Happy Blog Day fellow bloggers! I know that we don’t really need a day in order to recognize some of our favorites, but it’s fun to see many people participate on the same day. Blog Day is an efficient way to share content and increase readership. It’s also a great way to share the spotlight and let someone, who might not know that you’re reading, know and give them the chance to be recognized by the rest of the Blogosphere. How does it work? Well, it’s simple.

1) Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2) Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3) Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4) Post the BlogDay Post (today, August 31st)
5) Add the BlogDay tag using this link and add the link to the Blog Day website

Without further adieu, here are my five Blog Day recommendations:

* The Missus from On Common Ground. She has a keen eye for fashion and always shares her opinion on the latest trends, good or bad. Living in the South End of Boston she will often share restaurant reviews as well as cute shops to check out and events taking place nearby. She punches cakes, bravely attempts (and completes!) 30 day Bikram Yoga challenges and actively searches for more ways to learn about who she is.

* Rebekah from She’s Got Baggage. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting this blogger and I have to say she’s just as awesome in person (if not more) as on her blog. She’s witty, honest and very open about the thoughts that go through her head while making out. I check her blog regularly whether I need a laugh or just to be reminded that I’m not the only one who feels a little crazy some times. I’m still new to her blog, but I definitely think it’s worth checking out.

(I’m kind of cheating on this next one, but I had such a hard time choosing only one of these kick ass male bloggers so I had to include a bunch. Many of you already know of them, but for those who don’t, you won’t be disappointed:)

* Chris from Surviving Myself, Starting Over at 24, Matt from A View From 5280Ft, d from d-blogged, Ben from No Ordinary Rollercoaster and last but not least, Narm from White-Collar Redneck.

* Laura from Quirkology. That blog is filled with way too many goodies. She shares a lot of link love with other bloggers, Etsy shop owners and websites. I find myself spending way too much time going through the archives and putting together my next birthday or Christmas list. It’s a fun, quick read and a great place to find gift ideas.

* Katie from Dr. Katie goes to Med School. She’s a twenty-something blogger who balances real life and medical school. It’s no surprise to many of you, but I’m a huge fan of this sort of stuff so I really enjoy reading about her journey through med school. I don’t know anyone personally who is sharing the experience, so I learn a lot about it through her. Her blog isn’t all medical terminology and factual mumbo-jumbo though, don’t worry!

That concludes my Blog Day list. But don’t forget that there are a ton more amazing bloggers in my Blog Roll. Be sure to check it out because I know many of them will be sharing their recommendations for Blog Day. I have a feeling you’re going to stumble on many new blogs today

If you’re participating, leave a comment with your link so others can check out your post!!

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Our second stop on the cupcake crawl was Swirlz. Originally we had planned to visit more, but due to time and full bellies we stopped here. It would be pretty difficult to top the delicious cupcakes at Swirlz anyway.
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The options excited me. The first place seemed to have a lot of different cupcakes, but only vanilla was available. Sure the frosting changed, but it didn’t change the taste. At Swirlz they have key lime pie, banana nutella, peanut buttercup, and so on. See below for a list of their flavors.
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Everyone got a different cupcake so we could taste a little bit of everything. I settled on key lime, mostly because it’s green, partially because it’s lime. I’m pretty sure it was the most amazing cupcake I’ve ever eaten.
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Someone had let it slip that we were bloggers and we were given two free cupcakes! That was really nice of the staff and we really enjoy it.
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I don’t know why the mouth never saves!

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Swirlz is located at 705 W. Belden. I definitely recommend stopping by for a tasty treat. It’s a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
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I’m toying with the idea of having birthday cupcakes instead of a birthday cake. Living on the edge!
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Flavors

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Thanks to Angela and Jessica for letting me use their pictures

Ingredients for a great Thursday night:
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- Free drinks (Wine number 1 please)
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- Delicious food
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- Great people (Chicago bloggers warm my heart)
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- Italian men
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- Laughter
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Last night I attended the Air One event for bloggers at Giocos (my new favorite restaurant). First let me start by saying this took place in the South Loop. I live no where near there. Getting there via El was pretty exciting. Apparently I don’t know my colors because I almost got onto the Pink line instead of the Orange line. You know, because they look so much alike! This was before the wine by the way.
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I was joined by Jessica, Joy and Angela, who almost didn’t make it due to sickness. But she came and I was very happy she did. Except when she made me cry \

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Originally we were supposed to have an Italian lesson, but the woman who was in charge of that had a family emergency and couldn’t make it. Marco from Air One did tell us a few important phrases, but I can’t remember them. Did I mention there was wine? He also told us a bit about how the Italian culture differs from American culture (aside from our waistlines). For example, and I didn’t know this, but shorts are a give away that you’re a tourist. Does anyone know why? Another giveaway is drinking expresso after 10 a.m. Expresso is breakfast and they don’t drink it at any other time of day. Who knew?!
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So here’s a bit about Air One:
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They will be making their inaugural flight from Chicago to Milan next week. They have six flights a week directly to Milan that last about 8-8.5 hours. Boston will also have flights to Milan, but they only have five a week. (Which obviously makes us the better city - kidding!)
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• On-board amenities and services include:

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• Italian cuisine by Chicago chef Phil Stefani

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• 38 seats of “Extended Business Class” seating with 58 inches of legroom

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• 202 economy seats

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Air One has been recognized as the world’s most environmentally respectful airlines. They were the first airline to install engines that noticeably reduce hazardous emissions.
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Overall it was a great night. It doesn’t hurt that we were sent home with some swag either. Hello new flash drive! So if you’re thinking about taking a trip to Italy, check out Air One and feel free to take me with you. I’m one hell of a packer!
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Since I’m lame and forgot my camera I’m stealing a couple of pictures from Jessica. Thanks!

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Some of my favorite Chicago bloggers. (Notice, eyes are all open!)
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Marco discussing Italian culture

I don’t know about you but when it comes to blogging, one of my favorite parts is customizing my blog so it feels more “me” and less WordPress. Unfortunately, aside from changing the font color, cropping a custom image header out of a Google picture and switching layouts I have no design skillz. That’s why I’m oh so happy Jess from Delicious Design Studio was recommended. It seems that most of the bloggers I know now have had something done by Jess. She’s quite talented.
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Jess put together my entire layout here at Free and Flawed. She even designed a really eff’in cute header for my geekier side over at Must Love Geek. She was very easy to work with and kept me updated on what she was doing. More importantly, she was very patient with my indecisiveness and used all of my suggestions. I trusted her creative awesomeness to give me something equally as awesome and she definitely did. Plus she doesn’t mind me bugging her with random questions either \

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I definitely recommend if you’re experiencing some blog makeover ADD to check out Delicious Design Studio. You can see a lot of her past work here. She has a lot of different options so those who don’t want a complete makeover can just get a custom header made.
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Check her out. If you don’t like her, you can…well…you’ll like her

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Has anybody seen Human Body: Pushing the Limits on the Discovery Channel? I know a couple of you have, mostly because I made you watch it. If you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing.
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Squeamish folks: The show is not bloody, gory, disgusting or anything of that nature. All of the skeletons, muscles and tours inside of the body are computer animated. No cadavers were used in the production of this series! All stories are reenacted as well.
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The series has different parts: Strength, Sight, Brain Power and Sensation.
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• Strength: This episode focused on our muscles and bones. It explained how getting hit over the head saved a young man’s life after being sucked up into a tornado and thrown to the ground. They demonstrated the amount of weight our femurs (thigh bones) can really hold. What’s amazing is the amount of weight we put on our knees when climbing and running. The show also covered the use of adrenaline and endorphins while playing sports and how our bodies can ignore an injury.

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• Sight: This episode blew me away! I was practically ignoring everything around me and focusing only on the TV, which is a coincidence because this episode explained how our eyes and minds do just that! They also explained how our eyes are tricked during illusions. In one instance, a magican was performing a card trick. He began with a blue deck and by the end of the trick, the deck would be red. While watching the cards, our eyes were completely oblivious to other changes happening all around. By the end of the trick, the deck changed, but so did the table cloth, back drop and the clothes that the magician was wearing.

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• Brain power: I just can’t wrap my mind around this episode, ha! You really get a sense of just how amazing the brain is while watching this. It’s almost overwhelming. This episode explained how our brains make those split-second decisions that save our life and what sleep deprivation does to us. It also shows us how our brains switch gears when we’re starving or dehydrated. And dreams…oh man! You just have to watch…

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• Sensation: The best part of this episode was watching the Shaolin monks endure extreme pain without even blinking. It showed how our nerves and pain receptors help us. For example, a woman fell from a cliff shattering her knee, dislocating her hip. She couldn’t move her legs. Her brain sent out endorphins to block the pain receptors from feeling it. Once help arrived, and she calmed down, those endorphins quickly went away and pain kicked it. But it kept her alive until that point. She was able to crawl to a trail because of that. On the other end of the spectrum, a man was bitten by one of those recluse spiders. The pain he felt was from his body trying to protect him. If he didn’t feel pain, he wouldn’t have found the wound on the back of his leg and sought treatment. Amazing.

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• Plus! It explains how we can move our fingers faster than we can think and what is going on during a polygraph test.

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Check out the website. There is all sorts of fun things on there from human body puzzles and quizzes to interactive guides. You can also pre-order the DVD!
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Seriously, this is such a great show that provides a unique look into the human body. There will be a special encore on Sunday, March 16th starting at 3PM Central time. One of the best parts of the show is how one minute you’re looking at a human and the next the computer-animated skeleton appears and you can watch the bones and muscles work. The gymnasts are fun to watch.
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