My Top 6 Girl Crushes . . .

I'm about to divulge a huge secret  here about myself.  I seem to do that a lot lately. Well, today I'm telling you that I have a few girl crushes.  And I'm talking huge girl crushes on these women.  There you go - it's out there.   However, I bet if you thought about it you probably have at least one of your own.I'm even going to share my girl crushes with you.  That's how open and honest I am.   My first ones are in the fitness business.  Shocker, I know!  A couple of these women have been keeping it quiet lately and I miss seeing them and their workouts.  Their photos are below and I'll tell you about each of them.

My first crush began years ago watching FitTV which was my all time favorite TV channel.  Why in the world they chose to discontinue it I will never know and it will forever be missed by me.  Anyway, I discovered Petra Kolber and just loved her "real" style in teaching her workouts.  She's right there sweating with you, either with weights, cardio, on a step, you name it.  Of course, I also love listening to her because she has a great accent.Not too long I received a certification in QForze and one of the things that made it so appealing to me is that Petra Kolber was one of the choreographers.  Of course I wanted to be a part of that!During the same time as my crush on Petra, I began another crush on Cathe Friedrich.  Now, if you don't know Cathe, you have to look her up!  She absolutely rocks in the fitness world!  In fact, hers are about the only at home workout DVDs that I would regularly invest in.  She makes even an at home workout killer!  She's a great motivator and so no nonsense you just want to be right in the room with her.  Or, at least I do!My most recent crush is Kristen McGee.  She is the Pilates and Yoga goddess.  And look at her with your baby - so darn cute!  I began following her when she first came on the scene and have loved watching her rise.  She has one of my favorite Yoga DVDs that she did with Bethany Frankel.  It's fun to watch her in the video keep Bethany on track through the workout.  I even gave away a Kristen McGee DVD here a while back and was so excited when she tweeted me!  Yes, I felt almost famous!  If you are looking for some good yoga and Pilates tips, info and workouts, she is your girl.Now, my next couple of girl crushes don't do fitness.  They are all about the food.  Shocker again, right?  You may not be surprised at these as I've copied their recipes on this site on more than one occasion.The first is Ina Garten.  Oh my.  I am in love with anything Ina, otherwise known as The Barefoot Contessa - from her food, her background, her cookbooks, her devotion to Jeffrey and yes, most definitely, her house.  She is my go to for any time I am entertaining.  She has never steered me wrong.  Everything is simple, fresh and delicious.  She just makes you want to cook and eat and entertain every single day.  And she always begins each episode with some delicious cocktail.  Who doesn't love that?  See, I even sound a little Inaish there . . .And then there is my newest crush, Ree Drummond.  Yes, I have grown to love The Pioneer Woman.  We seem to have a standing date every afternoon, right after Ina Garten and The Barefoot Contessa on the FoodNetwork,  I go straight to The Pioneer Woman.  It is amazing to think that she began her journey as a blog and is now the queen of her own show, cookbooks, and now cookware.  And did I mention that she always includes her children, husband and dogs?  I'm sold right there.  And she lives way out in the country on a ranch so she has to cook everything.  I can kind of relate.  Growing up in a small town with no restaurants you ate in every single night so you had to learn to cook!  Now, with Ree, I have to admit, I tweak her recipes just a little bit.  I tend to make them a little bit healthier, a little less cheesy or buttery.  But it's all good.  It doesn't affect my crush in the least.I didn't mean to show any favoritism in showing two photos of Ree Drummond either.  I just couldn't resist the one with her dog, Charlie,  and felt I should show one that you  might recognize.

Lastly, I couldn't conclude without sharing with you my love for Joyce Meyer.  She is IT in my book.  She is strong, real, honest, funny, tell it like it is, and full of faith.  If you haven't listened to Joyce Meyer you absolutely must.  My day is complete if I can get some Joyce in the mornings.  She never ceases to amaze me at her gift of speaking straight to my heart.  What a gift!  So, of course, I had to include her in my group of girl crushes.

This does not conclude all of my girl crushes.  I do have some real life girl crushes but  they don't know how I admire them so I'll not embarrass myself.  I also follow some bloggers that I like, but none have reached to the pinnacle of an all out girl crush.  I'm  looking though!What about you?  Any crushes you can share?  Do you have any you can tell us about?  I'd love to hear who you admire and follow!Hope you're having a GREAT day!