Friends of Tabletop: Meet Linda Nguyen of Girl Eats World
Hi! Kristen here. After spending an hour or so in the car with some awesome members from the #TabletopTeam, we started talking about how much we just love the many people we get to work with (and food!). We have such a fun job, connecting clients with the many talented social influencers and bloggers who have become not only our colleagues, but our friends. So, we’re starting a new series here on the #TabletopTalk blog called, “Friends of Tabletop.” We’re here to spread some positivity and highlight the bloggers + influencers who we enjoy collaborating with and who are so incredibly talented!
It’s with great joy that I get to announce that Linda Nguyen of Girl Eats World is up first on this new blog series! She’s a sweet friend of mine, has a huge heart and is one BA photographer. We couldn’t imagine the Triangle area without her and we’re so glad we stole her away from Texas ;) Enjoy this Q&A with Linda!
Tell us about Girl Eats World.
Girl Eats World is a ten-year-old blog chronicling my ventures in eating and travel. I created it on a whim with no strategy in my twenties and I was driven mostly on the lifelong compulsion to share about my life online. I've had an online presence since I was 15 and since before the word "blogging" and "influencer" even existed in the way that they do now. A friend of mine noticed that I talked about food so often in my personal blogs, she suggested I pull out the food content to be more "niche" in case it becomes something bigger in the future.
Why do you write about food?
I've always been obsessed with food. The second word I've ever muttered as a human was "cheese" and it was short for cheeseballs. I literally dream about food often; my favorite dream was the one where someone hand feeds me chocolate by the spoonful over and over again. I love how universal food is. We need it to live but we use it to bond and explore the world too.
What are you currently reading?
I just finished The Untethered Soul and it's been such a comforting read. It's about how to cope with this world of pain by letting go of your expectations. It's kind of woo woo and I didn't expect to connect with it as much as I have. My all-time favorite novel though is Lonesome Dove.
What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
I loveeee matcha but also any cereal milk.
What is your least favorite food?
Raw onions!
What about favorite food?
I can eat noodles EVERY day. The obsession is real - check it out.
Bar order?
Bar snacks! Haha. French fries! But I don't have favorite go-to cocktails. I like peach bellinis, spicy frozen margaritas, floral cocktails, lychee flavored martinis, fruity sangrias, etc. I have to be careful though since I'm missing the enzyme that breaks down alcohol so I get drunk quite fast and turn beet red.
What's the most useful lesson you've learned from being a food blogger?
Blogging in general and sharing my life online has been such a life-changing experience for me. I've met future roommates blogging and vlogging. I've met people overseas that I first "met" online. I was afforded fun experiences in my life that I wouldn't have budgeted it for in my everyday life. Seth Godin continuously says that everyone should start a blog, and I agree. Even if you don't turn it into a business. The act of transforming your experiences and thoughts into words for the general public to consume is such a great life skill to have and hone.
What's your most unpopular opinion about food?
It's a little hypocritical of me but I do not enjoy the company of food snobs. One of my biggest moral principles in life is to not yuck people's yum. I do not want to shame people for loving TGIFs or Olive Garden. Hell, I love McDonald's! I want to be kind and inclusive and the truth is, taste is so subjective, and life is so short. If someone enjoys something that is mass produced, then let them enjoy it!
If you could redo one thing in regards to your blogging career what would it be?
I would have taken it seriously from the beginning. I started it as just for fun and now I have an awkwardly long URL. I refuse to re-brand because of the 10 years of back-links! So, I compromised by getting a shorter redirect. girleatsworld.co // I would also have chosen Linda Eats World as my brand name and not Girl Eats World. Ten years ago when I googled Girl Eats World, there really weren’t any other blogs by that name. Because it was so generic, now there's a bunch of us! And a show!
All photographs courtesy of Linda Nguyen