I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. We’ve been chatting back and forth about travel, restaurants, blogging and more. Today’s the last day!

Keep Up with the Conversation

If you’re not caught up yet, here ere are the posts in this conversation so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response
• I answered
• She answered
• Then it was my turn
• And then Aprile’s turn
• That brings us to Day 4 for me
• And Day 4 for Aprile
• My Day 5
• Aprile’s Response
• Day 6 from Me
• Day 6 from Aprile

My Turn

And now for my last post in the conversation …

Hi Aprile,

I do have to give some credit to Julie Michelle because she not only did terrific photography of me for that project but she also helped me with my makeup. I wear lipstick and eyeshadow but that’s it. I don’t even know how to apply the other stuff. She did me up a little and it was kind of fun.

My trip to Argentina really was fun and it’s neat to get a chance to talk about it again. I went with my best friend (we’ve been friends for more than half our lives) and we took a full two weeks for the trip. We didn’t have a tour guide, just figured out what to do from all the travel sites and from other people who had been there. For the boat trip it’s just your group (the two of us in this case) and then the boat guide who takes you around. The cottage lunch actually was totally romantic and was one of the few things we wished our boyfriend’s could have been there for. We went on a guided tour to the ranch where we did horseback riding, took a double decker bus tour to see the city and were part of a tour group that went to a famous tango theater. Everything else we did without a guide. And yes, I bought yarn while I was there. It was a little confusing because I barely speak Spanish plus they do yarn by the weight and I’m used to getting it by yardage but when I figured out just how cheap the yarn was with the exchange rate in my favor I considered it totally worth the language/ math barrier!

I’ll definitely hit you up for Hawaii travel tips when I get the chance to go. Most people have told me that Kauai is the island not to miss. I love four-wheeling as well as horseback riding so it sounds like your tips would be right up my alley!

So Zipcar and City Car Share are two car sharing problems. I actually didn’t realize that other places had them but the other day I was participating in #crochetchat (Wednesday Twitter chat) and someone said they had Zipcar in CT so I guess it’s a lot of places. Anyway, the way that it works is that there are cars parked in lots all over the city. You become a member and you get a card that will unlock the cars. Then when you want to get a car, you just reserve the car you want online for the time that you want it and you go get it during that time. The gas and repairs are taken care of by the company and you have basic rental-style insurance when you drive the cars. It’s a lot cheaper than renting a car and provides a great option for when you may need a car just for a few hours, like to pick something up or drive further than you want to bus. It’s a really cool program.

I’ve taken a few random dance classes here and there. I tried a burlesque classes and didn’t like it at all. I tried hula hoop dancing and really liked it. I’d like to do more but haven’t made the effort. I’d love to know which Cirque show you saw. They’re all so different from each other. When I was in Vegas this last time we went to a free art exhibit of sculptures that were inspired by the Cirque shows and they were just amazing. Photos here. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos from the urban circus but they do have a video on YouTube of some of their stuff which I’ll embed here:

Well, thanks again for doing this with me. I didn’t want to ask too many questions this time around since there’s only your one post left to finish it up but feel free to share a random story with us!!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along with our conversation. Feedback welcome on this whole experience of the cross blog chat!

Tags: blog chat, cross blog conversation

Continuing on with this week’s cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. We’ve been chatting back and forth about travel, restaurants, blogging and more.

Keep Up with the Conversation

If you’re not caught up yet, here ere are the posts in this conversation so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response
• I answered
• She answered
• Then it was my turn
• And then Aprile’s turn
• That brings us to Day 4 for me
• And Day 4 for Aprile
• My Day 5
• Aprile’s Response

My Turn

And the conversation continues on …

Hi Aprile,

I think the Palace of Fine Arts would be a lovely place for a wedding reception. There are so many beautiful places here. I have a friend, Julie Michelle, who is a photographer here and she does wedding portraits among many other things and she’s got tons of amazing photos from beautiful scenic places like that. Actually, if you’ve got a minute to spare to look at some San Francisco eye candy, you might be interested in a project of hers online called I Live Here: SF. Basically she meets all kinds of people who live here and they share their story about life in San Francisco and she photographs them in a favorite place in the city. This project is actually how I met her, because she mentioned it on her blog. It was just getting started at the time and neither of us knew it would end up being a big thing. She’s photographed so many people and places here, had very cool gallery shows, did a reading with some of the subjects at a big literary festival that happens here and had the photos hung in City Hall. Like I said, she does lots of other photography, but that project is a really great one in my opinion. My participation in the project can be seen here.

Thanks for sharing the link to some of your travel photos. I’ve been so behind on catching up with all of my blogs in the past few weeks that somehow I missed those posts. I’ll have to do a full post of some of my pictures from Argentina but here are a few to get started:

So what you see there is a tree that’s common in many of the parks there (soooo many parks in Buenos Aires!), a fruit market that was near our hotel, the water between Argentina and Uruguay, A mural I liked (it says “Tanghetto” because of course Argentina is known for Tango), me with some signage and in a boat on the River. The River Boat trip was super lovely, we took a train to get there and the boat ride was several hours and went all over this lush area and included a stop at a little cottage where a meal was prepared for us. They’re known for their steak there so even though I’m not a huge steak person we basically spent every day eating amazing steak and drinking Malbec wine. We stayed in the historic downtown area where the streets are cobblestone but we stayed in a super modern boutique hotel. I’m a sucker for a good boutique hotel. I liked this area because it was close to many attractions as well as the subway line. There is a HUGE flea market type thing on Sundays there and it was literally steps from our hotel so that was fun. Seriously if you ever get a chance to go, hit me up and I’ll provide a whole list of things that are worth seeing. First on the list for crafters is the yarn district which is literally two blocks made up almost completely of one yarn store after another. Bring an extra suitcase.

Other highlights of that trip included visiting the big cemetery where Evita is buried, going horseback riding in the country, seeing a tango show, visiting the zoo and botanical gardens … It really is a terrific city and I definitely recommend putting it on your travel list. The one thing we didn’t do that I wish we did was take a weekend trip to Iguazu Falls. It looks like an amazing waterfall that would’ve been worth the extra little flight. Guess I’ll have to go back.

Sounds like you agree with me that flying is a double-edged sword … gets you to the best places but not the most comfortable way to travel. I’m pretty sure that’s the only way you’re getting back to Hawaii, though. I have never been to HI. I actually wanted to go for my birthday this year but I don’t think the finances are going to work out that way. I can understand why planes would be especially stressful with a child. Although we did drive back to Ohio a lot, sometimes we flew and my dad would take all of us three kids by himself. I don’t know that I could ever handle that as a parent!!

Here in San Francisco I get around primarily by walking. Nearly everything I could ever want is within a mile or so of here and I really prefer to walk, be out around other people and get the exercise. If something is further or I feel too lazy to walk, I’ll usually bus. I like our bus system here even though many people complain that it’s crowded, slow and dirty. I think it’s fine so I guess it’s just personal opinion. Our BART system goes to nearby cities so if there’s some reason I want to go to Berkeley or Oakland then I’d take that. On the rare occasion that I go to to North Bay (across the Golden Gate Bridge) I usually take the ferry just because I think that’s way more fun than a bus. If I want to go somewhere that does require a car, like to go to a hiking trail or to pick up something large like a Christmas tree, then I’ll use Zipcar or City Car Share which are the two car sharing programs I’m enrolled in. (What a lengthy answer for how I get around right?! Sometimes I can really babble!)

I want to say thank you so much for sharing your birth story. I personally think it’s really important for women to talk about the good and bad experiences related to that so that everyone can know what different situations to expect. Like you said, some things are rare but it’s really good to know what can come up and how other people have handled those things. For my readers, I really recommend reading what Aprile shared about her experience!

You asked a bit about my blogging. So I started blogging more than five years ago but was doing that work for other people so I actually made my living doing the writing for others’ blogs. Now I mostly do just my own blogs and book writing. At this point I don’t make money off of Diary of a Smart Chick and haven’t really put any effort into doing so. I do make a little bit off of Crochet Concupiscence and although I’d blog about crochet for free I’d also love to see the income from that grow since I do put A LOT of time and effort into it. Right now most of that income comes from blog ads (Adsense and Kontera). I’d love to get income from blog sponsors, people who want to advertise jobs on the site and products (primarily my books and perhaps some Etsy stuff although I’m still working out how I want to do that). Ideally I want all of my income to come from my own creative endeavors but it’s tough, especially living in such an expensive city. I’m happy with what I’m doing, though, and that’s what matters most to me. Most of my crochet writing goals for this year are non-blog things that people will hopefully find through the blog (like finishing up and publishing my book on the health benefits of crochet). I haven’t set specific goals for Diary of a Smart Chick yet, other than frequent honest posting, but I do plan to look more at that later in the year.

The last thing you asked was about live events. I love live theater performance and try to go to our local theaters at least a few times per year. The last thing I saw was actually Bring It On The Musical – so cheesy but so fun – but usually I go to smaller theaters instead of seeing the big stuff. There’s a local urban circus that I try to see once a year (parkour, beatboxing, breakdancing, contortionist acts, etc.) One big name thing that I really really love is Cirque du Soleil. I’ve seen several of the shows in Vegas (KA, the Beatles one, Zumanity) and I’d love to see all of them. I don’t do a lot of live music although I did when I was a teenager. I like the kind of thing where you can go chill in a park and hear music so I’ll go to smaller free concerts sometimes. I’m not opposed to going to big concerts but it doesn’t tend to be where I want to spend my money. What about you … do you enjoy live performance events? What kind? Is there stuff like that in your area that your daughter is old enough to enjoy yet?

Okay, so tomorrow will be the last day of our cross blog conversation. What’s the last thing that you want to ask me? For my part, I’d like to know what you thought of this cross blog experience? Do you think there’s anything we could have done differently? Do you think it was valuable for your readers?

Summary of Questions:

• Do you enjoy live performance events? What kind? Is there stuff like that in your area that your daughter is old enough to enjoy yet?
• Have you ever taken a dance, theater or performance class?
• If you decide later on to adopt more children would you want another girl or a boy?
•  What’s the last thing that you want to ask me?
• I’d like to know what you thought of this cross blog experience? Do you think there’s anything we could have done differently? Do you think it was valuable for your readers?

Do you have any questions for Aprile? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!

Tags: blog chat, cross blog conversation

Continuing on with this week’s cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. Are you guys enjoying eavesdropping on our back and forth conversation?

Keep Up with the Conversation

If you’re not caught up yet, here ere are the posts in this conversation so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response
• I answered
• She answered
• Then it was my turn
• And then Aprile’s turn
• That brings us to Day 4 for me
• And Day 4 for Aprile

My Turn

And the conversation continues on …

Hi Aprile,

I love the photos you shared of your San Francisco trip. I am pretty diligent about putting together annual scrapbooks of the things I’ve done and I always say that I’d never remember my life without them. The beautiful structure that you couldn’t remember the name of is The Palace of Fine Arts. It is one of my sister’s favorite places (along with the Bay and the Botanical Gardens) and she visits it every time she comes here which is a few times each year. Funny that you mentioned going to the aquarium at the Pier … I’ve actually never been there! Like I said, always more to do here. We now have a really, really amazing science museum in Golden Gate Park though that has a terrific aquarium that I love. My favorites are the leafy seadragons and the jellyfish.

I would love to know more about your trip to Belize and Guatemala. Do you have pictures?! I went to Buenos Aires last year which was my first real trip out of the country (minus going into Mexico which doesn’t feel like it counts since it’s only about an hour and a half from Tucson where I grew up). I’ve done lots of traveling within the U.S. though. I have family in Ohio so during the summers as a kid we’d take road trips from AZ to OH and see lots of random stuff in between. When I was 21 I met a boy and we took off and lived in my truck for six months while we traveled the country so I saw basically the whole west coast and east coast and some of the south during that trip. San Francisco is by far my favorite city. I love the nature of coastal Oregon. I loved the warm waters of Florida beaches but think that the prettiest beaches are in North Carolina. White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is something I think is a must-see. I’d like to spend more time hiking in Colorado and Utah, both gorgeous places. And I’d like to see Chicago (because I never have) and spend more time in New York City (because I was young when I went there). Internationally I’d really like to go to the Mediterranean, Reykjavik in Iceland and lately I’ve been wanting to see Morocco. But we’ll see. What places on your list are the ones that you most want to travel to? Like if you could take off tomorrow and there’d be no hassle of any kind to worry about, where would you go first?

Having spent so much time traveling by car, I now don’t care to do it so much. Also, I gave up my car when I moved to San Francisco and now live car-free here and I find that after six years of that I don’t enjoy being in cars much. It used to be so normal for me but now I get car sick and restless when I’m in the car too much. My brother lives in the LA area and I love doing stuff with him down there but it drives me crazy that it takes an hour by car to get anywhere! So usually when I travel, I’ll fly. I don’t actually like flying much either. I’ve had more than my fair share of travel problems ranging from planes that sat on the tarmac for three hours and then kicked us off to the most recent situation when I arrived with all of my confirmation information in hand and they told me I was crazy because no such flight that I’d booked even existed. I always wear comfy clothes and pack several books, expecting to end up in airports for days. That said, flying is typically the lesser of the two evils. What about you … are you a fly or ground traveler?

I think it’s great that you considered foster / adoption and I think it’s totally okay that you went with the option of having your own child. There are definitely a lot of kids out there who need homes but it’s not the right thing for everybody. In my experience, parents that it’s not right for end up doing more harm than good a lot of times (not to say that you would have, just to say that I think it’s a respectable choice to know what’s right for you at any given time). I also worked specifically with kids who had severe behavioral / therapeutic issues because of traumatic circumstances so the situation may be different in cases of less traumatic adoption.

It really sounds like you put a lot of thought into choosing how to have a family and I think that’s wonderful. I’m sure it’s part of what makes you a great mom! Would you be interested in sharing more about your pregnancy and birth story? You mentioned that it’s not something you want to do again and it’s not something I want to do either for various reasons. I think if I do ever have my own kids I’m going to do so with a midwife as well as with a doctor. I don’t like a lot of the things that they do in hospitals when it comes to modern birth but I’m also not hippie dippy enough to be having babies in my home without meds. I would want to do it in a hospital in a “Western” way but with the support, advice and advocacy of a midwife.

I like your approach to your blog. I think it’s important to take the time to put a few things in place to try and make a little money off of your efforts (like your media kit) but I also genuinely think that a blog will mostly support itself if you’re doing it because you love it. Like you, I believe in supporting other bloggers and handmade businesses when I can. One of the things I love about San Francisco is that there are so few chain stores and so many small indie stores plus there are lots of craft fairs where you can buy direct from artisans. I won’t lie – it does cost more than just stopping into a WalMart – but to me it’s such a better shopping experience.

You asked about restaurants in Tucson. In terms of Mexican food, I’d recommend pretty much any hole in the wall that doesn’t look like it could possibly have good food. I know that sounds ridiculous but that’s always where I find the best homemade type Mexican food. A particular favorite is Tania’s but really any of them are good. Other than that … there’s a place called La Indita on Fourth Avenue (which is a shopping street in Tucson) that has a fusion of Native American and Mexican food that is super delicious. Try the potato tacos there! If you’ve never had Ethiopian food or just really like it then look up the city’s Ethiopian place as it’s really good. And there’s a sandwich mini-chain called Eegees that has great sandwiches but is especially known for its icy slushy drinks (also called Eegees) that are unlike any other type of slushy you’ve ever had and well worth a stop. Funny enough, when I go back home, I also go to lots of chain restaurants because we really don’t have them here. I go to Olive Garden which people used to thin was hilarious because I lived in Little Italy here for four and a half years so why would I go to Olive Garden but it’s that whole nostalgia thing. I also go to Arby’s which I kind of love in a bad-for-you way and we don’t have that here either. Really the only fast food I know of in San Francisco is Burger King and McDonalds (and I don’t like either of those) and then Taco Bell / KFC (which I get from time to time).

Ooh music … you’re going to catch me in another area of embarrassing guilty pleasures here. I have this weird love for any music that is campy, over the top and ridiculous. I love drag shows for that reason. I love the wild girl country songs (like Carrie Underwood slashing her boyfriend’s tires for cheating on her). I love dancing to 80′s music. I love girl anthems and some pop music (Lady Gaga, for example). I have been known to sing along with musicals (Rent and Chicago, for example.) And then there’s a special place in my heart for the bands I saw in concert when I was a teenager (No Doubt, Blink 182, Live, Counting Crows, Verve Pipe). And I like Eminem more than an adult woman should. All that said, I know that most of this isn’t considered “good” music and I’m open to listening to a range of different stuff. Do you have a favorite music genre?

One more question … what types of things would you recommend to a traveler visiting your area for the first time?

Summary of Questions:

• I would love to know more about your trip to Belize and Guatemala. Do you have pictures?!
• What places on your list are the ones that you most want to travel to?
• Are you a fly or ground traveler?
• Would you be interested in sharing more about your pregnancy and birth story?
• Do you have a favorite music genre?
• What types of things would you recommend to a traveler visiting your area for the first time?

Do you have any questions for Aprile? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!

Tags: blog chat, cross blog conversation

I’ve been enjoying the weather here lately. Today I decided to go get myself a burrito for lunch and head to the park that’s near me. It’s a popular park where dogs are allowed off leash so lots of puppies thought they’d try and take my burrito from me.

Tags: neighborhood park, park

Continuing on with this week’s cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. Are you guys enjoying eavesdropping on our back and forth conversation?

Keep Up with the Conversation

If you’re not caught up yet, here ere are the posts in this conversation so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response
• I answered
• She answered
• Then it was my turn
• And then Aprile’s turn

My Turn

And the conversation continues on …

Hi Aprile,

You’ll definitely have to let me know if you get the chance to travel here again. It’s a great city with tons of stuff to see and there’s a decent amount of stuff that’s kid-friendly so maybe when you’re little one gets a little older it would be a nice trip to make. I’ve lived here for six years now and I’m still finding new things to explore here every day. So far this year I’ve been to the Conservatory of Flowers, Orpheum Theater and the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum and those were all new places I hadn’t seen yet. I also just got a book of Stairway Walks in San Francisco and I’m going to use that to explore some of the places I haven’t seen in a more active way. What did you guys get a chance to see while you were here? The nice thing is that you can cover the most popular things in a short trip but then there are all sorts of things still to discover no matter how many times you’ve visited. Where else have you traveled?

You asked about my experience being a foster parent. I had worked at a group home and there was a child there that I thought I wanted to adopt … to do that given the situation I needed to get my foster care license. It’s a long story but I didn’t end up doing the adoption and instead ended up using the foster care license to have foster kids in my home for two years. It was a wonderful experience and I hope that I was able to offer something positive to the kids that were in my care. However, I was really too young to be a parent (I was 23 when I started and I was fostering tweens/ teens). I was single and there was a lot I hadn’t figured out about myself yet. Additionally, I was working with child protective services, getting a social work related degree, mentoring kids in the system … and I burned out. That’s the short version. So after two years I made the tough decision to move on from that. Now that I’m older, though, it’s something that I would consider doing again. I think if I ever decide to have a family I will want to do a foster-to-adopt situation with a group of siblings. But we’ll see. One day at a time. Did you always know that you wanted to be a mom? Will there be more kids in the future?

Ooh, I don’t know how anyone can not love fresh pineapple! I think you hit the nail on the hand with Ramen-like foods, though, when you said it’s a comfort food. I think that’s why I love the cheap 45 cent stuff from the grocery store better than the real Ramen (that yes, you can easily get around here) … it’s one of those nostalgic foods for me. I have been eating a lot more at home lately but there are tons of great restaurants near me and I used to eat out a lot. Thai, Ethiopian and Indian are my top “go to” choices when I’m going out or ordering in. I’ve just recently discovered that I like Vietnamese food. I miss the really spicy Mexican food from when I lived in Arizona. I’m originally from Tucson and although I traveled the country a lot I really only lived there before moving here. There’s Mexican food here, of course, but somehow it has a different taste than what I’d get back home. Everything else is better here though.

I like the drama shows, too, and in fact those are the only ones I really watch as opposed to just having on. Revenge is turning out to be such a good new show this year! I really like the smart crime dramas like Criminal Minds and Lie to Me and Numbers when that one was on.

Okay, one more question … I noticed that you have a lot of sponsors for your blog. How do you go about getting sponsors? Has that been a positive part of the blog experience for you?

Tag you’re it!  :)

Summary of Questions:

• What did you guys get a chance to see while you were in San Francisco?
• Where else have you traveled?
• Did you always know that you wanted to be a mom? Will there be more kids in the future?
• How do you go about getting blog sponsors? Has that been a positive part of the blog experience for you?

Do you have any questions for Aprile? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!

Tags: blog chat, cross blog conversation

Continuing on with this week’s cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. Are you guys enjoying eavesdropping on our back and forth conversation?

Keep Up with the Conversation

If you’re not caught up yet, here ere are the posts in this conversation so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response
• I answered
• She answered

My Turn

And the conversation continues on …

Hi Aprile,

Thanks for your response. It’s so fun to get to know you a little bit better!

I think we’re on the same page about keeping personal information private when blogging. People certainly know that I live in San Francisco since that’s something I love and write about a lot. However I try to keep any true identifying information private for security reasons. Not that I think anyone is going to stalk me or anything but I think that’s a good practice to follow in today’s online world. So much of our daily lives are public now with blogging and social networking and I think that’s great but I also think it’s important to maintain some boundaries and remember that the people online aren’t all people that you actually know. In fact, I tend to avoid the apps and features that let people know exactly where I am at any given time (for example, I don’t check in on Facebook or use Foursquare). So I get what you’re saying about that.

I also agree with you about not talking about politics or religion on the blog. I don’t intentionally avoid those topics but I don’t really care to discuss them here either. Sometimes a thought or situation will come up where I might mention my opinion on a socio-political topic but mostly I think that everyone’s entitled to their own opinions and this blog isn’t here to influence anyone. And I also think that those are huge topics that I don’t know enough about, like you said, to be stimulating conversation about them. So I get what you’re saying about that too!

The only other “rule” I follow in terms of my blog content is that I try not to post things about other people without their permission. On Crochet Concupiscence I share a lot of links and information about what people are up to in the crochet world but that’s stuff that they’ve already shared on their blog and generally would like to see shared. I’m talking more specifically about people’s personal lives. Most of my friends and family are not bloggers and I consider it an invasion of their privacy to say too much about them here on Diary of a Smart Chick. I also don’t typically share their photos without permission (although sometimes ones of my family slip in and they’re okay with that). It just all goes along with that whole privacy issue that I was just talking about … it’s not my place to create an online world for them that they haven’t created themselves, if that makes sense.

I think it’s great that you spend so much time on blogging. I obviously adore blogging / writing. I think it’s a great outlet for creative expression as well as a great way to connect with others. So I support that. It sounds like you try really hard to prioritize your family over that, though. That makes me curious about your family life. What types of activities do you and your husband enjoy doing together? And how has life changed for you since becoming a mom? I’m sure there are some big joys and some specific challenges to share!

Thanks for sharing some of your interests with us. I always love learning about the niche topics that people are into because that’s what makes us each unique. I actually didn’t know much about the historical fiction/ romance genre until fairly recently when I did a blogroll review of Anastacia Knits for my Hooked Together project. She follows lots of blogs about that topic and it introduced me to a whole new world.

And I think it’s awesome that you’re into origami. I’ve tried it a few times and never gotten very far with it. My brain is absolutely not visual in that way, in the sense that I can’t look at a picture that says what direction to fold something and then understand how to fold it. I’ve always been bad at that. I went to a high school that you had to take a test to get into and I scored super high on every part of the test except that part. I love origami, though. A year or so ago I saw a local play that was a sort of love story about an origami artist and it drew all these beautiful parallels between relationships and origami using the folding and unfolding to draw metaphors. It also had a stunning stage with these huge origami sculptures that were so impressive. I’m curious … you mentioned the relaxation benefits of origami and of course I know that crochet has the same benefits so I’m wondering if you would use those two crafts in the same situations or if they each offer different types of therapeutic benefits?

If you ever get the chance to come to San Francisco we can meet up in Japantown and go to the origami store there which also features a small “museum” display. (It’s called that but it’s just a section of the store so it’s not quite as fancy as it sounds but it’s still really cool). I live pretty close to Japantown. It’s fun living here with all of the different neighborhoods that each have their own unique style. I actually didn’t start going into Japantown too much until I did a travel article for a website about it and that led me to explore it more and find some places I really adored. I did know about the Japanese supermarket before then but I didn’t actually go in it until really recently. I think I’ll be shopping there more often. It’s fun seeing all of the packages with the Japanese writing on them and it makes you look more closely at what you really want to buy instead of just buying the same old items in a routine way that you do at the regular grocery store.

I am actually completely a beginner cook. I really wish that I loved to cook but I just don’t enjoy it all that much. I like stuff that can be simply prepared. Luckily I like lots of raw foods (salads, etc) and I’ve learned over the years to make a large variety of soups which I also enjoy so that simplifies meal time. I have a good friend who started a once-a-month cooking group a little while back so I usually try to learn something new from a recipe for that. And I do a Sunday dinner once a month with friends and we put a theme to those dinners so sometimes I’ll try something new for that although a lot of times I’ll fall back on a salad or something simple. I’m definitely not the cook in the group! I’ll eat most things. I don’t like tomatoes. And I absolutely hate bananas. Anything with banana in it (even smoothies) just grosses me out for some reason. Other than that, I’m not really picky. I have a love for all pasta although I try not to gorge on it too often and same thing with garlic mashed potatoes. I don’t eat a lot of meat but I’m not opposed to eating it either (mostly just don’t like preparing it). And I have a love for Hot n Spicy Ramen even though I realize that’s a weird choice for a favorite food. So what about you? Are there foods you guys eat often? Are there foods you can’t stand? Who is responsible for meals in your home?

Okay, your last question was about reality TV. Eek, you caught me in my guilty pleasure!  :)  I used to hate this kind of television for all of the standard reasons that people do (it’s a waste of time and totally ridiculous and it’s better to live life than to watch other people living it, etc.) In fact, for a long time in my adult life I didn’t own a television. Then I started having foster kids in the home and ended up getting a small TV for them but didn’t watch it myself much. Fast forward to the year that I moved here when my best friend and I moved in together. He was a fan of all of that TV and I started watching it with him, beginning with America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway. I got sucked in and it was something we enjoyed doing at the house together. We don’t live together anymore but we still get together to watch Project Runway. So now I live alone and I actually don’t own a TV but do watch tons of stuff on my computer. And yes, I’ve been lured in to watching a lot of reality TV. I usually just have it on in the background while I crochet or blog or whatever and I think I like it because it’s simple enough to get the gist of what’s going on without being totally tuned into it. What types of shows or movies do you enjoy?

Okay, I blabbed on enough here. I just want to make one note to my readers that in her Day Two post, Aprile provided some really great information about the Polly Klaas foundation and how you can help to find missing children and I encourage you to check that out!!

Summary of Questions:

• What types of activities do you and your husband enjoy doing together?
• How has life changed for you since becoming a mom?
• You mentioned the relaxation benefits of origami and of course I know that crochet has the same benefits so I’m wondering if you would use those two crafts in the same situations or if they each offer different types of therapeutic benefits?
•  Are there foods you guys eat often? Are there foods you can’t stand? Who is responsible for meals in your home?
• What types of shows or movies do you enjoy?

Do you have any questions for Aprile? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!

How the heck is it already Monday again? I’m not sure but I do know that it means that it’s Happy Homemaker Monday here on this blog, a project which is hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Here’s what is going on right now in my world.

The weather:::

I’m definitely planning to try to get some outdoor activity on Thursday or Friday!

On my reading pile:::  

Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn

This is actually the first in a trio of memoirs that I already read the third one from (Sheepish, which I mentioned previously)

Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be

And I’ll also be reading some vintage crochet and homemaking magazines this week.

On my TV:::

I think this coming week I’m actually going to track exactly what I watched to see how much TV I’m really watching. Some of the things that my Hulu watch history says I’ve watched this week are:

(Basically a Canadian Sex in the City)

Dance Moms

On the menu for this week:::

Cinnamon Wheats with fresh fruit for breakfast. Lots of salads. Some rice and steamed veggies. Maybe lean pork chops.

On my to do list:::

• End of the Month invoicing, bill pay, income tracking etc.
• Taxes!
• Pick up books from the library
• Get a haircut
• Create a video for the first month roundup of 365 Ways to Wear Crochet

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

• Donation items for Bridge and Beyond (finishing up a scarf)
• Mug Rug for crochet swap
• New crochet dress for myself!

Looking around the house:::

It’s time to take those bags of junk to the Goodwill. They’ve been sitting here ready to go for weeks.

From the camera:::

Something fun to share:::

Inspirational Quote:::

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.” – Martha Graham

Happy Monday everyone!

Tags: day in a life, happy homemaker monday, my life

Hi Readers,

This week I’m doing a cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. Each day I’ll write a post to her, asking her some questions about her life and work. Then she’ll respond on her blog, answering my questions and writing questions back to me. We’ll continue on like this all week and you’ll have the opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversation. And if you have questions for Aprile, you are welcome to leave them in the comments here and I’ll make sure to ask them!

I hope you enjoy this blogging experience!

Keep Up with the Conversation

Here are the posts so far:

• My Day 1 Starting Post
• Aprile’s 1st Response

First Post to Aprile

Hi Aprile,

I loved your response when you said, “my blog is a virtual copy of me”. I kind of feel that way about Diary of a Smart Chick – it’s a little scattered and a little here and there but in the end it’s a fairly accurate representation of my daily life and changing interests. That makes perfect sense to me. I know that in this blogging world today it’s recommended that you have a niche but I kind of like the general blog that takes a personal “diary-like” approach to blogging like it often was when it first debuted at the start of this decade. And you do a great job of it. I feel like I really get a chance to know who you are through your blog … which brings me to my first question … Do you have any trouble determining what should go on the blog and what should be kept private? Are there any topics you absolutely won’t ever write about on The Steady Hand?

You asked me about the history of my two blogs, Diary of a Smart Chick and Crochet Concupiscence. Diary of a Smart Chick came first but hasn’t always gotten the most attention. I kind of accidentally fell into blogging. I was working as a freelance writer and I started seeing a lot of jobs for bloggers and frankly I needed the money so I learned to blog for other people. The first blog that I was the solo blogger for was San Fran Voice, which was a blog about life in San Francisco with an emphasis on the art and music scene. I didn’t own that blog but that was my first experience being the voice of a blog. My first real blog for myself was Real Words, which I intended to be a blog about being a freelance writer. I kept it up for awhile but I found that I didn’t actually enjoy writing about my writing life so it kind of filtered off after awhile and eventually I mostly let guest writers do the work over there. Then came the now-defunct San Francisco Is Sexy site which was all about the risque side of this fabulous city but ultimately I decided I didn’t want to write about that and took that site down. That’s when Diary of a Smart Chick was born. I wanted to be able to write about my life and to link to all of my other writing around the web without focusing on a specific niche. I’ve had this blog for a few years now but I revamped it at the beginning of this year, getting more active with it again and trying to make it a more personal blog. Crochet Concupiscence was launched one year ago and is where I write about all things crochet. That’s the blog I’ve kept active consistently and am truly devoted to but I want to also be as devoted to this blog as I am to that one.

That brings me to the second part of your question which is how the heck I maintain two blogs. Good question. I am a full-time freelance writer so what often happens is that I weave the blog writing in with my other daily writing tasks and it just ends up fitting in that way. It helps that often what I’m researching in one area inspires a post in another area. So I may be researching the health benefits of crochet for my book and it leads me to a topic I want to blog about over at Crochet Concupiscence. As for this blog, I consider it more of a diary and so I “journal” in it the way that you sneak in journal time for a regular diary, sometimes being better at it than others. This all makes me curious … about how much time do you spend working on your blog each week? You seem to update it really often so I imagine it can be time consuming. One category on your blog that really interests me is your missing child posts – can you tell me more about those and how you started putting them on your blog?

The other question you asked me about was regarding one of my interests (I need to remember to keep updating my interests page!) which is Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was an artist who became really big for about half a second in the late ’80s. He was this eccentric kid who lived on the streets of New York (even though he didn’t have to) and got attention for his graffiti art. He wasn’t actually a graffiti artist but rather an artist trying to use that medium, which was just getting popular with galleries, to get attention. He became sort of a star of the New York art world at that time. He was taken under the wing of Andy Warhol and he made a lot of money in a short period of time. However, it was kind of controversial because he was basically the only major black artist at that time and many people felt like the scene only wanted him as a token African American and that they exploited that. Sadly he ended up dying in his mid twenties of a heroin overdose. His art life intrigues me so much because it was such a strange time in New York when art really became a commodity and he was right in this weird controversial center of that.

So do you have any off the wall random interests like that to share?

Looking forward to your next post!

Kathryn

Summary of Questions:

• Do you have any trouble determining what should go on the blog and what should be kept private? Are there any topics you absolutely won’t ever write about on The Steady Hand?
• How much time do you spend working on your blog each week?
• yCan you tell me more about the missing child posts and how you started putting them on your blog?
• So do you have any off the wall random interests?

Do you have any questions for Aprile? Share them in the comments and I’ll ask!

Tags: blog chat, cross blog conversation

Hi Readers,

This week I’m doing a cross-blog conversation with Aprile of The Steady Hand. Each day I’ll write a post to her, asking her some questions about her life and work. Then she’ll respond on her blog, answering my questions and writing questions back to me. We’ll continue on like this all week and you’ll have the opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversation. And if you have questions for Aprile, you are welcome to leave them in the comments here and I’ll make sure to ask them!

I hope you enjoy this blogging experience!

More About Cross Blog Conversations

The idea behind this is that Aprile and I can introduce our readers to one another, get to know more about each other and offer a unique blog reading experience to others. I learned about this from Sara @momwithahook. We recently completed my first cross blog conversation over at Crochet Concupiscence and I loved the experience. You can check out my summary post to see what we talked about and to see links to all of the posts in that conversation if you want to get a good idea about how a cross blog conversation works. I want to give some credit where it’s due and let you know that Sara learned about cross blog conversations from Kelly of Solosmarts.com who heard about the idea from Liz Strauss of Sucessful-blog.com.

First Post to Aprile

So here we go … Hi Aprile!

It’s been so fun following your blog in the past year or so. Although I mostly follow along with the crochet news, I love seeing all of the other types of posts that you put up. If you had to summarize what your blog is all about and who your average reader is … what would you say?

We’ll kick it off with that. You can ask me whatever you want and we’ll develop the conversation from there!

Kathryn

Tags: blog talk, cross blog conversation

I’ll be spending the day hiking here:

The photo is a 2009 picture I took from the same trail. New photos to come after the hike!

Tags: hiking, hiking trail, north bay, San Francisco