I guest posted today on the website 27 Good Things, where I share three things good to read, watch, and use. It was tough to narrow down since there are so many things that I like and love, but I think I managed. The books I listed are very much reflective of my recent reading material.

I’ve already reblogged it on trend & chic, and am posting it here and on Writer’s Bone as well. I wish I could just reblog it again, but it seems you’re only allowed to reblog once under the same account on WordPress.com.

I was asked if I was interested in being a guest after I tweeted about one of the books I list, “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield and thanked John Saddington (@saddington) for recommending it. (He didn’t directly recommend it to me, but he did mention it as a book he tells everyone to read in a link that he had tweeted before.) Next thing I knew, I was tweeted by Mike, who runs 27 Good Things, and after a few more tweets, he asked me if I would like to do a guest post and here we are!

I first came across 27 Good Things when I read a post with John sharing his good things, which was when I learned about Daniel Pink’s “Drive” and shortly afterward borrowed it from the library. In that vein, I’m glad to have shared these three things to read, watch, and use and it is my hope that readers will find them useful, inspiring, informative, and entertaining, while maybe also discovering something new to them.

You can read my guest post here.

Four years of Z’s Cup of Tea! I remember when I couldn’t even fathom that number – and yet, here we are. Sometimes, it feels longer; other times it feels less than that. I need to pinch myself on occasion, figuratively speaking.

Like most people, I think, I trace my blog’s “birthday” to my very first post, published somewhere between October 31st and November 1st. I remember when I reached 100 blog subscribers and I remember where I was, too: in a San Francisco hotel room en route to Disneyland with my family.

Of course, the blog is older than from when I posted my first post. A while ago, I was cleaning and going through my things and I found old notes and even sketches of my blog and what it would look like, what I would post… It evokes a sense of nostalgia and also a certain kind of charm to look back on that.

This year on September 19th, I got a notification from WordPress.com congratulating me on four years. Apparently this was when, I suppose, I transferred to zscupoftea.com as the new blog address (early readers might recall the name Ambrosia Tea Party). I imagine that perhaps Z’s Cup of Tea might now have a second birthday, akin to Paddington Bear.

Food blogging has provided me with many wonderful opportunities and has introduced me to a great and supportive community that I didn’t even know existed prior to starting. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Four years is a long time in food blogging, and I know that there are others who have been doing it for far longer. Periodically, people have asked me if I’m going to write a cookbook. As my early readers will know or anyone who simply visits this blog and reads the about page, I started Z’s Cup of Tea after I kept being asked if I would write a cookbook when my family changed our diet to help my brother recover from his autism through diet. However, I didn’t start this blog with the intent of publishing a cookbook or for it to serve as a launchpad for one. (When I started this blog, I didn’t even know that there are those who deliberately start a blog just to get a cookbook deal.)

Do I still want to write a cookbook? That remains a possibility and one that I am open to – I used to dream up ideas – although I am now focused on other things that I’m doing (which I’ll get to in a moment), so it is not a personal priority at this moment.

Outside of Z’s Cup of Tea, this year has also borne an incredible opportunity for me to expand my horizons by becoming part of the Community Leadership Team for Pressgram – before that, I was also on the launch team – a photo publishing app (so far only on iOS, but an Android version is planned) that gives you full creative control and lets you retain ownership of your photos. (In the face of Instagram integrating ads, Pressgram is also ad-free and will remain so.) Pressgram is something that I believe in, with a philosophy that I agree with, and a team that is supportive and fun to work with. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I’m very passionate about this.

There are more things waiting in the wings, simmering on the back burner and – before I start sounding like McCoy – that I will be sharing in the (hopefully) near future.

Thank you to all my dear and wonderful readers, family, and friends for reading Z’s Cup of Tea during these four years and for all your support. Let us have a toast to another bright year!