Get ready, I’m about to crush on a blog you’d think I’d never be caught dead reading:
A new Philly foodie mommy blog called Table for 2 and a Half.
I know what you’re thinking. Is this some sort of quid pro quo? Am I name-checking this blogger in turn for her recommendation of me as her local singer-songwriter of choice to the many foodie moms around the region?
Nope. Well, I mean, I hope I’m her local singer-songwriter of choice, but I just love her darn blog.
Before regular status updates were de rigueur, getting someone to blog was the best way to hear the voice inside of their head and to keep up with their adventures. I’d cajole my favorite friends and co-workers, mostly to no avail – I don’t know many people bit with the blogging bug quite so hard as I am.
In a Facebook and Twitter era, my convincing is less essential. Now have people have other, more easily accessible means to express their inner thoughts in conveniently bite-sized fragments, and I’m happy to consume them that way.
That doesn’t mean my refrain of “you should have a blog” has gone the way of the dinosaur. Nay. I save it for special cases when I truly need to acquire as many words as possible from a particular person.
For the past two years my number one target has been my co-worker Mel, a formidable former journalist, certified sommelier, and dedicated foodie mom full of never-ending perk and snark. She’s also the 9-to-5 voice of sanity in my life.
(Seriously, if only we kept a list of the ridiculous ideas she has talked me out of. It could be a blog unto itself.)
When Mel prepared for her maternity leave I badgered her constantly about blogging. “Are you really going to leave me here without you and expect EMAILS to suffice? I need DAILY BABY UPDATES!” My request fell on deaf ears, which grew even more disappointing when we learned that Mel’s son is just about the cutest possible baby of all babies.
However, when she returned she quietly ramped up to writing for Haute Living and being the wine-girl for Drink Philly, plus tweeting, and so the volume of my “rah rah blog!” mantra increased.
Lo and behold, it finally happened! Table for 2 and Half follows the misadventures a foodie whose wee one is finally old enough to dine both in and out. Will his toddler palate warm to her gourmet cooking? Do her favorite restaurants even own a high chair?
The blog is still fledgling, so it’s not packed with posts, but I love every word of it so far. Mel writes exactly how she speaks. She is fretful and funny in her home escapades and descriptive and pointed in her reviews of family-friendly, fully-adult restaurants. While I love her writing on Haute Living and Drink Philly, 2-and-a-Half finds her free to be herself. I’m looking forward to it getting even more madcap as her adventures continue and her son reaches the terrible twos.
Now if I could just get her to write a novel…