Cross Blog Conversation With Kathryn from Diary of a Smart Chick – Day Four

By The Steady Hand on February 1st, 2012 22 views

This week I’m doing a cross-blog conversation with Kathryn from Diary of a Smart Chick. You probably know Kathryn from Crochet Concupiscence which I have mentioned on my blog before. Kathryn is also the blogger behind Diary of a Smart Chick which is pretty much about everything minus crochet. Each day we will be asking and answering questions to each other on our blogs.

Keep Up with the Conversation

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

Kathryn,

I have seen that book about the Stairway Walks in San Francisco. I think it would be so cool to visit each one and take a picture like the one in the book and make an album.

We were there in 2003. I can’t remember much about the specific places except for the ones I have pictures of.

This picture was taken by the pier, I believe. I remember a lot of these guys.

I don't remember what this place was called but it was beautiful! There was a trolley parked on the road nearby and I remember taking a picture on it but it must not have turned out good because I can't find it. One thing we didn't do was ride a trolley - need to go back and do that!

Of course, Fisherman's Wharf! We ate a lot of seafood while we were in San Francisco, that's for sure.

These guys are a hoot!

I don’t have any pictures but I specifically remember going to Pier 39. I am pretty sure we walked through a museum, did some sort of mirror maze and we visited the aquarium. It was a lot of fun.

That was 2003, in 2004 we traveled to Belize and Guatemala. From then until now, we have been to Hawaii, Maine, Upper Michigan, Greece, London, D.C., Chicago, Martha’s Vineyard, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee. We have been to over 20 different states total. Our goal is to visit 50 states and at least 20 different countries. Where have you traveled to? Which one was your favorite?

Wow – you were young! Especially to take care of tweens and teens. I have thought a lot about becoming a foster parent or adopting a child. It was something I brought up to my husband before we decided to have a child of our own. For me, there are too many children out there without families to take care of them. In the end we decided having our own child was what we both wanted. I have much respect for people who adopt and foster children. I think it would be great to foster or adopt a group of siblings. It is better to keep the family together!

When I was younger (a teenager), children were not on my to-do list. After my husband and I got married and settled down the subject of having a child came up. My husband was not too very keen on the idea at first but once it was brought up…it was a topic that just wouldn’t go away. We debated over it for a long time. In the end, we both wanted to have at least one and so we did. I will not be having anymore children. Right now, we are both set at “no more children” but if that changes in the future we will adopt or foster like you did. Being pregnant and giving birth was not something I would like to repeat again.

You love it too? My husband calls me a cheap eater. I can live off of Ramen and Steamed White Rice…don’t get me started on Spam! Vietnamese….nom nom. I could eat Pho at least once a week too (with meatballs/beef balls).

I haven’t been to Arizona before. Yeah, I can imagine that everything else is better there. You actually have a Japanese person making Japanese food. Here you can never be too sure.

Revenge is pretty awesome! There is always a new twist or new character appearing in each episode. My only issue is that sometimes it reminds me of a Soap Opera, some parts are very cheesy. I still love it though.

Sponsors for my blog are a hit or miss. Sometimes I have them and sometimes I don’t. There are a couple of things that I have done to make it known that I would like sponsors for my blog:

- I created a Media Kit with prices for different media and sponsor packages.

- I created a Team on Etsy to promote my blog. On my team, I give discounted prices to Etsy shops and team members if they are interested in sponsoring my blog. I also offer free advertising to fill up Sponsor spots if I am really low.

When I say sponsor, I mean anything from buying ad space, donating an item for review/giveaway, purchasing a sponsored post or one of my larger media packages. I am very thankful to my sponsors as they are the reason that I can afford to keep The Steady Hand going. I don’t make a lot…just enough to cover my hosting and domain fees for the year. If I make some extra money, it is funny because I will buy items from my smaller sponsors. I consider myself in a community with the more personal smaller blogs and handmade shops. I like to promote and support the community.

To tell the truth, I don’t spend a lot of time looking for sponsors. I spent a good amount of time creating my Media Kit and I do spend about an hour each week taking part in my Etsy team. But other than that I do not actively send out emails to companies or anything like that. My information is there and if someone comes across my blog and likes what they see they can contact me.

Questions for Kathryn:

Where have you traveled to? Which one was your favorite?
What are some restaurants or places you would recommend to someone visiting Arizona?
Do you prefer to fly when you travel or do you stay on the ground (bus, train, car)?
What type of music do you like to listen to?

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