Author: Sarah Mitroff

Welcome to the Freelancing World

Over the past few months I have embarked on the journey to become a freelance writer. I had a full time paid internship during the day and at night I would write. You can see some of my work in my “Professional Work” section to get idea of what I’ve been doing, but mostly I’ve been taking gigs here and there, along with a standing gig at PCWorld, writing Android app reviews.

Starting next week, I transition into a full time freelancer. I have to admit I am nervous and a little scared. Questions dance around my mind when I try to fall asleep: will I make enough money to pay my bills? Will I go nuts always working from home? Can I make it as a freelancer and emerge will a great portfolio that will hopefully land me a more permanent job?

While I don’t know the answers to any of these questions, it hasn’t deterred me from giving this a shot. After all, I have wanted to be a writer for some time now and this is my chance to really chase that dream. This is the best time in my life to be a freelancer; I am young, unmarried, and don’t have kids. My only vital responsibilities right now are to take care of myself, pay my bills, and be a good girlfriend. What better time then to try to work as a writer?

I was talking with a close friend the other night, a girl I went to high school with. When I told her that I was going to write full time she was so happy and excited for me, remembering the times when we were younger and I said that I was going be a writer someday. She told me that she was proud of me for going after my dream and making it a reality. It helped me see that I had accomplished a lot and that I still have a lot to accomplish.

So, how will I fend for myself as a freelancer? I guess I will have to wait and see. There is so much to think about; taxes, health insurance, time management, which can be daunting. This feels like a part of life that I will just have to figure out as I go along. As I go, I’ll post my experiences and (hopefully) tips that I learned along the way. If you have any advice, leave it in the comment section–I will be grateful!

On Steve Jobs’ Resignation and My Love-Hate Relationship With Apple

No doubt, the biggest piece of news this week was Steve Job’s resignation as CEO of Apple. Unless you live under a rock, you know that he stepped down due to medical reasons and offered Tim Cook as his replacement.

While everyone sits around speculating what the future of Apple will look like (not hopeful given that the mess that is Apple Vista Lion was largely under Cook’s control), I reflect on my experiences with Apple over the years. Disclaimer: I am not Apple’s biggest, nor will I likely ever be.

My first experience with Apple was as a kid, in my elementary school computer lab where we learned how to use the old Macintosh LC model computers. They worked fine, but I cared less about the computer itself and more about playing Oregon Trail. However, my loyalty lied with the built-from-scratch Gateway computer running Windows 95 that my family had at home.

Around 12 years old, my Apple-loyalist uncle got me my first Apple computer: a bright blue iBook–those ones with the big rounded edges and the handle that popped out. It was alright, albeit confusing to use. Once Mac OS X released, I tried installing it on my computer, needed more RAM, bought more RAM, and soon just gave up on the computer and never used it again. It became obsolete and I became uninterested in it.

My later experiences with Apple came in the form of the iPod. I got my first iPod Mini (also blue) in high school and fell in love. From there, I got an iPod Video, an iPod Touch, and ultimately–because I don’t always love new technology–an older iPod Nano. I have to admit when it comes to MP3 players, Apple really has gotten it right. I’ve tried to venture out and try other MP3 players but always go back to the iPod.

Enter the iPad. My loving boyfriend (who also loves Apple) recently bought me an iPad 2. When the first iPads hit the market, I thought “Ha! What a stupid thing! Its just a gigantic iPod Touch”. I eat my words. I really like the thing. Yes, I could have gotten an Android based tablet, to go with my Android phone, but Apple really hit the mark with their tablets in the similar fashion that they got it right with the iPods.

I definitely have my beefs with Apple; I’ve never liked their computers, their tech support and sales staff always put me off, and iTunes no longer runs on my computer. Though that last part is likely my fault; serves me right trying to run iTunes on a PC, I guess. Before you starting giving me advice on how to fix this issue, don’t. I’ve tried everything. Trust me. Its an issue with the 64 bit iTunes (and the fact that I am running it on Windows 7).

Yesterday, as the news broke about Jobs, I was sitting on my couch snuggled up to my iPad. I thought, “I have Steve Jobs to thank for this cool piece of technology”. In a lot of ways I have Steve Jobs to thank for the all products from Apple that I enjoy. I have always scoffed at him during his big presentations that introduced the latest and greatest product to the market. He’s showiness, his turtlenecks; I always laughed jokes made at his expense. However, now that he’s gone stepped down to board president, I get the feeling that I’ll miss him.

MUNI Gratitude

Last week I was riding the good ol’ MUNI here in San Francisco and noticed something interesting: a sticker on the bus from MUNI saying “Thank You” where the advertisements usually are. I snapped a picture of it and sent into one of my favorite blogs, Muni Diaries.

Well they published my picture in one of their blog posts and I thought I’d share it!

Here’s the picture taken from my phone:

And here’s the post!

Check out there blog for more about MUNI. Have you ever seen anything interest on public transit? Let me know below!

Favorite Blogs Roundup, Plus Honey Challenge

Never stop learning. Ever since I graduated from college, I have had the pleasure of spending my time learning about food, technology, natural living, blogging, grammar, and so much more. Its refreshing to fill my mind with useful and interesting information everyday.

In order to learn about all these wonderful things, I have been reading blogs like mad. (I just discovered how to use Google Reader about a month ago and I love it!) Below are a few blogs/websites that I love and get especially excited about when a new post is published:

  • Crunch Betty is my favorite discovery. I didn’t realize how “crunchy” I was and wanted to be until I found Leslie’s awesome website. This website/blog is devoted to “crunchy” or natural living; using natural products for home, body, and life in general. The information that fills the site is informative, interesting, and entertaining. This is where the honey challenge comes from, but more on that later.
  • 101 Cookbooks is written by Heidi Swanson, a food writer based in San Francisco. Her recipes are enticing, her photography is stunning.
  • Living in San Francisco, I encounter our main public transportation system–MUNI–almost daily. For helpful information, interesting stories, and funny anecdotes about MUNI, I rely on MUNI Diaries.
  • San Francisco is a theme in my life and my favorite aspect of San Francisco is our baseball team, the Giants. A inside perspective of two of our Giants’ players lives, Brandon Belt and Mark DeRosa, can be found on their blog, The Veteran and the Rook. I kind of, um, have a crush on Brandon Belt, so I really love reading his blog.
  • The Oatmeal is where I go for funny and interesting comics about grammar, animals, and general awesome information.
  • The ProBlogger Blog offers great blogging tips with lots of humor. I especially enjoyed their latest post on SEO titled: “Why Bieber SEO Copywriting Sex Doesn’t Ipad Work Minecraft”.

So there you have it, the list of a few of my favorite blogs. Now on to the honey challenge.

One of the great ideas to come out of Crunchy Betty is to use honey to wash your face. When I first read about this I thought, “What?! Honey as a face wash? Wouldn’t that be hard to get off my face?”. But, because I trust Crunchy Betty to not steer me wrong, I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad that I did. I’ve been washing my face with honey for about a week now and my skin is improving. Overall, its smoother, more moisturized, and I have fewer breakouts. This will very likely be my face wash from now on.

Crunchy Betty started a honey challenge two weeks ago; challenging her readers to wash their face with honey everyday for two weeks, no exceptions. I was a little late to the game with getting into the challenge, but I have still been able to reap the benefits of using honey as a face wash. Head on over to crunchybetty.com for the low down on washing your face with honey and give it a try for yourself.