Ask Away Friday with Tamara Like Camera!

Hooray, hooray, hooray for the all new #AskAwayFriday! Get to know the new hosts and  grab the new logo! Be sure to check out the new Facebook page “AskAwayFriday” for a great place to meet up and send out a #BuddyRequest if you need a partner to swap with! And always feel free to contact me here or anywhere if you want to swap with me.
What is #AskAwayFriday? Well… 

#AskAwayFriday was created by the amazing Penny from Real Housewife of Caroline County as a place for us to connect with other bloggers by asking them ten questions to really get to know them. The sky is the limit with the questions you ask!

Tamara from Tamara Like Camera,

Tiffany from Mrs. Tee Love Life Laughter,

Christy from Uplifting Families,

Stacey from This Momma’s Ramblings

and

Amber from Bold Fit Mom

Folks, I am thrilled to be doing Ask Away Friday. This is my first go at it, after months of reading other #AAF posts and really digging the questions and answers. I decided it's finally time to jump on the bandwagon and today, I am paired with one of my all-time favorite bloggers who also happens to be one of my all-time favorite people that I know offline. I first met Tamara through our mutual friend NJ. As a new transplant to Western Mass, I felt that this Jersey girl spoke my downstate language. Her daughter Scarlet made quite the impression on Alice back then. We had a meet-up at the awesome Eric Carle Children's Book Museum in Amherst, and though it was three years ago (or more?!), Alice still talks about "that girl Scarlet that we met at the museum who has the curly hair." In any case, I am pretty sure, in the #AAF circle and on the Internet at large, Tamara needs no introduction! But in case you've been living under a virtual rock, check out her blog, which I read religiously because she is an amazing storyteller, both with her words and her photographs.

You can read Tamara's answers to my questions here and below are my answers to her questions! Happy reading! 

1. What do you miss most about Western Mass? Oh, jeez. I don’t know where to begin. The thing I miss most is how quickly everyone jumps in to help a mama out, and how laid back the social life is. I like that it isn’t always about going out to have fun but just staying in and hanging out. I also really miss driving all the back roads and taking the long way home but luckily, we have settled into a town where I can do the same thing! I made some great friendships in the valley, so thank goodness for Facebook, though it will never substitute for the real thing.

2. I know you have more success with me at getting your kids to eat balanced meals. What's a meal or dish recipe that your whole family will eat?  Oy! I have to say, I’m having much less success lately. It really ebbs and flows but I find that any meal involving fish, rice and beans or chicken will be met with universal approval from all three kids. I just checked my blog to see if I have a recipe for rice and beans but I don’t! Here’s two that I’ve been using lately, both made in a pressure cooker, which is the greatest invention ever: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/black-beans-in-a-pressure-cooker-recipe.html (I omit the ham hock)  and http://weelicious.com/2013/01/24/pressure-cooker-pinto-beans/

3. What's something you have always wanted to do that you have yet to accomplish? Mmh… I feel like I have a list in my head and of course, I’m having the darndest time pulling it up! Well, I was just talking to my  mom last week about how I want to go to New Zealand. One of my favorite writers is Janet Frame and she was from New Zealand. Also, it just sounds like an amazing place!

4. I remember reading and loving your "how we met" story with Henry. What was the  first date you went on? What do you remember noticing about him that made you know you wanted to marry him..or at least have a relationship? Our first official date was at Tribeca Grill, an upscale restaurant owned by Robert DeNiro. I was really excited to go there and… I dragged my little sister along! She was in town visiting me, and I didn’t want to go alone. We were celebrating Henry’s birthday, so I made a layer cake for him and brought it to the restaurant. The frosting was a mess by the time I got out of the cab. The kitchen staff was incredibly gracious and fixed the frosting! They stored it in the fridge until it was time for us to surprise Henry with it. He was really touched by the gesture and might’ve shed a tear or two because no one had ever made him a homemade cake before, which seemed incredibly sad to me! After dinner, we went to a bar where his friend was bartending (and yes, my underage sister came along… don’t tell). We had our first kiss at the bar, after a few drinks. I think I just felt that he was really sweet and so different from any other guy I had dated, especially my ex-boyfriend, with whom I had recently broken up. Also, I met Henry right around the same time I met this other guy, and felt drawn to Henry over the other guy, who was nice but not right.

5. Got this one from Diz Mommy - When people meet you for the first time, what are they surprised to learn? You know what? I have no idea! I had to crowd-source this question for an answer! My friend Bain said it was that fact that my family gets along and functions better than most "traditional" families, even though we have an unconventional family dynamic. In fact, long before the TV show ever came on the air, my friend Suzanne used to say that I had the ultra-modern family, with a gay mom, two stepmoms, half-siblings and step-siblings. My friend Sandi says that she is still amazed how well I speak for having been born deaf. She's right-- it's a frequent observation from new people in my life! She also said she would've guessed that I was Latina. To those Puerto Rican girls in a bar bathroom who told me that there was no way I could be Puerto Rican, I say: Take That! But seriously, it's my olive skin tone and nutso curly hair that throws people off, I think, plus the fact that I have my Puerto Rican husband's last name.

6. I ask this a lot but I really like it for you: What profession would you most like to try for a day? And what profession would you most hate to try? I would really like to be a librarian for a day, or forever. I think I would be good at it but I can’t go back to school right now, or ever, probably. *sadface* I definitely would not want to try a job that involves touching people or being around bodily fluids. Blech.

7. Do you have any plans to travel this spring (what's left of it) and summer? Well, we already took a camping trip over Memorial Day weekend with my sister, her family and her friends, and my friends. It was a lot of fun. Next up is a week-long camping trip in Maine. We’ve never gone camping for more than a weekend with the kids and I really don’t know how it will go. We’re staying at a family campground so there will be plenty for us to do, and some more modern conveniences that don’t come with regular car camping. After that, we are headed to the Cape for two weeks at the end of July and beginning of August. I am really excited about this. Henry is joining us for the second week so I will have to drive there alone, with the kids. The long drive makes me a little nervous but I think I can do it. I also have plans to take a solo trip with the girls to Lake Ontario, to visit a friend who has a lake cottage up there, and of course, I would really like to make it up to the Valley! Someone up there needs to have a party and invite me so that I have an excuse to go...

8. What's the last great book you read and what did you love about it? I need a recommendation from a fellow reader/writer! Oh, the pressure!!! It’s actually been awhile since I read a super great book but here are three that I really loved in the past year:

9. Can I ask you your own question..because I love it. What cancelled TV show would you bring back from your childhood? Tough one!! But I’m going to nerd out here and say that I would love for Ghostwriter and Square One to come back for my own kids to watch. Do you remember those shows? I thought they were awesome and would watch them every day after school!

10. Which fairy tale character do you (or did you as a child) most associate with? I have to confess, I was not and still am not into fairy tales! My knowledge is woefully inadequate in this area, despite having two girls that are a little princess crazy. Can I pick a contemporary fairy tale character? I really love the Paper Bag princess and I think I am more like her than any other character! I have to thank my friend Sue for introducing me to this character when she gave my girls a copy of this book.

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