I must have been living under a rock for the past four months.

When I originally redesigned this blog (to coincide with the switch to our very own happy little domain name), one of my primary reasons for doing so was that, at the time it went live, it bore a remarkable resemblance to Simply Recipes. (As a very real matter of point, it was inspired by it.)

I didn’t feel that this was fair to Elise, who has worked so long and hard to gain the popularity that she’s gotten, and to be frank, I was looking for my own identity in the food blogging world, something that the old site design simply didn’t provide. It was cookie-cutter, and almost a dead knock off of Simply Recipes. I vowed to change that when I moved the site.

So after many hours scouring the WordPress Themes repository, I came across this theme, did a double-take and shouted “That’s It! I’ve found it!” Then set about getting it all set up and working the way I wanted it to.

So why am I railing at WellFed?

I’m not, really. I’m a tad upset with myself for not noticing, up to this point, that I’ve gone and used exactly the same theme being used on all sites in their network.

I switched the look so that I could be original, and never noticed that I’d created a carbon copy of one of the more popular foodie destinations on the web…

How embarrassing.

So now good readers and dear friends alike, I am presented with what is to me one of the greatest challenges in my alter ego as a web designer.

I have to find another “new” look for CookingByTheSeatOfMyPants!

It’s a matter of pride, I suppose. I can’t be runnin’ ’round looking like a whole slew of other food blogs. It’s just not my style. I also don’t want a casual observer to think that I’m trying to cash in on the work being done by the Well Fed Network. I’m not.

Granted, it could be argued that since the theme being used here is under the GPL, I have just as much right as they do to use it. That assessment would be correct, but it would bug the heck out of me to do so, and so I’m faced with the realization that I, myself can’t live like this, and must find a new “look and feel” to differentiate myself from my equally food minded peers.

I’m an individual, and I want this site to reflect that.

It’s a curse, I know it is. It was laid on me by the Muses and my own creative passions and I simply can’t fight the urge to be different from the pack.

So the warning has been laid out. There are changes-a-comin’ ’round the CBtSoMP camp in the (fairly) near future. I’ll be shaking off the skin of conformity and forging my own path… Just as soon as I get a few other projects out of the queue and free up a bit of time.

(To all of you wondering if I’ll steal your look next, I promise to be very careful in my selection process, so as not to build a copy of your site as well… )

I’ll post about “honest to goodness” food stuff later in the day. I’ve got a lot saved up for this week, and I’m not going to let this little setback stop me from sharing the goodness with you.

Have a wonderful day! I’m off to get to the bill-paying stuff so I can muck with this site again.