The Saturday Sit-Down #37: She Flew South

Cheers to the weekend, which also means cheers to a day that we aren’t running out the door by 8:40. 🙂 As far as today’s plans for the girls and me, I’m thinking pjs until noon sounds pretty darn fabulous. We need a “do nothing” day, and I’m hoping that today is going to be that day. Rest is good! I might dig out fall decor, but I might not. We’ll see. 🙂

It thrills me how week after week each blog continues to have something that makes it unique from others that I’ve previously featured, and today’s is no exception. The blog I’m featuring is actually written by two bloggers, a first for this series! Excited to introduce you to Kait and Madeline, the dynamic duo behind She Flew South. Enjoy!

Q: In three sentences or less, tell us a little bit about who you ladies are.

A: We are Kait Oglesby and Madeline Shelman of She Flew South, a lifestyle blog with a definite Southern twist! We love to talk about food, travel, style, DIY, and more. We love Lilly Pulitzer, Disney musicals, and cake: in that order. 🙂

Q: This the first blog I’ve featured that’s a team effort with more than one writer! How did this blog become a two-person effort?

A: Kait: I originally started She Flew South as my own travel and lifestyle blog but let it go to the wayside due to life craziness and some burnout on my end. Madeline is one of my best friends, and she encouraged me to start back up, and I realized how much fun it would be if we did it together! She’s the peanut butter to my jelly for sure, and this blog desperately needed her balance and organization. DESPERATELY….

Madeline: For me it was an opportunity to be a little more creative and challenge myself beyond my comfort zone. I’ve tried new recipes and started seeing things I do every day from a new perspective. I’m glad to have an outlet to share my adventures!

Q: What kinds of topics do you most enjoy writing about?

A: Food for sure! We both love to create new things in the kitchen as well as play with old favorites. Travel is also something we both like to enjoy and write about. Madeline is the DIY queen and usually is the one that is blogging about a new project. Kait is the fitness nut, and is always talking about her new running shoes or a new vegan recipe she found.

Q: How do you decide who’s going to blog about what? Do you both share social media tasks? We’d love to hear about how you both are involved in this blog. ☺

A: Kait: So, as I stated earlier, Madeline is the queen of organization. Within days of our deciding to work on SFS together, there were spreadsheets for topics, ideas for blogs, giveaways, etc. To my ADD mind, this is actual magic. We generally collaborate ahead of time and decide who is going to do what when. It’s fantastic. I handle more of the social media stuff, but I am at home more, so it’s a fair system for sure. I will say Madeline is the Pinterest aficionado, where as I am the Instagram junkie.

Madeline: Mostly we just write about life! Occasionally we’ll challenge ourselves with new recipes, but my DIY projects are all about me learning how to renovate my spruced-upper house and Kait is all about her family and recipes and tons of stuff going on for her. So we talk it out, know what days we want to post and just go from there. We try to keep a balance but life likes to unbalance us once in awhile – which is ok! She’s got my back and I’ve got hers!

Q: Do you work outside of the home? If so, how do you balance blogging with a job?

A: Kait: I am lucky to be able to work from home, so I simply decide when I want to blog, and then do it. Flexible work hours are the bomb!

Madeline: I am an industrial engineer with a full time, demanding position outside the home. Since I’m already sharing activities and ideas that are going on in my world, it’s really just a matter of remembering to take pictures (which I’m bad at) and setting aside a moment to turn my thoughts into written word. It’s also an extreme help to have an extremely devoted and supportive husband who will occasionally (read: all the time) carry a lot of the load at home.

Q: What originally enticed you to start a blog? What do you find difficult about blogging?

A: Kait: Honestly, my blog started as a way for me to record my travels and the food I made, and it grew into something cool! I think new content is both the life blood and hardest thing about being a blogger. It’s got to be fresh!

Madeline: The fact that the concept was in place and that I had a partner coming into it was a major factor in my decision to start blogging. Time is definitely the hardest for me, so knowing I have a solid team member to rely on was crucial! Second to that is content. It still amazes me that anyone thinks my humdrum life is interesting, so I probably put too much pressure on myself to make sure the topic is “good” enough!

Q: Where can we find you enjoying your time on the weekends? What are your favorite things to do?

A: Kait: You can find me on the tennis court, headed somewhere with my fiancé Kevin, or baking. Generally those are all safe bets!

Madeline: I’m either knee deep in some household project, napping, or actively hiding from my mountain of laundry.

Q: Where should new readers start on your site? 

Any of our Yankee vs. Belle challenges are fun to get into and easy to read! Our latest one is https://www.sheflewsouth.com/yankee-vs-belle-round-3-nachos/

We love travel, and Madeline’s recap of London is one of our faves: https://www.sheflewsouth.com/friday-favorite-london-highlights/

Answering reader questions is kind of cathartic for us; not to mention: free mediators! https://www.sheflewsouth.com/ask-km-new-edition/

Q: Where can we find you on social media?

A: You can find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sheflewsouth/), Instagram, (https://www.instagram.com/sheflewsouth/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/@sheflewsouth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/sheflewsouth/). Y’all can reach us on any of these; we love to talk to our readers!

And just for fun…

1. Laptop or desktop?

Kait: Desktop! I have a love affair with an iMac that is serious.

Madeline: iPad Pro! Why use a mouse pad when I can poke the screen! *boop*

2. Coke or Pepsi?

Kait: I’m a Southern girl; Coke for sure! (I don’t actually drink soft drinks anymore, but I miss a Coke Icee something fierce.)

Madeline: My heart broke when Coke announced the end of Coke Zero. A diet soda that didn’t taste like a diet soda #heaven

3. Vacuum or mop?

Kait: Vacuum! If dusting is an option, I would rather do that.

Madeline: Hardest question yet! I’ll wax poetic about both my vacuum and my Swiffer sweep and vac!

4. East Coast or West Coast?

Kait: East Coast definitely

Madeline: East Coast born and bred!

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Thank you so much Kait and Madeline!

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Is this your first time to Whimsical September? Welcome!

Hello! I’m Erica. 🙂 I created the “The Saturday Sit-Down” series in January 2017 as a way to give back to the blogging community and link readers with new bloggers whom they may share similar interests with. Click here to discover more bloggers that have been featured on “The Saturday Sit-Down”.

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