We left Atlanta on March 8 and had a short layover at London Heathrow before flying in to New Delhi and arriving about 1am local time on Friday, March 10th. We went straight to our hotel via transportation organized by our tour operator, Indus Travels. The hotel was gorgeous – considering Sean and I don’t mind staying in hostels and low-key guesthouses my expectations are not very high! LOL. Continue reading
It’s been a very busy start to 2017 for me but it has all been SO positive. And I’ve got some big and exciting things happening that I wanted to share.
INDIA!
That’s right – me and my mom are going on a 2-week trip to India and we leave tonight! It’s going to be quite an adventure and I’m so grateful to be able to have the time to travel right now and to go on this trip with my mom. We’re going to spend a few days in the “Golden Triangle” of New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. We’ll tour the Taj Mahal at sunrise, see historic sites and spend a day with elephants where we’ll get to bathe, feed and ride them. Next we spend a couple of nights in a treehouse in Ranthambore National Park where we’ll go on canter safari to look for Bengal tigers and other wildlife. The last leg of the trip has us flying south of Mumbai to the Kerala region where we’ll take a cooking class with a family in Cochin and do on a houseboat cruise in Alleppy. I’ll have more report once we get back. 🙂
NEW CAR!
The Golden Nuggett (my 2007 yellow Chevy Cobalt coupe) has been with me a long time. 10 years. But it was time for something new and after many months of talking, trying out cars and saving money, I am SO grateful to have been able to pay cash for our new 2014 Ford Escape. I took a lot of risks last year that had financial implications and I’m very proud of how everything worked out.
(Oh and we still have the Cobalt so if someone’s interested in buying it, let me know!)
NEW JOB OPPORTUNITY!
I can’t give details yet because it’s not 100% complete, but something great and big is in the works. I interviewed like crazy after my contract role with Havas + Coke ended on January 31st and I ended up having to TURN DOWN several roles. So very grateful to be in that position and be able to choose what I really want and what’s best for our family.
MORE TRAVEL!
Can’t stop, won’t stop. And have to pack it all in before I start a new job. Headed to Florida two days after I get back from India to see Sean’s friends Sean and Caitlin tie the knot. I’m then off the Outer Banks of North Carolina the day after I get back from Florida to see my brother and sister-in-law’s new place on Manteo since they both got jobs at the Outer Banks Hospital and are moving from Ohio on March 19th. This has been their dream for YEARS and I’m in awe of how they made it happen.
Seriously, you guys. All the good things. It’s been busy, hectic, stressful and overwhelming at times but I’m managing it by reminding myself daily that it’s all so positive. And I’m grateful.
We always had chocolate cake growing up and it was always the same recipe – the one my grandma had made for my mom growing up. It was always so moist, not too sweet and topped with light and fluffy chocolate frosting. I decided to make this cake for Sean for Valentine’s Day this year because he LOVES chocolate. It’s an easy recipe that comes together quickly. Continue reading
We love Asheville. And many of our friends love Asheville, too. So we figured why not go together with friends for a weekend? Me, Sean, Greg and Krista headed out the weekend before Valentine’s Day and had a great time visiting some favorite spots while also trying out a few new places. Continue reading
My contract gig with POSSIBLE that turned into an extension for a month with Havas Worldwide has come to an end. I’m still looking for work, interviewing and even have some new clients for my career coaching side-gig. So I’m pretty busy but am home more during that day. What does that mean in my world? That I get to be creative in the kitchen. This fluffy, moist and lightened up Raspberry-Ricotta Cake was the perfect way for us to have something sweet while we’re generally trying to eat healthier. Continue reading
Sean has been going up to Philly almost weekly for the last 4 months. His company has a big client up there and I’ve seen him go from ho-hum about the city to really enjoying his time there during this time period. Around Christmastime, he started mentioning that I should come up sometime and we could stay for a weekend together. When he had to be up there for a week AND weekend for work, we made plans for me to join him Friday-Sunday. Read on to see what we did but I’ll start by saying the city truly exceeded my expectations! Continue reading
My hubby offered to throw me a birthday party this year and he kept the details a secret until my actual birthday. He gave me Spanish wine and the cookbook Curate – and in doing so revealed the theme for my party: Spanish tapas! And he was going to make all the food from recipes in the book. I was so excited not only because we love Asheville’s Curate but also because I could relive our trip to Spain from earlier this year. Continue reading
I’ve been experimenting with homemade salad dressings for a few years now and this has turned out to be my favorite. I love making my own salad dressing – it’s cheap and it’s fun to experiment with ingredients I have on-hand in my kitchen. I first made this as a dressing for some arugula that I was serving Thai-style fish cakes on. It ended up complimenting the dish so well that I worked to recreate it a few more times to get the ratios just right. Now we have it often and on all kinds of salads. It would even be great as a marinade for chicken or fish. Continue reading