July Spotlight - Brittney

Well it's that time again... that time to spotlight another awesome blogger. For my eighth feature, I thought I'd ask Brittney some questions. She's funny and always takes such interesting photos. She wrote a running feature for me before too.

Where did the name of your blog come from?
It’s a very creative (yep) spinoff of my personal/family blog entitled…wait for it… “A Day in the Life.”

When did you start your blog? Have you ever had any other blogs before? 
I started style blogging in December 2010, but I’ve had my personal blog for years.

What is the main goal of your blog? 
To show what a normal girl (let’s just go with “normal” for argument’s sake, shall we?), with normal clothes and a normal life, wears.

Did the intent or content of your blog change since you started? 
I don’t think so, not a ton. I started out wanting to wear everything in my closet, because I had so much I didn’t like and/or never wore, and I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need to go buy all new stuff like I wanted to. I still try to focus on wearing what I own, being creative, and merging my personal style with my lifestyle. And limiting my consumption of pnut m&ms. Guess where I’m failing miserably?...

How many hours per week would you say you spend blogging? 
I’d guess about 3-4 hours a week. Much less during the spring/summer than winter. Because I’m 5 years old and want to be outside playing in the sprinkler.

Do you spend more time reading blogs than you do writing your own blog?
Not usually, no. I love reading blogs, don’t get me wrong, but with three young kids and a hundred other things to take care of every day, I’m afraid that’s one thing that rapidly moves down the ToDo list. Unforch
.

How many blogs do you read on a daily basis?
I don’t read any one blog faithfully every day. I’m more of a weekly/monthly check-in kinda girl.

Do people email you often because they read your blog? 
Absolutely, if by “often” we all understand that I mean “sure, I’ve been emailed at least once on a topic that may or may not have been blog-related.” Okay, FINE, sure. Some peeps have emailed me, and I love it.

Do you communicate with a lot of your readers via email/IM? 
No; most of my communication is via Twitter or Disqus commenting.

What is your inspiration?
Honestly? Lately it’s my 5-year-old daughter. She’s a fearless color- and pattern-mixer and has her own fabulous sense of style. I adore her and what she chooses to wear, and I’m inspired by her individuality expressed in her everyday clothing combinations.

What is your favorite picture (of you, others, or scenery) that you have taken recently? 
There’s a pic of my 2-year-old daughter, looking very expressionless yet geeky, in her yellow swimsuit and bright pink swim goggles that is awesome. I made it the header of my personal blog, actually. Check it out here if you’d like.

What post are you most proud of?  Did it get the most hits? 
Hmmm. Great question. I don’t know that I have a single favorite/pride-evoking post. Certain parts of certain posts make me laugh still, but I think I’m most proud of the fact that I blog almost every day with real-life outfits and real-life (albeit often lame) commentary.

[Interviewer’s inevitable next question: So, you’re saying you’re proud of being lame?]

Yes. Apparently I am.

How do you juggle all your competing priorities and still have time to blog? 
I typically blog during naptime or after bedtime. Or after I’ve locked my children in their respective soundproof cages for the day and have poured myself a refreshing glass of ice-cold lemonade.

What is one interesting fact you’d like to share about yourself? 
I pretend (even to myself) like I’m really easy-going and laid-back, but usually I’m masking a ticking time-bomb of stress. Is that weird? Yes? Oh. Nuts. But before you go to prescribe me anti-anxiety meds, let me just say: I’m getting better at chillaxing. Pinky swear.

What made you sign up to run a marathon the day after you graduated high school? (You previously mentioned doing it on my blog.) 
I was young and stupid. Actually, it wasn’t an official marathon. It was me and one of my friends who discovered a marathon-training route around our area; we really really wanted to run a marathon, but we were busy or going our separate ways during the rest of the summer. Then after that it’s college and blah blah blah… Anyway, long story short, that post-graduation Saturday was the only day we could do fit it in to the foreseeable future.

Seriously a bad idea, though, because we had zero sleep the night before (graduation party) and no aid stations (except for another friend who we called, maybe collect, from a payphone in desperation to bring us snacks). I hadn’t even eaten breakfast that day. Like I said. Young and stupid. But mostly stupid.

What is your next running goal? 
I just finished Ragnar (you can read a short synopsis here). I’m doing a half marathon in July, but after that, it’s up in the air. I’d love to do a 1-miler with my 6-year-old sometime this summer. And another 5k with my non-running husband. But mostly, I want to just keep running to stay in shape…and counterbalance the consumption of the sugary crap I’m addicted to.

How many days a week do you run/train? How long does this take? 
I run 4-5 days a week casually, 5-6 days when I’m training for something. Mostly it’s about 45 minutes a day except for one longer run on Saturday. I’m embarrassed about saying this, though…I’m lame about training these days and need to do better at taking it seriously.

Thanks for the interview, Colleen! Happy July, everyone. J

If you haven't done so already, head on over to see what JoAnn has to say at A Day in the Life Too...