Posts in Keeping It Simple
New Endeavor.

Life is moving forward.I felt like it was time for a change - to leave Refined Sugar in my Chicago world and move forward with a new adventure.I want to do photography. There I said it. I want to take pictures of people, moments that are real, and create images that cozy up to you. I'm afraid - I'm afraid that people will think I'm not good enough, that I'm just another "lady with a camera", that my art will be disqualified as a hobby.And I want to write. I have post upon post in my drafts that just didn't really feel right on here. In my last post, the wheels were turning in my head - keep it simple. Fresh. Real.So if you want to come along with me on this photography+blogging journey: join me over here.www.aliciasturdy.com or aliciasturdy.wordpress.com (for your RSS feed)And if you want to hire me: holla back.hello@aliciasturdy.com

keeping it simple

Driving home after dinner the other night with a friend, the talk turned from babies, jobs, design, and clothes to blogs. Why are blogs so hard to write? Should posts be personal? Do they need a focus? What should it be? What should mine be? What is interesting? Will people read it? Do I care?All these questions came up unanswered as we turned in the driveway - but I could tell ideas were reeling through each of our heads.I get the feeling food blogs might be a bit of old news - something that peaked with the last theater showing of Julie & Julia before Redbox, and took on a whole new identity with the birth of Pinterest "food" boards. There are much easier, quicker, cut-around-the-personal-blah ways of accessing recipes online. But is that why we read food blogs? Is that why we write food blogs?My idea really took flight on my lunch break today. I have been coming home for lunch (I work a mere 5 highway miles away from my office) in an effort to save money, and save my waistline by cooking my own healthy meals at lunch. Today, I decided to make a quick "breakfast burrito". Andrew is usually the scrambled egg maker in residence, but with him out of town  - I was left to my own devices. As I stood stirring my stringy, dry scrambled eggs at the stove (frustrated to no end) I felt defeated. My list of "easy things I can't make" only has really contained Chocolate Chip Cookies until today (true fact). Adding scrambled eggs to that list made question -  I am so willing to dive right into roasting my first whole chicken last week, creating my own spice blends and combinations of my favorite dishes...why do I not take this on with the same gusto I do when making those?SO - back to basics. No, I'm not going all Ina Garten on you (yet)...but back to the beginning of how to really cook. I sat down to eat my scrambled egg mush and pulled two cookbooks off the shelf - first, How to Boil Water and second, How to Cook. Recipe by recipe I'm going to make each one - no matter how simple, no matter how complicated. No matter how many dishes (sorry Andrew), no matter the left overs. And maybe I'll even throw my own little twist into each dish!So if you'd like to join me, cook along with me - let me know! Let's learn how to cook!