I was recently part of a big parenting discussion group about whether a parent should allow her tween to have a smartphone with Snapchat. It produced a lot of stories and anecdotes and feelings and opinions, including a few tales of teens finding ways to circumventing parental controls or even picking up burner phones in… Continue reading Smartphones, social media, and parenting teens/tweens
Author: Virginia
Garden learnings so far
I threw together a blog post of all I was going to attempt to do to quickly get a pulled-together-looking garden, with minimal effort. Let’s revisit and see how things are shaping up now that spring has sprung! Things I’d do differently next time: Prioritising pollinators! I sort of assumed that most flowering plants were… Continue reading Garden learnings so far
That buttermilk terra cotta pot ageing trick
I didn’t believe the hype. Then I tried it. It worked surprisingly well! So I figured I’d shared what I did. First, I made a mixture of unsweetened yoghurt (not Greek), buttermilk, and a bit of powdered sugar. I pulled up a few bits and bobs of moss from around my garden and sort of… Continue reading That buttermilk terra cotta pot ageing trick
Shortcuts for a pulled-together garden
I went from being pretty meh at designing interiors, to being pretty excellent at it – primarily by learning the “rules” of interior design. I decided to try and strategically learn the aesthetic rules for having a more pulled-together-looking garden, too, since prior attempts have always been a hodgepodge that looked chaotic and unconsidered at… Continue reading Shortcuts for a pulled-together garden
How and why we decided to move to London
My husband and I recently decided to move from Seattle to London. This comes as a surprise to us, as well as to many of our friends and family members. You see, even though London is a fantastic city with a much more global presence than Seattle, we’ve been quite happy with our very established… Continue reading How and why we decided to move to London
Things I will and won’t miss about pregnancy
I’m due with a baby in less than a week! It doesn’t feel like he’s going to arrive all that imminently, but since it’s around the corner I can’t help but think about what I’ve enjoyed (and not enjoyed) about being pregnant. Things I will miss about pregnancy: Disappearing acne. Some women have horrible hormonal… Continue reading Things I will and won’t miss about pregnancy
Name Your Thing!
I spoke at AltConference 2017 about how to name things. Last year when I spoke at AltConf 2016, things went really well… and I was invited to speak again in 2017 on the spot! (And I accepted on the spot, haha.) I actually started brainstorming this talk right then and there, so I had an… Continue reading Name Your Thing!
My AltConf 2016 talk: Sell Out and Save the World!
Woohoo! I’m so excited! Last year I spoke at AltConf in San Francisco during Apple’s WWDC week. I’m really proud of the talk I gave I had refined it a bunch, tested it in front of different audiences, and poured a lot of my soul into it. (And yes, a lot of emojis.) It’s a… Continue reading My AltConf 2016 talk: Sell Out and Save the World!
My top Grace Hopper session takeaways
I just wrote up a trip report for my team at Microsoft, highlighting at least one takeaway from each session I attended at Grace Hopper 2016. It occurs to me that I should share that with the rest of the world, too. Here they are! Growth and comfort never coexist.” “Ginni Rometty, Chairwoman, President… Continue reading My top Grace Hopper session takeaways
After Grace Hopper
Grace Hopper Celebration was a fantastic experience. I learned so much and met so many fascinating people, and when you get in that conference groove mindset you really connect! There’s something about a female-centric space that’s so special and supportive in its energy–it’s something I realize now that I didn’t fully appreciate while I was… Continue reading After Grace Hopper