I’m in San Diego for the weekend. (Yay!) Jim and I decided not to wait until January to take a quick trip out of town like we have for the past two years, and when we were discussing our December Destination, the only requirements were that it would be warmer than Chicago AND that we could use airline miles to get there. I thought of Southern California immediately because it’s truly one of my favorite places in the whole world. He really doesn’t like Los Angeles very much, so I suggested San Diego and he was all for it. It’s not lost on me, by the way, that I have…
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The Day I Was An OnStar Advisor
Okay, if I must be honest I was actually SITTING NEXT TO an OnStar Advisor. (Two of them, actually.) That said, I did have a moment in the sun as I provided a “major” assist during a call. I’ll get to that momentarily. Disclosure: Last month I was a guest of OnStar when I visited their headquarters in Detroit. They provided my transportation, accommodations, and food while I learned all about the company. I was not required to write anything about it but chose to do so because the experience–and the company–was completely awesome. I visited the OnStar Call Center that’s located outside of Detroit in Warren, Michigan along with…
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Grand Theft Auto
See this guy? That’s my friend Fred, otherwise known all over the internet as Mocha Dad. (Totally famous, you guys.) Mocha Dad and I go way back. Well, in internet years, anyway. Even though he lives in Texas, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with him on multiple occasions: at a couple of conferences, over breakfast when he was in Chicago for business a while back, and most recently, last month in Detroit at an immersion event with OnStar and a bunch of other awesome bloggers. While in Detroit, Mocha Dad and I did the following things: 1. Spent more time than the average driver/passenger combo in one of…
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Always, Ham.
Naturally because I put it out into the universe that I was going to carry my camera around and take a bunch of pictures this weekend so I could pick one for our holiday cards, I didn’t. (I was busy cooking and forgot!!) Luckily, because I’m always thinking, it occurred to me this morning that today might be the only opportunity we have left to return to the marina in Kenosha with both boys—because we were driving them both back up to their respective schools on the same day, in the same car—and have them re-enact one of my favorite pictures that has been framed and on a shelf in…
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Truly Thankful.
After all of the grumbling I’ve done about getting the Hanukkah decorations up and how I just couldn’t manage to get it done in a timely manner—and before the holiday actually started, even—because a whole chain of events had to take place first, like dusting and vacuuming, getting my work done, blogging, laundry, coloring my hair, grocery shopping, and procrastinating in every other way possible, I had a revelation. Granted, I didn’t see the light until we were in the midst of placing each of the menorahs of our family collection in their own special places around the house, but I saw it. Jim had driven to Wisconsin to retrieve…
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Monkey See, Monkey Draw
Every now and then, magic happens on Twitter. It’s more rare these days because just about everyone (myself included) is tweeting out lots of links and not always engaging as much as they (I) used to, but still, magic can happen. I have found that the best Twitter interactions for me are the ones that either stem from or lead to something that happens IRL (in real life). With that in mind, some examples of my favorite Twitter moments, in no particular order, are as follows: 1. The roadtrip known as Momo’s Meat Wagon played out in 2009 over Twitter with so many of our friends chiming in and having…
- Amazing People, Best Thing Ever, Blessings, Friends, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, Something That Could Change Your Life, We Are An Awesome Couple
My Favorite Things: The New Jersey Edition (Yo!)
Yesterday was my last day in New Jersey and, because she’s real smart like that, Liz thought we should go out to breakfast and do a little more local sightseeing in the area rather than sit around at her house, crying because we had to say goodbye in the afternoon, which totally would have happened. During a lovely walk in Thompson Park—which is NOT named after Liz or her husband Garth (Not His Real Name); I checked!!–we talked about our week and I told her that I didn’t even have a favorite part; the entire visit was my favorite. That was only a little true. I have some favorites, but…
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Having Fun, Wish You Were Here!
I’m sure it’s not surprising to you that I’m having a blast in New Jersey. Yesterday I saw some amazing sights, including the recently built “World’s Tallest Sandcastle” (officially, even!) at Point Pleasant Beach. It BLEW ME AWAY. Liz and I are out the door again in a bit, heading to Manhattan to see our sweet friend Patty from Enjoying This Life. I can’t wait! But I need to get ready to go so I have to keep this short and sweet. Don’t think I’m leaving you without something to read, though. Go read my highly entertaining (it is!) post about how I got to return to one of the…
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Go Solo, Go! (Just Go.)
Last week while in Columbus I was enjoying dinner with some new friends and one said, “Melisa, I think it’s so great that you and your husband travel alone sometimes.” Naturally, I agreed wholeheartedly, and I’ll tell you why. It’s not that I don’t enjoy traveling with Jim, because I do (very much!). It’s not even that I prefer solo travel, because I don’t. It’s just a different kind of experience. I love any and all kinds of travel: solo, with Jim, with the whole family, with friends…get it? I LOVE TRAVEL. It’s definitely not that I need to get away from home and my family. I have found that…
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Nearly Wordless Wednesday
Exploring some emotions with my favorite brutally honest, funny, Gummy Bear-eating boy in Ohio.