Blogger Spotlight: Home Ec 101

Inspired by my recent interview with the folks over at Shakadoo, I thought it would be great fun to feature some of my very favorite bloggers. If you don’t get an email from me and really want to be featured here, please email me at [email protected] and I will send you some questions.

I was so excited when my favorite blogging gal, Miss Ivy, emailed me to request an interview. She is one of my absolute favorite bloggers. I love her tongue in cheek humor and fun writing style that she offers to her readers. Until I did this interview, I actually didn’t realize that I had been reading all of her blogs and never realized that they all were written by her. What talent! I don’t know how in the heck she does it, as I struggle to keep up with my little corner over here.

In this interview, Ivy shares the scoop on Home Ec 101. If you haven’t visited this blog, go TODAY! Run over there! It is an awesome blog and I love the fifties feel to it. It shares all the tips you wish your momma taught you (or she did teach you and you just didn’t listen!)

Tell me a little bit about your blog and how you came to the decision to begin blogging?

I originally started blogging on LiveJournal on the auspicious date of April 22, 2003. I just started blogging on LJ because all my friends were, and I wanted to be one of the cool kids. I started reading NashvilleIsTalking.com in May of 2005 and started up my blog at blogspot shortly thereafter. After fits and starts, I got really involved during the time of Katrina, and have been blogging my tushie off both personally and professionally ever since.

I’m currently blogging in 5 different places- my personal blog, the badbadivy experience; the mommy blog, Love Shak, Baby; the gardening blog, ShakYard; the home improvement/DIY blog, Curbly; and the crowning glory of my personal achievement, Home-Ec 101.
Home-Ec 101 is an advice-style blog that takes a sassy look at the ins and outs of housework. My partner Heather and I cover cooking, cleaning, pet problems, and any other random question that comes our way.

I see you work with another blogger on this blog? Do you live close to each other or are just cyber buddies that decided to pool your talents?

Heather and I are women of many talents, but it’s just the two of us blogging at Home-Ec 101. Heather and I met on an AOL message board while we were both pregnant with our three year olds. I was talking to a mutual friend in an IM about how I thought one of the women posting on the message board was totally faking her pregnancy, and the mutual friend told me I needed to meet Heather, because she thought the same thing. I IMed Heather the next time I saw her online and we’ve been best pals ever since.Heather lives in South Carolina and I live in Tennessee. Heather and I are each other’s Motel 6 when we’re in each other’s area.(Heather says like Motel 6, but without the bugs) Who needs room service when you have friends to crash with?

Do your friends and family know about your blog or are you living a double life?

Most of my friends are bloggers, so they know all about my blogging activities. My family knows about my blogging, but they don’t tend to read, which is great- I can talk about them as badly as I would like. Of course, when I do start talking badly about them is the instant they get a wild hair and decide to read my blog, so it’s a double-edged sword.

What are your favorite things to do when you are not blogging?

I enjoy reading about blogging, reading other bloggers, hanging out with bloggers, planning blogger parties and playing video games. Sadly, there aren’t any video games about blogging.

Since you ladies give out so many tips, what is your favorite tip that you have shared and what makes it your favorite?

I love the post I wrote about doing things imperfectly. It’s really easy to get caught up in the vast details of life and end up doing nothing because we want to get things right.

What do you want people to come away with when they read your blog?

If people read our blog and come away with some tiny piece of information they didn’t know before, we’re happy. If people do that *and* are entertained at the same time, we’re deliriously happy.

Who are your idols?

This is going to sound random, but Oprah Winfrey and Willie Nelson are my heroes. Oprah because she is a strong woman who has overcome many odds to come out on top, and Willie Nelson because he makes absolutely no apologies for being who he is. Plus, I love his music, and I’m not a big fan of country music.

How do you separate your blogging life from your real life?

I really don’t. Nashville has a really cohesive blogging community, so most of my local friends bloggers. This makes my life tend to revolve around blogging. Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Published May 14, 2007 by:

Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com. You can read all about her here.

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