meet the bloggers: Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion

Without further ado, next up in Our Meet the Bloggers series is the charming Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion...

• Describe your blog in five words or less...
  
  Stylish inspiration for weddings, events and celebrations.

• Aside from blogging, what do you do? Be as general or specific as possible. By day I work at Bella Figura and Smock where I do marketing and public relations. My job entails a lot of writing, a lot of talking with friends in the stationery world, coordinating advertising, blogging, and heading up all of our social media outreach. It's a whole heck of a lot of fun. I'm living the dream!
  

• How does your day begin? How does it end? My day begins by walking my dog and stopping for a venti iced coffee on the way to work. After putting in a full day at the office, I hit the gym on my way home, grab something quick for dinner and set to work tackling emails and writing blog posts for the following day. If I have time, I try to unwind by reading for a little while before I pass out...quite often I just end up passing out instead.
  

• What are 5 objects that you keep on your desk? A huge stack of magazines (blogger though I may be, I still love the look and feel of print publications), a pile of pretty letterpress stationery, a roll of trace paper for sketching, an old glass jar full of felt tip pens, and a few framed photos. (And my MacBook, of course.)
  

• What did you want to be when you were younger? When did that change, if at all? When I was a kid I wanted to be some combination of a writer, an interior designer and an architect. I have a bachelors degree in architecture and an MBA and somehow that has led me to a career in the stationery world, event design, blogging, publicity, writing, you name it. Somehow it all seems very fitting and seems to have worked out just right. I am at the same time nothing that I thought I'd end up being and exactly what I dreamed to be. If the shoe fits, wear it, as they say.
  

• When did you start blogging? Why? I started blogging in 2004 as a personal outlet and as a way to start writing again in the midst of the insanity of long hours in the studio during architecture school. My personal blog morphed into a wedding blog in 2008 when I began planning my own wedding. At that point something just clicked. Blogging is now an immensely important part of my life. Between my day job and The Sweetest Occasion, I spend a great number of hours each week blogging.
  

• Do you have more than just one blog? After we got married I started a new personal blog (for which my husband also occasionally writes) called A Year of Marriage. I have upcoming plans to redesign the site and become more active in tracking our home renovation now that we're new home owners. At the moment, it's where I write about things that are off topic to weddings and keep in touch with blog friends who aren't necessarily a part of the wedding blog community.
  

• What do you enjoy the most about writing a blog? The least? I adore the people - my readers, my friends, the people I have grown close with through writing a blog. I am also really passionate about the things I write about - if I weren't, I wouldn't do it, but I genuinely love the creative outlet and talking about the beautiful things that inspire me. I think most any blogger will tell you that the time commitment is definitely a struggle from time to time. Juggling a busy full time career, working on side projects, writing the blog and also trying to maintain a personal life can be a hard balance to find - I'm better or worse at finding that balance depending on what time of year it is. Wedding season is crazy in my world!
  

• What was your favorite part about the first B List meeting? Having the opportunity to meet amazingly creative, talented and inspiring women and mingling with wedding professionals I've long admired. I love the opportunity to compare notes with like-minded people, which made the B List weekend really rewarding for me.
  

•  Who and/or what inspires you the most? My beloved late grandmother is an endless source of inspiration – it was her love of life, parties, gardening, pretty houses and the latest fashion that have largely molded me into who I am today. The Sweetest Occasion has long been dedicated to her memory and it is her love of hummingbirds that inspired my logo when I first began blogging. She epitomized all that hummingbirds are said to symbolize in many cultures and I carry that forth with me every day - she savored every moment and made each day as beautiful as she could.
  

• If you could invite five people to dinner (living or not) who would they be? I think I'd pick a group of women who I find inspiring to no end, each for entirely different reasons - Martha Stewart, Madonna, Oprah, Michelle Obama, and, of course, the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten.
  

• What do you do or where do you go when inspiration has difficulty striking? The water. I grew up on the water and while I love the hustle and bustle of a city, I'm really most at home and most at ease on the water. When I'm burned out or needing to fuel the inspiration fires, I go home and spend a long weekend on the lake with my family. We sip wine, cook s'mores, take long walks with the dogs, kayak and make waffles for breakfast after sleeping in late. No internet, no email, and to whatever extent we can resist, no cell phones. It's pure bliss. 
  

• What is your favorite quote? "Whatever you are, be a good one." - Abraham Lincoln

• If you were to be given an award (think Oscar quality) who would you most likely forget to thank? I think I'd be the opposite actually - I'm pretty sure I'd be the girl who was still sobbing and thanking everyone she ever met as the music started playing to push her off stage. They'd probably have to cut to commercial break to get me to shut up. 
  

Comments

[TrishaDean]

Loved learning about Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion! All that you do amazes me! Especially love the Oscar Answer :)

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnpSEA-2ROwwX9vwOzOUiM0zqyOWq1LXik]

I am inspired not only by Cyd's creativity, but by her time management! We're all so involved when it comes to full-time jobs, side projects, blogging, and family. It was so refreshing to read of someone who handles it all with style and grace.