The Coconut Girl is Whitney Morrill, an architect, writer, and mother of two. Her blog offers new mothers equal doses of understanding, humor and utility through her quirky creative offerings. Music videos about late night feedings, essays about thwarted work projects and wise insights from her children speak to the ups and downs of parenthood. A running meal ticker and suggestions for partners provide hands-on tools for helping families get through the joyous but tiring days.
I love this blog because it’s a helpful reminder for moms and the friends and family of all moms with new babies that they need our support. It’s also a charming, humorous look back for me at those tough days and nights you never forget, but that somehow fade with time.
My next-door-neighbor is about to have her third child — I will make sure that Coconut Girl knows about Whitney and her blog — and remember to still be a helper past the early weeks of a new baby next door.
For about a year now, I’ve been providing a community service — not to work off any convictions, just out of the goodness of my little blogger heart. Many of you are aware of my weekly appearance on WCAV CBS-19 where I’ve provided the extremely popular Blog of the Week segment.
Once I got over my shock that there WOULD NOT be a private, fully furnished trailer with my name on the door and that there WOULD NOT be a hair and makeup team, I settled into a weekly routine that went something like this:
Tuesday, 5pm – stop working, sprint upstairs and put on TV-worthy clothes. Slather on more makeup. Fret over hair. Add more powder. Change top again. 5:45pm, get in car, drive to station. 6:30pm, start paying attention to what’s going on behind the door at The Newsplex. 6:40ish – enter studio, take seat, and provide LIVE commentary on a featured local blog. 6:55pm, call home to see what they want for dinner. 7:15pm, pick up dinner. 8pm, arrive home, watch video clip of segment. Fret over hair. Start thinking about featured blogger for the next week.
I really loved every minute of it. I loved being recognized by people all over town. I loved that my far-flung family and friends could watch the video clips no matter where they are. I loved the chance to improve my live TV broadcast skills and to have the opportunity to get better with each week. But mainly, I loved that the segment gave a well-deserved focus on local bloggers, many of whom are friends or became friends through the Blog of the Week.
Past tense, eh?
Yes. I’m hanging up my Blog of the Week TV hat — I will provide one more week of Blog of the Week coverage and then the segment will live on with two very worthy replacements, Jason Hull of OpenSource Connections and Amy Eastlack of SuzySaid Cville. I want to thank everyone who was featured in this segment, who watched it on TV or online and who helped promote the segment via their blogs, Facebook and Twitter. It’s been a great ride.
I will miss the many friends I’ve made at The Newsplex; Dan Schutte, Sara Ross, Travis Koshko, Brantley Ussery, Jim Hanchett, Brad Ramsey, John Rogers, Mark Tenia, that guy that always opens the door for me, Cheryn Stone, Jennifer Black , Tim Free, Tom La and Liz Palka just to name a few (gosh, I hope I haven’t left anyone out). Beth Duffy was my friend even before the TV segment, and I enjoyed having the chance to see her every week.
I’m taking the step back from TV to get some time back to focus on My Gift of a Year and to better accommodate my full-time day job at Standing Partnership, which has added a lot of travel into my schedule for 2010. (Also? I’m running out of fabulous TV outfits and do not want to do any repeats).
Also? It’s time to let someone else sweat under the lights of live, weekly, local television. I’ve had my 15 minutes. Now if Oprah’s people call, that will be another story entirely.
And now, here’s some link love for all of the Blog of the Week’s I covered in 2009 and a few from 2010.
There are very few bloggers I know in the Charlottesville community that have been blogging as long, or longer than I have. Zoe Krylova’s personal blog, Vale of Evening Fog is one I’ve followed since I moved here four years ago. I’ve watched her daughter Tashi grow up on her blog. I’ve followed Zoe’s pregnancy with Tristan and the birth of that precious boy. I’ve gotten to know Zoe through her blog and feel as if I have another friend in this community because of that.
I admire Zoe for continuing to write regularly, for her beautiful language and use of photography. I called her a “blogging celebrity” on TV because she is; I remember clearly the day I saw her with Tashi downtown (I was too shy to say hi) thinking, “Oh my gosh! Thas’t Zoe!”
I’m grateful to Zoe for sharing her life in this way, and for being the Charlottesville Blog of the Week.
Excerpts from my exchange with Zoe Krylova:
What inspired you to start a blog?
I had been keeping journals for years and thought I would start making use of this new form — the blog — as a way to maintain a writing habit. It was very slow going in the beginning, but when we decided to move from Ann Arbor to Charlottesville, I started writing more regularly as a way to share my observations of our new town. Once I had a digital camera the landscape of blogging really opened up for me. It is both a travelogue and a domestic record: A way to share my family, our adventures at home and on the road, our creativity, cooking and crafting, and the stunning pastoral surround of Albemarle county. Keeping a blog opens my eyes to the details, to the magic in both the exceptional and the mundane. I enjoy sharing those details with friends, family and community.
What has been the most significant experience related to the blog?
I have had a wonderful time meeting other bloggers — both online and in person, near and far — forming friendships with those people, but also learning from them and finding inspiration through what they too have to share.
Who reads your blog?
I’m not much of tracker, so I’m not entirely sure! Aside from friends and family, it seems like I might have a small audience of mothers and crafters who read my blog.
Are there any travels in your future?
My husband and I are pretty nomadic at heart, so I sure hope so! My brother-in-law is leaving for India soon to teach radio broadcasting to Tibetan youth in Dharamsala, where we once spent a year. Perhaps that will give us an excuse to visit, though we have a twelve year old daughter and a baby boy to consider! I was born in Cyprus and have family overseas, so surely we will pay them a visit at some point. In the meantime, we love to take weekend drives in beautiful Virginia!
I asked Gillian to tell us a little bit about her blog:
“The blog came about as a way for me to keep track of my own projects. I’ve always loved writing and blogging offered a great outlet to get my writing willies out and chatter about my various projects. I had actually been writing it for a few months before I even told anyone about it. Originally I focused mostly on cooking but these days I also write about crafts and the renovation projects we are doing on our house. The best part is that, on top of allowing me to write what I love, it’s led to some great professional writing opportunities for me as well.
I have between 20 and 40 readers per day and try to post something at least three times a week, although I shoot for four or five. I’ve had some great feedback from readers. Several of them email me directly which has been fun, almost like having a modern day pen pal.
The next big projects around the house are creating a storage and work space for all the projects I’ve always got going and renovating the mudroom. I’ve got some Christmas recipes coming up including a cranberry stuffing and a type of gravy I learned to make when we lived in Ireland. I’m also getting ready to crack open my Christmas fruitcakes in a few weeks and have a whole series of winter crafts in the works. I’m working on a set of modern felt mini trees, a yarn ball wreath and an advent calendar.
As for how I do it all. Well, of course I don’t do it all, all the time. And I have a great family that tolerates all the crazy things I’ve always got going. I do like to keep busy and work best under pressure so I’m generally working on lots of things at once. I try to be organized and have places for everything (which doesn’t always work since we are in the middle of renovating) but as far as I can it helps to keep things going smoothly.”
Thanks again to Gillian for agreeing to be featured on BOTW and for being an inspiration for us all!
SuzySaid was started by a childhood friend of mine (and no her name isn’t Suzy). We went to K – 12 together in Minnesota. We had lost touch over the years (I’ve moved around a lot) but reconnected on Facebook. When I saw SuzySaid on her FB page I immediately wanted to know more. It was EXACTLY what I had been dreaming about doing but hadn’t been able to get the concept from my brain to the computer. Lucky for me she happened to not just work for the company but OWN it! I called her the next day and we quickly agreed that Charlottesville was a perfect market. The Charlottesville Edition was up and running within a couple of months! It was a dream come true for me.
Is it a franchise? How does it work?
No – it’s not a franchise. It truly is a girlfriends network. The women who write the local editions are friends or friends of friends that got involved that way. SuzySaid’s original Fairfield, CT edition launched in March of 2007 when my friend and her girlfriend (see, I told you it was a girlfriend network!) saw there was a void of a “go-to” kind of place for information that was updated daily in their community that specifically targeted their demographic (25-55). While most of our readers are moms, not all are. I personally strive to ensure that my content has something for everyone – so while it can be little mom-centric (I’m a mother of two
girls) it definitely isn’t just about that. We also combine the local info with stuff that Suzy (and her friends) love (which are actually quite often one and the same – a fave AND local).
The concept is built on the basis that word of mouth recommendations trump all else. Women especially go to their girlfriends when they want or need something. So while Suzy is a fictional character- she’s actually a little bit of all of us. She’s all the different girlfriends you go to when you need info., advice and guidance – but she’s all of those girls wrapped up into one – and accessible 24/7.
While it’s a little different than a typical blog it essentially runs the same way. As the “editors” of the local editions we have control over
what we write, when we write it and how we do it. Most of the other local editions are actually a duo or trio, which makes keeping the site constantly updated much easier. I am currently working solo, but that could change over time. There isn’t a set rule about how much you write or how often you update, but we all know what makes the site work. If you’re not updating you’re not accomplishing what you set out to do, really.
One unwritten rule that we have is that we focus on the positive. That isn’t to say that we lie – that’s absolutely not allowed – but if we have a bad/negative experience with a product, business, restaurant, etc we just don’t write it. There are plenty of other sites out there for that kind of stuff – it’s just not what we’re about. We are NOT paid to write articles about anything.
What can area businesses do to be part of the SuzySaid network?
We are, of course, always looking for paid advertisers, but most importantly we’re looking for information on what’s going on around town – who’s out there and what they’re doing. One of the reasons I got so excited about doing this in Charlottesville was that this town embraced the “Buy Local” thing long before it was a trendy. People here truly believe in supporting local businesses and therefore the local economy.
That’s what I’m all about – supporting Charlottesville by getting the information out to the public about all the amazing opportunities we have in our town. There are some things that nearly everyone knows about and I love writing about those, but there are also a lot of things happening that some of us have no idea about. I LOVE when I write a story and hear “I had no idea we had that here” from a reader.
I welcome contact from local businesses!
One of the most highly read sections of the site is actually the Calendar, where we list events that are happening in the community. The beautiful thing about this is that businesses/organizations can enter their event directly from the site. It comes to me for approval/editing and is live within 24 hours. I also love getting press releases, but those usually take 48-72 hours for updating just due to my schedule.
I’m also hosting a once a month event that is open to the public as a way to 1) let people know who I am and what I’m about and 2) mostly to bring women together to build a network of friends and contacts. It’s not about networking from the business-building perspective necessarily (although that happens too) but about going new places, meeting new people and just having a good time! Those events are posted on the site, on our Facebook Fan Page and are always tweeted about in the week leading up to them.
What kind of feedback are you getting from the site?
The feedback has been fabulous! The site design is fun (I can say that because I didn’t do that part) and that seems to draw people in. I really try to keep the articles short and point the reader in the right direction if they want/need more information because, let’s face it, we’re all really busy. We want a place to quickly get the info we need and move on. That’s what people are telling me they like about it so I feel like I’m accomplishing my goals!
What can we expect to see in future months?
I’m so excited about all the great things coming up with SuzySaid!
To begin with you will start to see more “guest writers” – local experts, business owners, personalities, etc. who will be helping me expand what the site has to offer (as I am definitely not an expert on all things!).
Examples of this will be Jenee Libby of EdibleCville filling us in on the best eats in Cville, Kira Sullivan of Stroller Fit offering her health and fitness expertise to new moms, we’ll be working with ACAC on a few really cool things and (on a less healthy note) we’ll be doing a “Winery of the Week” focusing on local wine in addition to working with a local wine shop to beef up our “Wine of the Week” which I, surprisingly, do not drink enough wine to keep up with on my own! This is a partial list – there are so many great things coming up!
We recently launched a weekly feature called “Women at Work” that highlights a local woman entrepreneur. I am floored by the number of absolutely amazing women in Charlottesville! We will be expanding this feature to include not just business owners, but local women who inspire us.
Additionally, we will continue to work closely with area non-profits in our GIVE section. We will be ramping up our coverage so that we are highlighting a new local organization each week. This is a big part of what we’re all about – helping others – so we’re going to work with organizations to help them get their name out there – find volunteers or whatever their needs are. We will also be teaming up at an even deeper level with a few local women’s organizations – as women are our demographic at SuzySaid (and it’s something I personally feel very strongly about helping with).
The last thing that I want to make sure people know that is coming up is a “Local Gift Buying Guide” that will be coming out prior to the holidays. This will be a special e-newsletter that will focus completely on the amazing, unique shops, businesses, organizations and restaurants we have in Charlottesville and surrounding areas.
A few things I’d really like people to know about 1) Our twice a week e-newsletter (Monday’s focuses on the week – Friday’s is weekend news) is a quick and easy way to see what is coming up around town. You can subscribe from the site by clicking on the “Subscribe” icon. (and we do NOT sell the info). 2) In addition to the newsletter I update our Facebook Fan Page daily and try to tweet about happenings on Twitter too 3) I LOVE to hear suggestions from readers on what they’d like to see – great deals they’ve gotten – favorite places to eat/go. etc. They can click on “Ask Tell Suzy” icon to share. They can also e-mail me at amy@suzysaid.com. 4) I have a few “Have You Heard What SuzySaid?” T-shirts left that I am selling for $10 and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to PACEM through the Cville PieFest.
The Coconut Girl is Whitney Morrill, an architect, writer, and mother of two. Her blog offers new mothers equal doses of understanding, humor and utility through her quirky creative offerings. Music videos about late night feedings, essays about thwarted work projects and wise insights from her children speak to the ups and downs of parenthood. A running meal ticker and suggestions for partners provide hands-on tools for helping families get through the joyous but tiring days.
