Eat It Kansas City’s Shanley Cox answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire

Name: Shanley Cox

Occupation: Blogger, Eat It Kansas City

Hometown: Topeka

Current neighborhood: Brookside

What I do (in 140 characters): For work, I write for a local advertising agency. For fun, I write about the KC food scene on my blog, Eat It Kansas City.

What’s your addiction? Foodstagramming (posting photos of my food on Instagram). People make fun of me, but when I see a beautiful plate of food, I can’t help myself. I’ll crawl on top of chairs at a restaurant just to get a good angle (#instaaddict).

What’s your game? Competitive eating. I’ve always had an unusually large appetite, so whenever family or friends put a challenge out there, I’m in. Although, I still regret downing a glass of turkey gravy Thanksgiving 2012.

What’s your drink? Beer, usually. I’m a big fan of Boulevard’s Saison-Brett.

Where’s dinner? Impossible question. But now that the weather’s getting colder, I could go for a bowl of PotPie’s steamed mussels, followed by their chocolate-chip bread pudding. That restaurant is my go-to spot for cold-weather comfort food.

What’s on your KC postcard? Tad Carpenter does some amazing Kansas City prints. I’d have him design something.

Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” More local spots started serving Sunday brunch. Genessee Royale, Ça Va and Voltaire all began Sunday-brunch service last month, and I couldn’t be happier. The world is a better place with brunch.

“Kansas City screwed up when …” Our airport was built in the middle of no man’s land. Why can’t it be more centrally located? And there’s always the public-transportation issue.

“Kansas City needs …” A Handy Hunk service. I’m talking specifically for single gals, when you need a guy’s help with little nuances around the house but you don’t want to hire a full-fledged repairman. So, if you want a picture frame hung, or that cute bookshelf from Ikea needs assemblage, or you can’t open a jar of pickles … a cute handy hunk comes over and takes care of it for you. Just pay him in beer and send him on his way. No boyfriend required. It’s genius.

“In five years, I’ll be …” Making millions from my Handy Hunk idea. Better go patent that now.

“I always laugh at …” People falling. Or stubbing their toes. I have a sick sense of humor.

“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Local and national news. I’m a total news junkie. Plus, I’ve always had a thing for Matt Lauer.

“I can’t stop listening to …” Hip Hop Road Trip Radio on Pandora (currently), Steve Winwood (always).

“I just read …” My diary from when I was 14. Besides having a bigger closet and better taste in music, I haven’t changed much since my nerdy teenage years.

The best advice I ever got: Be grateful. Sounds generic, but it puts things into perspective when I’m having a bad day.

Worst advice: Keep your eye on the ball. Never worked for me.

My sidekick: My Canon Rebel DSLR camera.

My dating triumph/tragedy: This is not so much a tragedy but more of a traumatic experience. A guy licked mustard out of my hair. I’ll admit, I’m a messy eater, and he probably thought he was being sexy, but I was halfway through my burger and I immediately lost my appetite. That doesn’t happen very often.

My brush with fame: I met Bill Self at a charity golf tournament. I framed a picture of us from that day, and it’s proudly displayed on my nightstand. No one ever finds that weird.

My 140-character soapbox: Eat local. Shop local. [Insert thumbs-up emoji here.]

What was the last thing you had to apologize for? Eating my co-worker’s potato chips.

Who’s sorry now? My co-worker. For letting me eat her chips.

My recent triumph: Eat it Kansas City won “Best Food Blog” in The Pitch’s Best of Kansas City Readers’ Choices category. Yay!

Read Cox’s writing at eatitkansascity.com.