Blue Lollipop Road

April 25, 2012 In 2012 Best of the Road Rally, Maine, News & Updates, People, Photos, Restaurants

VOTE FOR TEAM BLUE LOLLIPOP ROAD!

Team Blue Lollipop Road is leading votes so far, but we still have 20 days to go, so we still need your support!

CLICK HERE to vote for my Mom and I to be a part of the 2012 Rand McNally and USA TODAY’s 2nd annual search for the Best Small Towns in America!

Here’s the dish on this Road Rally:

Rand McNally and USA TODAY send amateur travelers (that’s us!) across the country From Washington DC to Seattle exploring the Best Small Towns in America naming the Most Beautiful, Most Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun, and Best Small Town for Food with blogs, photos, reviews and videos to take you on the journey from wherever you are. (As if you are riding in the car with us!)

Talk about the perfect trip and exactly what Blue Lollipop Road exists for! I have always been an advocate of not just “vacation” travel (like only seeing sights at sites) but the immersion experience, actively engaged vs. passively observing. The nooks and crannies where you nosh and spend time with local characters is where you find the good stuff.  Mom and I have always been fascinated with small town America (probably because we both grew up in a tiny town and appreciate where we came from so much) so we would LOVE to be one of the teams selected for this trip.

Here’s my mumsie and I:

Mom and I at Sea Dog Brewing Company in Maine

Pick us! The Peacock’s (that’s our actual real last name) are ready for adventure!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom and I and cracks me up. The guy behind us is really enjoying his food while were relaxing on the patio at the Sea Dog Brewing Company in Maine with my brother and sister. It’s pretty awesome to be best buds with your Mom and siblings as an adult. (I couldn’t resist adding this photo of my adorable smilin’ brother with his yummy Sea Dog samples):

My brother Brad at Sea Dog Brewery

During this trip we stayed in Bath, (The City of ships!) and wandered different spots in Brunswick and around the Portland area. New England in the summer is just absolutely gorgeous, and Maine is one of our favorites.

Bath Maine cottage summer

…even on a cloudy day it’s beautiful:

Portland Maine Coast

If you’ve been following here of any amount of time, you know I have photos  and stories galore of people, places and food from my 50 state adventures. But? I know I have only touched the surface of what the USA has to offer for small towns, so help Team Blue Lollipop Road get on the road this summer to go search for more!

 

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April 24, 2012 In News & Updates

what’s the best of the road for 2012?

Shall we go and find out? Whoop whoop!- We’d love to!

Rand McNally if you are reading this and want the most ridiculously fun road trippers ever- who love to explore small towns… BLUE LOLLIPOP ROAD IS YOUR ROAD RALLY TEAM BABY!

It is so ON.

Readers~ Check out what we’ve just submitted a team for:

The Rand McNally Best of the Road Rally 2012!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VOTE for Team Blue Lollipop Road!

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April 23, 2012 In News & Updates

stop making me wait woman!

…(that’s what a friend and reader said to me yesterday about not seeing the site changes here yet.) Believe me- I am very eager to share, but we have been working hard on getting it all just right. Beauty takes time people! 🙂

I just got the wireframe design/outline for the new site from my awesome web guy Bobby and I squealed when I saw it. It’s so cool to see hard work come to a visual life- especially when you’ve been working at something for years and finally feel like you’ve etched a great little spot for yourself. When I started Blue Lollipop Road in 2008 I never imagined It’d grow into what is is now. I also never thought I’d spend thousands and thousands of hours essentially running a full on entity for free, but It’s been worth every minute and then some. Growing and changing into this next phase of the BLR is the most exciting time yet for me!

You will see here:

*New tagline, mission/vision and BLR look

*Surprise big news about the BLR 8/18/12 Reunion Soccer Weekend in Vermont

*Launching of a fundraising campaign so I can keep this puppy running. (Yes, that means this site.)

*Introduction to a client I’ve been coaching through her process of  huge life change; Corporate high-powered burn out career to following her passion for working with animals.

*More

So yes, long waits and promised updates that have been delayed. Fear not. BLR is here to stay and growing bigger and better each day!

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April 20, 2012 In Videos

lots of dirty jobs

I’ve always been a big fan of Mike Rowe.

Prompted by a book I am reading this week, I just watched Mike’s TED Talk On celebrating all kinds of jobs:

The fact that he’s hot and funny are just extra icing bonus points to how smart and real he is. (I so dig that.) My favorite part of this video is just after minute 12 when Mike talks about Pig Farmer Bob in Las Vegas:

“He stepped back and watched where everybody was going, and he went the other way.”

Well there’s something for us all to chew on for today!

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April 17, 2012 In Illinois, Inspiration, Live the life you want to live, Photos

there’s no such thing as aimless wandering

I wander around alone in silence a lot.

I always feel incredibly powerful, capable, and hopeful when I take the time to.

People don’t believe me when I share that most of my hundreds of thousands of road miles have been spent in silence with only the sounds of the wind passing by my ears, but that’s the truth. There’s something that’s magical and empowering that happens when you let yourself wander and see your surroundings without interference.

Last week I was sitting at my desk, attempting to knock out a mile-long list of to-do’s and assignments and I was just not feeling in my groove. So? I got up and left my apartment to wander and get air in hopes for an energy boost. After a mile or two of walking, I became enamored with the bright sun, clouds, and blue sky reflecting off various buildings:

Downtown Chicago buildings with blue sky

Downtown Chicago buildings with blue sky

Downtown Chicago buildings with blue sky

Downtown Chicago buildings with blue sky

Downtown Chicago buildings with blue sky

Chicago street springtime flowers

(…and some bright spring flowers too.)

I got that energy boost I hoped for and then some, to go back and knock out that pile of work I had. Quiet wander time relieves me when I am stressed, inspires me when I can’t seem to get creative, and it gives me giant injections of anything is possible feeling.

As adults, we don’t encourage or allow ourselves to be curious, or to wander to take in that zap of often needed healthy energy. Why? What’s the cutoff age for curiosity anyway? Why do we push kids to try, try, try everything, explore that field of flowers, play that game for hours, or look up at that plane in the air to imagine where it’s going, but never look up at it ourselves?

Blue Lollipop Road promotes travel for education and self-empowerment. When we allow ourselves to be curious and wander (aka travel), we learn heaps of valuable information, and we become incredibly smart, resourceful, confident, and self aware. (Talk about a rock-solid foundation to build off!) Travel doesn’t have to mean far off lands around the globe. It could simply mean just getting up and out of whatever place you’re sitting in when you feel like you’re not growing or being productive. Just taking some time to step out and feel passion or re-energize. Like I did last week when I took this photos.

All who wander (and let themselves be curious) are definitely not lost.

 

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April 12, 2012 In Alaska, Inspiration, Live the life you want to live, News & Updates, Photos

oh the places you will go

As I’ve been working with my talented, patient, and generous web guy Bobby sending him information, photos, links, etc. for the BLR face lift we are doing, I found this link from A Skirt! Magazine issue I was featured in before I drove to Alaska.

My, my, the things that have happened since this photo and article. Oh the places we have been.

This BLR-mobile got different license plates, added branding on the bumper, it drove all the way up to the Gateway to the Klondike:

The BLR-mobile at the Alaska border in Skagway

…and went through the Inside Passage of The Last Frontier, then all the way down the west coast spending nearly 5 months total on the road with an extended work stay in Napa, back east, then a move to Chicago, travels back east again, back to Chicago, back east once more and just back to Chicago this week. (With so much in between.)

Phew!

I don’t think I’ve ever shared here after that Skirt! photo shoot, I left the east coast headed for Alaska with only $600, a fresh oil change, a few paper maps, and all my belongings in the trunk. (As in everything I owned.) If you do any sort of calculations on mileage and gas, $600 is not even enough money for gas to get to Alaska let alone any other expenses. I made it there and back and then some as listed above because at the time I wanted to make that journey happen so badly I would’ve walked there if I had to. Not only was I safe, happy, and did I have an amazing time, but I didn’t have to walk there. Why? Because along the way things just happened. 

It’s so fun to look back and have those hell yeah- I did that! moments.

When you take a step towards life (and work your ass off) the universe responds. That is no joke, and this photo above is a perfect example. There are no secrets or superpowers I have that you don’t have too.

Is there a “place” that you want to be so badly, you’d be willing to walk there? What’s holding you back from starting that walk?

This calls for a little Dr. Seuss moment:

Oh the Places You’ll Go:

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets.  Look ’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don’t worry.  Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

You’re right Dr. S!

We have brains in our heads, we have feet in our shoes, and we can steer ourselves in any direction we chose!

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April 11, 2012 In News & Updates

10 days out…

…from giving up my full time paying gig to focus here for free, and I have made more behind the scenes progress than I have in months.

That’s paycheck enough for me right now.

Timing, focus, and clarity are amazing things. Especially after laying a solid foundation.

Whoop Whoop!

Can’t wait to share the goodness very soon. It’s all coming together baby…

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April 6, 2012 In New York, Photos

worth the 700 mile drive…

…and then some:

View from Seneca Lake work morning

This was morning coffee today. Talk about a great view to get a bunch of work done on our lake retreat!

I’m happy to share that we are getting a big ol’ face lift as part of the transition that’s happening here so watch your screen over the next few weeks for our makeover! I’ve already begun a few little changes you can see at the top page tabs.

Until more exciting announcements about our growth…

 

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