Sunday, May 19, 2013

Guest Post on Sunny Slide Up: Salsa, Ceviche, & Margaritas!

A few weeks ago, I guest blogged over on Sunny Slide Up about my favorite Cinco de Mayo recipes.

The recipes are fresh and healthy and perfect for any type of spring and summertime celebrations.

Check out my post and let me know what you think!

What is your favorite, no fail, side dish that you bring to backyard cookouts?

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Projects

The last month has been filled with projects. The nearest and dearest to my heart is my professional website where I geek out about inbound marketing and content curation. I tried to get it up last year but failed to do so because of my lack of knowledge of the technical side of Wordpress. Paying someone to set everything up was not in my budget at the time and neither were hosting and other associated costs. There had to be another way.

Earlier this year I ran into Brian (of NoDa Brewing Company) at a Bobcats game and our conversation turned to creating websites and other topics that we geek out about. He introduced me to Squarespace and it changed how I view website creation and design. I stalked the Squarespace website for information, Googled my little heart out, and met with Brian later in the week for a real live demo… and to pick up a growler of beer for Easter weekend. That weekend I signed up for my 14 day trial and began the building process.

I am a big fan of simple and clean design. White background, black text, and a handful of accent colors. My website was complete in 10 hours during the first week of the trial. I purchased the service and, without breaking anything, connected it to my domain that I had purchased over a year ago.

Now it’s time to concentrate on in the Queen City. With the renewed focus will come the re-branding that I have put aside while working on other projects. I want to clean up the design and finally connect it to its own domain.

I’m sticking with Blogger for now and will need to figure out how to transfer my domain from GoDaddy to Google Apps without breaking anything.

So here is my plea: if you know anything about domains and Google Apps and Blogger, please help! I am willing to pay with a delicious homemade dinner (for those in the Charlotte area) and a growler of your favorite beer (if you are over the age of 21).

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

{Queen City Travel} China

I’m having a hard time believing that it’s May already. Where has the time gone?!

Recently, I downloaded an app called Timehop that digs through my past postings on Facebook, Instagram, and Foursqure and tells me what I did that day a year ago (or two, or even six!). A year ago I traveled for six weeks in a row. SIX! My “tour” began in Las Vegas, NV then on to Hollywood, FL, St. James Island, NC, Weehawken, NJ, New York City, NY, San Antonio, TX, Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA and ended in Washington DC. Phew!

This spring has been light on travel. I made a last minute trip down to San Antonio for an industry show in March and a trip to see the in-laws for Easter, but that’s about it. Not enough for my travel-soul to feel full…

However, that’s about to change. I’ve been anxiously awaiting my visa to arrive because I’M GOING TO CHINA!!! That is if/when the Chinese Government approves my visa.


Nail biter!

To say I’m excited is an understatement. My last trip to China in 2008 left quite the impression on me and I never thought I would get the chance to go back.

We still need to book the hotel in Shanghai and figure out what we want to do and see while we’re there. Have you been to Shanghai? If so, what would you recommend we do, see, and eat?