Meet Harriet!

I don't usually have time for this stuff. I admit it. I'm one of those full-time working moms who can barely get the laundry done and has to hire someone to clean for her. We all have our talents.


A coworker of mine turned me on to Say it Forward.
While it has nothing to do with Chocolate, the theme of my site, it has everything to do with loyal commenters.

Just a little background.

Harriet, from I am Harriet and Sited and Blogged, is the brains behind the design of my site. She is a Graphic-Web Designer whose company  works with my employer. I'm a nutritionist for a mid size health care group. She took on my site as an added perk to some work she was doing for my boss. 

How about starting with a brief bio for my readers.....

Hi. I guess you already know that my name is Harriet. I am a mom, a wife for 20+ years, and a few other things. All good. I'm from Illinois. Born and raised in the city and suburbs. I love life and everything that is presented to us on this planet and beyond.

Tell me what you do all day.

I wake up early every morning to run with my dog and then take in a little yoga. 

I'm lucky enough to be able to work out of my home. I design and maintain websites mostly. I also do graphic design work. I am also an eBay Powerseller. LOL.

I know you're creative but, what kind of education did you need to pursue this profession?

Many moons ago I got my Bachelors Degree in Business. This is something that Ihave  never regretted doing. About 11 years ago my very close friend confided in me that she felt incomplete because she had never finished college. She got married and had her kids instead. I got to thinking that I would love to go back to school to learn about something new. We eventually got our degrees in Computer . That's when I started to do websites for small businesses. The internet evolved and I realized that to keep up I must learn graphic design. So, again I went back to school. I'll probably never stop going as long as the software progresses.

What is the difference between someone who casually makes a website and calls themself a designer and someone who goes to school to learn how to use the products?

Um, well, let's just say, would you go to a mechanic or the kid around the corner to fix your car engine? I'm not saying that you shouldn't get a design done by someone who isn't a genuine Graphic/Web Designer. I have a very good friend who supplements her family income with blog designs. She does a really nice job and is well-received. She's honest and doesn't go around pretending to be a graphic designer either. It's just that in graphic design school you learn the needed design principles, the history of graphic design, how to work with colors, fonts, layouts and so much more to make you a successful graphic designer. There is so much to know about!

Are you a good artist?

PPPFFFTTTT...no. I cannot even read my own handwriting half the time.

What is your favorite software?

Pretty much anything Adobe- it's the standard.

How did you get into blogging?

The first blog that I ever made was for a Graphic Design Class. It was on a Blogger platform. I think that I may have used a free template and tweaked the code a bit. I now do some WordPress and mostly Blogger stuff. The challenge isn't as much the code, it's all the fun artwork and presentation. Blogger really makes it all easy for most everyone on some level. But, as I digress, to answer your question, blogging is a no brainer if you are looking for free webspace. You can pretty much disguise any blog to look like a real website. 

I once heard that you were a nurse. What happened?

Kids.
I still am a nurse. I worked plenty as a nurse before I had kids and when my son was small. The pay was good but, the hours kinda stunk. Especially, if you want to have kids and raise a family. The last time I was a nurse was for the Marching Band.

So, what are your plans for the future?

Well, I'll probably keep up with keeping fresh with the GD software etc by going back to school. I am in a changing phase in my life right now between my kids and my parents. It's hard to say what the future brings. You just gotta take things one day at a time.

Thanks for coming by and for opening up for myself and my readers.

No, thank you :)