The last couple months have been really crazy for our family. I try not to allow our schedule to get too packed during the weeks and weekends – particularly trying to avoid back-to-back weekends when we are away from the kids or traveling for work, or any number of things. And yet somehow our fall ended up much more chaotic than I had hoped or planned. It started with me traveling to Nantucket for work for five days, followed by … Read More
Tips for Work-At-Home Success
In August (when Joe and I moved from Minneapolis to Iowa) I decided to make a big career change and transition from working in the corporate world to working at home in a couple different capacities. The biggest question I get these days is “What do you do?” and it’s always a tough question to answer because I’m doing quite a few different things! Working multiple creative jobs is a little nutty at times, but it’s also been the biggest … Read More
How to *authentically* monetize your blog
Monetizing your blog. Chances are if you have a blog, you’ve either thought about ways to make money on your site or you’re currently pursuing ways to make money. From the start I’ve been in favor of making money on my site; writing a blog and producing quality content is time consuming and sometimes expensive (especially when you’re developing recipes of posting photos of outfits, etc.) so it seems sensible to mitigate those expenses when possible. Just because you make … Read More
:: My New Mom Style ::
Today I’m launching the first in a series of posts on my new mom style. I’ve been slowly revising my wardrobe over the past few months to fit my new life as a mom, work-from-home freelancer and recipe developer and manager of a home remodel that’s still very much in progress. Although I don’t have to report to an office every day, I do like to try and dress up a bit for the days that I’m working. Sometimes I’ll … Read More
What’s In My Bag: Influence Conference Edition
Tomorrow I’m leaving my favorite people (and my baby for the very first time overnight!) and heading to Influence Conference for the second year in a row. Conferences? Gah, conferences. I have such a love-hate relationship with them because my secretly introverted self feels so. dang. uncomfortable. But once I just do the dang thing? It’s always worth it. I’m working on going out of my comfort zone more and more these days, and I think it’s doing me a … Read More
Stripes and Sunshine
I sort of wrote off Old Navy years ago because I had bad experiences with the quality and fit of their clothes. Everything felt a little, well, cheap. But lately you guys? Old Navy is giving me plenty of reasons to re-consider. I mentioned a while back that I was having a little bit of a style crisis now that I’m a mom. My new work-from-home schedule means I don’t have to be quite as dressed up each day, but … Read More
Social Media Accountability
I’ve been blogging for quite a few years now. When I first started posting recipes to the web from my college dorm room the world of blogging was quite different than it is today. There was no Instagram, blog Facebook pages weren’t a thing, Snapchat didn’t exist and Twitter was still in its early days. Over the years I’ve met a number of bloggers and online “friends” that I’ve followed on social media for years. Some have turned into real-life … Read More
Ultimate Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies with Candied Pecans
Many times I sit down to write and blog post without really thinking about what exactly I’m writing about. The words flow easily about the recipe I’m going to share with you, the flavor or texture or usefulness of the recipe at hand. It’s easy to fall into a lull of writing about food without really writing about anything at all. Does anyone really need me to wax poetic for four paragraphs about chocolate chip cookies? Lately I’ve felt a … Read More
Influence Conference 2014
Last weekend I attended the 2014 Influence Conference in Indianapolis. The driving idea behind Influence is to make your online life more meaningful and intentional through the sharing of your faith, the words you use and the mindset behind what you share on things like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.I’m still unpacking my thoughts and re-reading my notes from the two days I spent at Influence. I’m sure that a lot of what I learned at the conference will continue to … Read More