Heather Brandon is a freelance blogger and photographer based in New England, where she raises three kids with her husband, a graphic designer and Web developer.

She writes an urban blog covering Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. Some of her photos can be found at flickr.
Born in Phoenix, and raised in Pittsburgh, Heather has a bachelor’s degree in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College in eastern Pennsylvania, where she minored in Fine Arts. She received the Cities department’s Bolton Award upon graduating for her thesis work on downtown Pittsburgh’s PPG Place.

She enjoys creative brainstorming, hiking, vigorous late-night writing, adventuresome doodling, word puzzles, strong coffee, and unrestricted use of a thesaurus whenever possible. Walking the streets and taking pictures tops everything, however.

Pictured: Café Tartine on Gough Street in San Francisco—the best place for a bowl of strong coffee the size of your face.