What inspired you to begin writing?

For those who desire to get a book published, what are your three top tips?

Your first book Submerged is coming out this spring, when you found out your book pitch was accepted, what was the first thing you did?

What’s your favorite writing environment? Do you have a favorite place or space?

Your books are all adventure based, what adventures are on your bucket list?

It’s not uncommon for blogger friendships to start online.  We first met Laura Tremain on Twitter.  We became chatty – familiar.  Then, while scouting outfits for a Blissdom (blogging conference) fashion post, Chris Ann game across “the dress” – only to realize, it was being worn by none other than Laura, their LoveFeast Twitter friend.  A half a year later, the LoveFeast girls met up with Laura at BlogHer in NYC, to find that the launch of online friendships blossom IRL (in real life).  We will always remember the London and sharing conversation and life stories across the table.  We are excited to have our friend Laura, a writer, a mother and a Hollywood Housewife -  join us at our table today to share more of her story. (picture above Linda, Kristin & Chris Ann, Laura ~ BlogHer 2010)

1.) What is your passion?

I am most passionate about the written word.  My perfect hour is spent alone, reading something brilliant and writing something passable.  Through my blog, I’ve recently become passionate about helping people making baby steps to change their lives, empowering women to live their own fairy tale, whatever that might be.

2.) If you’re pursuing that passion, what or who inspired you to begin?

I am lazily pursuing my biggest passion and dream, which is writing.  I write on my blog several times a week, but really there are only a few pieces a month that I consider “real” writing.  Still, the daily discipline of posting something online has made me a better writer and is a baby step toward a more substantial goal.

There are so many things that I wish I could do more seriously within my literary passions, but I’ve accepted that this season of my life – pregnant mom to a toddler – can’t be all about me.  I know many women can juggle all of this with grace and aplomb, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve accepted my limitations.  Between the blog and a few smaller-scale goals, I hope to give my writing passion a more serious turn in the next few years.

3.) Was there a book you read, or an author you met that was a turning point for you?  That point where a light bulb went off and you knew you wanted to be a writer? Or was it more of a gradual revelation?

I’ve known I wanted to be writer since I was a child.  Starting in elementary school I would devour books, sometimes one a day.  My mom could hardly keep up buying them for me!  Which means that I started pulling from my older siblings’ bookshelf and read some pretty adult things when I was really young.  My parents never censored them from me, though, and looking back I really appreciate that.

When I was probably eleven or twelve, I wrote a fan letter to Judy Blume and she wrote back!  She was very encouraging and this reply from one of my favorite writers sticks out to me as a moment that cemented my life in the literary world.

Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many authors I’ve admired, have watched several dear friends secure book deals, and even walked out of a reading by one of my very favorite writers.  I’m lucky to live in a city and have friends in a community that stays creative and driven.

4.)  What type of book are you interested in writing?  Fiction, non-fiction?  Do you have an idea that you have been percolating on?

It depends on which day you ask me!  When I was younger I wrote almost exclusively fiction, but it was for my eyes only.  Blogging is the first experience I’ve had writing regularly for an audience and it has been exclusively non-fiction.  I like both, but I’m much more gun-shy about my fiction work.

5.)  What is your favorite book read of 2011?

This hasn’t been the most booming year of favorite reads, but I was fascinated by both Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom and Justin Cronin’s The Passage.

6.)  Why do you think it is important for people, and specifically women and mother’s (since you are about to have a new baby any day now)…to pursue their passions?

Because it’s so easy to get lost in everything else.  Our lives are full of To Do’s and they can pleasurably fill a day, a week, a year.  But in the end all of our To Do’s are sort of empty aren’t they?  And who you are in relation to others – a wife, a mother, a friend – also changes over time and can leave you feeling like there is nothing left of yourself.

I love John Wooden’s quote, “Never mistake activity for achievement.”

Thanks Laura!  We are so glad to have you join us at the table!
Chris Ann & Kristin

*GIVEAWAY*  Laura is about to give birth to her baby at any moment!  To celebrate with our friend we sent her a Mother’s Tree Of Life necklace from our LoveFeast Shop.  Guess what?  She’s sharing the love by offering a Giveaway of the same necklace from us (with customized birthstones, of course!) Leave a comment sharing your favorite thing about Fall at her giveaway post to enter ~ the giveaway is going on through Sunday, October 16th.

(UPDATE:  Laura welcomed a little Pirate into the world yesterday evening.)

Do you have a favorite time at the table, like our time at The London?

Being in the midst of a redesign, we are having to think over each page again.  The one we are focused on now is our About Us page.  We wish we could write a book, or vlog a documentary in order for you to know who we are…for reals.  The challenge is, we have to give you a glimpse of our personalities, our passions and a bit of our history in a few short paragraphs.  There are bits of our lives that seem interesting to us, but then again, Chris Ann and I have one of those friendships that fills in the gaps without words, so we fear that sometimes we are communicating ineffectively to you guys.

So, just like yesterday, we are reaching out to ask you for some input.  What types of profile pages grab you and draw you in?  Do you have a favorite?  Are there certain details about a person’s life you just can’t get enough of?  Do you prefer a vlog introduction, bullet points, an interview or paragraphs?

Thanks again for taking a moment to share with us.  We want the interaction here at LoveFeast to be an exchange of ideas. We actually thrive on it.

Sometimes you just want to eat a burger. Eating a burger at The Cove, is like eating at your older brother’s apartment; your older brother that was into records, fishing, hunting, and skateboarding. The Cove has a relaxed hang-out type vibe where you can be comfortable, kickback, and hang with some friends. That is what “Good Vibe Ambassadors” and brothers, Bruce and Brock Larson, are trying to do with their burger joint. The menu is simple and inexpensive pub food. The hamburgers and hot dogs are served in basket with good fries. And, they have “appetitzerz” and pizza as well. This is dude food that even a chick might like!

I stopped by during The Cove’s soft open to talk to Bruce Larson who recently opened The Cove, with his brother Brock. The pub is decorated with skateboard decks, music posters and memorabilia. Bruce, who formerly worked in sales and marketing for EMI and Warner Brothers, said he has been collecting stuff since he was eight years old and wanted to share it with people, in a relaxed atmosphere. He wanted a restaurant with a solid food menu, and a pub vibe that revolves around music.

What inspired you to start your business? A love of music, beer, wine, and simple food. After twenty-five years in the music business, and after kicking the idea around for almost ten years, I was looking for the right opportunity.

What other restaurants and travels inspired you? I wanted good food and good music, something like the Hard Rock Café or Denver, a mountain town-chalet type place with a fireplace, to be the best burger joint you ever went to.

What is your favorite food memory? My wife and I use to go to a place in Colorado, above Boulder, in Nederland, CO, where all they served was spaghetti. There was a line out the door. It was the best spaghetti you ever had. It shows it doesn’t have to be fancy, just good, reasonable, fair, and a fun experience.

Where do you see you’re self in the next five years? For this place to have a cool vibe and maybe a couple of more locations in the area south of the river (south of Minneapolis).

What’s a fun fact that you’d like people to know? My brother is a hunter and a fisherman and a lot of the fish mounts in our place were caught locally. I live and breathe music.

How is music going to play a role here? It is going to be a mish mash of good music, something for everyone.

How would you describe “the vibe” here at The Cove? I just want people to be happy, to be able to go to a place that is different and fun and escape for awhile.

I enjoyed hearing a little about the inspiration behind the restaurant and hope that anyone in the Minneapolis area who finds them selves “south of the river” and looking for a “Jucy Lucy” ventures into the hometown hospitality of The Cove.

My sister-n-law, Kim, who I think will forgive me for sneaking a look into the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, that gave I her as a gift, has read the cookbook cover to cover.  She also has agreed to submit to a lie detector test has agreed to an interview.  Kim is in the beginning stages of launching her own baking company.  Let’s see where she gets her inspiration!

What is your favorite food memory? Um, learning to make chocolate chip cookies in 4-H.  We had to measure all the ingredients into butter dishes.  That is my first memory of being taught how to bake.

What inspired you to start your business? I love to bake for myself, my family, and other’s enjoyment.  So many of my friends don’t bake because they can’t, don’t know how, don’t like to, or don’t have the time to.  Store-bought has become the staple at every event and I want to bring homemade back to home.

What’s your three favorite kitchen tools? My kitchen-aid mixer, my apple/slicer/corer gadget, and my hand chopper.

What have you made from the Baked cookbook so far? The Peanut Butter Cookies With Milk Chocolate Chunks, page 140, completely awesome!  The Chocolate Chip Cookies, page 139, not your average chocolate chip cookie.  And, the Peanut Butter Krispie Bars, page 133, super yummy intense adult rice krispie bars, delicious!  A sugar rush!

What do you want to make next from Baked? Black Forest Chocolate Cookies, the Baked Brownie, and the Rootbeer Bundt Cake.

What would you like to learn next? I’d like to take a food science class, to learn the ins and outs of how ingredients interact, so I can formulate my own recipes with less trial and error.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?  Or, where would you like to be? I’d like to have my business up and running.  I’d like to have a retail location where I can bake and teach classes for kids and adults.

If you were going to ask the owners and writer of Baked anything-what would it be? What do you think the key to consistency is, as you start to hirer and expand, to maintain your same quality product.

What kind of satisfaction do you get from baking? Personally, therapeutic, for me it’s relaxing.  When I was younger, and in high school, if there was something going on, you could tell, because I would make a pan of brownie or cookies.  When I bake for others, there is nothing more satisfying than hearing, that was really good!

If you were going to eat your last dessert, what would it be? A hot skillet cookie.  It’s a hot chocolate chip cookie, warmed or cooked on a cast iron skillet, served with ice cream and hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, with toasted almonds on top.