Traveling Light: Two Summer Trips

I love to travel, but I hate to carry luggage. In fact, I haven’t checked luggage in 10 years! I’m not looking to break that streak any time soon. I’ve learned how to pack smart and get the most out of my little carry-on and personal bag.

I usually wear a tee, cardi, jeans, and ballet flats on the plane, which helps remove some bulk from my carry-on. Shoulder bags are an absolute must. I slip a clutch into my shoulder bag with my travel docs, iPhone, and wallet, which saves space and keeps me organized. If I’m bringing my laptop, it goes into my shoulder bag, too. I top that off with a blanket.

Now for the carry-on luggage. Here’s an example of what I pack beyond toiletries & undies for two different trips.

See what I’d pack for two totally different trips

relaunch

Today is a sort of relaunch for this site. I’ve been planning it for a few months, but I kept procrastinating. I was dying to change things up here, and I missed blogging terribly. Yet, I still couldn’t pull the trigger on making the changes. Then, along came the incredibly powerful Things I’m Afraid to Tell You series. Reading those entries made me want to jump back into blogging, so here I am.

I owe you some more details as to why that series got me back on the keyboard, but I think that would be best served up as part of my own TIATTY post. (Should anyone want to join me, please use the contact form to e-mail me or tweet me.)

Until then, here’s what’s going to happen.

I’m going to start blogging regularly again, introducing new types of content and features as I do. I’m in the process of re-categorizing all my old posts and deleting many that I don’t feel fit with the direction this site is going in. I’m going to be publishing posts on food, fitness, parenting, style, music, travel, and more. I plan to organize this site by actions related to experiences like See, Hear, Taste, Go, and Be. These might be broken up into subcategories; for example, Health might fall under Be. If you have anything you’d really like to see, please let me know. After that, I’ll be working on a responsive redesign so that users on the tablets and mobile devices will have a better experience when visiting the site.

Hello again, friend.

 

Lazy Girl Beauty: Dry Shampoo

I could blame it on being a mom or being a freelancer, but sometimes I’m just a lazy ass when it comes to my looks. Ok, maybe all the time! You’d probably never guess it by looking at me (or I’d like to think you couldn’t), but it’s true. I barely ever blow my hair out. I spend about 5-10 minutes on my makeup a day. I wash my hair every few days, unless I’ve had a crazy sweat fest at the gym. On those in-between days I use dry shampoo. I swear by Oscar Blandi’s Pronto powder. I love the lemony scent and how long the bottle lasts. (Sprays don’t seem to last long with me.)

Do you have a favorite dry shampoo?

the story of wynwood walls

Here in South Florida, art is a pretty big deal. There’s a neighborhood in Miami, known as Wynwood-Edgewater, which has transformed into MIA’s major art district. (It’s actually two neighborhoods, sometimes collectively termed as Midtown.) It’s proof positive that art and business can exist harmoniously and that art, especially public art, can change a community.

HERE COMES THE NEIGHBORHOOD, a docuseries exploring the power of public art and innovation in communities, is basing it’s pilot season around the Arts District of Wynwood. Watch the video above for a great look into how one of Wynwood’s public art spaces came to be.

To learn more about the walls, visit the Wynwood Walls website.

*Reading this in e-mail and can’t see the video? Click here.

chocolate fondue pour deux

This is a continuing guest series by Ines, of the forthcoming blog Whisked & Whipped.

For most, the best part of Valentine’s day is the romance. The flowers. The gift. But for me it’s the chocolate. In honor of this special day I am sharing a decadent and as always easy recipe for Chocolate Fondue. This recipe serves two and enough leftover for the other “dessert” you might be having. Continue reading

culinary affair: chicken marsala

This is a continuing guest series by Ines, of the forthcoming blog Whisked & Whipped.

Valentine’s Day is a day known for romance and indulgence. On one of my first Valentine’s dates we went to a little Italian restaurant in Manhattan. So romantic. The food wonderful. So sweet! I fell in love…with the Chicken Marsala. I have been trying to capture the magic of my first time and have searched for a delicious, traditional, yet easy recipe. One that would showcase the true, unadultered taste of my sweet love: Marsala wine. Continue reading