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Beer on the Docks and 9 Other Reasons Wilmington (NC) Rocks

I just got back from visiting Wilmington, North Carolina for five glorious days, and there are a few things I’d like to share in the event you want to plan a trip to the coastal region of the Tar Heel state. (Note it’s not the Blue Devil state despite the outcome of the Final Four.)

1). Beautiful weather. It’s warm in April but not yet blistering. 80 degrees, to be exact, is the day’s high. (This is really special when it’s snowing back home in Boise). Not only do we get to wear shorts and tanks tops, but we get to go to the beach, play at the park, ride boats and even hit the pool. Humidity has not yet drowned the land, so the warmth and sunshine are like fertilizer to my soul.

2). Zen beaches. The beaches are fabulous, including Wrightsville, which is a short drive from Wilmington. The billowing landscape is soft to the toes, the whiteness is vast, and all is surrounded by dunes and wild grasses. The waters ebb and flow beneath the blue horizon. Ahh….this is relaxation at its finest.

3). Water, water everywhere. Water is soothing, especially if you live in a land-locked state and haven’t seen the ocean for a while. In Wilmington, there is the Cape Fear River, the Intracoastal Waterway and the ocean. Boats of all shapes, sizes and types are in sight everywhere I turn, like one giant marina.

4). Beer on the dock. Beers taste better out of the dock, and there are plenty of places to belly up to the bar for a cold one. The Dockside Restaurant and Marina is my favorite; and from what Captain Joe tells me, it’s the oldest establishment in the area. Southerners are even starting to drink microbrews these days, ensuring the experience doesn’t get watered down.

5). Bald Head Island. On this particular visit, I discovered a magnificent hidden gem called Bald Head Island. About 30 miles from Wilmington, the island is a short ferry ride from Southport, NC. Comprised of 12,000 acres of land, 10,000 of which is untouched marsh, beach and forest, no cars are allowed. Golf carts and bicycles provide transportation for parents, kids and a multitude of dogs. Homes are beautiful, trees swallow the narrow inland paths, and the beaches are bare and to behold, made even better by all the happy puppies swimming joyously in the water.

6) Festivals galore. If you are a fan of festivals, there’s the Azalea Festival in April, the Blue Crab Festival in May, Blues Festival in July and Riverfest in October, just to name a few.

7). Hush puppies. In general, fried food is hard to avoid (fried pickles, anyone?) and vegetables are few and far between at local restaurants. (In fact, at one restaurant we visited, you have to pay more to order seafood broiled instead of fried). If you want to splurge on a local fried specialty, however, go for the hush puppies. These balls of fried cornbread are typically served in place of dinner rolls (and often with butter!). But I’m here to tell you, they are the finest in the country.

8). Great seafood. I’m a huge fan of hole in the wall restaurants (though there is fine dining in the area, too). We found one in downtown Wilmington called the Dock Street Oyster Bar with steamed seafood on the menu. I was so excited about a night without fried, I ordered the variety platter, complete with oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp and succulent crab legs. My favorite, however, was the almost insect-looking crawfish. My first ever taste of these critters, and they melted in my mouth – like lobster only better.

9). Sweet iced tea. I can’t figure out why good ‘ole iced tea tastes so much better in the South. At least once during your stay, you have to try it sweetened. Though high in calories, it’s the nectar of the heavens.

Will Wilmington be the next Hollywood? Probably not. But One Tree Hill is filmed here, and a number of movies, too.

These are just a few of the reasons I recommend Wilmington for your next spring break. Or any break!

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9 Ways to Burn Calories While Watching March Madness

March Madness is often a topic reserved for males. Or so it seems. I didn’t see any female commentators on Selection Sunday talking about the men’s tournament. And if I go to ESPN’s site, and specifically to the men’s college basketball page, I only see one column written by a woman (way to go Dana!).

But I’m here to tell you that women like basketball, too. Or at least this woman. Even now, I can probably spout off as many statistics as half the male population of Boise. I can tell you what upsets are predicted, what players to watch, how the madness breaks down academically, how office pools negatively impact productivity, and how many people stream the games at work.

Why my obsession with the sport of basketball?

One, I played basketball, albeit I wasn’t all that terrific. After I got off to a rocky start as a sophomore, I later started on my high school team. (I’m #12 on the back row – the hair makes me about 2″ taller).

Two, I went to school at UNC. I happened to spend my time in Chapel Hill with the likes of Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and my personal favorite, Kenny the Jet Smith. Friends and family were always amazed at how much my girlfriends and I knew about basketball.

Three, whenever I have moved to a new city, which has been more times than I might care to admit, I have met TONS of new friends through the Duke/UNC rivalry, especially in Boise .

Four, my husband and I rarely agree on movies or TV shows, so we resort to ESPN as our common ground for entertainment (alongside non-sedentary activities and reading). As you might imagine, that includes hoops.

Not only do I find March Madness highly entertaining, but it’s a great distraction when you want a good excuse not to complete an important project at work. More importantly, it’s a great way to burn calories. Let me show you how.

1. 1. Cheering for your home team automatically increases your heart rate and releases endorphins. And yes, I realize the tourney has no “heels” this year, just like sandals (thanks Shelley!), but I can still pour that same energy into cheering against Duke (who has a tough match-up against UAPB on Friday).
2. 2. It is great entertainment while running on the treadmill at the gym. Especially if a game is close, you automatically work much harder and with less pain. A Cinderalla win? At least an extra 100 calories are burned.
3. 3. Also great for riding the bike trainer at home. The best workout I have ever gotten was last year when UNC played LSU in the second round and was nearly beaten. I don’t think I have pedaled that fast since.
4. 4. It’s a good excuse to clean the house. After all, it’s hard to justify sitting in front of a television set for hours on end, so cleaning the house is a good way to stay productive while keeping tabs on your bracket. Not only might you burn some calories, especially if you repeatedly run back into the TV room to check out exciting plays, but you will have a sparkling house to show for it.
5. 5. And do laundry. Same as #4 above. Only you will have nice, clean clothes to show for productive efforts.
6. 6. And do boring kitchen chores like peeling/slicing fruit, making pesto and throwing out moldy food in the fridge. Watching March Madness is a perfect time to carry out chores you might otherwise procrastinate doing.
7. 7. It’s also a wonderful time to stretch. I advocate stretching at night when you are conversing with your family, watching Dancing with the Stars (or other show you might happen to like), or even drinking a glass of wine (which is good for you, by the way, in moderation of course). I plan to get in a month’s worth of stretches during March Madness this weekend. And stomach crunches? Here I come!
8. 8. Ride your bike to a local sports bar to watch the games. Though you might end up consuming more calories at the bar than getting to the bar, at least you’ll have your bike tuned and ready for the next ride. It’s warming up, after all!
9. 9. Organize your recipes. Apparently, I need some improvement in this area (for those of you who missed all the Facebook comments). So perhaps I should be taking advantage of an opportunity to put my food-stained recipes into plastic covers (and perhaps throwing some away from the 1980’s). It may not burn as may calories as stretching and cleaning, but it’s better than being a total couch potato.

I realize many of you may not like basketball, but these same calorie burning tips can be applied towards any sport you follow. In the meantime, go Louisville. May the Cinderalla gods be with you.

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How to Renovate a Bathroom – Friday Fun

Friday is my day to talk about fun. So you may be asking: What the heck could possibly be fun about renovating a bathroom? Despite the time it takes and work that is required, I actually enjoy a little messy manual labor and find it both therapeutic and rewarding. So here’s a little how-to background, in case you decide to take on the challenge yourself.

Lots of folks in their twenties rent apartments or condos. Not only does it take some time to save up for a down payment, it’s a lot more fun to travel, party and hang out with friends than work on a yard or fix up a house.

Fast forward to our thirties, when apparently it is assumed we should settle down, buy homes and become more responsible. We spend money on our future as opposed to supporting our local bars. At least that’s the theory.

And that’s pretty much how it played out in my life, sort of (I got married and bought our first house in my late thirties, so I guess I was a little behind schedule). And since I like old homes, as does Rob, inevitably we find ourselves immersed in never-ending house projects, without the big budget to outsource the work. As a result, over the years, we have figured out how to do a lot of fix-ups ourselves, saving a lot of money in the process. Oddly enough, Rob and I work quite collaboratively in these situations, despite my lack of patience for jobs that drag on and on.

Just this past month…or two….or three, we renovated our downstairs half bath. And since most of our friends were both surprised and impressed that we knew what to do, I thought I’d share how we went about our labor of love.

Determine your budget. It’s almost inevitable you’ll go over budget, so budget for that as well.
Figure out what you want the end product to look like. For our little bathroom, I actually knew how I wanted it to look (after walking into a bathroom for two years with angel wallpaper and a brown toilet, among other lovely design elements, it’s easy to do a lot of dreaming while sitting on the toilet). If you can’t come up with your own vision, ask one of your friends who is really good at this stuff what they would do. Alternatively, you can buy magazines and get a feel for you like. If all else fails and the vision just isn’t happening, then hire an interior designer and pay him or her for ideas. My ultimate goal is to be true to the home’s heritage while catering to my tastes my family’s.
Determine what, if anything, you want to outsource. Then get estimates and get them to ink the job in their schedule. (Be sure to buffer the schedule because they’ll be late). We outsourced our plumbing and asked our (awesome!) plumber for his ideas/estimate before we ever started. We also decided to hire a drywaller. Sure, we could have done this work ourselves, but by the time we would have bought the necessary supplies, we might have ended up paying as much, without the same quality as someone who does it for a living. You might be able to avoid this step altogether if your walls are in good shape and all that’s needed  is a touch up and some sanding. But we had some moldy drywall and big holes, so we had to replace a good bit of sheet rock.
Make the big decisions so that your vision stays within the confines of the budget. What furniture/cabinetry/appliances do you need? Select those first. Then determine color, floor, and lighting. For our bathroom, we went through the decision making process in this order:

• The cabinetry, including a vessel sink (which was the only part of our project that went over our original budget). Took us a while but finally found what we wanted at Impact Imports.
• Next was the tile. Flooring in general can have huge price variation. Tile actually tends to be more expensive, especially in comparison to laminate, but we wanted tile because we were ripping out wood floors. We had to do so because of the cabinetry we removed.
• Then the lighting. Note we weren’t doing any major lighting changes. If you plan to rip out ceilings or tear our huge lighting strips, you might want to think about this earlier in the process and speak to an electrician.
• Then the toilet (what fun).
• Then paint color (usually the only thing Rob and I argue about).
• I actually picked a facet AFTER everything else was completed. But I wish I had done so at this point in the renovation process. Most facets need to be special ordered, unless you find one at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I actually bought mine at overstock.com and was quite happy, despite the fact it pushed our finish date a week.

Figure out how to complete the steps of the project. As part of this step, you may need to watch some do-it-yourself videos, buy a how-to book or take a class as your local Home Depot. There is a wealth of resources online.
Demolish. I actually think this part is fun, but I’ll also admit needed Rob’s help with some of the heavier tasks. As hard as I tried, I had trouble getting some of the old tile off the walls. And pulling the cabinetry out. Note this is an excellent way to vent frustrations.
Bring in the outsourced help as needed. After we demolished, we had the plumber cut off our water supply and the drywall expert work his magic. Rob removed the toilet himself (glad he did it and not me).
Next it was time to complete the floor. First, we installed hardibacker, a stable, water resistant cement-like board.  (Rob did this part as the sheets were big and heavy and needed to be cut by a saw. He still won’t let me near a saw in the event I might chop my hand off). Next I tiled. Though it’s slow and messy, I think it’s a lot of fun and very creative. You start by applying thinset mortar, which is an adhesive for the tiles. After the thinset is dry, you grout the tile then seal it.

You’ll more than likely need something to cut your tiles, such as a tile cutter or wet saw (again, I avoid saws and find the cutter to work fine). My recommendation before you start doing any of this stuff is to plan beforehand. Lay out the tiles and see how they’ll fit. Measure tiles you need to cut. And start tiling where there is greatest visibility, usually the entrance to the room. Here’s how it looked in the end.

Cut and apply the wooden floor molding. Fortunately, our friend Ryan came over with his table miter saw and a nail gun and he saved the day! Equipment can be everything with many of these home projects, but you don’t necessarily have to buy everything. Borrow tools from a friend or rent them to save money.
Install the appliances and get that plumber back over to set up the pipe system. We are simply too paranoid to try to do this ourselves. In my opinion, this is money well spent.
Then it’s time for the easy stuff like installing the mirror and toilet paper holder. And I am being sarcastic. I can’t figure out how to install the holder, so the toilet paper is still lying by the floor (I don’t think instructions were written for women).

Though it may not sound like fun, it is. Try your hand at a little home renovation, and you might surprise yourself.

And I love the new potty, the most used appliance in the house.

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Having Fun While Working From Home

One of the key ingredients to my life’s “secret sauce” is having fun – by travelling, working on home renovations, playing with Luke, reading books and watching Carolina basketball (when they win). Maintaining a healthy lifestyle requires does require some discipline, but it’s not all work. Since weekends are a great time to kick back and relax, I’m going to spend Fridays talking about ways to have some fun.

When it comes to finding your life’s secret sauce, work might be one of the number one things that influences your health and happiness. Whether you work full-time or part time, for a large corporation or small business, take care of the kids or manage a multi-million portfolio –  it’s work! But I’m not trying to be a career counselor today.

Ten years ago, I left Corporate America to start my own marketing company. During much of this interim, I have worked out of a home office, using coffee shops as a conference room and spending quite a bit of time on airplanes (especially after I moved to Boise). To me, a home-based business offers the best of both worlds – familiarity, flexibility and informality, with a little dose of big business when I get out to visit clients.

I like working from home so much that I thought I’d list top ten reasons why. At the end, you’ll get a taste of why others like it, too.

My favorite things about working from home:

I get to hang out with my dogs. This is especially beneficial after one of them has had surgery, and needs some TLC (as is the case with Walden right now). When my little baby’s leg is healed, I hope to return to our mid-day jaunts in the hills.

I get more work done. I know, I often miss the hallway chatter and community gossip, but I have far fewer unnecessary meetings and get way more work done without drive-by’s and other interruptions.
I can make my own schedule. If I want to get up and work at 6 a.m. then take a 2 hour break in the afternoon to get my hair highlighted, there’s no one who can tell me not to do so. Likewise, if I want to whip open the laptop and do some writing after Luke goes to bed, I can do that as well. And sometimes, after a glass or two of wine, I’m much more creative anyway.
I can better manage my child’s schedule. Though I was incredibly blessed to have had Super Nanny till Luke started school (and now I have an amazing after school program at the YMCA), I still have the flexibility to pick him up early if I want to do so, take him to the doctor for a check-up or, more likely, drop off his lunch box at school when I forget it in the a.m. (or the class snack, or his bathing suit, or a myriad of other things we typically forget).
I can work out whenever I want. Well, within reason. If I have a conference call or in-person meeting with a client, I’m not likely to frivolously leave for a 2-hour bike ride. But I will say, when the weather gets in a bad rut like we seem to have endured during the last 2 months, I can get up and go for a jog when Mr. Sunshine peaks his head beneath the clouds.
I can jumpstart dinner with minimal time and effort. Though this might not sound like a big deal, taking chicken out of the freezer or throwing a piece of meat in a marinade can make my dinner preparation less stressful and more efficient after Luke is home from school. We can eat dinner by 6:30 instead of Luke’s bedtime.
I blast the music if I want to do so. Or have the Olympics on the TV in the background. And most importantly, I can turn on March Madness in a few weeks (but even I will admit I am not too terribly productive during the first round when a mid-major upsets a big name like Duke. Yes, I am sending out early subliminal vibes).
I get to eat a healthy, freshly made lunch. (unless we are out of everything, which seems to be happening a lot these days). I get to use the stove or panini maker to create my concoction, and that beats the heck out of a microwave.
I get to grab a snack when I have hunger pains (which is actually quite often when I’m training for an event) and fortunately am not tempted to attack the usual pile of crap that’s sitting in an office break room.
I can decorate my office any way I want. Right now, I can reminisce about the songs of my youth,

dream about the days we were good,

and most of all, look at my little Bubs and smile.

Here are reasons other women like working from home.

Jennifer, from Charleston, SC, and owner of Carolina Photosmith says: Working from home has really been an evolution of realizing it was now-or-never to hone my photography passion. Since my primary job is Mom of Two Youngsters, working from home has enabled me a creative outlet and a flexible schedule to work around their needs (carpools, field trips, illnesses). I also enjoy the leisure of catering to the ebb and flow of my creative juices.  Plus, by embracing my current stage in life as a mom of young children, I have developed friendships and contacts for building my photography business — and for keeping sane along the way.

Caitlin, a writer from from Orlando, whose blog is titled Healthy Tipping Point says: I love working from home because it gives me flexibility in my day to day schedule.  But mostly because I get to hang out with my two wonderful doggies all day long!  :)

Jen, from Boise, ID, super successful entrepreneur and mother of two, who amazes me by her ability to fit in workouts despite her busy schedule, says: Two things – flexibility with kids and their schedule along with minimal distractions that you have in the office (e.g., fewer interuptions by team members stopping by, etc….you have the choice to pick up the phone…but in some instances still must).

Lenora, a business development coach from Seattle, likes working from home because  she can work in a stream of consciousness way, not necessarily in priority order and can drift between different types of projects without interruption.  She gets a lot more done and has a feeling of “flow” while she’s at it. (I might also mention that she was also named Client of the Month at Fitness Together for integrating diet and exercise into her busy schedule. Way to go Lenora!).

Lisa, also known as Workout Mommy, says that her favorite part about working from home is that she gets to work on her own schedule.  She likes being her own boss and setting her own calendar.

What’s your favorite thing about working from home?

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There’s no place like Whistler

One of the key ingredients to my life’s “secret sauce” is having fun – by travelling, working on home renovations, playing with Luke, reading books and watching Carolina basketball (when they win). Maintaining a healthy lifestyle requires does require some discipline, but it’s not all work. Since weekends are a great time to kick back and relax, I’m going to spend Fridays talking about ways to have some fun.

In the spirit of Vancouver 2010, I have to share my affection for beloved Whistler, one of my favorite places on earth – for fun, relaxation and rejuvenation. I am getting tears in my eyes every time they show coverage of downhill racing, luge and cross country skiing. Seeing the Village in the background brings back such wonderful memories….

In the beginning

It all started in 1999, when I was a marketing executive in Seattle, working hard but with few obligations outside work hours beyond filling my social calendar. I was still single, making good money and spending way too much of my cash on expensive clothes and other temporary pleasures. Therefore, I decided to invest my savings and extra earnings in something more meaningful and lucrative than Theory’s latest cropped pants.

Quick decisions

One of the most spur-of-the-moment decisions I have ever made in my life, I travelled to Whistler one weekend, looked at a variety of places for sale and put an offer on a place. I bought a condo in Whistler Village North, just off Village Way, in a complex called Sunpath. It was small (1 BR) and not particularly fancy; but to this day, it is the greatest thing I have ever owned. It was convenient to walk everywhere, and I had a nice little corner unit with lots of privacy.

When I lived in Seattle, I’d make a trip to Whistler whenever the place wasn’t rented. There were no children in my life just yet, so I could make those spontaneous phone calls on Thursday night, pack my bags and head North the following day after work. And the drive itself is spectacular. Though waits at the border might be a pain, it’s so much fun to drive through Vancouver (except at rush hour), stop at one of its fabulous restaurants for dinner, then hop onto the beautiful sea to ski highway. Greeted by friendly Canadians, what more can a girl ask for?

Winter Wonderland

Much like the coverage it’s now getting at the Olympics, the winters in Whistler are sensational. Look how much snow collected outside my front door (that’s me and Shelby).

The numbers don’t lie. The skiing is amazing: Over 8,100 skiable acres. One vertical mile. Two mountains connected by a pedestrian Village. More than 200 trails. Three glaciers. 38 lifts. Twelve alpine bowls. (One of my favorite things was to grab a beer(s) at the top of the mountain at day’s end, drink till they kicked us out, then ski down the entire mountain with friends).

The summers stole my heart

Though the winter is phenomenal, I still found myself drawn to the summers. Between the glistening lakes and snow capped mountains, I have to believe it’s one of the prettiest places on earth. All I had to do was step outside my door to have immediate access to paved bike paths, dirt trails, pools, restaurants…. I used to run, mountain bike (cross country terrain was fabulous and Whistler was one of the first to offer downhill trails), road bike (ride to Pemberton was beautiful), roller blade (really fun until you fall and have to go to the ER like I did), swim in the lakes, sit by the pool, visit the farmers’ market, eat at a great restaurant or just hang outside in the Village for happy hour (martinis at Araxis or beers an any number of places).

Feel the love

Shelby loved the place. Here’s a picture of her as happy as a lark in front of the gondola (she never quite understood why she didn’t get to ski with me).

Rob loved the place. (He’s there, I promise, standing beneath the Northern Lights trail on a hike one day).

But I don’t think anyone loved it as much as I did. In fact, every single time when I drove away, I’d have tears streaming down my face (like Dorothy protesting in Wizard of Oz).

Here’s a picture of me and Rob one summer in Whistler, just after we’d gotten engaged. (In fact, he had  planned to propose to me in Whistler on a mountain bike ride, but I accidentally booked the place on the weekend he planned the entire escapade. Oops!).

We love Whistler so much, we even got married there. We exchanged vows in a tiny little chapel on top of the Chateau Whistler among family. Just outside the window is Blackcomb Mountain.

The next night, we celebrated with friends at the Barefoot Bistro.

Going, going, gone

The only thing I didn’t like about Whistler (besides every time I had to leave) was when I sold the place. After we moved to Boise, it became too logistically difficult to visit. Plus, with all the development in preparation for the Olympics, the landscape was changing, and rental income was at an all-time low:(.

Nothing will take away the memories, though. And the Olympics remind me of why I miss it so much.

Your happy place

Whistler is my happy place, what’s yours?

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