Austinist has a nice post up about places for kids to eat cheap or free.

How did I miss this?

Turns out Beth also blogged about bags and purses at Blogher. There's a shot of a very cute green (faux?) leather bag with a (very neat) inside.

The neat thing about this is that people remember Beth because she took shoe pics -- it reminds me that doing small, unique things can really make you stand out. (I'm reminded of someone who held the auditorium doors open for everyone at my highschool Girl's State program every day -- by the end of the week, everyone knew who she was.) For those of us who aren't always the most socially saavy of people, have a "gimmick" is having a built in ice breaker. I know I'm always more comfortable in large social settings when I have something to do -- even if it is a self appointed task.

Is There any There, There?

I've been thinking about how to make money with Dressr, specifically, and Web 2.0 applications, generally, today. Along the same lines, a friend was talking about another technology business, saying "I just can't tell if there is any there, there." I think that just about sums it up -- cool apps are so easy to build with all the wonderful tools and APIs that are available on the web today, but when it's all said and done, "is there any there, there?"

What exactly is the "there"? I suspect it depends on your goals. I divide most things into two categories -- projects or businesses. A Google Maps mashup that you whip up in 4 hours, without a revenue model beyond adwords, is probably a project. A business -- well, a business at least has revenue, and ideally has profits. Myself, I want a business, not a project. That means I've got to figure out how to make money, not just get users. (The get acquired quick scheme seeming just as unlikely as any get rich quick scheme...)

But until I've figured out how to make money off of Dressr, I'll call it a project. Once I get serious about revenue -- and have some validation that the ideas I have for making money will work -- I'll start calling it a business!

So I didn't go to Blogher (although I wished I had after reading the list of people Asha had met), but you've got to love a tech conference that spawns a flickr photo set of shoes. (Via Beth's Blog, but pointed out by Charlene Li.)

Who am I?

It's so confusing how to build your identity online, and I tend to fragment too much. There's the Sara Brumfield who blogs here, contributes to Parent Hacks, and occasionally comments on blogs like Horizon. There's the Sara Brumfield who is a entrepeneur and software engineer who is building Dressr, a community based web application for fashion and clothing that I blog about (not enough) here and comments on entrepeneurship blogs and forums... Then there's the corporate Sara Brumfield who really doesn't like to mix her "daylighting" job into her online identity, although clues do exist.

I just ran across this blog for Wonderful! Wall Graffitti, and was inspired to send Mary McPhail, the founder & blogger, a note (not something I often do) expressing my admiration on how her blog combines her life and her business:

I just ran across your blog (via Wonderful's website, via Pamela Slim's
Escape from Cubicle Nation blog) and wanted to drop you a note and tell
you how much I am enjoying it. The combination of your business life
and your personal life makes for a great read and is very inspiring --
In my dreams I'll be able to meld child rearing, my marriage, and a
business into one great big messy fun experience. (My parents did it;
so it is very much what I want to model for my daughter.) (I'm building
a web application that I think I'll be able to turn into a business, not
just a project, so it's not entirely a pipe dream.)

Anyway, this email is mostly in response to your post that ends "that's
not how other people blog" -- Don't worry about it! Your blog is all
you, and it represents what you do, the values of your company in a way
no corporate PR-approved blog ever could. Keep it up.

It was an "ah-ha" moment, albeit a small one. Why am I trying so hard to keep all these different aspects of myself separate? What's the worst that could happen if the day job figured out how serious I am about Dressr? (What, fire me? Oh, that would suck -- I'd have to get off my butt and work on Dressr full time.... Darn!)

So -- this is officially it -- I'm combining the non-corporate Sara identities here henceforth. You'll start seeing more fashion and business oriented posts here, and more status on how the project is going.

Hopefully this anti-schizophrenic move will actually make this blog more interesting all around, too!

Great quote by Kathy Sierra, over at Creating Passionate Users:

"The compiler doesn't care if the person who forgot the curly brace is wearing a black lace bra."

My Parenthacks over the last month:



How to choose good-quality childcare
Lingerie bags keep socks together in the hamper,...
Baby monitors work in adjoining hotel rooms
Childproofing on the cheap
Ziploc omelets

I'm particularly pleased with "How to choose good-quality childcare".