Packing Queen

Tomorrow, I’m going to New York City for an entire week. A trip this long would typically mean lots of packing stress for me, but this time, things went a lot more smoothly.

Before I attempted to pack anything, I planned my outfits on paper, which worked out quite nicely. It really helped get my thoughts (aka outfits) in order. Otherwise, I’d pack a whole bunch of clothing and have “nothing to wear” when I got to my destination.

It may not look it, but the mess on my bed is actually somewhat organized!

So, all of this…

Turned into a nice, neat suitcase in less than 30 minutes, thanks to a little pre-planning.

Woohoo! I’m a packing queen!

I refuse to check luggage when I fly, but since I’m traveling by train to NYC, I decided to take my BIG suitcase for the week. Now, I have room for BlogHer swag!

While I packed, the pug snoozed on Mal’s lap.

I swear, this dog can sleep just about anywhere.

And check out what came in the mail for me today: Larabars!!! But, not just any Larabars… the NEW flavors, including the carrot cake bar, which I’ve been dying to try! Thank you, Brittany and Andi!

Of course, I immediately broke into the carrot cake Larabar. I loved it!

Lunch

I considered making a big, healthy salad for lunch, but leftover buffalo chicken pizza won me over. In my world: buffalo chicken pizza > salad.

After lunch, I broke into my Larabar stash once again and tried the Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor. Everyone has been raving about it lately, so I was curious to try it for myself.

All I have to say is oh my. This bar really, truly tastes like cookie dough. I will be buying a lot more of these in the future.

Answers to Your Questions

I loved reading everyone’s stories about quitting their jobs. Quite a few of you had inspiring stories that led to bigger and better things. So cool!

Here are my responses to your questions from this morning:

When you were researching, did you come across any jobs in the field that don’t require an RD or Nutrition degree? If so, could you please give me some examples?

I’m not an RD and I don’t have a Nutrition degree, so I didn’t consider jobs that required either of these qualifications. Instead, I looked for marketing and social media jobs in the health and fitness fields.

When did you notice people starting to take your blog seriously (as in career-wise)?

I’m not really sure, but I started to take my blog more seriously about a year into writing it. I really enjoyed blogging and my readership continued to grow every month, so I started to see a future career in blogging.

How did you go about writing articles for various websites?

Most websites contact me to write pieces for them and I rarely turn down an opportunity to get my name out there. I do a lot of writing for free!

My gig with Health was 100% luck and good timing! I emailed Health to inquire about some freelance work and, at the same time, they were looking for someone, who lost weight and maintained it, to contribute to their Feel Great Weight program. A few of the Health editors were readers of my blog, so I think that helped too!

Do you earn money primarily off website ads? Writing articles for NuVal? Or are there other tricks of the trade?

I have multiple sources of income. My full-time job is blogging for Carrots ‘N’ Cake, which is part of the Foodbuzz community. I earn money as a Featured Publisher by displaying Foodbuzz ads on the main page of my blog. I also write another blog called Trading Up Downtown for NuVal. In addition, I write a weekly feature for Health.com as part of their Feel Great Weight program and I promote events online and via social media for a local fine wines company.

As far as tricks of the trade, my best advice is to work your connections and don’t turn down opportunities to get your name out there. You never know where you might find your next gig!

I know bloggers never want to say how much money they make, but I really want to know if you can get to a point that it really is a good source of money?  And how much can I expect to make? Are we talking $100 or $1000 or what?

Blogging can definitely be a good source of money. I’m not comfortable revealing any specific numbers, but I make enough money to live comfortably. I’m also really good with money and know how to stretch a dollar, so it works for me.

If you weren’t married, would you be able to make it all work – pay rent, all your bills, etc.? Could you do what you’re doing know without another income coming in?

Yes, absolutely. Mal doesn’t financially support me in any way. We split all of our financial responsibilities 50/50. Of course, if one of us lost our job or couldn’t work, things would change. When I quit my full-time job, I made sure that my blog and various part-time gigs were enough to support myself.

Tagged as: Larabar new flavors, Packing