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I’ve come to love writing these posts more than any others as they offer me a chance to fill you in on what really goes on behind the scenes in my life (it’s not all fun and games and gorgeous beaches, I swear). They also serve as a forum to share exciting upcoming things, trips that you can be a part of.
Remember when I went to St. George and Zion National Park last year for an Instameet? Well, the fine folks who put that on are doing something similar, only they’re inviting all of you, too. That’s right: You can come participate in an adventure photography weekend in Zion with me for free. OK, you do have to get yourself there and figure out your lodging, but the itinerary itself is at no cost! You can read more about it here.
Now, onto what I’ve been into this month!
Highs
A visit from Semester at Sea friends. Our Minneapolis favorites Emilie and Nicole, along with Nicole’s fiance Mitch, came down for a long weekend in early April during which we drove Franklin’s new Masters & Makers whiskey trail, went hiking up at Sewanee, and of course ate our way through Nashville.
A super awesome project with Fairmont Hotels. I got to channel my inner Eloise and stay in a suite at the Plaza Hotel while in New York for a Fairmont project, which you’ll be reading about very soon. In fact, this month I spent 16 nights in hotels or Airbnbs—that’s quite a lot!—but the Plaza was by far my most memorable stay yet.
The wedding of my college suitemate. I just left South Carolina this morning where I’d been since Tuesday for the wedding of my dear college friend Ashley. It was also the first reunion I’d had with our fellow Sewanee girls—Katy, Muguet and Lemon—since we were all together for Lemon’s Austin wedding three years ago. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and now that we’re all married off, who knows the next time we all might be together again? *tear*
Completing another half marathon. So what if I haven’t laced up my running shoes since then (lol), I challenged myself to a goal and I met that goal, despite minimal training.
A redesigned section of my site. It’s always funny to me how many people seem to think that blogging is my job (or rather, my only job). Au contraire. I have more than a decade’s worth of experience in publishing (print and online), in addition to wearing various other hats. If you’re interested, you can check out my new work page here that breaks down what SVV and I do by category. Hat tip to Further Bound for getting this up for us!
A new contract with PCMA. SVV and I have started writing the native ads for the professional organization that services the meetings and conventions industry, and it’s been a crash course in another side of travel with which we weren’t overly familiar. It’s also been a lot of work and even more writing than usual, but we both enjoy it a lot and hope it will be a long-term deal.
New writing gigs. On top of doing more consulting and marketing this year than ever, I’m branching out and taking on less magazine assignments due to declining rates and more regular writing for awesome companies like Marriott and Kimpton.
Lows
Being away from Ella so much. Does leaving your child behind ever get easier? It sure doesn’t seem like it to me. I wish we could take her everywhere, but even in the pet-friendly hotels, we get stressed leaving her behind while we go out and do our thing during the day. Lucky for us (and her), my parents just live down the street and Ella gets her own version of an Eloise stay by being spoiled by my mom every time we’re away.
What was good for you in April? Are you looking forward to summer as much as I am?
Source: camelsandchocolate.com