I am taking you back this morning.

There it is – the equivalent of crapping out in the kiddie candy grab bag gamble or the whammy on “Press Your Luck” – the dreaded root beer Dum Dum.

In an attempt not to get a blog equivalent of a root beer dum dum in my today’s quest for good reading, I took very few chances.  No random google searches, no blog rolls… just went for what I knew to be good reading.  Here goes.

http://michellesmotivation.com – @msmdawson on Twitter – So the first one I visited was a new one, but at first glance, I knew it wasn’t going to be a REAL gamble, since I already followed her on Twitter @msmdawson.  If you have ever prayed for a good parking spot… and I know you have… check out her latest post on God’s timing.  He knows you need that parking spot though… right?

http://www.imnotthenanny.com – @thienkim on Twitter – This is one of my favorite bloggers.  I met her at my first Blogalicious in 2010, and have been seeing her out and about ever since.  Lots of bloggers feel overwhelmed – especially mommy bloggers – and in her most recent post, she shares her plans to get to bed on time and get going early. Her honest look at trying to get it all together makes you want to give her the side eye when you look at her blog and think, “Well $#!@… if SHE isn’t together, I must be a mess. She’s got a few blogs, in her side bar she has links to ’em. There’s something for just about everybody.

http://www.ichoosethesun.com/ – @ichoosethesun on Twitter – So apparently, I am not the only one looking forward to Scandal starting this season!  This is another blogger that I have been following for a while, and went to go catch up on her blog after she commented on my Pinterest tips post.  Glad I did – I got to see pics from the BLM meetup that I missed… *sad face* Hopefully there will be more.  I also opted for ballet class and church instead of sticking the hubby with it and hitting Georgetown for Fashion’s Night Out, so I’ll be looking forward to that recap.  She has a ton of links to stuff to do this weekend, so if you are looking for an activity, check it out! Oh, and look out for more “Bloggers Like Me” in my 10 blogs by 10 posts… So much good reading there!

http://talkaholica.com – @talkaholica on Twitter – I thought I told you I visit this one just about every day… I didn’t? Oh. Well I do.  Today, she pissed off my pancreas and my colon with her post on red velvet waffles. Lawd help.

http://fashiondujourdaily.wordpress.com/ – @fashiondujour on Twitter – She’s pretty fabulous.  Fashion, inspiration, all that wrapped up in one blog – thought it couldn’t be done?  The post that caught my eye was the one about the God Can clothing line.  The logo looks like the RUN D.M.C logo, but comes in other colors. 70’s and 80’s babies could easily find themselves getting nostalgic just based on the logo alone.

http://www.savvysassymoms.com/blog/ – @savvysassymoms on Twitter – I’m no good at planning boys parties.  We just ask them what they want as a gift, get it, and take them out to eat.  It works for us.  So I was pretty impressed at the pirate themed party that Andrea Fellman came up with.  My boys and the hubby have pirate day at home.  These pirate days consist of unbridled burping, farting, and root beer consumption while watching football or playing Madden, depending on the season.  We girls just go to the mall (yes, we are a total cliche) when we hair the faint rumbles of gas brewing in their bellies.  If you have a boy who is into pirates, check out her post.  She has some pretty great giveaways too.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/ – @ebertchicago on Twitter – I used to LOVE Roger Ebert… I mean – LOVE him.  I must have been the youngest person to watch Sneak Previews on PBS, you know when there were THREE stations – CBS, ABC, and NBC. Then you’d switch from VHF to UHF to watch public TV like Sesame Street, the Electric Company, the guy with the afro that painted stuff really quickly and said, “dab dab dab,” (Did you know that if you google “afro painting guy on PBS” Bob Ross comes right up? Just FYI.), and Sneak Previews.  So back to why I said, “used to.”

His review of Baby Boy, back in 2001 confused me.  I was unsure what it could possibly have been about seeing Ving Rhames in the kitchen butt naked cooking breakfast that didn’t cause him to leave the theater mid movie, rendering him unable to complete the review.  I was an adult by then, had my own pretty strong opinions about movies, was underwhelmed by his new co-host that replaced the beloved Siskel, and figured I no longer needed his reviews. I wasn’t going to watch any of the artsy fartsy ones anyway.

I have a renewed like for him after reading his blog post about Clint Eastwood’s chair conversation at the Republican National Convention.  Run by his blog and check it out.  I already vented on Clint’s (yep, I am all first name with him now – that’s social media for ya.) facebook page, so I was too tuckered out to relive it in Ebert’s comments.

http://divascancook.com – @divascancook on Twitter – Yep, I pinned this onto my “Yum” board.  I must try to make this – or some Caribbean version of it.  You know we curry aaaaaanyting. Oh shoot… Jamaican beef patties… ON A STICK! So there’s lots more to see on this blog, so you’ll probably see it in my 10 by 10 posts in the future.  I’ll be back.

http://www.momfiles.com/ – @momfiles on Twitter – She’s got lots of giveaways… but the one that caught my eye was the one for the book on what drinks to mix based on certain motherhood events. Kid took all the poo out the diaper and found a way to get it under the mattress? Yep. They got a drink for that.  The last one heads out the door for kindergarten and your house will be quiet for 7 hours straight for the first time in years? There’s a drink for that.  I think there is anyway… I haven’t read the book, but you can enter to win it on her site.  I didn’t enter.  I homeschool – so I don’t have a break in the day to get my drink on and chew enough Big Red to get rid of the smell.  Besides, the kids would tell. Snitches.

http://www.scandalousbeautyonline.com/ – @erinscandalous on Twitter – You have probably seen her YouTube tutorials already, but if you want to score some of her makeup, she’s having a sale on her site on NARS and MAC cosmetics.  Looks like a lot of it is selling fast, so run by her site and see what she still has.  Oh, and if you haven’t seen the YouTube tutorials, check them out here.  If you didn’t get that face right this morning, there’s always tomorrow, right?

Well that’s it on this fabulous Friday – look out for 10 more blogs by 10 am on Monday… all I read on the weekends are stop signs and the DirecTV channel guide.

Wishing you all a day full of strawberry Dum Dums and NO WHAMMIES!