blogging

You are currently browsing articles tagged blogging.

Good morning! I wish I could say it is a bright and beautiful Monday here in Boston, but it is not. No more snow please! It’s starting to mess everything up, from work to social activities to getting anywhere. Having trash day delays? Also a major problem. I feel like we have way more trash than ever these days, or maybe I am just noticing it more now that it’s so difficult to get rid of? At any rate, I am hoping for a bright, warm, sunny day sometime soon.

One thing that recently made my day in a stretch of gloom was being nominated for a Liebster Award by a blog I love, Boston Chic Party. The Liebster Award is dedicated to sharing blogs you love, all with 3,000 or fewer followers. The questions are a fun little glimpse into the blogger’s thoughts. My answers are below. I nominate Made in Sonoma, Pop Bop Shop, and the Jogging Concierge.

I’d love to hear from all of you though; feel free to answer a couple of the questions in the comments if you would like!

Q: What is your blogging process?

I have a running list of blog topics. It’s always the most fun when I have been busy, whether when I return from a big trip, have been cooking a lot, or have been going to a bunch of events. I try to keep the list a mix of wine reviews, travel posts, restaurant recaps, and my own cooking adventures both to keep it interesting for me and to appeal to readers’ interests. I hope it’s working; it’s been fun for me!

Q: What was the best thing to happen to you this week?

Our new, semi-feral kitten Poppy has started to let me pet her. She was born outside and never had human contact until we rescued her, so she is skittish and afraid. It’s taken a lot of patience, but it’s amazing to see how far she’s come.

Q: If you had one super power what would it be?

I would definitely choose teleportation. I love to visit new places and to see family often, but I hate the whole process of getting there.

Q: Are you a cat person, a dog person or neither?

Both! We’ve had our original cats, Smuckers and Scout, for 10 years. Then, as fate would have it, this past summer, a sweet young cat had four kittens in our yard, so we now have the mama cat and one of her babies. I never imagined having four cats, but these two just happened into our lives, and what is life about, if not making space in your heart for those who need it most?  I do want to adopt a dog someday soon too, probably once the cats are all settled. Above all, I am for adoption of pets ONLY. I volunteered at the MSPCA for years, and there are amazing pets of all ages, sizes, breeds who need loving homes.

Q: What was the last song you listened to?

Waterfalls by TLC! My friend and I just bought tickets to the NKOTB/TLC concert at the Garden in June, and I am SO excited!

Q: Do you prefer morning, afternoon or night?

I am a morning person for work. Any big projects, especially anything analytics-related or content creation/writing-related is best done in morning. I am an afternoon person for working out. My ideal schedule would allow me to run at 2 or 3, then head back to work for a few hours.

Q: Are you extroverted, introverted or a mix of both?

I think I am a mix of both, but more introvert-leaning. I think  I am pretty outgoing a lot of the time, but I am also very much in my head.

Q: What fashion trend can you completely not stand?

Tights as pants. There is a time and place for leggings, but I have seen too many inappropriately worn, thin pairs of tights masquerading as pants. Fabric is your friend!

Q: Name one thing you can’t live without and why.

I take this question to mean inanimate object (as opposed to say, a person), so I definitely would say my iPhone. I love to be connected/am addicted to being connected.

Q: Finally, if you could achieve one thing from blogging, what would it be?

It’s already happened! Blogging for almost six years has connected me with some of the best people I know, both professionally and personally. I honestly can’t imagine my life without all of the opportunities that have come from blogging, whether it be blogger events, meet ups, or travel.

Tags: blogging, life, lifestyle

Do you ever have one of those weeks months where everything seems to fly by at lightning speed, when you rarely have a night free, and where you’re constantly going over plans for days and weeks in advance just to make sure you’re not missing something?

That’s how life has been lately. House stuff, work photo and TV shoots and events, travel planning, family, and more house stuff have made me feel like I am being spun around in a game of pin the tail on the donkey. During that time though, there were so many fun and delicious moments that I thought a rainy, dreary week could use a roundup of happy; that’s what today’s post is all about.

roast with red wine gravy

Slow cooked meals on weeknights – For some reason the kitchen is like therapy to me, and coming home after a busy day is made better by working on a comforting meal. This roast was absolutely incredible. It involved me searing the meat on all sides, then seasoning with garlic powder, pepper, and thyme and deglazing the pan with Travessia Jester red wine and beef stock. After that, the roast went into an oven at 400 with lots of vegetables and an entire head of crushed garlic. The end result was heavenly, the meat even better served cold with horseradish the next day. If you live in Massachusetts and haven’t tried Travessia wine, a visit to their tasting room is a perfect cold weather activity!

photo 4 homemade French toast

Visiting family and hanging out in pj’s on a cold and dreary Saturday with my mom’s French toast is just the best. I can’t wait until Christmas!

stray cat house  A yard full of cats – a stray mama cat and her kittens adopted us. While we try to catch them to bring them to a rescue, they have a little home to live in, along with two meals a day. I am constantly stressed about their wellbeing and hoping a rescue will get back to me soon!

Boston Cream Pie Day

The Massachusetts Governors Conference on Travel and Tourism – My work is so intertwined with Massachusetts travel, plus I love this state, so being at the JFK Library for the day with other tourism professionals was interesting and inspiring. The food at the library is delicious, and it happened to be National Boston Cream Pie Day, so the Parker House contributed the real deal.

JFK LIbrary The JFK Library has such an energy about it. It is also a great Boston day trip.

EF building opening event Speaking of energy and inspiration, the EF Education building opening was another beacon of light on a rainy day. They pulled out all the stops to celebrate their brand new building, and the event included fall cocktails, a flash mob, and the Landfillharmonic, a group of children from a Paraguayan slum who play instruments made from trash recovered from a landfill. The kids played “Imagine”, and there was not a dry eye in that tent. Beautiful.

Atwoods Cambridge We savored the outdoors while the weather was still fine, with beers on Atwoods’ patio and a day out at the Head of the Charles.

Head of the Charles And we played tourist in Harvard Square, checking out beautiful architecture in the First Parish Church. In all of life’s chaos, I sometimes crave the peace that faith brings, and it was nice being in such a beautiful, faith-filled space.

church windows

Head of the Charles cocktails at Grafton Street have been a tradition since we went on one of our first dates, and it was a nice enough day to sit by windows open on to the street. Along with sipping drinks, we made friends with a handsome pitbull named Hudson. It was love at first sight.

cocktails at Grafton Street I have to admit that our dining has been indulgent, and our exercise nonexistent. Lunches on-the-go have included a burger topped with lobster and guacamole at the Legal Sea Foods at Logan Airport. My goal is to join a gym the day we return from Ireland and to try to once and for all get back in shape and lose some of the weight I have gained this past year. It’s definitely been getting me down, and it’s been hard to turn around while so busy. Still, choices like this don’t help!

lobster guacamole burger Finally, we’ve been loving the natural beauty of the season, including the changing leaves in the views from our home.

autumn views Chilly days are still fine for beach trips, and Duxbury Beach sparkled one windy Sunday.

Duxbury Beach And my garden is still hanging on! While the vegetable garden has been turned under and mixed with compost for the season, my little “cottage garden” as I call it, still has flowers and greens sprouting. It adds a little cheer to those dark mornings and evenings when we come and go. I don’t love that we almost never see daylight this time of year!

cottage garden

Are you feeling the  busy-ness of this time of year?

Tags: blogging, Boston, cambridge, cocktails, cooking, events, Food, head of the charles, lifestyle, roundup, wine

I didn’t really stop to reflect on my five (!) year blog anniversary when it passed this June. Life and work are busy, and it is boat season after all! Summer tends to consume most free time; behind a computer is not where anyone wants to be during this season!

It was Friday night when I was looking for a photo of a friend’s dog, a beautiful, soulful animal who won’t be with us much longer, when I dove into my laptop’s photo archive back to 2009 and started reliving the journey in photos.

We bloggers, whipping our cameras and phones out at all possible occasions (um, like the other day while our broken down boat was being towed) can surely be a nuisance to our loved ones who just want to eat dinner, but the recorded life history that results is pretty amazing.

Being able to recall a five year snapshot in photos was a fun journey to see how much I have learned and grown and done. Just for fun, I thought I would share some favorite photos and posts and memories. I would love to hear yours! Feel free to share posts or memories in the comments. And thank you for reading today or yesterday or five years ago.

There was that time I up and quit my publishing job with nothing to fall back on, headed off to California, had pneumonia, and got a new nephew, all within a month. If you ever get the chance, definitely visit Moss Beach Distillery. California is pure magic, I tell you.

Half Moon Bay

There have been many (but not enough) trips to visit family in Ireland, and a very moving trip to Northern Ireland. Belfast and Derry were places that have stayed with me through the years.

Belfast Mural

There have also been three marathons, two Boston Marathons and one New York. Running has, at times, been a defining activity in my life, and while I am out of shape now, those finish lines will always be with me.

Verrazano Bridge, NYC Marathon start

Blogging has brought me many close friends and fun blogger dinners and trips, but one of my favorite years brought three blogger friends’ weddings within a few weeks! Here’s a recap of Megan’s wedding. Each wedding was a different reflection of the amazing couple being celebrated, and it was so sweet to be able to grow so close to them and to be part of their special days.

wedding lights

There is so much more I could share from those five years of photos, but I will leave it at this for now. I laughed and cried over the gains and losses and changes that have taken place. There has been lots of wine and lots of dreaming of places near and far, but mostly it has been about the people and animals who have been blessings in my life. At the risk of sounding trite and cheesy, life is good, and I am one lucky lady!

Tags: bloggers, blogging, life, lifestyle

« Older entries § Newer entries »

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera