Welcome!

Happy Fourth of July, dear people!

We will be back, for sure, after this weekend.

If its your first time here, go on, read the story behind the blog and Meet the Authors.
Finally, do write in! We love hearing from you!

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No, no, we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. We’ve merely been caught up with IRL things to do.

We promise to have a post up for you to read this week.

love,

DP & FD

Summer Things To Do: Read for Prizes

So you’re home and haven’t much to do, huh?
or maybe you’re wondering what to do with the kids that doesn’t cost a bomb ….or maybe, you just want to catch up with your reading.

Here’s an Idea – Join the (Adult) Summer Reading Club at the Bentonville Public Library.

Ahem, the Adult there is and above 19 thing, not a porn thing. So you might want to check Number 382 down the hall for the other one.

What is the ASRC?

The ASRC or the Adult Summer Reading Club is the Bentonville Public Library’s new 8 week summer (June 8 to July 30th) reading program for Adults, where you read …to win prizes.

Ooh yummy, reading & prizes…. What do I have to do?

Set yourself a goal (e.g: four books in 8 weeks).

Sign up for the program by dropping in at the library or calling the library at 271-5976 (ask for Heather)

When you read a book for the program, fill out a reading slip (available at the library, when you sign up) and drop it off at the reference desk.

Slips will be collected starting June 8 until July 30.

A random drawing for the weekly prize will be held on Saturday. Limit one weekly prize per person.

A grad prize will be awarded at the end of ASRC through a random drawing of participants who have reached their reading goal.

You can read more than your original goal (say… 16 books in 8 weeks) and drop the slips off at the library. Only one of your reads for the week will be entered into the weekly draw, but ALL of your reads will be entered for the surprise GRAND PRIZE. Yes, yes, the more you read, the better your chances for the final drawing.

What are you waiting for? Go on, enter already!

If you have more questions, call the Reference Desk at the Bentonville Public Library at 479-271-6815

and Happy Readin’, y’all!

Meet the People: Gwen & Shannon

Today we meet: Gwen and Shannon - the fabulous women behind NWA Motherlode

(haven’t seen it yet? click here)

I have mentioned the site before on this blog. But to those who are just stopping by, here’s the tale, in brief: I came upon the site while looking for information on living in Northwest Arkansas, as soon as I’d moved in here. I loved the site – the tone, feel and readability and loved the work these two women have put into it. So when we finally decided to do a “People to Meet” section, focusing on (interesting) people to meet in and around the Bentonville area – they readily popped to mind.

Scroll on then to read about the story behind NWA Motherlode and to hear about how these two mamas Live In NWA.

FD : Tell us a little about yourself: Where you are from, your job and your family.
Gwen: I’m from Stuttgart, Arkansas, which is about an hour southeast of Little Rock. It’s one of the flattest places in the world and home to lots of rice fields and disturbingly large mosquitoes in the summer. I started my career as a newspaper journalist and columnist and then went into marketing work after that. When my first child was born, I became a freelancer so I could write from home. My weekly humor column has been running in local newspapers (and a few in Missouri and Oklahoma) for about 12 years, and I’ve published a few stories in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. I’m married to a very cool guy named Tom and we have three kids (two boys and a girl), ages 7, 5 and 2.
Shannon:
I’m from Central Arkansas, near Conway. Like Gwen, I started out as a newspaper reporter and continued along that addictive, heady path for about a decade before resigning and becoming a freelancer after my daughter was born. I migrated to Northwest Arkansas in 1999 to take a job at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I married John a year later (also a reporter at the D-G) and became a mom two years after that. I have a blog on Motherlode where I write about my life with “Ladybug” (with frequent mentions of her father and our standard poodle).

About NWA Motherlode.com

FD: We simply love NWA Motherlode. Would you share with us the story of how you got started on it? What prompted a site for NWA moms?
Gwen: I blame it all on Shannon. We worked together several years ago on a freelance project but had lost touch after the project ended. One day, out of the blue, I get a phone call from her, asking if I might be interested in helping her start a website for moms in Northwest Arkansas. At first, I was sure that something like this already existed. But after searching for it, I realized there wasn’t one out there like the one we were envisioning.

So we started to meet for lunch a couple of times a month to outline our ideas. Four months later, we launched nwaMotherlode.com. Our goal all along has been to create the kind of fun, informative website that we would want to read ourselves. We wanted it to have the feel of a women’s magazine combined with the interactivity of the Internet.

Shannon: If it’s something we’d be excited to tell one of our friends – like a great sale or info about a cool new beauty product — we know it passes the test for inclusion on the website. Oh, and I blame it on Gwen. If she’d said no, the buck might have stopped there. As it turned out, she’s the best business partner I could have asked for.

FD: What kind of challenges did you face to actually have it up and running?
Gwen: The biggest challenge was the learning curve, particularly on the technical side. We were comfortable generating articles and establishing the style and tone of the website, but we had to learn a lot about how websites come together, what makes them function, how they should be organized, etc. We have been lucky enough to find some great resources like an IT support person and a graphic designer who have really made things happen and taught us a lot along the way.
Shannon: I agree. I was a nervous wreck when I first started publishing stories on the site. Now it’s second nature. And we do have some great behind-the-scenes help.

FD: My! And how did you find all the other Mamas that contribute to the site?
Gwen: It’s going to sound corny, but it was really one of those “if you build it, they will come” kind of things. We started out with just a handful of our close friends who we sweet-talked into writing for us now and then. Keep in mind, we began this thing on less than a shoestring budget. But over time, other freelance writers have gravitated to the website and they see it as a good platform for distributing their work. We’re always excited when we meet a fellow writer who can add something valuable to the content. Right now we have about 10 writers who contribute to the website, in addition to what Shannon and I write.
Shannon: We’re so grateful to all of our contributors. We love having voices from all different types of women. Even the people who comment are offering a valuable contribution. We’re all different, but we’re united by a we’re-all-in-this-together bond.

FD: (still smiling from the previous reply) In the past one year that Motherlode has been online – what kind of a response have you received?
Gwen: The response during our first year online has been overwhelming. Of course, we always hoped it would be a popular site but we had no idea it would generate the kind of traffic it has during this first year. In the past six months alone, we’ve seen the totals for monthly unique visitors grow by 103 percent.
Shannon: The best part of the response has been the notes we get from other moms who genuinely enjoy coming to the site every week to read, post comments, enter online drawings, look at kids’ photos and just hang out and do something fun for a little while. We really want the site to feel like a little online treat designed just for moms.
One of my favorite jobs is calling the winners of our MANY giveaways. Moms often put themselves at the bottom of the list and it makes us happy to give them date nights, dinners out and, for one mom a few months back, a washer/dryer!

FD: What do you see in the future, for the site?
Gwen: We hope it continues to grow the way it is right now. We want to make sure we continue to offer the kind of content that moms are really looking for, something that either gives them new information, helps them solve a problem or entertains them for a while.
Of course, having good advertising sponsors on the site helps us make this a viable business, so we hope we’ll continue to be blessed with good partnerships with local companies. More and more business owners are realizing how much time women and moms are spending online, so the interest in advertising on sites like ours is definitely increasing.

Shannon: We’re already in the process of syndicating our website in other markets. We’ve got a pilot program going in Torrence, California called SouthBayMotherlode.com. We think moms in other cities can take the core content we’ve created and customize it for their own area.
We also want to continue helping moms feel like they have instant community when they have a baby or move to the area as brand-new Northwest Arkansans.

FD: ….Anything else about the site that you’d like our readers to know?
Gwen: I’d want them to know that our readers have shaped a lot of our content. One of the great things about having a website is being able to respond and change very quickly. For example, we had requests for pet information on the site, so we created a “Pet Parenting” category. We’re always asking our readers for their input so we can keep a good handle on what moms really want in a website. Being moms ourselves definitely helps with that. And we LOVE it when readers post comments and participate on the site because it feels like a big community conversation.

LIVING In Northwest Arkansas
Well we’d also like to know what you think of Livin’ in Northwest Arkansas.

FD: How long have you lived in NWA?
Gwen: About 17 years! Shannon: A decade.

FD: What brought you to NWA?
Gwen: I came to attend the U of A. I loved it so much that I decided to stick around after graduation.
Shannon: I moved here to take a job as a federal courts reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

FD: What do you like most about where you live / about NWA?
Gwen: I’ve always loved the way this place can feel metropolitan and “small town cozy” all at the same time. Some of the biggest business deals in America go down right here in Northwest Arkansas. But it’s also the kind of place where you might pass a pasture of cows on your way to the mall. Crazy, isn’t it? But it’s also very quaint. We have some of the perks of city life without losing the charm of a smaller town. As Goldilocks would say, it’s “just right.”
Shannon: I’m with Gwen. I like that it can feel a little bit country and a little bit city, depending on what you’re in the mood for.

FD: What is your favorite thing to do in NWA? (It could just be going to the library or walking a trail)
Gwen: I love a quiet afternoon boating on the lake, watching the kids throw rocks off the beach.
Shannon: I like hiking at Devil’s Den or Lake Fayetteville. I also adore reading and can spend hours at the Fayetteville library or local bookstore.

FD: What is your favorite hang-out spot here?
Gwen: With three kids, I feel like I rarely get to hang out because it feels like we’re always on the go. Most of our hang-out time happens right on our driveway, watching toddlers on tricycles ride around. But when we do get to hang-out, my husband and I like having dinner out, going to a movie or seeing a show at the Walton Arts Center.
Shannon: Yep, we love hanging out on our street, too. I have some wonderful neighbors and the kids all like to play together. I was pregnant when we first moved to this house and it’s so comfortable. We even borrow eggs and cups of sugar from each other. Quaint, huh?

FD: …and you favorite restaurant in the area:
Gwen: In Washington County, it’s Pesto Café on North College in Fayetteville. (I order the Pesto Pasta with extra tomatoes every single time, and it never gets old for me. Delicious.) If I’m in the mood for steak, it’s definitely Mister B’s on Walnut Street in Rogers. Favorite quick lunch spot? Cuisines Gourmet To Go on 52nd Street in Rogers.
Shannon: Hmm. I’m partial to Noodles in Fayetteville. It’s hard to decide on just one, though, because I really love to eat out. It’s a hobby.

FD: If you had to recommend one spot to visit in or around NWA, what would it be?
Gwen: Gosh, it’s tough to narrow it down to just one. There are so many cool places to see. I love a good Razorback football game in the fall. And during the holidays, I love the Fayetteville Square under the twinkling lights. My kids rode a Christmas camel there one time! You can’t beat the Farmer’s Market during the spring. And Beaver Lake is THE place to be in the summer – beautiful scenery, clean water, good friends and a boat. What more could you need?
Shannon: I always take people to Bell Gable Chapel on Stone Chapel Lane in Fayetteville (off Mt. Comfort Road). It’s where John and I got married and it’s just lovely. It was built by a local man and he placed his mother’s wedding gown and many other sentimental objects in the walls of the church.

FD: What is the one thing you wouldn’t change about NWA? If you were to move away from this area, what would you miss the most?
Gwen: I wouldn’t change the overall friendly vibe of the area. I like how most people in our area are very open to meeting new people and making friends. Many of us who live in NWA transferred into the area because of job opportunities, so we’re all in the same boat. Because most of us don’t have a big family living nearby, we learn to depend on each other and the network of friendships we make in NWA. In my experience, this is not a “clique-ish” area.
Shannon: It’s so dear to my heart because it’s where I married, had a baby and made a “grown-up” life. I have so many good friends here and I would miss them terribly if I moved.

FD: ….And what is the one thing that you would change about it?
Gwen: I’m looking forward to the day when our infrastructure catches up to our growth. It seems like we’re in a constant state of road construction, and there are still so many more roads that need to be widened and improved to handle the traffic flow. I know we’ll get there eventually, but waiting for it to happen can be frustrating.
Shannon: Hmmm. That’s a tough one. Infrastructure is good. Yes, I’ll steal Gwen’s answer.

FD: Well, Thank you, Gwen & Shannon, for taking the time out to share your thoughts and experience with us!

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day weekend y’all!

DP and I are off on our own, special vacations. We hereby solemly promise our vacation posts soon.

Until then, stay well, stay safe and have a great extended weekend.