What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

In college I was reading some books & I really enjoyed them. At the conclusion of the series the author asked people to give him feedback & write him. This was the late 1990s & very few people had the web or internet.

I wrote him a quick note & he wrote back & told me to follow my passion, namely writing. It was a really tough part of my life & his response meant the world to me.

By writing back & telling me to pursue my writing made a huge impact on my life. I still have his postcard somewhere.

What’s your all-time favorite album?

I guess I can start off by writing that I don’t only have one favorite. Also, I appreciate comments as long as they’re respectful & kind. Incendiary comments will not be published or answered.

Achtung Baby by U2, came out when I was in high school. There’s so much to like about the album.

The Postal Service: First album, was created by 2 artists that lived away from each other & had to rely on the mail to get the tracks finished.

Indigo Girls: Rites of Passage, a great album that makes you think about the universe & our place in it.

Peter Gabriel: So & his new album. “So” came out in the late 80’s & still one of my favorite albums. He’s currently touring North America & totally worth checking out his concerts!

Chemical Brothers: Any album starting in early 2000 to the present.

That’s it for now.

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

Back in early 2009 my favorite cupcake place didn’t make their famous Valentine’s Day cupcake like it had been. For some reason they tried a new recipe that year & it stunk. My now husband made me

Death Cake but it was uneatable & gross. I know he did the best he could but this was before he discovered the joy of baking. He came over to the apartment I was renting & surprised me with it. The death cake had ganache in it something he’d never made before.

To this day I remember how jealous my roommate was, even though the bake was uneatable. It was such a sweet gesture & 6 months later he proposed.