Greetings, phoodies, and welcome to my last working Monday of 2011!
Now let’s talk turkey…
Phoodfotos.com was the brainchild of my 2011 new year’s resolution (see this post if you’re curious about the birth of the blog). It’s been a roller coaster of a year (see this post for an example of when it was really bad). The times when it was really good mostly resulted in my getting behind on blogging because I was too busy being starry-eyed because of my Phella, but documenting it via the phood I have eaten has been quite the experience- one that has been enlightening at times, horrifying at others, and a hodge podge of phun, malaise and overwhelm depending on the day.
Overall, do I see the blog as a success? Perhaps…
I’ve stopped snacking for the most part, because having an audience for everything I put in my mouth has changed the way I look at phood… a bit. You phollowers know I am a phabulously phervent lover of pizza and bacon, not to mention of self-proclaimed chicken wing enthusiast (others might call me obsessed but “others” should shut their mouths when they’re talking to me… only not in a mean way. I’m never mean when I’m thinking of wings!)
Phoodfotos.com has helped me to curb my habitual eating ways to an extent. I’ve tried new things on menus of restaurants I’ve been going to for years, leading to some excellent new discoveries (and some total bombs, too…)
On the phlip side, I have gotten so behind on so many of my posts (I can put the blame on boys, moving and technological issues, but ultimately it comes down to my own lack of phollowthrough). The blog has also succeeded in rendering me incapable of using the “f” on my keyboard. (Honestly, that was hard just now.)
Moving from Monterey to Davis really changed my habits, too, as I now have time to cook- mind you cooking only… no baking for the girl who managed to rent a house that lacks an oven… and sign a year lease. 😦 Also, not having a myriad of phriends to go out on the town with (see my thoughts on dining alone in this post) has placed my phocus much more phirmly in the kitchen. I’m really happy about that.
I have loved the act of blogging, loved receiving comments and pheedback, and loved gathering phollowers from across the globe. I have also gotten lazy and stopped carting my big honkin’ camera everywhere I go and relied on my iPhone on many an occasion, lost total motivation when I started to get behind on my posts and lost even more when pholks didn’t pheel the need to comment on my phoodie ramblings. And sometimes, a girl just wants to eat some damn McDonalds and keep it as a little secret between her and the drive thru window attendant.
Ultimately, this boils down to some internal conflict, so I turn to my phaithful phollowers, both phriends and strangers, to help determine my path. The poll will be open for the next phew days, until The Phella and I leave for a cruise to Mexico that we won’t return from until 2012. I vow to get the rest of my mastication madness documented on the site before we depart, and also to keep up my documentation on the cruise so as not to give up on my year-long commitment.
But know that the phuture of phoodfotos rests in your hands.
Vote early and often, my phriends…
phoodfotos 
This is my honest thought: I LOVE the way you write about food and describe your experiences with it. I love the restaurant recs and the creative photos you take. Do I need to see everything you eat – definitely not. Would I like to hear about fun recipies and good eats you are enjoying? Yes! The photos are fun and the stories even better! By keeping it to what matters and what you are excited about sharing, I, as a reader will be interested and excited as well. I suggest relaxing on the “everything” and give us the highlights of the best 🙂
And thanks for asking – it’s your call girl!! I support you no matter what 🙂
I am not the most loyal phollower, as I am with so many blogs, journals, etc, but I love the blog you have. You inspire me to cook each time I come here, which phor me is a new exciting therapy. Regardless of iph you keep it up, I’m excited phor your next resolution.
I agree that posting everything, or at least commenting on everything, is not necessary. When you get to the point that you are so behind that all you can do is post pictures, that is when the value of the blog (for the readers) is lost!
As you know, I’ve loved this blog, the idea, the motives and everything about it. What I didn’t expect is how it would make me think about the choices I make every day and or that it would make me consider chicken wings in a whole new light. I also loved living vicariously through your food – instead of posting directly about the weddings, adventures and friends, I got to see a completely different perspective of your life – and I loved that perspective. That said, I phell off the phollowing wagon as you phell off the posting wagon (although, I did see that there were candy corn photos lately – lots of hearts for those!) so I don’t need a day-to-day in the future because I understand that logistically that is quite a committment. But I was most definitely affected by your posts when they were happening day-to-day. Your discipline in making good choices made me more disciplined. And I also looked forward to seeing how you made food choices in different situations.
So with all that said, I can’t really offer a whole lot of advice on which direction to take this blog for 2012. Find another bad habit and document. My bad habit preference would be to see all the hand written letters you write all year. I myself probably write two a year. I miss handwritten anything, in a dying-art-form kind of way. Or actually, I know a great one for you – document all the home cooked dinners you make and share the success and failures (and recipes!). I suggest this because I know you eat out a lot and while we don’t eat out a lot, we don’t have a lot of high quality home-cooked dinners. I’d like to see how you deal with the committment to planning, shopping and execution. I understand that your hot plate or whatever kitchen situation you have in Davis might not be super conducive to this, but I’d love to see it anyway!