One of the sites that I particularly enjoy writing for is HubPages. I get to write about a lot of different topics here and to interact with a great community of writers through the site.

I like to see which articles do well through the site and which ones don’t. I think it provides a good overview of what people are reading on the web at any given time. If that’s something that interests you then maybe you’d like to know how my Hub articles did in August.

The ten articles that got the most traffic in August were:

1. Short Layered Haircuts and Styles
2. Calorie-Burners: Swimming vs. Running
3. How to Delete a Browser Cookie
4. Indoor Activities that Bring Couples Together
5. 25 Fun Things to Do at the Beach
6. Teacher’s Checklist for the First Week of School
7. How to Build a Treehouse
8. Can’t Find a Job: Make Sure You’ve Done These Things
9. How Do You Know when Mushrooms Go Bad?
10. Simple Trail Mix Recipes

What a range of topics people were reading? I’m not surprised to see that the articles on summer stuff and back-to-school stuff are popular right now. But what about the article on deleting browser cookies – isn’t that a strange one to be so popular? I guess it’s information that a lot of people need so I’m glad it’s been useful.

The ten hubs that got the least traffic in August were: Keep reading…

Tags: hubpages, hubs, kathryn vercillo, smartchick

I’m working on changing my apartment. I’m trying to get it to the point where all of the things that I own are things that I truly love. That means getting rid of all of the secondhand junk and things that I’ve outgrown and replacing it with truly lovable stuff. I’m not planning to spend tons of money or to make huge dramatic changes. I’m just tweaking things here and there to create a space that really means something to me.

Most of the house is a mess while it undergoes these changes. However, I’ve finally gotten to the point where at least one room in my apartment is filled with things I love. It’s my bathroom. Hey, you have to start somewhere right.

Ten things I love in my bathroom are:

1. My flower girl vase. You’ve seen it pictured here before. I found it a thrift store in Ohio last year and totally love it. It’s an old Gibson girl vase that I keep fresh flowers in on the sink in the bathroom.
2. Vintage mouthwash bottle. I just added this to the sink’s countertop as well. It’s silly but I hated the big Listerine bottle that doesn’t fit quite right in the medicine cabinet. My new vintage mouthwash holder is small and cute.
3. Pretty soap dispenser. For the first three years that I lived here, I used throw-away plastic dispensers from the store. Now I have a pretty grey-and-white soap dispenser that’s so much nicerh.
4. Lips shower curtain. I have a totally flirty, fun shower curtain. See it in the picture of my bathroom shown above.
5. Pin-up girl towels. I love the new towels that from Sin in Linen that I bought. They’re grey with pinup girls on them. Pricey for towels but totally worth it since I love them so very much.
6. Pin-up girl pictures. Sticking to a theme here, I have a few cheap framed pinup girl photos in the bathroom as well. They were one of the first things I changed to make the bathroom more lovable.
7. Bathmat and toilet seat cover. They’re a pretty purple pink color that matches the shower curtain. I do wish the bathmat was bigger and more comfy than it is though.
8. Sugar body scrub. I don’t use fancy soaps but I found this sugar body scrub from Trader Joe’s that smells like tangerine and I adore it.
9. Space heater. I like to use a space heater to keep warm when I get out of the shower.
10. Bathrobe. And I like to cuddle up in a big warm black bathrobe when I leave this room so it hangs right on the door at all times.

Tags: bathroom, decor, home, house, kathryn vercillo

Sutro Tower is a sight to be seen. It’s impossible to ignore this structure that towers above the city of San Francisco, peeking it’s head above the fog even when there’s nothing else to be seen through the mist. What I love about this picture is that the perspective of it miniaturizes this towering creature and focuses instead on the tree in the forefront. What do you think of this one?

Tags: kathryn vercillo, nature, perspective, photography, Photos, smartchick, sutro tower, tree

The majority of the photos that I post here daily are photos that I have taken myself. That’s because the point, for me, is to start getting in the habit of taking pictures on a daily basis and to get comfortable sharing those pictures with others. It’s also good because it forces me to look closer at my photography and to get better at it which is something I want to do.

However, today’s picture was actually taken by a photographer who is much more talented than me. It’s a photo of me that she took back in March as part of a project called I Live Here: SF. I wanted to put the photo up here because I think it’s a really great portrait photography project and I would love to see others check it out. The photographer is TangoBaby.

Tags: i live here sf, kathryn vercillo, Photos, portrait photography, smartchick, tangobaby

I recently wrote a post on this site about some really cool cooker hoods for kitchen stoves. Although I included links to where you could see those cooker hoods, I didn’t include many pictures. Several people told me that they wanted to see what really cool cooker hoods look like. So I wrote another article featuring 10 awesome cooker hoods. That article is photo-heavy so if you’re a SmartChick (or SmartGuy) who wants to see some pics of what cooker hoods can look like then you may want to check out that article.

And now I’d like to put a question out there: what other kitchen appliances (or home furniture) in general would you like to see more articles about? There aren’t too many articles on the topic of cooker hoods and I like to pride myself on topics like this that aren’t widely covered. Your suggestions are welcome!

Tags: cooker hoods, hubpages, kathryn vercillo

This is an old photo that I took of someone’s legs/feet at a bar where I was attending an event. This is the first photo that I’ve posted here that I edited in any way. That’s because I’m just starting to play around with editing for the first time. The original photo was too dark to see anything so I altered the brightness and contrast and then played around with the levels in Resizr. Not very advanced, I know, but it’s a start. I’m taking a photoshop class next week so I can learn more.

Tags: feet, kathryn vercillo, legs, Photos, pictures, smartchick, taking pictures

One of the most common pieces of advice that I see on frugal living blogs is the advice that you should buy in bulk. There are pros and cons to buying in bulk but as a general rule it’s true that you’re going to save money if you buy items that you use regularly in bulk at a good price. But is that still true if you’re only shopping for one person?

The majority of articles that exist out there about buying in bulk assume that you’re buying for a whole family. But what about all of us who live alone or who live with roommates and shop only for ourselves? Does buying in bulk work for us? I think that it can if we’re smart about it.

Tips for buying in bulk when you live alone include:

• Buy only non-perishable items in bulk. It doesn’t make sense to buy things that are going to go to waste if you’re the only one using them.
• Make a list of what you use regularly. If you buy something every week or two then it’s probably a safe item to buy in bulk.
• Get a group together to buy in bulk. Just because you don’t live with your family doesn’t mean you can’t buy for a group. Get a group of friends together who would like to buy in bulk. Split the cost and split the items so that you each get only the amount of stuff that you need at a lower bulk price.
• Get smart about money. Make sure that you’re able to calculate the benefit of buying something in bulk. You may get a better deal buying a single size item and using a coupon. Do the math!

Do any of you single people out there buy in bulk? What are some other good tips?

Tags: buy in bulk when you live alone, buying in bulk, kathryn vercillo, money, Personal Finance, savings, should i buy in bulk, smartchick

This is a photo that I took the last time that I was back home. The dog on the left is one of my two dogs that stayed behind with my parents when I moved from Arizona. The other is my brother’s dog that ended up living with them when he moved. As you can see, they’ve taken over the house.

I always get green eyes from the dogs (like this) when I take pictures of them. Is there any way to avoid that? I know I can fix it with a photo editor but I’m wondering if I can stop it from happening all together.

Tags: dogs, kathryn vercillo, pets, Photos, pictures, smartchick

The sign in front of this hair salon just struck me as funny:

Tags: hair salon, hair with class, kathryn vercillo, Photos, pictures, sign, smartchick, storefront

Today’s photo set is a series of photos that I’ve been working on for awhile. It’s me feigning fear whenever I see a DANGER sign. These signs are typically something I see when I go out hiking. Would love your thoughts on this series.

Keep reading…

Tags: danger, danger signs, kathryn vercillo, my dangerous life, Photos, pictures, smartchick