1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

-I’m from Springfield, MO. Born and raised. On the playground in where I spent most of my days… Just kidding. I majored in Philosophy in college, and am currently working toward my MBA. I own the Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe, which serves up cupcakes, other sweet treats and bubble tea everyday inside the Red Velvet boutique. I love eating, and cooking and looking at food online, thus I started food blogging a while back. I also love: pugs, the colors green and blue, blonde hair, mac & cheese, science fiction and fantasy novels and red wine. 🙂

2. What got you interested in blogging, and how long have you been blogging for?

-I’ve been blogging for a year and half. I started blogging to chronicle a local eating project I was doing at the time, but once I finished that I found I stilled loved cooking, taking pictures of food and posting it online. So I keep doing it.

3. Can you tell us about your style?

-I try keep in step with a 1970s vibe. I sometimes default to a lot of black when I don’t know what to wear. I like to leave my hair down and feather curl it, like Farrah Fawcett if she had been really bad at doing her own hair. I love to wear gold tone make up and boots!

4. This past year you opened the Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe! What inspired you to start your own business, and what has been the most challenging part of opening your shop?

-I work with a few other inspiring ladies at Red Velvet and we just thought it would be grand to offer cupcakes and bubble tea in our new store location (we got a bigger shop this last year). And I thought, “I can do that,” so I did. I would say the most challenging part is keeping up with orders and ingredients, it feels like I am always out of something no matter how many grocery lists I make.

5. What are your favorite trends for winter?

-I am REALLY into Ponchos right now. The cool ones, like super 1970s. Not so much Ugly Betty, not that she isn’t a doll. 🙂

6. When you’re not busy blogging, cooking, and baking, what can you be found doing?

-Reading and playing with my pug. I totally adore curling up with a good novel and my sweet little doggie before bed. It’s my evening ritual.

7. With regards to fashion, what do you draw inspiration from?

-The Virgin Suicides, girls in bands and old photographs of my mom in high school. She was a super cute stylish lady, she was totally into sewing her own clothes so my hat is off to her.

8. If you had to pick one outfit to wear the rest of your life, what would it look like?

-Boy, that’s a big commitment. Does it mean I’m really girly that I totally felt a little sad when I read this? One outfit. So no more shopping, huh? Bummer. I guess I would choose my gold glitter TOMs, dark skinny jeans, my black Blondie t-shirt, a black cardigan with metallic gold designs in it, and dark fedora.

9. What are your some of your favorite things to cook and bake, and where do you usually find your recipes?

-I love to cook and bake a lot of things. Mostly because I love to eat a lot of things. Probably my favorite thing to make is mac & cheese and brownies. I could eat nothing but those two for… forever. I find recipes from other food blogs, cook books and I make stuff up a lot. I cook for my family a lot too, so I take requests. 🙂

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring bloggers? What about someone that is interested in learning how to cook and bake, but doesn’t know where to begin?

-If you want to blog or bake or cook, then do it. Everyone starts somewhere. For cooking there are tons of great online resources to consult, or if you have a good cook in your family (be it mom, dad or grandma) then you should totally make something with them when you get the chance. Brownies are great, but brownies AND quality time with my mom is divine.

Thank you so much Emma for doing this interview with me! Don’t forget to check out Emma’s blog From Scratch for some daily fashion, and foodie inspiration!

-Chelsea