1,060 Days

This is the number of days since our last Tech in Real Life post. Yikes. Maybe it sounds a little less awful to state it as 2 years, 10 months, and 25 days? Ok, maybe not. Even scarier, if I’m being completely honest it’s really been even longer than that. Rebecca and I made a push to re-launch TIRL after I graduated from business school in May 2014, but we only managed to write 7-8 posts before we put it to rest for the second time. Side note for all you “older” Millennials, typing “TIRL” always reminds me of TRL on MTV — great show. Second side note, apparently it’s coming back??? Anyways.

A lot has happened in the past 1,060 days, but I can tell you what hasn’t happened — writing in this blog. During many of those 1,060 days, I laid in bed at night and scolded myself for being lazy, or unmotivated, or “too busy” to keep this thing going. I fancy myself a creative person, so I could come up with a lot of excuses, but the bottom line is that blogging consistently is just HARD. It really is. And I didn’t realize HOW hard until I tried (and failed multiple times). I have a short list of blogs that I read each week, and my own blogging failures have made me appreciate the effort that the writers put in week in and week out to keep their blogs full of fresh, interesting content. With everything else that consumes my time, including a job that pays the bills, this blog has had a permanent place on my To Do List but always seemed to be juuust below the last thing I could feasibly accomplish in any given week #thestruggleisreal.

The sad thing about our lack of consistency is that I Love writing more than most things in life, AND this blog allows me to write about something else that I love — technology, apps, gadgets, and sharing how I use them in my everyday life to make it easier and more fun! I also think sharing that love (and the little bit of knowledge I have on these topics) CAN add value even in a time where content about literally anything you could ever want to learn or read about is right at your fingertips. There is so much GOOD content out there, there really is. But I still think there’s room for Tech in Real Life. Rebecca and I continue to get questions from friends, family members, and coworkers about which app they should download to do “x”…or which digital camera they should buy…or if the new iPhone is worth the upgrade. We love being that trusted resource for the people we care about and helping ease their anxiety around technology that can oftentimes feel overwhelming and overly complicated. Living in New Orleans after being in Chicago and San Francisco also opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone lives and breathes tech and is constantly surrounded by so much tech news and information that they’re forced to pay attention to it. Things don’t necessarily happen here first, but that doesn’t mean people don’t want to know about them (eventually).

The goal of TIRL has always been to be a tech blog with a little bit of an identity crisis. That is, it gives us a place to write about a topic that we love (which we broadly call “tech”), but wraps it up in a friendlier package that allows the tech part to become more relatable to a regular every-day person. There are plenty of sites out there that offer in-depth, highly technical reviews of products, services, and gadgets, but we wanted our friends and families (most of which aren’t nerds like we are) to have a place where they could come read a tech blog that focuses on real-life moments, events, and experiences and works in the tech reviews and product knowledge peripherally.

So with all of that said, we’re going to give this ONE.MORE.SHOT. Rebecca is still going to be taking a bit of a hiatus because she and her husband welcomed a little one into their family last fall and have been (actually, truly) busier than ever. Because of that, you’re stuck with me (Emilia) for now, and we’ll see if/when it makes sense to get back to writing it together. I had “Re-launch TIRL” on my list of 2017 New Year’s Resolutions and then I blinked and we were halfway through 2017. While I could kick myself for not doing this a year ago, or 6 months ago, or even 3 weeks ago, I’m doing it now and that’s better than nothing, right?! On the positive side, I have used PLENTY of new apps, products, and services over the past 1,060 days that I’m dying to share with you guys — the first of which is the Apple AirPods that I bought in January and have been absolutely LOVING.

There’s a Chinese proverb (or at least the internet tells me it’s a Chinese proverb) that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” So while we don’t have that mature blog with hundreds of posts that I had hoped we’d have five years after starting it, we’ve got a handful of decent posts and a new determination. I tend to be too much of a planner that often slides dangerously into being too much of a procrastinator, but I’ve finally realized that there’s no perfect time to re-launch this blog, no perfect blog post, and in the end, it’s ok if no one other than my boyfriend and my Mom ever read it (but I AM counting on you two!). Writing is fun, and challenging, and balances out all of the other craziness in my life. If all Tech in Real Life ever ends up being is a place to remind me how much money I’ve spent on fancy, expensive toys, then so be it. So as of today, I’m going to put one foot in front of the other, or in this case fingers to the keyboard, and start typing.

Here goes nothing!*

*And for anyone that HAS stayed loyal and continued to check the blog hoping for a new post (hey Mom!)…thank you! I hope you’ll keep reading and giving me feedback along the way

If you’re ever looking for fun, interesting blogs to add to YOUR list, here are a few I’d recommend! I read a TON of content online, but this is the handful of sites that I find myself making a point to check regularly each week:

• Love Taza — lifestyle, photography, motherhood (she has the cutest three kids you’ll ever see), NYC living, food — she covers it all!
• How Sweet It Is — food, amazing recipes, beauty, general randomness; and her writing style is incredibly funny!
• Camels & Chocolate — at its heart it’s a travel blog, but calling it only that doesn’t do it justice; she talks about family, love, and everyday life, all while sharing her journies to some pretty awesome places
• Weelicious — great recipes (lots for kids!), motherhood (also has adorable children), life in California, founded One Potato (meal kit delivery service for kids)
• Broma Bakery — food blogger with a few random things sprinkled in from time-to-time; healthy + indulgent recipes
• Ambitious Kitchen — creative, fun, healthy recipes (she figures out to make almost anything you want, healthier); healthy living tips; exercise
• Baby Boy Bakery — food, motherhood, enjoying life’s simple pleasures
• Eat, Live, Run — food, recipes, motherhood, and just all around fun content
• Gal Meets Glam — beauty, travel, fashion + amazing photography!
• Joy the Baker — food blogger with awesome recipes + she’s in New Orleans!
• 500ish Words — wide variety of topics from politics, to venture capital, to tech; focuses on Apple products; lots of great opinions on lots of interesting topics
• Gary Vaynerchuk — inspirational, motivational, super high-energy entrepreneur; a little bit of sensory overload at times, but his messages are on-point; if you need a push to follow a dream or take a risk, he’ll give it to you
• Emily Ley — entrepreneur that created the Simplified Planner (which I recommend!); blogs about work-life balance, owning her own business, family, love, and not always trying to be perfect
• And of course a bunch other purely “tech” blogs that tend to have the latest and greatest information, but read more like big publisher sites rather than intimate, friendly, blogs. Articles on these sites are timely but can be hit or miss in terms of their enjoyment factor (The Next Web, TechCrunch, Engadget, Techmeme, The Verge, Mashable, Wired).

Enjoy!