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#AskAwayFriday with Nellie from Brooklyn Active Mama

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Welcome back to #AskAwayFriday! This is a chance for bloggers to connect and learn more about each other. To see who else is participating or get more information about joining in the fun, head over to visit Penny from The Real Housewife of Caroline County and/or Amber from The Bold Fab Mom…they came up with #AskAwayFriday!

#AskAwayFriday with Brooklyn Active Mama

This week I am teaming up with Nellie from Brooklyn Active Mama. Nellie was one of my first blog friends. I met her through the SITS Girls. I went to a mini bloggy boot camp in New York City, and Nellie was actually sitting a couple tables over, saw me tweeting that I was there, and wave tweeted at me. We got to talk on the break. Since then, we’ve been fast friends. If you’ve ever read Nellie’s blog, you know that she is a fitness instructor extraordinaire and blogging ninja as well as the mom of two adorable little boys. And she is speaking at FitBloggin! How cool is that?! One of the things I really admire about Nellie is her boundless energy, and one of my questions to her was how she gets it all done! You’ll definitely want to head over to her place to see her answers to my questions!

But first, here are her questions to me, and my answers:

You have three beautiful children, which one do you see yourself most in and why? This is a tough question! At which point in my life would we be talking about? When I was a kid, I was shy, and I would say my boys are somewhat like that now. I was not very self assured as a child, but all of my kids have more self confidence than I had back then. I would say my daughter is similar to me as an adult…confident in her abilities and outgoing (both of these more so than I am), as well as stubborn and prone to arguing (again, more so than I am). I guess I’ve passed along the good as well as the bad! LOL

You have been to two bloggy bootcamps!! How would compare the two? Which one was better? They were different. I learned things at both of them, but I was at different stages at each one. Some of the things I learned in Dallas, I wouldn’t have been prepared to learn in Charlotte. I met some great people at both of them though, some of whom have become very close blog friends.

I know you are a big foodie, if you had to choose one food that you could eat forever and never get sick of it what would it be? You are going to laugh, but it would probably be pickles. I love pickled anything. Rick’s Picks are one of my favorites…they have tons of different types of pickles…Mean Beans (pickled green beans) and Smokra (pickled okra), but my current “fav” is bee ‘n’ beez, which are bread and butter pickles.

You are a seasoned blogger and a social media ninja! What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far about blogging? You know that saying we learned in kindergarten? You have to be a friend to make friends? That goes for blogging too. You might have the greatest content in the world, but if you sit and wait for fans to come, it’s not going to happen. If you want comments, you have to comment on other blogs. If you want people to engage with you on social media, you need to engage with them.

If you could travel anywhere in the world and live there for one month, where would you choose? I’d probably pick the beach…any beach. Scratch that. It needs to be a beach with really warm water. I don’t like being cold. There is something about the ocean air that lulls me to sleep. For years I have not gotten enough sleep, and I am changing that this year. Plus the beach is one of the few places I can completely relax! And they have the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets!

Hawaii

You are an amazing photographer! Were you classically trained or did you learn a lot on your own? Do you still take classes to improve your knowledge? You are way too kind to me. I would say I am a pretty good amateur. I am pretty much self taught. I have taken a couple classes, and I learn from photography blogs too, but mostly I read my camera manual when I need help with something. I have also been known to ask my good friend Tamara, who wrote a guest post for me: Ten Ways To Take Better Portraits with your DSLR! Food photography is my nemesis, which is the main reason I don’t share more recipes, even though I enjoy cooking. I do love sports photography, and I just wrote a guest post for Click It Up a Notch, Sports Photography: 11 Tips for the Sideline Parent. I would love to learn more…but it’s definitely a time issue. Maybe after the kids are in college?

I know you dwell in the northeast like myself, what is your favorite part of your town? That one is easy! We have a quaint little downtown Green which I love! There are restaurants, great shopping, and it has a wonderful charm to it! And best of all, it is actually walking distance from my house!

New Milford Downtown Green

You have mentioned that your daughter is a huge foodie, what is the best food that she has ever introduced you to? Does tea count? She is really into tea right now. She asked for a tea blending kit for Christmas.  She is constantly trying new versions and making me a cup as well.

Famous or not, who is your role model and why? I don’t know if I have one role model. There are many people who I admire and who I have learned from throughout life! One person who I will be writing about soon is my college cross country and track coach.

This may be a loaded question but name your favorite thing about being a mother to teens? There’s a lot of great things about teens. They’re more independent, and you can do lots of fun activities with them that you can’t do with the little ones, but you can also let them go off and do their own thing. When we go skiing, they usually take off with their friends and then meet up with us later. I also love watching their sporting events. They actually have real skill at this point! I know you didn’t ask, but my least favorite is finding my clothes missing from my closet, and finding my makeup, skin and hair care products missing! Obviously the culprit here is my daughter! I guess in some ways it’s good…she must like my style if she is taking my stuff, but it drives me crazy when I am looking for something and find it in her laundry basket or in her bathroom!

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catherine gacad

Wednesday 22nd of January 2014

nellie asked such great questions! i love pickled anything too. okra...yummy!

Kenya G. Johnson

Monday 13th of January 2014

Pickles?! I didn't see that coming. LOL! I love the beach too. I don't take advantage of it nearly as much as I could/should. We are 40ish minutes from the closest one. It always makes me feel so good to sit or stand in front of that body of water. I say "Awesome" every time and I've grown up with beach exposure.

Michelle Nahom

Tuesday 14th of January 2014

I probably wouldn't go that much even if I was that close either. We live an hour and a half outside NYC and we rarely go there either. But I do love to vacation at the beach!

Joi

Monday 13th of January 2014

You both had great questions. I was curios to know what the point of attending 2 BBC's was as well. Glad she asked that question.

Michelle Nahom

Tuesday 14th of January 2014

The one in Dallas was supposed to be more brand focused and it was. That was what I was looking for. Some of the content was similar but I learned at both of them!

Brittnei

Monday 13th of January 2014

Oh I hope you figure it all out with taking pictures of recipes because I would love to try some of your recipes! :) I love your little quaint college town. It seems like a nice place to really support local businesses. I love that. I truly want to do that more even if sometimes what they have costs more than Walmart or Target. I love your picture of the beach! Looks so beautiful. I think I will have to agree with you about being on a beach with warm water (maybe that you can see your feet even when you are knee deep in it) with a lot of sunshine and the sand isn't too too hot. I could fall asleep there listening to the waves. :) Loved that you and Nellie hooked up this week. I have learned so much from both of you.

Michelle Nahom

Tuesday 14th of January 2014

We do look like a college town from that picture, don't we?! It's actually just a couple of streets though...it's just a quaint downtown New England Green. There is a college a few towns over but its a small one. I love the clear water beaches too...I love snorkeling in that type of water. I'm fascinated by it, but always a little nervous of what I am going to see though at the same time!

Stacey Gannett (This Momma's Ramblings)

Sunday 12th of January 2014

Pickles are always a great treat! My mom used to wrap them up in Buddig Beef with cream cheese, and we would just gobble them up! I totally love being the parent of a tween/teen...most of the time! LOL! Now that lil miss has gotten a bit older, there are so many fun things we can do together! Have a great week, Michelle!

Michelle Nahom

Tuesday 14th of January 2014

There really are a lot of fun activities you can do with teens...I love that too. But sometimes they just don't want to be around you...that can be good and bad!