tiffin unboxed

Thoughts After A Year of Blogging

Apparently most bloggers quit within a year.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the day I started this site. To celebrate passing that hump and 69 published posts, here are some thoughts to update my initial first Introduction post. And so you're not drowning in text, I'm interspersing photos I took of some beautiful locations in my neighborhood.

To begin writing I picked a date I would easily remember, in this case, my late father's birthday. Doing something positive on an otherwise sad day always helps balance things for me, and I know he would have enjoyed this site.

The Colorado Bridge - Pasadena, CA

This blog is more of a 'lifestyle' blog with food as the focus. The surprise was that it began with an intention to document my mother's authentic recipes, and evolved more into sharing my foodie experiences - not many restaurant reviews, but experiences I enjoyed.

Colorado Bridge - Pasadena, CA

The recipe part is still a goal. However logistics have prevented me from starting that piece. It involves aligning my schedule with my mother's, her having time to do a demo or brain dump about her cooking, me re-creating the recipe at home - cooking, photographing in good light, quantifying and writing the recipe.

With our 'day' jobs, it's been more challenging than I thought. And I might rethink this as a more cohesive body of work that I slowly make progress on but compile together. It doesn't lend itself to quick blog posts. Rest assured, I am still working on it in the background and it will emerge when it's ready.

In the meantime, to get my feet wet, I might do a few quick and easy posts on cooking recipes or simple techniques.

The Colorado Bridge - Pasadena, CA

As far as traveling and gardening, both made appearances as posts, which I enjoyed creating and still plan to devote a small portion of posts to this area. Even Mad Men made it on as a post, and probably will again.

Because of the home projects, time for other design work slips through the cracks for now.Working on the always-in-progress house projects takes up most of my free (i.e. non-work) time and because I'm so immersed in it, I decided not to extend that time by writing more about it. Okay, so I'm a Libra and obsessed with balance.

Old water tank in the fog - South Pasadena, CA

The design I'd like to incorporate is also something on the back burner because I haven't been able to carve out time or the right mindset to pursue those types of projects. Especially with not being totally unpacked at home.

This past weekend, a longtime friend was visiting from Canada. We have been in touch over the years but had not seen each other for 20+ years. He's been to L.A. several times and didn't need to sight-see. Being a fellow foodie I struggled with choosing the perfect culinary experiences.

Eventually I realized that the the focus of our time together was catching up and having fun. So instead we went to places that were new to both of us and took the gamble. I struck out to some extent on meal picks, but that is not what each of us will remember about the visit, I'm sure.

Palm trees in the fog - South Pasadena, CA

The common wisdom for bloggers is to focus on a niche to differentiate oneself. Well I'm not a niche person.

Writing and photography serve as great creative outlets and I don't want to pressure or limit myself into finding a 'voice'. I'd like to keep exploring what inspires me to write about, letting the voice develop over time. Like with my friend, let's explore new things together.

Trees in the fog - South Pasadena, CA

I invite you again to continue with me through this journey, continue the dialog, give your feedback on what you like and don't like. We shall see where things take us by next year, same date!