New Year. Old Money…

For New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day/New Year’s Weekend- I had wanted to do something extravagant and decadent since I intended to (violently) shove 2020 out the door and ring in 2021 on my own- all while still being safe, masked, and socially distanced to protect both myself and others. While simply ordering takeout and staying […]

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Ten Favorite Photos From 2020

With 2021 only a few days away, this is the time of year I typically reflect on the year that was- the ups, downs (of which there were many) and revisit the photos I’ve taken over these past months of quarantine, social distancing, and uncertainty. In previous, similar compilations- my “Top 10 Photos” usually consisted […]

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Christmas with Kringle Candle…

When I had first told my family and friends that I was going to be moving to the Pioneer Valley last Spring, the most common question I was asked was “how close will you be to Yankee Candle?” (and the answer is that I’m about ten minutes away.) You see, the Yankee Candle in Deerfield, […]

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Not-So-Local-Loves: Samuel’s Sweet Shop

I’ve never been to Rhinebeck, New York before. To tell you the truth, I had no idea it even existed (and I love a good, “straight out of a fairy tale” small town!) until my sister-in-law shared photos from a day trip she’d taken with my brother and my niece a couple of months ago […]

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White Christmas…

Nor’easters are such a peculiar thing here in New England. Some parts of Massachusetts get absolutely buried in feet of snow and ice that takes hours if not days to clean up while other areas get a light dusting of powder before it’s back to business as usual. I was in Las Vegas when we […]

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Mistletoe and Holly…

One of the perks of living in the Pioneer Valley is that there is no shortage of small, independent or family-owned/operated businesses and farms that have managed to get creative in this pandemic in order to safely keep their doors open and continue serving their community. I’ve been trying to shop local whenever possible these […]

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A Month to Remember: November 2020

Time has been nothing short of an illusion in 2020, often feeling like it dragged on for an eternity when all the days- each very similar to the one before it in this age of quarantines and lockdowns- seemed to blend together into one continuous loop. As the end of the year gets closer and […]

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Local Loves: Florence Pie Bar

I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Florence, Massachusetts (a village in the northwestern part of Northampton) that much lately, not because I don’t like it there or because it’s not picturesque and beautiful- because it really is!- but because the pandemic hasn’t really given me a chance to go out to eat or shop […]

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