round out what is one of the more robust, full-bodied sites we’ve sampled in a while.

Pro Hip Hop

Which Hip Hop artists are on the Top 10 Billboard Albums chart? Who won the Conference Beat Battle? Why did Lil Wayne’s ads get rebooted? All the answers, the artists, and the news are found here in Pro Hip Hop, the online roundup of “Hip Hop Marketing and Business News”. Soulja Boy’s Tour Dates? Right here. Snoop Dogg on a soap? Yep. Reviews of The Formula and The In Crowd? All that and more. Pro Hip Hop provides videos, posts, press releases, interviews and more, so that you get the latest and greatest on this distinctive music style; categories include some that you might not expect but are impacted by Hip Hop nonetheless (Politics, Finance, and Race, for example). Rap and Hip Hop have been giving a voice to the young for years and have created new styles of fashion, speech, and art, making the site well worth checking out.

Sailing Round The World

Have we got an adventure for you! Or more accurately, Rosie and Nick do. They’re a couple “that gave up great corporate jobs to fulfill a dream and sail around the world” with a crew of new friends and old. And that’s precisely what they’re doing right now, and you can follow their progress in the pages of Rosie and Nick Sail Round the World, their at-sea, as it happens account of their adventures. Right now they’re in the Pacific, sailing toward the Marquesas Islands (Northeast of Tahiti); past posts and pictures document their trips past the Galapagos Islands, through the Panama Canal, and some of the folks they met along the way. Their journey offers one of the more exciting ways to see the planet; you can download their itinerary and see where they are (and were), look at their photo albums, and share their experience (for most of us, unfortunately, that's probably from a desk in some snowbound city!)

EveryRider

There are few activities as challenging as horse riding. The nature of the sport demands much from the rider and the horse…both must be in peak form and act in concert with each other, a partnership borne of long hours of training and preparation. EveryRider is for “the enthusiast that seeks a better understanding and knowledge of horses and their nature” (and we might add, of riders as well). Riders of every level will find interesting reading on how yoga can make them better able to deal with the strains of being in the saddle, observations on horse psychology, and on gifts for your favorite equine (a holiday post here, but just as suitable). There’s even an inspiring video and post with a decided “horse whisperer” bent to it. Lots of horse blogs abound here too, providing additional insight, observation, and humor.

Made in Brazil

The largest country in South America and only slightly smaller than the United States, Brazil is a fascinating, colorful, cosmopolitan mix of style, culture, music, food, and more – all captured in the pages of Made in Brazil, a site that’s sent to us right from the heart of the Southern Hemisphere. The site “collaborates with the media…to provide up to date news about the latest trends in the country”. With its colorful posts, pictures, and videos, the site all but has you hearing the samba music and smelling the suntan lotion on Copacabana beach. You can taste, see, hear, and experience everything Rio de Janeiro and the rest of the country has to offer (and it's a lot). There are Categories and blogs galore, all of which will provide you with many exciting, interesting hours – the well documented Brazilian appreciation of the body beautiful will see to that!

Happy Doggies

The blog’s full name is Happy Doggies Make Happy Humans - and anyone who has ever played, run, swum, or simply loved a four-legged furball can attest to that. Run by Kaye Swafford (the human) and Krystal Swafford (the dog – specifically, a West Highland Terrier/Poodle mix), the site posts tips, articles, and events dedicated to “keeping eco dogs and their humans healthy and happy”. To that end, there are environmentally-focused posts that impact humans, animals, and the entire planet. Lots of recommended Eco Dog Products such as earth-friendly shampoos, books on raising healthy happy dogs, and Categories ranging from ASPCA to Wellness (this last with an interesting post on how head massages can make your pet – and you - happier and healthier). A tail wagging delight, Happy Doggies shows us how those who benefit from the green revolution don’t always have two legs.

Tricotine

How do you want your life to be? If you’re the author of Tricotine, the answer’s easy (if a bit busy): be a stay at home mom with 2 kids and maintain interests in knitting, fitness, photography, low carb lifestyle, and blogging. You can follow them in posts covering her first footrace, weekend snapshots, healthy baking, and knitting. As you can imagine, all these activities keep her on the go, but she manages to keep us abreast of her life with humor, insight, and passion. In addition to her photo galleries, the site’s also rich in fun interactive "activities" that will keep you entertained:a music player loaded with the author's favorite sounds, a language translator to help you learn another tongue, and an "exercise ticker" showing her workout progress and time remaining till her next race.

Something About Parenting

There’s Something About Parenting, indeed: it’s hard! And fun, heartwarming, challenging, and inspiring, too. Mike Leonen is a full-time husband and stay-at-home father of two sons, living in Seattle, and learning the ins and outs of being a dad every day. His observations on raising growing kids, lessons learned from his children, and the daily interactions that occur in his family are fun to read. Mike’s photo albums will acquaint you with his kids and his artistic impressions of life and other subjects. And on that note, Mike also illustrates his posts with original artwork, and much of it is available for sale.

We Love Gifts

Everyone loves gifts – and here’s a spot that makes it almost as fun to shop for them as receive them. We Love Gifts is a UK-based blog that “brings you unique gift ideas…for yourself, friends, girlfriend…pets and anyone else you know”. And they do! Collected here are fun products like a retro-twist Easter Jar, chocolate-filled hens eggs, and –wives rejoice – the LavNav, a device that tells you whether the seat is up or down (and lights up when you get near it). Lots of Categories here too, from Baby Gifts to Romantic Gifts, covering virtually every occasion and family member, such as the Donkey Bag for stylish girls. Fun, funky, retro and just plain cool, this is a shopping site that will have you coming back time and again!

Eyes on Trade

Eyes on Trade is a blog “by the staff of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch and is a space for interested parties to share information about globalization and trade issues”. In addition to “straightforward” discussions on the subject such as NAFTA, the blog’s authors also provide insight and analysis on the issue of trade and global warming and youth. Taking center stage, naturally, are the elections and politics and how they intersect with trade issues. The authors cull news sources, government documents, and offer their own takes on an issue that affects us all; the blog itself is resource-rich in suggested reading for those wanting to learn more.