Motherly Law
Attorney, wife, mother: Anna has many hats. As the writer behind Motherly Law, blogger is one of them. She went to law school at the University of Oklahoma and is licensed to practice in that state. Currently, she is a stay-at-home mom taking care of her husband, two young tots, two large dogs, and three cats. She works full-time from home as an independent contractor. Through the Motherly Law blog, she shares a bit of motherly and legal advice with her readers. On Mondays, she posts a legal topic affecting families; Wednesdays are tips and links that pertain to Monday’s post; and on Friday’s, she shares her best advice as mom.
What inspired you to start the Motherly Law blog?
The idea of blogging first presented itself to me in March of 2009 when a friend sent me a post from Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project blog about setting monthly goals or resolutions. One of the resolutions was to start a blog. The idea struck me as a good one and stuck with me. I just didn’t know what I wanted to blog about. Then, in January of 2010, it came to me. Why not combine what I do and know: laws and parenting.
I am not very technical and knew nothing about blogging. So, for 2 months I was on a crash course of learning about the blogosphere and social media, in general. Then, I launched on March 1, 2010. Motherly Law was received well, and has continued to gain readers. I am so appreciative of those that have spread the word and come back week after week to read.
Many people blog for different reasons. What is your ultimate goal as a blogger?
I strive to inform parents about legal issues that affect kids, parents and/or families while offering a few entertaining anecdotes from the chaotic life of a work-at-home mom of two spirited boys. So far, I have tackled issues like the importance of wills and trusts; bike helmet laws; new environmental laws; divorce; the USDA definitions of organic v. natural foods; the laws and hazards of texting while driving and many others.
What do you hope readers take away from reading Motherly Law blog?
I hope that parents will feel they have a better understanding about the laws and issues surrounding these topics. I hope that they feel empowered to take action when warranted, and don’t feel intimidated by legal issues and attorneys. I have had people tell me that they have stopped texting or using their phone while driving or started buying organic or checking for BPA in products because of my posts on those topics. That makes me feel that Motherly Law does make a difference, and that makes me feel good. I also hope that readers are entertained by my crazy antics and paranoid tales of being a lawyer mom.
How has blogging changed your life?
I have learned so much about the blogosphere and social media in the few short months that I have been blogging, and I still have so much more to learn. I had certainly never tweeted before I started blogging. I even have a Smartphone now for even more social media access no matter where I am. I have also really enjoyed the creative release and self exploration that I have experienced with posting 3 times a week. I have always enjoyed writing, but most of my writing for the past 13 years has been in the legal realm, which does not allow too much creativity. Another unforeseen, but fortunate result of blogging has been meeting so many other inspiring, funny, wonderful bloggers, whether in person here in the Twin Cities or online through Twitter and other social media outlets.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading and why? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
I really like The Daily Fuss; DGVE Law; LetterSoup; and a million others that I stumble upon, but can’t think of right now.
There really are some great local blogs. I enjoy Grow with Graces; The Snyder 5; Pink Vanilla Cupcakes; Mom Culture; and Kate in the Kitchen.
You are a transplant from Texas, a very different place than here. What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota that you didn’t experience in Texas?
My DH and I love the Twin Cities. We have been here for 7 years now, and plan to stay for the remainder of our days. It’s such a culturally diverse environment offering wonderful restaurants, museums, art centers, music, parks, activities for each season of the year, etc. We love to go to Lake Harriet for a walk, a concert, a picnic and some ice cream – that is my perfect summer night. And I love that this is a regular part of my kids’ lives.
What is your biggest blog-related goal for 2010?
My goals for Motherly Law for 2010 are basic: I want to continue to post 3 times a week for the whole year; I want to continue to gain new readers, while keeping my current readers; and I endeavor to keep my readers interested and coming back for more – and hope they share it with their friends too.
Prior Fat Girl
July 20, 2010 by Sara · 2 Comments
Jennifer, a Prior Fat Girl, grew up overweight. She had always been on diets, even though she was only moderately heavy in high school. After moving out on her own, however, she eventually ate herself to an all time highest weight of 240 pounds. Starting in August of 2007, she fought, kicked and cried her way through losing more than 90 pounds. She wanted to loss a total of 100 pounds by August 1st, 2009, but the day before weigh-in her mother died tragically and unexpectedly. Jen experienced a backslide as she ate to numb the pain and gained back 10 pounds. Realizing her mom would be devastated if Jen allowed her death to be the reason she gained back the weight, she determined she had to deal with her emotional eating or her weight loss goals would be sabotaged. Now, Jen continues to learn how to live a healthy life and shares it with her readers, no sugar coating included.
What was the inspiration behind starting the Prior Fat Girl blog?
I had never heard of blogging before I started, in July of 2008. A co-worker, who lived a couple states away, mentioned I should start blogging so that she could keep up with things I was doing on my journey. I did…but initially didn’t tell anyone. I came up with the title, Prior Fat Girl, to signify who I was—and that my past is an important piece in who I am today.
I never started the blog to “inspire” or “motivate” others—but more so to help me with everything I was going through. I quickly realized that blogging (which is just writing) is so therapeutic. There is something about writing down your thoughts as they come that helps mentally work things out.
How has blogging changed your life?
Blogging has changed my life in so many ways. First, it has given me a sense of power. I can wake up one day in a foul mood, write a post and find myself in a much better place because I wrote my way through whatever I was experiencing. I am confident if it weren’t for blogging my way through my healthiness journey, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.
Blogging has also changed my life in that I have found myself surrounded by amazing people who help to encourage my healthy habits. I love all of my readers and would not hesitate to ask any of them for a place to stay, should I find myself in their city. Because of the motivation they get from me, I get it in return when I see them motivated. It’s like a self-fulfilling circle.
Blogging is a big time commitment – what makes it worth it to you?
I sure do spend a lot of time in blog world—as in up to 30 hours a week. Because I get so much therapy from the writing side of blogging, that in itself, makes it worth it. However, knowing that by sharing my frustrations and experiences helps others to feel like they aren’t alone also keeps me going. This whole healthiness journey is flippin’ tough. And there were so many times when I was bigger, or even while I was in weight loss mode, that I would look at “skinny” people and think about how easy it was for them. Sharing my journey so that others know that it isn’t easy makes it worth it to me—to let readers know they aren’t alone.
Frequently, I receive emails from readers who share their personal stories. I love that people reach out to me and confirm that by me sharing my story, they have been able to stand up and fight for their own story.
What advice would you give to those who are struggling their weight or physical fitness?
As cliché as it sounds, never give up. No one does anything over night. Weight loss is not about one magical thing you do that changes your life. Being healthy is about doing a lot of little things all together, over and over again. And over and over again. You can’t just do it for 2 weeks and expect to get “there” because there is no “there.” It is about doing things for years and years. Quite a long time, I know—but realize this: weight loss is not a temporary thing. You have to be healthy for the rest of your life.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading and why? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
I love reading Marisa at Loser for Life and Syl at LIVE, SMILE, RUN. Locally, I enjoy Norwego at Tight Sleeves and Lisa Marie at The Broad Broad’s Expedition into the World of Weight Loss.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
As sad as this sounds, I am just now (in the past year) adventuring outside and seeing what Minneapolis & St. Paul have to offer. Although I grew up here, I never really got out to spend time outside. I’m probably the last person to figure this out, but there are so many amazing trails and little outdoorsy places to hang out, right here in the city!
What is your biggest blog-related goal for 2010?
My biggest goal for the blog in 2010 is to work on it really push through some of the emotional barriers & struggles in weight loss and to utilize the blog (and writing) to do so. I have the power at my keyboard (er, fingertips) to really fight through some of this stuff. My goal is to really fight through all of that because in the end, weight loss & being healthy isn’t just about losing weight but about all the mental crap that is behind it. The blog, well, that is my vehicle so stay tuned!
Café Cyan
July 13, 2010 by Sara · 2 Comments
Crystal Grobe is a local food writer who truly enjoys making new dishes using fresh and local ingredients. She created Café Cyan in 2006 as a means by which to share recipes and inspire others to try new foods. Although she likes trying new restaurants for inspiration, the best dishes come from her own kitchen. She enjoys cooking with her husband, Ryan, and sharing not only new dishes they’ve tried, but their adventures with food. In early 2009, she created a second food blog at WCCO called Bite of Minnesota, which focuses on local food in Minnesota and the surrounding area. Although she is are not a vegetarian, healthy food is important to Crystal and she tends to experiment with many vegan and vegetarian recipes. Food is a passion and Crystal does her best to try to spread that passion around.
What inspired you to start the Café Cyan blog?
I started Café Cyan because I was inspired by other bloggers who were beautifully documenting their meals. For years I had been keeping track of dinners in my planner, but felt the visual of having it recorded in blog form would be such a better way to keep track of what we were eating and share it with others.
How has blogging changed your life?
Blogging has been a fantastic outlet to express my creativity and passion for food and has opened so many doors to new friendships, career paths, and ideas. I never imagined the name Café Cyan would be known by anyone outside of my family or that I’d be introducing myself as Café Cyan at social events (although I think Twitter is responsible for that one). I lost my corporate job over a year ago and because of blogging, my life never skipped a beat. I immersed myself in blogging at Café Cyan, WCCO, and Twin Cities Food Finds and I’m having a blast!
What was one of the first things you learned to cook?
The first thing I remember cooking is rice. As a kid we always had rice in the house and I would create different rice dishes using whatever we had in the pantry and fridge. A favorite of mine was rice with teeny tiny broccoli florets and lemon pepper spices. In college I moved onto spaghetti (from a box!). My dorm mates loved it.
Without taking into account nutritional needs, if you could eat one food everyday, what food would you choose and why?
Pizza! I love pizza and eat it way too much already, but there’s just something about cheese, tomato sauce and carbs that keep calling my name day after day. Plus, there are so many things you can do with pizza and if you put enough veggies on it, pizza can be somewhat healthy, right??
What other blogs do you enjoy reading and why? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
Nationally I read a couple of reality TV blogs: B-Side and Reality Blurred, but food related has to be 101 Cookbooks, Vegan Yum Yum, & Get Sconed.
Locally, I love reading Food Snob as Catherine is one of the bloggers who inspired me to start blogging. She’s honest, down to earth, and makes great food.
I also read Fork, Knife & Spoon. Kate is a friend of mine who does beautiful photography. She doesn’t blog as often as I’d like (hint hint), but I eat it up when she does.
Not to be confused with Food Snob, Food Snobbery is My Hobbery is another great blog. Liz does a lot of canning and preserving and has some great ideas.
For recipe inspiration and ideas, I also visit Swell, Rhymes with Vegan, and Green & Lean.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
Oh my gosh, what’s not to love? For the longest time I tried to escape the Twin Cities, but kept finding myself back here. Blogging helped me embrace all that we have to offer and the Twin Cities offers a lot! We have gorgeous seasons, plentiful farmers markets, and innovative people and companies. It is a wonderful place to live.
What is your biggest blog-related goal for 2010?
I need to redesign my blog and add some neat widgets. I can’t seem to figure it out on my own, so I need to find outside help.
Yes and Yes
July 7, 2010 by Sara · 2 Comments
Yes and Yes is a lifestyle blog written by Sarah Von. She created Yes and Yes because she wanted to offer the world a blog that was funny, smart, and filled with a variety of content. And she has accomplished just that! From haikus about public transportation to posts about cats wearing vests to instructions on how to become a grown up, she really has touched on a variety of subjects. The topics she covers reflect her eclectic character. Her unique view of the world partly has to do with the fact that she has traveled it far and wide, from trekking through the tiny villages and mountains of rural Bolivia to teaching English to children in Taiwan. Sarah is one of the few who truly follows her heart. Through the Yes and Yes blog, she tries to inspire readers to follow their hearts, too: To live a life that works for them and have the courage to say “Yes!”‘ to the things that make them happy.
What inspired you to start the Yes and Yes blog?
I am a total internet addict. I’ve been reading blogs for years and years but found myself a bit frustrated that so many were topic specific: only fashion, only self development, only design, only humor. I wanted to read a blog that covered all of these topics with humor and intelligence. I couldn’t find a blog like that, so I did my best to build one myself!
See also: I lack the attention span to write about only one topic, five days a week.
What is the biggest challenge you face when creating new content for the blog?
Finding the time! I work full time, design products for Yes and Yes, and I’m in the process of planning an eight month, six country trip. Because Yes and Yes has such varied content, I can validate writing about almost anything under the sun, but it’s not always easy to find the time to do that.
What do you hope readers take away from reading Yes and Yes?
I hope they’re inspired by the ideas that they see there and the other amazing readers. I want them to realize that they can absolutely live life on their own terms – whether that’s working for the corner office in a career that they love, homeschooling kids out in the country or quitting your job and backpacking around the world. You make your own rules.
How has blogging changed your life?
Professionally: I’ve met heaps of amazing people. Yes and Yes readers are such a lovely, amazing, clever people – the world feels like a smaller and friendlier place knowing that so many like-minded people are our there. Professionally: it’s opening up many, many doors for me. One of my posts was translated into Greek and published in the Greek edition of Glamour magazine. Yes and Yes mentioned in the Malaysian edition of Cleo magazine.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
I love Already Pretty, Beauty Bets, High Plains Thrifter and Unicorns for Socialism.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
I love the arts scene, all the music venues, the lakes, the cultural diversity! I used to live in Taiwan and now I work in Frogtown – I love that I can buy all my favorite Asian treats here in St. Paul.
What is your biggest blog-related goal for 2010?
I’d like to start carrying ads on my site and sell out of the ‘Year in Yes’ calendars again. This year I’ll have more printed!
