About

Hi, I’m Stacy. I’m a writer in my 30s from the Napa Valley. I have a degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley, I put off grad school indefinitely to purse my writing career. I’ve been writing since I was a first grader, and there isn’t anything in the world I want more than to be paid to do it. What could possibly be better than combining three of my four greatest passions (writing, music, and travel, excluding only the NBA – or more specifically, the Golden State Warriors) all in one little blog? I can’t think of anything, either.

Wondering why I chose this title for my travel project? The “Toaster” is what I call my iPod. The first one I ever owned was a tiny little 8G, but it didn’t take long before I ran out of room on it for all my music. Eventually, I decided to buy the biggest one there was: the almighty 160G (the “Classic:” I don’t know if they even still make it, but I’m quite sure it’s got the most memory of any iPod manufactured so far). When it arrived, it was so massive (not to mention heavy) that I joked it’d be like traveling with an appliance – “it’s like traveling with a freaking toaster!” And…of course, it stuck.

After a handful of trips on the blog, I realized that my readers would get bored if I only posted while I was away, and I can’t have that. As luck would have it, though, I’m currently living in one of the most amazing valleys I know of. That’s what prompted me to start the section I call Tourist in My Own Town, which are posts I write between my travels, chronicling any and all adventures in and around Napa (and sometimes San Francisco).

I’ve been writing for the Bay Area’s best music blog, Spinning Platters, for a few years now.  I also recently started a food & drink blog as well, which will be a fun place to report back on my adventures in the kitchen (whether baking, cooking, or dreaming up cocktail recipes), which I call R O C K I N this K I T C H E N.

Up next is a project that will involve both travel (a six-month road trip across the US, to be exact) and basketball.  The site isn’t live yet, but you may want to bookmark From Way Downtown & check back regularly – you don’t want to miss this!  You can always follow @DowntownStacy, too, so you won’t miss anything!

Be sure to subscribe and follow @ToasterTravels on Twitter! Happy travels! (Prefer good old-fashioned email?  That goes here!)