bloggity blog.

here's the deal. i am slowly moving away from strictly mommy blogging. you may or may not have noticed a few more recipes than usual lurking around in my posts. there's been a little bit of fashion skulking about as well. my blogging goal for don't worry baby's second year is to move into more of a lifestyle blogging mode. i LOVE to cook, draw, design, and dress up. these things are part of my day-to-day and i would like to start sharing them with you. sylvie will still make plenty of appearances, as she is the biggest part of everyday, but i'm tired of omitting these other interests just because they don't fall under the mom blog umbrella. so my question to you is this: will you continue to read if the balance between baby and my other interests shifts slightly? what, besides sweet sylvie, would you like to read about? one of my personal goals for this year is to up the ante with this blog. I want to take more time with what i write and with editing my photos. i want to stop using my iphone as my primary camera. i have a great DSLR sitting around that i barely use. that's just not right! my other personal goal is to really branch out in my freelance work. last year i opened my first ever etsy shop and it has been a fantastic learning experience. i have been blessed with great customers and a fair amount of traffic and sales, but i'm looking to do more. the custom initials i've offered have been fun to work on, but there's so much more i would like to add. with the move to houston, we are looking into renting a house with a garage for studio space. this will make things like screen printing, sewing, and painting possible for me to do from home. i'm beyond excited for this change! i love all of these creative outlets, but have not had the space to pursue them in our small apartment. this big change in my business has brought the matter of branding to my attention. my shop has one name and my blog has another. to me, that's just not smart. i will not only be changing my URL and/or shop name, but i am also looking into moving to typepad or blogspot as a blogging platform. they both offer so much more than wordpress in the area of customization and creative control. if any of you have experience with either of these platforms, please let me know your thoughts! you can comment on this post or email me at [email protected]. so that's what is going on in my little world. i always welcome any feedback, advice or (constructive) criticism about this blog and my shop. here are some blogs that have been a source of inspiration lately: jeremy & kathleen design lovefest bleubird vintage design sponge

Comments

[Shelley]

Hey there I really like your blog and have been following for a while - Sylvie is 3 weeks older than my son so it's great to see her doing similar things. I think you should do whatever you like with your blog, but personally the things I prefer to see:
- real interesting baby content, discussions of your child-raising philosophies, things you struggle with, choices you make, funny/weird things the baby does etc (you do this really well already!)
- recipes are great - I love yours as I am a vego!
- other interesting content and life observations

I am not so interested in fashion, and giveaways, and craft. I do like your artistic posts though, it's great to see what you can do. But I have stopped reading other blogs because the fashion and giveaways took over.

That's just my two cents anyway - keep up the great work!

[sara]

Thank you so much for your input, Shelley! I really appreciate your quick response.
I completely agree with you on the fashion aspect. While I do enjoy fashion blogs, the ones that keep me coming back are lifestly blogs with a smaller fashion component. I was thinking of bringing back Wardrobe Wednesdays and including my own outfit along with Sylvie's. One outfit post a week and that's about it.
As far as giveaways are concerned, I don't enjoy them either. I get a few offers via email a week to host one and almost always reply that I am not interested. If I do host one it has to be for a product I really believe in that I think my readers would take interest in. I also prefer to link up with small businesses on this.
I would be happy to include more vegetarian recipes (or at least offer veg substitutions) if that would interest you.
Thank you so much for the kind words and your helpful response!

[Dana]

oh....and I'm on blogspot and absolutely love it! There is so much you can do as far as design and creating something that meets your needs!

[Dana]

Love your blog...you know....I've been following you pretty much from the beginning! I love lifestyle blogs....because like Randalin said...we as mothers are also are own people and I love reading about everything.
But I also agree that fashion and give aways....well...not so much. I think your weekly wednesday is really cute and you should keep doing that!

[Randalin]

I think it's totally natural for a baby blog to branch into a lifestyle blog as our babies get older. The first few months of our babe's lives totally consume us and so of course all we want to do is write about them, post pictures of them, and share them with everyone! But somewhere along the line we realize that we're still people, not just mom's! I will totally keep reading and enjoying your blog :)

[sara]

Thank you so much! I think you're absolutely correct. It is a fairly natural evolution for a blog like this. At least, this next step feels pretty organic to me. :)

[sara]

Thanks so much for the advice, Dana! I really appreciate your input.

[Rin]

I will keep reading. I love your blog.

I think Sylvie is very sweet and love reading about her but the rest of your life seem so vibrant and interesting that I don't think you could stop it popping out.

I love your recipies. You are such a trendy cooker.

[sara]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I swear my life, like most bloggers, is much more mundane than I make it look!
Thanks for the compliment on my cooking. I have approximately 1/20 of a culinary degree! Ha!

[amber]

Hi there!
I don't think I've ever left a comment on your blog but have been a follower for awhile now (sorry for being a "lurker"). I can only speak for myself but I like your blog because you seem like an interesting person with interesting things to say so it would be great to see more of what interests you and especially your creative work! I mean, you'll still be "mommy blogging" because you're a mommy and showing more of your lifestyle won't change that!

[kim]

my blog started out as a forum for my race reports...bor-ing.
I just write what I want, post pics of what I want if it piques anybody's interest, great...
I often wonder how many people check in or even enjoy it, but at the end of the day, I'm happy to have a place to put it all together.
I want to see posts about Sylvie, I want to see what you guys are wearing what you're making/eating/creating...
variety is good!
maybe even a little background...what you were like as a kid, etc.
just keep doing what you're doing :)

[katy]

Come over to Tumblr! Very customizable and I love the interface. I'm experimenting with some blog changes soon, too. I like posts about life and feel they have a place, too. In my opinion having a personal blog and a separate baby blog, as some people do, doesn't make sense, because everything is too entertwined. Good luck!

[sara]

Thanks so much for the feedback! Lurkers are always welcome. ;)

[sara]

Kimbo! You gotta get yo'self a Google Analytics account. Thank you for all of your suggestions. See you in less than a week!

[sara]

I agree with you that having two separate blogs makes no sense unless you want one to be strictly professional or something. I've looked into Tumblr as a platform, but their servers always seem to be having issues. I know a blogger who lost her entire archives to one of their malfunctions! That said, I know people who love it, too. Thanks for the response!