Travel - Newport

If you take a look-see at my archive list, you see my posts are sporadic at best. This blog is more like my journal. I write when the mood strikes, and time allows. 

For the most part I write about health and fitness. I share my struggles with my weight and some recipes that I like. I plan to continue to do so but, in an effort, to expand my repertoire I've decided to add something else I love to this here blog. Travel.

I have it in my head that you can't say you, "love to travel," unless your passport is running out of pages and your Instagram is flooded with turquoise water. That is incorrect.

I love to travel away from home. To familiar, old favorites and to new, fun places. My passport might not be impressive, but I really don't care. I love a good road trip and I'm going to share my favorite places with you. It's my blog. I make the rules.

First up, we’re crossing the Claiborne Pell Bridge into my favorite little city, Newport, RI. Rhode Island's official name is Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations.
Smallest by area. Biggest by name.

I reluctantly went to college at Salve Regina University in Newport. A small Catholic school that sits, quite literally, at the edge of the Atlantic. I thought I'd hate it. I hated the idea of it and the fact that my best friend was three states away in Upstate New York.

Playing Dress Up

Summer is a time for friends, sun, play and travel. I sometimes ask myself why I live in New England where the summer season is so short. I guess the simple answer is, clam chowder.

Joining Peach has really pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of selling myself and a product. I have to amp myself up to talk to potential clients. I am really enjoying the stylist portion however.

Summer Travel Style Inspiration

Years ago I was a graphic designer and even taught myself coding for website building.
I left that business almost 7 years ago but had freelanced on and off until about 3 years ago.

In an effort to get a better idea of Peach and it's products, I've been playing in Photoshop and putting together some outfits. It's a childhood dream come true! Take a look at some of the fun looks I mocked up.

Summer Essentials

A New Opportunity & Time for Change

Recently a long time mentor reached out to me with an opportunity. We've discussed opportunities before but this one stood out to me.  My mentor knows I love my full-time job but also knows, I'm looking for something more.

I started this blog and my fitness based Instagram to connect to people on another level.
I wanted to share my love of health and fitness. More accurately, my love/hate relationship with health and fitness. It is a daily struggle for me but I'm willing to fight. I choose to share that fight with an online audience every day.

I've battled with self image and my weight all of my life. Since I was a child, I was made critically aware of my appearance. More so, how MY appearance made OTHER people feel.  People felt the constant need to tell me how pretty my face is which is a direct translation too, your face is pretty but your body is not. Everyone from well intentioned family members to my driving instructor commented on my weight. It was evident my appearance made them uncomfortable.

I was over 20 years old before I was able to address what I needed to be my best self. I finally realized I wasn't always the person in the room with the thickest thighs. And if I was? That it was OK.

Like I said, it's a daily struggle. Working on my health and my fitness helped me tap into a part of myself I didn't realize I had. A part that wanted to be transparent and truthful as well as inspiring.

From there, I've been searching for more. Slowly, I've been getting more. More sleep, more love, more happiness, more anxiety and more opportunity. I'll take the good with the bad.

When my mentor and I talked at great length about this new opportunity I knew I had to take a chance. I am afraid to fail and to disappoint not only myself, but her. In the end, I have to remind myself that not taking a chance is really the only way I'd fail.

This opportunity? I am a Stylist with a grass roots athleisure brand called Peach. Peach is a women's clothing line that wants to elevate your everyday look. It was created by women, for women.

I'm excited about this new venture for several reasons.

• I am challenging myself. I need to push myself beyond my comfort zone in order to succeed. 
• I am learning about sales and branding from experienced professionals every day.
  The company is very hands on and knows if we succeed, they succeed. 
• I am taking control of my destiny. I can succeed as much or as little as I want. I put in the work, I reap the rewards. 

For me, this is about more than a secondary income. It's a chance to grow and learn and to take myself closer to that 'more' I am endlessly searching for.

You can learn more about Peach here

A Tale of Triumph & the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

In the fall of 2006 I was unemployed and uninspired. I was hoping to move to Boston but job prospects were dim. I was sitting on the couch in my parent's tv room when the phone rang. Not my cell phone, the house phone. Ancient times.

It was my mom and she was very excited. She was calling from work and couldn't wait to get home to tell me that she had the chance to be a part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She also added that she wanted me to join in the fun. I was told we'd be balloon handler's and her enthusiasm had me feeling some kind of nice. I said yes.

Flash to parade day assignments and I learn that we're not needed on balloon handling, they needed our talent as clowns. I was not exactly thrilled but still I knew it would be an experience.

Being a clown in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is no joke. We had to attend Clown College. A day of training in the city. My mother was beyond ecstatic, I didn't have the heart to bail.

Our Balloon Handler Attire, pre parade!

On the morning of the parade, my mother and I drove into the city and got on a very long line on a very cold morning. By the time we filed into the hotel for our costumes and make-up, I was numb. Post make-up application we boarded buses to take us to the start of our route. But not before my mom shoved as much confetti into her pockets as she could.

The end of the route is what the tv viewers at home see. Every year we file quietly into Herald Square and walk past all of the lucky, warm people in the bleacher seats outside of Macy's flagship.
As we waited our turn to be paraded, literally, past the cameras, my mom and I noticed a pair of women throwing chap-sticks to the crowd and parade attendees. I didn't know who they were or where they came from but I was happy to snag a free chap-stick. 

The women were quickly escorted out as it became clear they were not invited guests. I didn't think much of it at the time. I kept that handy lip balm with the cute Christmas themed cartoon in my desk drawer for years. That cartoon? Elf on the Shelf.