my brother has goats
That’s it. Just had to share because he is ridiculously adorable.
Love your local farmer!
#CountryLove #FarmersRock #MyBrotherIsTheCutest
People
May 4, 2015
In
BLR Play It Forward 2013, Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship, Do good, Inspiration, Links, News & Updates, People, Photos, Vermont
blr do-gooders!
Well happy Monday to me to wake up to an email from my 6th grade (and might I add, favorite) teacher of all time, Mr. B this morning:
Diane,
Here is a picture from the front page of today’s Banner. I thought you’d like to see. Nice t-shirt, eh? Good choice for the scholarship. Hope you are well.
And then there was a link to this:
Yay! How proud are we of our July 2013 Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Travel Scholarship Winner, Mercedes Chen?!
We thought she was deserving of our scholarship dollars in 2013, and to find this surprise today in May of 2015? That. Is. Awesome. I love that someone we chose for a winner, who embodies the spirit & zest for life our friends had, continues to do good for the community we grew up in.
High-fives & BLR love to you, Mercedes! Glad you are wearing the BLR colors with pride. Keep doing what you’re doing!
#GreenUp #HometownPride #NeverForgetWhereYouCameFrom
pour some sugar on me
Meet my friends, Jon & Dana:
These two started making maple syrup as a hobby a couple years ago. (You’re looking at a toast of the good stuff, above.) They’re now cranking out a serious production as a tiny team. As far as I remember, it takes 25+ gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. That’s right, twenty five plus gallons of sap! Talk about a labor of love:
*(Side note: Jon has been a travel buddy of mine for a long time. We’ve back-country camped, hiked, and road tripped across the USA together. We’ve both been writing our respective books for many years, and we’ve shared much great conversation about life over good beers. We’ve eaten Mexican food for Easter in Pueblo, Colorado after getting a speeding ticket as we drove through the middle of nowhere Kansas. Oh the adventures! Imagine my delight when he found and married Dana. It’s totally awesome when your bff guy friends find the coolest women to share their lives with. Lucky me to have such great friends.)
So what did these friends send in the mail last Friday?
A mega maple syrup surprise!
Do you see the drops on the outside of the jug? Don’t tell anyone, but I definitely took a little taste of those because I was so excited. Finger-lickin’ good!
Saturday morning we made a huge batch of pancakes and found that our jug was so full, we had to dip some pancake pieces first:
…to make some room to pour. Mmmm:
(As you can see, I got so busy eating, I almost forgot to snap this photo.) Ohhh…sooo…good!
Are you jealous? You should be- this stuff tastes amazing!
Do you want to get your own? You can! Sweet! (See what I did there?:)
Jon & Dana’s School House Maple is still available to buy from this season. Here’s what they have:
Plastic Jugs:
Sampler ~ $3
1/2 Pint ~ $5
Pint ~ $10
Quart ~ $17
1/2 gallon ~ $32
Gallon ~ $58
Glass Growler or Tin:
Sampler ~ $5
Half Pint ~ $8
Pint (tin only) $14
Quart ~ $22
Half Gallon ~ $36
Gallon ~ $62
These prices are crazy good, so get some while it lasts! If you have any questions, you can email Dana directly: [email protected]
Thanks Jon & Dana! You guys are the best!
What’s your labor of love?
#MapleSyrup #Sweetness #BestKindOfFriends
holy crawfish boil
They say don’t play with your food, but I couldn’t resist the other day when the first of two crawfish boils began:
Those suckers didn’t have long to live in that bucket before getting boiled up and spread out for the feast:
And I thought I got excited about food? Well, this sweet Cajun could give me a run for my food love money diving in the way he did:
Could his face be any closer to the table? I love it the pure focus. Three men put down 15 pounds of crawfish that night, and the next night? Another 30 pounds with a different crew at a camp site:
I’ve been to Louisiana before, but boy this time I realize, it is indeed like a whole different country down here. My “No thank you, I don’t eat any fish/seafood” responses to meal-offerings, have left many of these kind, generous locals horrified (but I think secretly glad they can have my share of the clawed crustaceans:) I’ve opted to indulge in the 9 billion doughnuts available at various unexpected roadside shacks we’ve encountered:
Here are two of the four we noshed on in the sunshine at the picnic table:
Needless to say we aren’t going hungry this week here in Cajun Country.
How do you feast locally?
#RoadFood #CajunCountry #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad
go solo
Love articles like this and couldn’t agree more. Want to find your inner badass? Just go. Go alone, and don’t wait for anyone. You’ll surprise yourself.
Here’s an article I contributed to a few years ago. I wrote about jumping out of your cozy comfort zones, too:) Even Vanilla Ice said I’m on a roll and It’s time to go solo.
Where do you go alone?
#LifeOfATraveler #SoloTravel #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad
March 16, 2015
In
North Carolina, People, Photos, play
go take a hike
At least that’s what we did yesterday! Can’t keep me inside when It’s 75 and sunny, on a weekend or a week day. (It’s Monday and I’m typing this from an outside patio table; my office for the afternoon.)
Here’s our view from the top of the mountain:
As seen in these photos, things are not quite blooming and green yet, but even though most the color was brown, the skies were still blue- so I was happy. (Obviously.) Minus the littering idiots who left their Dean & DeLuca lunch garbage all over the place, it was a perfect day. (For god’s sakes, people- stop littering!)
I think winter has reared It’s ugly head for the last time this year. (At least in NC, anyway.) Time to grab yourself, your family & your friends- and go play outside!
How do you enjoy the great outdoors?
#Hike #NC #LetMeBeFree
March 9, 2015
In
Bahamas, Inspiration, People, Photos, Travel
precious grains of sand
Those rare times when someone takes a few extra minutes out of their day, just to be nice, do something good or go the extra mile. Those are awesome times I wish would happen more. The below email popped in my inbox unexpectedly last week from someone we met on vacation in December of 2013:
Dear Diane and Kevin,
I just took a Facebook tour of your photos. It totally amazes me just how much you have traveled and how much you two have seen. I am so pleased our paths have crossed. Knowing people like you and Kevin has certainly enriched my spirit. I guess I am getting older and I am definetly not the man I use to be but when you share your life through photos like the ones on Facebook I am so grateful I did what I did when I was a younger man. So keep on doing what you are doing. Be happy, smile, love, live. Life is like a grain of sand on the beach. So small and so precious. Keep me in the loop with the Blue Lollipop Road .
Your admiring friend,
Andy
How sweet is that?
If had to guess, Andy is mid-upper 60’s. He’s single and travels alone a lot. When we met him he wasn’t afraid to sit down and talk to us (or anyone else for that matter.) He was kind, funny, and full of stories. I could tell he was a hard worker. An all-around interesting guy. We shared several meals with him during that week of vacation- we kept running in to each other and we all enjoyed spending that time together. And the end of the week we exchanged contact information and from there we’ve just kept in touch a few times via email.
This is letter makes me smile huge, and feel thankful, proud & motivated- to do more.
Everyday I wake up trying to think of ways to motivate and inspire people to be fearless, get out and travel, to explore beyond their everyday surroundings, and to talk to strangers. I know travel changes and teaches people, in a way that nothing else does and it is my biggest wish that everyone do more of it. I lobby to convince scared parents to let their kids take a Gap Year, or go on an exchange program, I try to convince adults their lives aren’t going to fall apart if they decide to quit that job or person they hate and go on a walkabout to get to know themselves again or to recharge, I myself explore all the new people, places & things I can on a regular basis so I keep pushing and stretching myself- and so I have stories to share here. Hopefully these are the reasons people like Andy above write me and tell me to keep doing what I do. I love that.
Here are some photos from that holiday vacation:
Ahhh…the Bahamas.
Dear Andy,
Thanks for cheering us on! I promise we will keep being happy, smiling, loving, and living. You are right- life is like a grain of sand on the beach, so small and so precious. We’re glad there are people like you out there who recognize these things, live accordingly, and share in our adventurous spirit! We hope to see you “on the road” again.
Diane 🙂
Here’s to never knowing who you’ll meet and what friends you’ll make!
How do you connect to make new friends?
#LettersOfInspiration #RoadFriends #LiveLikeYouMeanIt
February 27, 2015
In
Be active, BLR Play It Forward 2015, Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship, Do good, News & Updates, People, Photos, play, Today Is The Day, Vermont
play it forward 2015 official announcements!
The schedule for our 4th Annual Play It Forward Event has been set! See full details here.
If for some crazy reason you are on the fence about whether or not you will be participating, maybe I’ll inspire you by sharing a photo from each of our first 3 events…
2012:
2013:
2014:
Get on the bus, Gus! We’re doing good things, having fun and we want YOU! Won’t you join us?
Today is the day. What are you waiting for?
#PlayForwardGiveBack #RememberCelebrateLive #LoveHome
February 24, 2015
In
Inspiration, North Carolina, People, Photos, Today Is The Day
meet grazia
This sassy, fashionable, world-traveling, 77-year-old, was the hostess of the Oscar Party I went to on Sunday night. I’d heard about how fabulous Ms. Grazia was for weeks. That was true and then some. This woman has the smile, energy, and the sharpness of a 27-year-old. She’s warm and welcoming to everyone around her. We had a blast.
Don’t you just love the sparkly vintage gown?! (Perfect that Lady Gaga is in the background on TV, too.) I’m about 40 years behind this lovely woman, but I hope to carry half the effervescence and joy for life that she has- for the rest of mine.
You inspire us with your never-ending smile, Grazia! – And absolutely embody my remember, celebrate, live mantra, by truly celebrating life. Love it!
How do you all out there, celebrate life Grazia-style?
#Oscars #LivingItUp #Ageless
dear chicken shit, do you need a hug? :)
Yes, I am talking to you who posted this comment in my inbox anonymously on Saturday:
“You’ll never write a book of any worth because you can barely write a sentence. Also, there’s a fine line between celebration and exploitation. Just being, you know, unfiltered.”
It sounds like you need some love in your life, my friend! Maybe I should go find this guy again and send him your way:
So sad you’re hateful and wrong Mr./Mrs. comment leaver. I feel sorry for people like you. I think you need a hug! (And a backbone.)
While you continue hiding behind your computer, sending opinions and judgments (with no name attached) that are so far from the truth they may as well be in Siberia, I’ll be out loud & proud here, living it up, unfiltered and transparent as always. I will continue celebrating my friends, and everything/everyone I love, and I’ll keep doing good work giving back to my community.
You should really get a life and find more positive ways to spend your time. There’s a whole big, fat, huge awesome world out there…
Love,
Diane
PS~ For someone who thinks I can’t write, you sure have spent a lot of your time reading and poking around here! That’s pretty hilarious. I know you’ll be first in line to buy my book:)
#DontBeJealous #GiveAHug #Celebrate