Piazza del Campo - Siena Italy. Source: Massimo Catarinella (www.wikipedia.com)

“Are you serious? Public drinking is allowed in ‘all’ of Italy!”

“Si, Signore.”

The charming young Italian girl at the Sienese Ufficio Turistico looked at me like I was crazy for even questioning this.

“You know, there are only two places in all of America that I know of where you can drink in public: Las Vegas and New Orleans (but only during Mardi Gras).”

At this point my wife, Stacey, was also looking at me the same way.

“Interessante. May I help you with anything else?” she asked.

“No, I think we’re all set,” Stace answered.

“Gratzie,” I added.

“Prego, ciao caio.” The girl said as we were leaving the tourist office.

Though my wife was a little miffed, my interest in this whole “Italian public drinking” thing was now piqued. Most of the time back home in the States, I’ll enjoy a few beers a week, my favorite being Samuel Adams Octoberfest (which only comes around in the Fall), and perhaps a few glasses of wine now and then. Of course when my friends are in town, then it’s a night of cheap beer, shots of tequila or the worst whiskey we can find, and the obligatory margarita or three—followed by the obligatory getting sick and hung over the next day! But that’s only once or twice a year so that ain’t too bad.

But here was a special, special occasion! We were in Italy for a two-and-a-half week whirlwind tour of as much of the country as we could see, and it was already half over before I discovered this little chestnut of Italian culture. Well, well, well, I wasn’t going to waste anymore time; I wanted to experience something that I haven’t since my bachelor party in Las Vegas the year before: I wanted to drink in public!

Especially on the Piazza del Campo [pictured above].

What a marvelous place this is. The beating-heart of Siena! An oval-shaped bowl of: fontani, negozi, ristoranti and trattorie, musei, and of course the signature Torre de Mangia rising up above the entire medieval town like a sentinel of the past protecting the city from the Florentine invaders.

Torre de Mangia - Siena Italy. Source: Nicholas Iandolo

Oh I love Siena. We had only been here a night and a day, and already I was smitten by this mystical ancient kingdom even more than Venice or Florence. The brick and stone buildings, the columns, the wrought-iron gates, the glimpses of the majestic country side through the narrows of the buildings, and the people—wonderful people from all over the world. This was my favorite place in all of Italy so far.

And now I needed to have a drink on the piazza just for the sake of doing so. Sue and I immediately proceeded to the nearest café (most of them serve alcohol) where I purchased a Heineken. Trite I know, but I wasn’t being choosey just then.

Sitting on the brick-laden ground of the bowl sipping my beer, looking out at the people, hearing the dolce sweet music coming from the eateries, and smelling the aromas of the fine cuisines that seem to permeate the entire Italian peninsula; I felt like we could stay here forever. But something was missing.

Piazza del Campo - daytime life. Source: Nicholas Iandolo

That’s when we realized that we were in Tuscany, home of Chianti Wine Country, and I knew what we had to do next…

Stace once told me that on a previous trip to Siena she accidentally stumbled upon a place where she was able to taste fine wines from the local vineyards. I originally wanted to do a real wine tour, but given our rapid sightseeing itinerary, we decided to nix that idea (or save it for another time). Plus, I had already done something similar in California recently. So we figured the next best thing would be to find a wine tasting establishment and imbibe—in fine Tuscan fashion.

Since the one beer wasn’t enough to impair my judgment (nor my motor skills), we got up and left the piazza on our little quest. Well, we didn’t have far to go when we happened upon a little hole-in-the-wall place off of one of the main thoroughfares surrounding the sublime Piazza del Campo called, Antica Pizzicheria. [Via di Citta 93-95, Siena, Italy] What caught our eye was the stuffed boar’s head proudly hanging from just above the alcove (no door for that matter, just a curtain of thick red braided ropes) leading into this mysterious place.

Antica Pizzicheria - Incredible Negozio! Source: Nicholas Iandolo

How could we resist? We walked right in and to our amazement the store was filled top to bottom with shelves of wine bottles, cured meat hanging from the ceiling, racks of breads, displays of cold cheeses, and jars full of biscotti (among other such edibles); all tucked away in this little nook in the heart of Siena. We had hit the jackpot!

And what an aroma! The place had a panoply of scents that clearly rose above any market we knew of back home—not even in Boston’s North End.

Stacey wanted me to take some digital stills, but I decided that probably would not have been a good idea. And I was right. For the proprietor of the place did not take kindly to any touristi coming into his place to take pictures. Now here was a guy who was by far one of the most unique individuals Stace and I met on our trip up to this point (save the Roman Centurions outside of the Colosseum, but they were more for the sake of the tourists than anything else). This guy looked like a character right out of Rossini’s, The Barber of Seville. He doned the tall mushroomed shaped chef’s hat, the white baker’s apron, the red kerchief tied around his neck, and last but not least the handlebar moustache.

And he was temperamental!

As evidenced by the spotlight he blasted on the other less conscientious tourists who attempted to take photographs of the inside of his establishment. “Illegal, uscire! Leave!” he chortled at the rabble.

But not to us, in fact, for some reason (probably because he heard me saying to my wife that we shouldn’t take any pictures here out of respect for his store) he was happy to help us.

“Yes, signore e signora. What can I do for you?” he asked.

“We’d like to try some wine if that’s okay?” I said.

“Eccellente! Certainly.”

He then proceeded to not only to pour us two of the biggest glasses (filled to the brim) of vino locale we’ve ever had; he brought out a cutting board with meats, breads and cheeses on it for us to sample as well.

This was a far cry from California where all we got was a skimpy glass (sparsely filled) and some crackers for our money. Here this classic Italian proprietario, was providing for us a veritable feast for a measly few Euro! We ended up drinking several glasses each of different wines (reds mostly) from all over Toscana, and dined on equally intoxicating antipasti.

During this whole time we spoke at length with the gentleman about wine, America, Italy, and Siena. He was a most agreeable fellow underneath the boisterous veneer—but he never missed a beat in shooing away would be paparazzi. He obviously liked Americans; he just disliked foolish people who would treat his business like a carnival sideshow.

And when we thought we were finished, he brought out a plate full of biscotti and these two small dipping glasses filled with this golden liqueur called, grappa. The tasty pastry coated in this silky beverage was a fine and a fitting conclusion to our wondrous Chianti experience. We purchased that same biscotti to take with us on the rest of our odyssey Italiano, and left his store with some happy memories of the place, the wines, the various hors d’oeuvres, and the gentiluomo.

Then it hit me. I was drunk! And so was my wife…

We staggered around the close-cropped crowded streets of the city wondering how so much time had past and acting giddy like a couple of teenagers. Over time we began to sober up and took in more of the sights. The most majestic was a beautiful golden sunset drawing down upon the rustic Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, the open landscape, and the beautiful Sienese skyline seen from atop one of the hills that we leisurely walked up (leaving the enclave part of the città behind us for a while). How so very enchanting it was.

Later in the evening, sitting outside at a trattoria back at Piazza del Campo in the cool Tuscany spring, enjoying yet another glass of wine, dining on primo bistecca e risotto and quattro formaggio ravioli, and sharing some gelato for dessert with my beautiful wife, I came to realize that it wasn’t the wine that made us drunk in Siena: it was Siena itself! What a magical place we would have to visit again someday… now if only we could ever soberly find our way back to that little negozio!

My beautiful wife and I in front of The Fonte Gaia. Souce: Nicholas Iandolo

Quebec City at dusk. Source: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~corbinc2/

There I was banging away at my Mac, looking for an easy romantic get-a-way for my wife, Stacey, and I. We wanted something different and exciting, we were sick of the old New England standbys (though wonderful destinations) like Martha’s Vineyard, Newport Rhode Island, Woodstock Vermont, and even Foxwoods™ Resort and Casino. With 720,000 square miles from Maine to Connecticut there just wasn’t anything that we were interested in doing in all six states combined.

So I decided to look elsewhere outside of New England (NE), but within driving distance, that we could spend a quality three-night romantic weekend during the Fourth of July holiday. I looked at Niagara Falls, the Poconos, and even another jaunt down to Virginia (that we’ve been to many times), but nothing sufficed. We weren’t interested in flying, spending way too much money, and being under-whelmed by cheesy tourist traps.

And that’s when I said to Stace, “How about Canada?”

To which she replied, “I don’t know, I’ve been to Montreal and didn’t like it all that much.”

“Well, maybe there’s somewhere else in Canada we could go to,” I retorted.

“Well, go ahead and look,” she added.

So I did and after about two-seconds of searching on the Internet I came across Quebec City.

And we’re so glad I did.

I started with the official site of the city that had some basic information about visiting this French Canadian enclave. That piqued Stacey’s and my interest. Then I came across the official tourism site and we watched a well-made Quicktime video about the wonders of Quebec (i.e. the capital of the Canadian province and the surrounding areas) and we were hooked.

What a charming little city it seemed to us, and potentially a wonderful adventure for to embark on within a six and a half hour drive. Quebec could be the perfect romantic destination that we’ve been looking for—and it was as it turned out.

I made a few calls and got us reservations at a quaint little B&B near the old city (more on that later), and “Googled” the driving directions, looked up some sites and attractions, and asked my wife how to say, “good day,” and “thank you,” in French.

Just before our trip we made sure to get our passports as per the on-again off-again TSA rules for going between North American countries. We also got lots of recommendations from co-workers of things to do and see while there. And finally we packed up our car and were off to the Great White North on our little odyssey.

Though the Google maps website puts the drive at about six and a half hours, it really took us more like nine and a half with the stops we made for lunch and gas and just plain stretching out. No matter, the country-side that far North in the US was absolutely amazing. Lush old New England landscapes (right out of a classic painting) permeated the horizon and beyond, the little NE hamlets lining the road and the valleys were charming, and mountainous regions like the Franconia Notch in New Hampshire was awe-inspiring. Even though the Old Man isn’t there anymore it does not detract from the beauty of this venerated place.

Old Man of the Mountain on 26 April 2003, about six days prior to the collapse. A late spring snow occurred the night before. Source: www.wikipedia.com

Crossing over into Vermont for the last fifty miles before the US/Canadian border I began to get a sense of something unique, something I’ve never felt before: I have never been this far north in my entire life. What a feeling it was to be “driving” to another country. Sure, I’ve been to other countries like Italy, Germany, and The Bahamas, but I’ve always flown and expected the routine to be the same—kind of a disconnected “get on the plane in the US, sleep for a bit, have a few drinks, and get off the plane somewhere else.” But this was not the case when driving to Canada. I felt like a real explorer (for what it’s worth), charting new territory, and getting exhilarated in the process.

Finally it was time to cross the border. The Canadian border check point was relatively quiet and the person checking our passports was pleasant and unassuming. He waved us through and then we were in Canada. Just like that. Not just Canada, but a French Canadian province with its own language and customs. How incredible! Now I was driving Nord on Autoroute 55, and trying to take everything Canadian in as much as I could from the driver’s seat of my car. My wife was amused by my fascination with this whole experience as if she did this everyday and it was no big deal, but it certainly was to me.

We made a couple of nondescript pit stops along the way, but ultimately we got to our destination: Quebec City. I was still having trouble resolving miles into kilometers when suddenly the outskirts of the city crept up on us as the sun was starting to wane. What a beautiful site it was seeing the Saint Lawrence River for the fist time in my life as we crossed over it at that part of the day. Finally, we crossed the bridge we were on and headed for the heart of the city.

L'Arvidienne B&B - Quebec City. Source: http://www.arvidienne.com/

Our immediate goal was to get to the Rue Grande Allee towards the Old City. Our bed and breakfast, L’Arvidienne Couette et Café, was a charming little chateau-like home right across the street from the famed Plains of Abraham where the French residents fought the British army for control of the city back on September 13th, 1759. The French lost, and for over a hundred years Quebec City was ruled directly by the British until 1867. Founded on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River by Samuel de Champlain in 1608, this little settlement had seen centuries of war, development, industry, culture, tourism, and world renown to become one of the greatest North American cities. Per capita, Quebec City has the highest number of fine dining restaurants, and is one of the few places on the continent where English is “not” the most commonly spoken language (excluding Mexico of course).

Hosts Mireille and Serge of L'Arvidienne. Source: http://www.arvidienne.com/

Our ebullient hosts at the L’Arvidienne, Mireille Hubert & Serge Gauthier, were fabulously attentive and endearing as they doted on us from the moment we arrived. Mireille had taken the liberty of making dining reservations for us that evening at an impressive little French restaurant in the old city called, Le Saint Amour. After freshening up a bit we headed out on the Grande Allee to the restaurant.

Grand Allée - Quebec City. Source: http://www.quebecregion.com

To be continued in deuxième partie…

From Franconia Notch and the now oft missed “Old Man on the Mountain,”

Old Man of the Mountain on 26 April 2003, about six days prior to the collapse. A late spring snow occurred the night before. Source: www.wikipedia.com

New Hampshire is a wonderful New England locality that boasts some of the best camping, hiking, vacationing, and natural sights and sounds of any American state. Loon Lake and with its mountain gondola ride, and Lake Winnipesaukee with its incredible panoramas and but a few of the wonders that await you in The Granite State. New Hampshire is also the home of the first Presidential Primary in the country—a politically distinctive honor. Plus, you’ve got to love their motto, “live free or die!” And of course their lack of sales tax is a much favored quality of this state by New England shoppers.

It is a real easy drive up from Boston to Portsmouth. Old Route 1A passes by some really nice New England towns including Salem, Salisbury, and Topsfield (home of America’s oldest fair). Upon arriving in Portsmouth one feels like they’ve stepped a little back into the country’s younger days with its brick buildings and antique shops. Portsmouth and its sister city of Newburyport are old-fashioned mill-towns that border the ocean and act as gateways to the land of L.L. Bean®, more lobsters, bottled spring water, and potatoes, i.e. Maine.

Stacey and I spent the day antiquing, buying nick-knacks of all sorts, and of course enjoying the picturesque scenery sitting outside a faux trattoria-like eatery—all the while sipping at my lush Samuel Adams Summer Ale®.

Later, we took a quick jaunt up to the outlet shops in Kittery Maine. My wife enjoys purchasing designer pocket books and clothes at really good discounts (you can find the same deals at the Wrentham Common Outlets in Wrentham Massachusetts as well). I on the other hand peruse the consumer electronics stores in the hopes of getting that 50-inch LCD HDTV someday at a steal. Well, I can dream can’t I?

Source: www.sailblogs.com/member/tahulea/

Like every other state in New England, we love Maine and make it a habit to drive far into the state for romantic overnight stays. One of our favorite Maine destinations is in Camden (also known as the “Jewel of The Maine Coast”) where we’ve occasionally stayed in the loveliest little bed in breakfast in the whole state, The Blackberry Inn. Here is a very special place known for its berry-colored exterior and rooms that provides whirlpool baths and fireplaces as amenities.

So our next trip took us all the way up to Camden by way of Freeport the home of L.L. Bean®. Freeport is considered Maine’s number one visitor destination in the whole state, and it is not hard to see why. Whether you approach it by land or sea this magical little city has the amenities of a larger city with the charm of a New England colonial coastal town. Many natural wonders are close at hand to Freeport including two state parks that offer everything from hiking to canoeing. Freeport is also home to artists and musicians, as well as over 170 outlet stores of their own. And of course plenty of Sam Summer and other Boston Beer Company™ varieties are there to be enjoyed.

On the way down back towards Boston we stopped off at The Maine Diner on Route 1 in Wells for a quick bite and yes another Samuel Adams Summer Ale®.

A very sweet waitress named Mari-lee tells us that, “you’ve got to have the blueberry pie—it’s to die for.”

Ah, beer and pie. This is a wonderful New England day.

“I think we should head over to Vermont for our next day trip sometime soon, Woodstock perhaps,” My lovely wife suggests.

To which I heartily reply, “Why not, Vermont is just as beautiful in the summer as it is in the winter when we go skiing up at Pico Mountain.”

“Bunny slopes for us this winter!” Stace jokes.

But actually autumn and winter in New England are every bit as exciting and picturesque as the warmer months. Whether you’re touring the colorful fall foliage out towards the Berkshires, skiing on Vermont’s great trails that rival even Aspen Colorado, taking a haunted hayride during Halloween time at the same charming farms where you went apple picking a few weeks prior, soaring down the rapids of the Connecticut and Lowell rivers, gearing up for a fine American Thanksgiving feast which originated in this part of the country, celebrating the holiday season with lights and music through out the modern cities such as Freeport and Providence or in the old-world communities such as Williamstown and Greenwich, and ringing in the New Year with style at the fabulous First Night of Boston, New England in the winter holds a world of grace and fairy-tale wonder that simply can not be out done. And just wait until you try the Samuel Adams Octoberfest® and Winter Lager®!

But getting back to our summer odyssey, a week or two later we were off to Vermont to visit a dear friend up there and kick around the charming little hamlets like Quechee (with its famous gorge, a natural New England wonder) and Woodstock (with its polite and colonial little shops and art galleries). However by far, one of the most delightful places to visit in the Green Mountain State is Sugar And Spice on Route 4 in Killington (near the largest ski resort in New England), which is a place of fascinating and delectable pancake varieties and maple syrup made before your eyes while you wait for your breakfast—or brunch because you woke up late after a hard day of skiing or hiking the day before.

Sadly, there’s no beer at Sugar and Spice, but there is at the many varieties of restaurants, lounges, and bars that line the ski resort enclave. The Grist Mill being one of the most notable. That’s where I always order a Sam Adams no matter what the season is. And sure enough they had a cold Sam Summer Ale waiting for me when I arrived for dinner.

Now I could have had myself a traditional Vermont Long Trail Ale, and when traveling about the country I always try one of the local brews, but it was summer and I was in the mood for a Sam summer brew. That’s not to say the Long Trail Ale or any of the other offering from the Long Trail Brewing Company™ aren’t good, indeed they are. Their stock ale has a malt-like flavoring that is reminiscent of Samuel Adams Boston Lager®; both have a spicy bitterness to them that really dances on the tongue. Though with the Long Trail Ale you can taste a hint of chocolate in it where as the Boston Lager is more traditional with a woody flavor and the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg on top of a smooth effervescent head.

Source: http://melificent.com/

However you’ll have to read about my adventures in San Francisco to learn more about the Samuel Adams Boston Lager®.

Getting back to our story, with a hearty Black Angus steak and a zesty Samuel Adams, it seems life cannot get any better than this.

But it does.

Vermont is also the most utilized gateway (via Interstate 91) into Canada and the Province of Quebec in all of New England.

Château Frontenac overlooks the historic district of Old Québec. Photo : Ville de Québec

Quebec City is one of the most beautiful cities in North America and it is just wonderful that a fine New England state such as Vermont provides a nice easy road to that resplendent French-speaking enclave on the Saint Lawrence River. The quiet little town of Derby Vermont actually straddles both countries and the Opera House (upstairs to the freely accessible “international” Library) actually sits right on the border. The stage is in Canada while the audience sits in the United States!

Heading back to Boston from Vermont by way of Hanover New Hampshire, we made it a point to stop over and visit my wife’s alma mater, Dartmouth College. Now here’s a really interesting old-school academic institution. Dartmouth College is comprised of colonial-style architecture for some of the buildings nestled in between modern brick and mortar edifices, large park-like spaces full of summer students casually tossing Frisbees and other toys around to each other, and the Connecticut River nearby hosting happy boaters and sunbathers alike. From Dr. Seuss to Animal House, Dartmouth College has been the source of inspiration and education for many held within its petite Ivy League halls. In fact, New England is home to four of the nation’s Ivy League schools, i.e. Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth College—a fact not lost on the remaining four as New England Ivy Leaguers bring home many laurels for their beloved region.

With the day waning and after spending some time reliving the fun days of Sue’s college years, it was time to get back on the road and go home to Boston.

After spending half the summer hanging out mostly in Northern New England, the Cape, and the Islands, it was time for us to the other half enjoying the unique treasures of Southern New England: Massachusetts (Boston in particular), Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

To Be Continued…

Source: www.foxwoods.com

I met this pretentious young kid last night off a dating site I’m sure you’re all familiar with, Ashley Madison. He’s single, I’m single, he’s like 22–he said almost 24 oookay–and super aggressive, which I guess was good for when I was 22.. but that’s just too young for me. I couldn’t really take him seriously and he just was NOT my type.. but he was super cute. I even got the wink wink nudge nudge from my lady @applejakx because he was FINE. But 22. And a spoiled brat. So since I didn’t put out last night, I told him I wanted to be taken out for dinner and I didn’t really know him long enough to do that with..

So he gave me $60 and hailed me a cab. And said, “well I guess i’m going to have to take you out then.”

I wake up this morning and check his Facebook.. or try to. the pretentious snot deleted/blocked me. Fuck you.

So today I say eff Ashley Madison, of which I have 10 married men trying to touch base with me as we speak. No. I’m good. We’re done here. Not even going to open the messages.

At least it’s easy to delete a profile from here:
Step 1. Click Manage Profile
Step 2. Click Delete Profile

I guess they have to keep it easy just in case the wife finds out and tries to KILL me even though we’ve never met.

On a serious note:  Nicole Johnson did NOT okay me to go out and meet this psychopath..  and I look forward to meeting with her and talking about how much of a trainwreck I am in the dating world on Wednesday.

So I have a lot of male friends.. and I’ve met most of them in real life and added them on Facebook. Just not interested in dating them.. and I don’t believe that this is wrong. IT’s my choice. I’m a picky bitch.

And I recently signed back up for some online dating sites for singles: Match (paid), OkCupid, HotorNot, Zoosk, POF , SugarDaddie, Established Men and Ashley Madison… Singlesnet is fucking crazy and you get like 23985235 emails as soon as you sign up and I’d never recommend that one.

First of all, let me start out by saying this:  I’m not looking to hook up with married men on Ashley Madison.  I’ve actually met a really nice single guy off the thing and it didn’t work out but we’re still friends… so you can search for singles as well.  There are some married cheaty crazies who do email you 24/7, ESPECIALLY when they don’t hear back from you (no I won’t email you back, esp if you show me your penis in a photo) but I’m no homewrecker, so don’t worry about me being that chick who ruins your marriage.

I’m back on all these drawing board sites b/c Cow Hampshire decided he didn’t want a relationship @ this point in his life.  Then the motherfucker turns around and starts dating the c-word who pressed bogus assault charges on him in January, screwing up his life as well as fucking up my universe too~the SAME case I asked every attorney friend of mine for help with.  Awesome.  Betrayed.  Moving on.

So here’s my online take on dating.  I can give you a few pointers and even point you in the correct direction if you want your dating profile re-written (which I haven’t done but I’m thinking about it.. right after I get my LinkedIn redone).  My friend, Nicole Johnson actually does a good job with her blog here at The Dating Marketplace and if you reach out, she will re write your Match/POF/etc. profile for a fee.  Check it.

FYI I’m going to put thumbnails on this post so click them if you want to see them close up.  I don’t want to bog your browser down with too many photos.  Your welcome.  I’m also going to give each a rating of up to 5 stars.  Good luck, sites!

Match.com:  I pay for this site.  I really think this is the one that I meet the most people who have turned into physical love (for a few minutes, at least)… but the least amount of long term friends.  I collect exes.  Really.  Nothing wrong with that.. we can usually help each other out in the future in more ways than one…  You can search out by distance, height, tone of body (6-pack or BUST), religion, politics (blah blah blah), BLOCK people if you’re subscribed.. which is one of the major reasons why I do.  Other search criteria include hair color (includes bald), eye color, if they drink, smoke, exercise frequently, want kids, income level, occupations.. as well as other things.  Yah right, like I want to meet another social media junkie who can stalk me as well as I can look someone else up.  I don’t want them to know that Google exists and can find me on a whim.. or MassLandRecords… lol.  Shhhhh.  They also give you access to a Daily 5 that they pick while looking @ your answers to specific questions so that’s cool.. but I need people who aren’t athletic and toned (read=chubby) to STOP fucking putting that they’re athletic and toned.  You’re not.  You’re “average” at best.  I give it ★★★★ Four Stars.

HotorNot:  I have met the most guy FRIENDS off this site.  I think it’s honestly because you can’t tell how tall they are and I like em like 5’10″+, honestly.  Once again.. not a bad thing.. it’s preference.  So you can rate men (or women, if that’s your thing) on a scale from 1-10 on their main site, but you can also click the “meet me” button and be brought to their dating meat marketplace.  I don’t see how it can get any easier here:  Yes or No.  Your dashboard points you to messages, double matches and half matches.  I don’t pay for this shit because if a guy is really interested, he’ll pay for the damn message.  You can’t do that on Match.  You both have to subscribe if you’re going to talk to each other.  You really can’t search for anybody other than by city/state or keyword, but that’s fine.  Meat market.  WTF is a poke anyway?  I don’t care.  Stop poking me.  At least there are more shirtless wonders on this site But I don’t want to see a picture of you next to your Grand Am.  Plz.  ★★★ Three Stars

Plenty of Fish:  otherwise known as POF.com (lucky score on the domain) is where you can find local people who will also go out with you on a date on a Friday if needed.  Never used that function but it’s nice to know it’s there.  This is a free dating website.  Did I say FREE?  Then it’s for me.  You also have to figure that this one and OKC have some sub-par people who can’t afford a subscription, let alone sushi dinner, so you have to keep this all in mind.  But!  There are some honies.  Like look at this guy.  Is he for fucking real?  I doubt it.  Isn’t it illegal if you post fake profiles on there, I think I’ve seen him on iStock :-p  Either way, I have met a few people off this site, although they’re just looking to get laid.  That’s fine if that’s what you’re looking for but I want a date.  Or 5 before then.  Unless it’s with him, then I’ll throw my fucking panties at him when I meet him.  This is also where I met Cow Hampshire, so beware of the psychos.  Still getting the only ★★★★★ Five Stars on the list.. but I think that’s just for BrianBC <3

OKCupid:  I just found out that I’ve had a screenname on this site since I lived in PVD like 6+ years ago…  fortunately without any content so I didn’t have any emails to respond to… so I updated everything.  And had to fill out like 100 questions and go through this pain in my ass face game (some of those guys are seriously fucking SCARY looking.. how can I say no to both options 1 and 2?  painful.)  but I finally got to the guts of it all and I have to say, for another FREE site, it’s shittier than POF meat-wise but they’ve got a better iPhone app.  Here, you can save favorites and see when they’re online.. but it’s a super heavy site so it takes for fucking ever to load anything and if you’re planning on IMing someone, don’t plan on tooling around the site at the same time.  There’s this little pink message thing that you’re drawn to so but like most sites, you’re going to have to turn off your email notifications because they’re so fucking pestering.  Luckily, you can add boys to your faves and let them see that you’ve added them or not.  That’s the best function but not much more here..  ★★★

Zoosk:  Honestly I just signed up for this one last night and I have 23952359835 emails in my inbox from the damn winks, favorites, etc.  BUT!  I could sign up for it on my iPhone, so that’s a plus there.  Unfortunately, you can’t search for “athletic” or 6 PACK on this site, so I’m pretty sure this one will fall by the wayside for me.. but they do have this chat program run thru Adobe Air, so you know they’re hacked into my damn computer right now, reading this post as I speak :-p  I think you earn coins or something every day you log in and you trade them for messages but I’m not too sure yet.  I give this site a big MEH. ★★

SugarDaddie:  Haven’t really played with this one for a while but you can find men who have a net worth of >$1MIL.. but don’t trust that shit.. boys lie.  They get straight to the point though and post just photos on your home screen.  Nice.  Meat market.  ★★

Established Men:  Pretty much the same idea as SugarDaddie but with better maneuverability of the site.   ★★★

And now for Ashley Madison.  See!  I really look for the single ones!  Just beware:  When someone gives you a key to their private showcase.. and they have “rated” photos, get ready to see a penis.  Or other forms of porn.  It’s pretty crazy…. but sometimes you’ll find an adorable cub who doesn’t know what he wants with his life so he signed up to find a mother figure.  Hey, I’m only 28, but I can be his cougar if he’s willing to learn…. ★★★

And that wraps up my coverage of the sites I use to online date.  I’ll keep you guys posted on dates (yah like I’m going to see anybody here anytime soon… especially Brian from POF.. HOTTTTTTTTT), but unless you’re used to email blocking on these sites you’re going to get a ton of spam from fuglies.  If you hear of any other sites I should check out, I’ll rate them here and you can do the same.  That’s what the fucking comments are for.  Peace.

So my roommate and I have been cleaning out our closets and we think you should buy something.  Just look.  If you want something and  you’re in the Boston area, let me know and we can meet up ))

Thanks!

Kristen

Monday I was blessed with the invite from Kirsten at the Melting Pot (@MPMARI) in the Park Plaza Hotel to come and check out their amazing array of dippy foods so, being the little socialite I am, I brought my friend, Meg, and plunged right in! I’m glad to say that I did bump into a few of my buddies there @JeffCutler and @FunFearlessBean (and made tons of new friends) and we all started dipping and dunking!

Amazingly, Melting Pot also supplied us with an array–and unlimited supply–of flavorful drinks including their red and white sangria, a blueberry-pomegranite tini as well as some sweet apple ice wine.  The tini was rimmed with sugar and was super tart and a great contrast to the sweet sangrias and wine passed around like water to rinse down the extravagance.

Stations were set up with every cheese dip and chocolate dip you could imagine.  My fave was the Wisconsin Trio: with fontina, butterkase and buttermilk bleu cheese (that really stood out), but they had everything from spinach artichoke to swiss to cheddar to a spicy salsa cheddar combo.  Mmmmmm dippy.  Also, to dip, they had tart green apples, cauliflower, carrots, and small chunks of amazing french, rye and pumpernickel breads as well.  We’re not even talking about the sweet stuff yet.  OMG.

Honestly, I’m more of a salty kind of gal.  I prefer all the taste of cheese and veggies.. but when I looked across the room when I had my fill of cheese.. and believe me, I thought I had enough at this point, I needed to sample at least one bite of each dessert dip.

So I moved on to the other tables, wearily, as I was closer to entering a food coma with every cheesy dip.  I am SO GLAD I did though, because I got to experience the awesomeness that was bananas foster (w/ white chocolate and amaretto) fondue.  They had brownies, marshmellows, rice krispies treats, strawberries… all this to dip into the chocolatey goo.  There was original, with peanut butter, another with oreos, yet another dip called “turtle” among others.. I stuck near the bananas foster one though closer to the end of it all because it was getting late and it wasn’t as heavy as the others were on my stomach.  Although if I had more room, I probably would have taken the turtle one home with me.  Or Meg would have.. that was her fave.

Anyway, super good, super fun treat and so fun to meet up with all the foodies in the city again

The Melting Pot also gave us all gift certificates to come back soon!  Any takers?  Let’s go!

Let’s cheer for Team USA (or Ghana.. your choice) on Saturday and enjoy a few cocktails and each other’s company 21+ please and wear your country’s colors proudly!

So every once in a while a client asks me to put together a website for them.  I’m not going to lie, I use WordPress because I am NOT a full-service website developer.. I am a Social Media Producer and some of what I specialize in is inbound marketing to WP blogs.  I also prefer to let my clients have administrative access without pulling my hair out when I want to and WordPress allows me to do so.

Step 1:  Pick a theme.  There are some very FREE nice WordPress themes right on their website.  Some of these custom blog themes are amazingly adaptable when it comes to changing their headers, widget placement and php & css altogether.  Basically, you can change a lot to make it look more like your prior site, but I prefer to start with a color scheme and layout you feel great about.

Check out my header ^.  Totally custom.  I use Photoshop to create my banners, but the template I have incorporated it with, called PressPlay, gives me the dimensions to at least have a jumping off point for the design to be seen correctly on a smaller screen.  It also gives me some pretty sweet widget space and any WordPress blog gives you access to the Plugins you’ll need to help build your site.. which I’ll go into further later.

So this is where my client needs to take a deep breath, decide upon a template and sleep on it.. and then we’ll go to Step 2:  Setting up WordPress hosting for your site on x10i.com for <$100/year (which I’ll go over in my next lesson…coming soon..subscribe.)

First of all.. pick a theme and comment it (with a link)!  I really need some help with BeantownSocialite.com.. not digging the way it looks altogether anymore.  What looks good on your eyes?  Difficulty:  No flash.

<3

Gravatars are the universal avatar syndicated over the web.

Super easy.  From Gravatar.com:  ”Your Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog.  Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?”

There’s even a video on how to set it up and how and when they’re used:

Sign up.  Add email address(es) that you use to comment or post to WordPress blogs.  Add a photo (or logo) that you’re going to use throughout the web.

Lather, rinse, repeat

After signing up, you can go in and manage your Gravatar images on a whim.