Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Blogiversary 6: You Asked, We Answered

Get ready to cringe! It’s time for our annual (and always amazingly awkward) Q&A video. Just like in past blogiversary weeks, we invited you guys to ask us some personal (i.e. non-decorating) questions over on our Facebook page last week. And after over 150 questions came rolling in, we sat down and answered as many as we could while Clara napped one afternoon – and then culled it down into this 20 minute video. Among all of our mind-blowing, no-holds-barred revelations (note the sensationalism) you’ll learn:

  • If we’d ever let readers vote on the decorating choices we make
  • What blog post we regret writing
  • Our thoughts on snarky message boards
  • If we ever think about reversing our no-swag policy
  • If we won the lottery, what we’d change about our lives
  • What our neighbors think of the blog
  • If we regret choosing our blog name
  • What ceramic animal I’d save if our house was under a zombie attack
  • How we keep the blog from consuming our lives
  • If our marriage is perfect (spoiler alert: nope!)
  • Why I’ll probably never cut my hair super short again
  • If I still own just one bra
  • THE MUCH ANTICIPATED POSSUM-IN-THE-BASEMENT STORY!!!

So now that you’re most likely on the edge of your seat (… or not) here goes nothing:

So there you have it, another year of us blathering on about personal stuff and mythical horse sized ducks and mysterious mammals in our crawl space. Did anything surprise you? Or spark another question in your brain? We can’t promise we can answer every one of them in the comments here, but feel free to ask away as potential future fodder for next year…

Psst- Want more awkward? Here are the Q&A posts for 2012, 2011, 2010 & 2009: Part 1 + Part 2.

_______________________________________

Oh but before we go, let’s talk about you guys for a second. Each year we love finding out who the heck you guys are, and then on Friday John can make a nerd-tastic infographic all about it (last year’s had Beyonce in it, so it might be hard to top that).

Comments

  1. Allison says

    This is a Burger question. So, he “sounds the alarm” when someone arrives at your house. My dog does that too. She barks like crazy when a car pulls up, and even excitedly barks when we come home. My question is, how did that work out when Clara was a baby? We don’t have kids yet and I’m concerned that the dog could wake the baby up from a nap I just got them down to, or generally just startle the baby. Our house is very small, so the barking seems very loud. Was that a problem for you? Do we need to work on our dog before a baby arrives?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      At first I was nervous but I think it made Clara a better sleeper. She flinched a few times in those early days, but then she began to snooze right through it! She can also sleep through our hammering, haha!

      xo
      s

  2. Leah says

    Thanks for including all those I live options! I live and work at a boarding school, and I’m actually covered in your poll. Whoo!

    Reply

  5. Ashley says

    Just watched the Clara and Burger video with my 5 year old son. Clara is so cute. My son wants to watch the barky dog over and over again. He thinks it is halarious. Love it!

    Reply

  7. Sara says

    Thank you, guys! Blogversary week is exactly why your readers love you! You respond to comments, you become real in videos for us and you are just adorable. Last night I watched this video and then I jumped over to youtube and watched TONS of yhl videos. We’re besties in my mind! :)

    Reply

  8. Manda Wolf says

    I watched that last night after my hubby went to bed, I read your posts every day, I have for over 3 years now (I found you while we were looking to buy our first house and was so inspired I couldn’t wait and painted stripes on my rental’s bathroom walls!) but I rarely watch videos. You guys are so cute and funny, and clearly so in love! The way John was looking at you Sherry was very sweet (although there may have been a couple of times he looked afraid he was going to get hit in the eye *smiles*). Keep up the good work guys!

    Reply

  9. Stacy says

    The Clara and Burger video cracks me up!! I cannot believe how big & smart she is getting! If it makes Burger feel better, my dog Bella barked back when she heard him bark!! :)

    Reply

  10. terra says

    Speaking of nachos, I feel like it’s important that you guys know that Bellytimber has THE BEST nachos in the city. I have tried most of the nachos in Richmond, and Bellytimber wins. There’s lettuce and fresh jalapenos and you can get them with meat or black beans and the queso is made of magic and the pico is perfect with bits of jalapeno, tomato and onion.

    Reply

  11. AnnieM says

    Hi Sherry and John!
    Just want to reiterate what everyone else is saying..how awesome your blog is and what a fabulous thing you are doing for everyone…think about it: all of us are getting your expertise for free! You work so hard for us! And yes, of course you are paid, but if you broke it down per hour, I would bet your pay is much lower than you deserve. So thank you!
    3 quick additional comments:
    1. I am a childbirth educator and an RN and I recommend your site to my pregnant couples specifically for your posts on cloth diapering, breastfeeding and potty training. I love that you shared those personal details–SO helpful! (and I don’t think Clara will have any issues later AT ALL with that post ;-)
    2. You and John should go with your gut when it comes to things like thumbsucking, sleeping in a big bed, etc. I try to tell couples in my class that all kids are different. What is right for one is NOT necessarily right for another! Just because someone needed braces after thumbsucking does not mean it was because of thumbsucking. That child most likely would have needed them anyway. (Spoken from someone [me] who sucked her thumb for 6 years and never needed braces lol)
    We are all different, thank goodness! Adults and kids.
    Anyway, don’t worry about what other people think you should do..do what YOU think is right. We are all experts on our own children. It doesn’t necessarily mean we know everything about other kids, right? (haha. Even tho we sometimes try…)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks so much Annie! John’s sister sucked her thumb until she was 8 and has perfect teeth (no braces!) – I love that you’re another tooth miracle out there! And even though John and I sucked our thumbs with baby teeth (but quit well before adult teeth) we both needed braces anyway – so I’m prepared for Clara to need them from the stellar “braces genes” we’re handing over. Haha!

      xo
      s

  12. Claire says

    Hugs all around for spreading so much positivity and love. Your blog name is fitting becaust it truly is love to endure the ugly (surprinsingly so much of it) with the understandable admiration of many. I marvel at how beautifully you handle both aspects of fame with so much grace and humility. More than the fantastic projects, this is my reason for being a long time reader and fan.

    Reply

  13. Mary Lee says

    How exciting! You know what struck me most about the interview is how down-to-earth and, for lack of a better word, normal you are. The same sentiments come across in your blog but it’s more apparent in a video clip like this. I hope this comment doesn’t come across as disparaging but you’re just like so many young families and yet you’ve made this big ole blog that entertains so many people (myself included)through hard-work and determination all while keeping true to yourselves…such a blessing…and so well done!

    Reply

  15. Leigh-Anne says

    Love this! One recommendation for next year– I listen to the videos with my headphones on and the window minimized (so sneaky), but miss the questions. Some of them are obvious because of the context, but it would be super helpful if you repeated the questions!

    Reply

  16. Aly says

    So I hope I’m not stepping on toes when I say this, but can I make a suggestion? Because I think it’s a drinking game this week how often you guys mention editing photos being time consuming.
    Adobe makes a program called Lightroom 5 ($150 on their site) where you can select a huge group of photos and edit them all the same (basic things like brighten, contracts, saturation, even resize for web) and it seems to me that you spend way too much time doing such a tedious task one by one in Photoshop. You can even make your own preset (so you only have to click one button and all of the photos will be brightened, saturated AND resized), and if you care to start doing it you can make all of them have a little watermark to your site in the corner for Pintrest and whatnot. I think the investment might be something that you guys want to look into. I use it for wedding photography and it’s cut my edit time down from about 40 hours per wedding to about 8 hours. It’s invaluable. And for the amount of time you end up saving in the end the price is amazing. Especially for an Adobe program :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much Aly! It sounds amazing! We use actions in photoshop to help with that (although we hear awesome things about Lightroom being even faster) but the real time-suck for us is just the sheer amount of photos that we have to go through (we take way too many, and it’s all our fault, so a project that has 10 steps might have 200 photos to sort through and flag the 10 that best tell the story).

      xo
      s

    • MicheleLouise says

      I was going to suggest the same thing about checking out Lightroom. Absolutely one of my favorite photography programs. And it can save you huge amounts of time.

      It can actually help in some ways with the culling of photos as well, there are quick ways to flag photos you like. You can run through 200 photos really fast doing a P (pick) and X (delete), then sort on the picks and unpick some more, do comparisons, rate with colors and stars. Its a really great program. Once you put a little time into learning it I think it will save you a lot of time in the long run.

  17. Dayna says

    Here’s another random question. You guys do such a good job of keeping your closet clutter free, how do you resist the temptation to buy new clothes? Or how often do you buy clothes for yourself? Do you have a system where when you buy one shirt, you have to get rid of one shirt? I have a friend who does that and I always benefit when she goes shopping bc I inherit some of her awesome (and hardly worn) shirts. But I have a hard time getting rid of something if I still wear it and like it…even if my closet is more crowded than I’d like. How do you manage keeping things “simple” when it comes to clothing?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think I’ve always been a minimalist with clothes (even in my NYC days, I might have had ten million shoes, but a few nice staples like jeans/blazers/skirts and a few fun H&M trendy tops and accessories were all I really needed. I had a tiny closet there, so maybe that helped with my discipline? Plus.. more money for shoes! Haha! Can you tell I have a shoe problem? Anyway, John is pretty simplified too, although I do occasionally ask if he’d sort through his free race t-shirts (he ends up with 50 and only wears 5) or his button downs (some get worn out and he never wears them but doesn’t think to donate those until I do some gentle prodding for a ten minute closet clean-out). We generally don’t tend to shop for clothes unless we specifically need something, so that helps us not just grab things mindlessly too. I like the something-in-and-something-out rule too. When our hangers are all full, we remove something to make room for something else, so that keeps things under control.

      xo
      s

    • Dayna says

      Thanks for answering! Maybe I could get some nice wooden hangers – I like your idea that when the hangers are full, you have to remove something in order to add something! Plus I really dislike those wire dry cleaning hangers my husband’s shirts are all on.

  19. Kim S says

    Loved the video…thanks for giving me something fun to do while I wait around for my “bun in the oven” to decide it’s a good time to come out and let us meet him! Today is my due date and he’s got no signs of emerging anytime soon…cross your fingers that maybe tomorrow I’ll have a different response to the poll question about what I’ve got!

    Reply

  20. Ann says

    I loved your interview this year. I have to say that I am glad that you don’t take the swag, then you can still give us amazing ideas on how to do really cool stuff on the cheap! That’s one thing I really love about your blog. It gives me ideas for an affordable, yet artistic life. I used Clara’s quilt pattern and made a similar quilt last weekend, to give to my pregnant sister-in-law, and it only cost $15 in materials- you can’t beat that, and she loved it! Also I have never read a snark site, so you shouldn’t bother either, you guys are awesome!

    Reply

  21. Andrea says

    Sherry,

    Just watched the youtube Q&A video you posted. You should totally try a paint night. They are all over Boston right now. They are fun and relaxed and get you back into making art again! It would be a fun date night for you and John I bet! My husband and I had a blast, even though he was very reluctant to go at first.
    http://paintnite.com/pages/home/index

    They always have discounts on groupon or other social sites too.

    Reply

  22. Grace says

    Reading your blog is one of the first things I do each morning at work (Shhh, don’t tell:) And, today, I totally cracked out the headphones and tried to look very work-ish, so nobody at my office could tell that I spent nearly 25 minutes watching you guys chat it up. Thanks for brightening my day:)

    Reply

  23. haverwench says

    Okay, that softball question you gave Burger at the end was my absolute favorite!

    I would like to defend the person who said yours seemed like a “perfect” relationship, though. The perfect relationship is not one in which you never fight; it’s one in which you always make up.

    Reply

  24. Nicole says

    I watched Clara and Burger’s Q&A with my 4-year-old. At the end I said, “that was cute” and my daughter replied, “no, that was awesome!” Indeed. :)

    Reply

  27. jenni says

    I just want to say THANK YOU for this. My four month old (who I was pregnant with when I saw you guys in Atlanta – Sherry, you were right, it’s a girl!) has been super fussy all day. I start the video and she’s instantly enthralled. She especially liked the opossum story. She squealed with delight. Thank you for the first quiet twenty minutes I’ve had all day. Now for a replay while I make dinner.

    Reply

  28. Kerri says

    I had never heard of snark site until this…. I did look it up out of curiosity and I was appalled at what people can write. Whatever happened to “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”?!!

    Also as someone who has been reading since before you were even expecting Clara, I can’t believe what a grown-up little girl she is. :)

    Reply

  29. Sandy says

    I finally just got to watch this whole thing, and you guys crack me up. Thanks for sharing so much! My biggest takeaway (besides Clara’s adorbs interview) was that you have INTERCOMS in your new house. We’ve been in our house for two years and can’t figure out the best/easiest way to get rid of ours…and they’re practically in every room, all shapes and sizes. (And this is not a big house…you can easily yell from room to room if need be.) So crazy. I cannot WAIT to see how you get rid of yours!

    Reply

  31. Melissa says

    Oh my gosh, that was my first “check your age” box since turning 30! I had a mini identity crisis when I was reminded that I’m a 30-something, haha. But, that’s ok, 30s are awesome. Loved the videos – especially Clara and Burger!

    Reply

  32. Kathleen says

    I very rarely comment because I sort of feel bad for you having to read and manually approve every comment, but I had to say two things. First, I really appreciate the no swag policy and I hope you don’t revisit it. I know everyone’s trying to make a living, but I’m really turned off by blogs where you can never tell if you’re getting real content or an ad. I like that it’s always clear here. The second is, please don’t let the haters get you down. I sometimes cringe at all of the explanations and justifications you have to include in your posts because we all know that if you don’t include them, the haters gonna hate. I think they’d hate regardless. Anyway, love the blogiversary posts, keep ’em coming!

    Reply

  33. Meg says

    I feel like there should have been a fill in the blank option under the age range question for those who want to be a bit more specific.
    For the record I am in my 30s but just barely. I only turned 30 two months ago. I like to think of myself as 29 and 14 months.
    This was the first time that I had to define myself as “in my 30s”
    Your killing me YHL.

    Reply

  34. Melissa says

    Another comment now that I’ve actually finished the video: There are snark sites? Like Younng House Love snark sites or home design blogger snark, or what? I’m kind of amazed! That’s wild. And I love the no swag policy. There are so many blogs that I used to read religiously that I drifted away from when every other post was sponsored or featured a product the blogger had been gifted. It isn’t that I have a policy of not reading blogs that accept swag, I’ve just found myself enjoying blogs less when I feel like I can’t trust the blogger’s opinion. I know people are making their living from blogging, and I don’t begrudge the freebies, but I love being able to read your blog and not wonder if everything you talk about is just product placement.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Melissa! And as for your question, there’s not a site just devoted to snarking on us, but there are a few with lots of home bloggers, mommy bloggers, humor bloggers, etc. It definitely shocked us after about 6 months of blogging to see our names there, but now that it’s been six years it just feels like it’s part of the whole blogging thing.

      xo
      s

  35. Kerrie says

    Hey, haven’t been able to read for a couple of days, but when I go to younghouselove.com, it takes me to this post (September 25th) rather than the first one on the page. I cleared my cache, and it is still happening. Don’t really know if there is anything that you can do, but just wanted you to know! :) Hope you have a great weekend!!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh no! Anyone else having this issue? That’s the first we’ve heard? What if you go to our Facebook page and click the link for the post through there? That usually works if something on someone’s end is being glitchy.

      xo
      s

  37. Stevie says

    Finally caught up on videos after being at school/busy doing homework. You two are so fun, and always so classy when addressing problematic posters (AKA the drinkers of haterade). Ignore the haters and continue doing what you love, because you bring smiles to thousands upon thousands of folks daily. :)

    Reply

  38. megan says

    I am so impressed that Clara will suck either thumb! I have a 3.5 yr old thumb sucker and she does NOT alternate.
    Clara’s got skilz :) But of course you know that!

    Reply

  39. MicheleLouise says

    I didn’t want to clutter up my lightroom comment with other topics, but I wanted to say something about the snark sites. I understand strongly the desire for feedback and constructive critism on your job performance, as much as it stresses me at work, it is really important and luckily in the corporate world people take it fairly seriously. There is likely some good feedback in there, but I think it is not worth the pain of weeding through the mean comments to get it.

    My suggestion, and something I do in my own career, is find peers to have “peer to peer mentoring” with. Just informal chats about how to handle things, bounce ideas of off. But people I respect and admire. They need to have a little separation so they have a different perspective/experience and can check my frame of reference. I think you just need to build a group like that for yourself. Maybe expand it beyond just other bloggers, include other small business owners, etc. People that you trust but will be honest with you.

    Reply

  40. Katie McIntyre says

    Somehow I missed this when you posted it earlier in the week. SO GLAD I found it- you guys are the best! Love, love, love the Q&A with Clara and Burger too.

    Reply

  41. Alicia says

    I loved this video. I started reading your blog back in 2009 when I was searching for kitchen inspiration and your blog came up in my search. I’ve been hooked ever since. I knew early on how great your blog was, and I love seeing how successful you’ve become while still staying true to yourselves.

    Random question – how do you comment on someone else’s comment?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Sorry about that! It’s so confusing but if you click the reply button under the original comment (the first one in the thread) it’ll put your response under it. Usually there can be five comments all in that thread, but for some reason there’s still only a reply button under the initial one, so if you click that and then type and submit your comment, it’ll end up at the bottom of the thread.

      xo
      s

  42. Veronica Greear says

    Oh gosh, I love y’all. How are you so easily funny, even together?! And being a UVA grad (class of 2000) and a Richmond native makes me even more proud of y’all. Keep it up!

    Reply

  45. Yalanda says

    First of all, I’m a jazzerciser and to hear the two of you even mention it makes me laugh! Secondly, how, how, how do you only have one (two) bra(s), Sherry?! Is there a routine? Do you avoid certain cuts of tops? I’m amazed!

    Reply

  47. Kelly says

    Seriously, your daughter and your dog are just the most gosh-darn adorable things in the entire world. I died laughing at Burger and the doorbell and Clara was sooo soo cute when she told Burger to sit and spelled her name. Thanks for posting that!!

    Reply

  48. Rachel says

    Clara is so big!! So expressive! I got all misty. Sometimes the fact that kids grow up so fast hits me more when I see other peoples kids growing up! (Sniff sniff!) wish I could keep my own little girl little! Clara is precious. You guys are doing an amazing job.

    Reply

  49. Alleene says

    Your possum story made me remember an incident when I was growing up in Richmond. We lived about a mile from the University of Richmond and, back then, there were a lot of wooded areas. One evening, my father went outside right at dusk and saw a skunk going under our house, through the scuttlehole door which had been left open. He was not a very excitable type, but he came flying into the house, all wild-eyed, and told my sister and me that we could not wear shoes, or run through the house, or talk above a whisper, or watch TV, or do anything that might scare or upset the skunk. For several days we tip-toed around while he watched the door to see if he could see the skunk leaving, but finally he realized the skunk would never leave if a person was always in the yard watching. So he got a big sifter full of flour, and at dusk sifted a big patch of white flour on the ground just outside of the scuttlehole door. Every 10 minutes or so, he would get the flashlight and go check the flour. When he saw footprints going out from the door, but not going back in, he slammed the door, and life returned to normal. The skunk lived to find another home, and we didn’t have to burn down our house to get rid of skunk odor! A happy ending for all involved!

    Reply

  50. Amanda K. says

    I was watching the video this morning and my 2 year old son walked over and pointed at Sherry and said “that’s Mommy!”
    It made me laugh, but it also reminded me to tell you — I live in Richmond and people have approached me before and asked if I’m you. It’s hilarious because 1) I don’t look like you. I mean, it’s a compliment because I think you’re very pretty…but we really just don’t look alike. 2)I’m 5’8″ — don’t blog readers know you’re shorter? 3) I’m usually with my little blonde boy, not a little blonde girl!
    I do think I have “one of those faces”…people often tell me I look like their friend/cousin/roommate/etc. I think it’s just the dark hair, who knows? But if you ever need a stunt double, call me ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious! I have one of those faces too (people think I’m someone else a lot) so it’s hilarious that there are two of us walking around Richmond. I’m your shorter stunt double.

      xo
      s

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