When I was in NYC at a blogger event a few weeks ago, I had the best time chatting with fellow bloggers about all of the ups and downs of blog-life. Whenever I get the chance to network with bloggers I have the best time — it’s a rare chance to get to pick the brains of others with similar challenges in writing content, making it a business, and figuring out how to manage it all with the other parts of our lives. One topic that we were discussing was all of the different ways we plan for our blog content and after hearing ideas from a few other creative ladies, I realized that this just might be a topic worth sharing here with some of my own tips and tricks that I’ve picked up over almost 8 years of blogging (yikes! I’m a blogger dinosaur!). Stay with me guys, it turns out I had a lot to say on this topic! 
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Last night I had the opportunity to attend one of Society of Grown-Ups‘ pop-up classes in Cambridge. I’ve been to previous classes and they’re awesome — it’s an approachable way to learn and talk about some of the not-so-fun grown-up topics (like personal finances, fun!). The class I took last night was all about spending plans and better ways to budget to meet your needs and goals. I loved that the class was super interactive — since many of the attendees were other bloggers, we had a lot in common when it came to budgeting for our businesses, the perils of wanting to buy all of the things we see on Pinterest, and how living in an expensive city like Boston can impact our spending plans! I feverishly took notes on all of the advice that the instructor shared, as well as some of the great tips from the fellow attendees who shared what works for them (like apps they’ve used to track spending and ideas for saving in just about every way imaginable!). I thought it would be helpful to share a few of the tips that really resonated with me, in the hopes that they just might be helpful for you too: 
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This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain® . All opinions, images, and ideas are my own.
With a theme like pumpkins and apples, I was pretty sure that most of the recipes brought to the potluck would be on the sweeter side. We had lots of baked goods (and no one was complaining!) featuring these fall flavors, and served with warm Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider (made with real apples!) brewed at the touch of a button from my Keurig® K475 brewer. The hot apple cider is such a perfect fall treat, with hints of cinnamon and brown sugar. With all of the sweet flavors, I decided for my apple-themed recipe I needed to bring something a bit savory to the table to balance out our menu and pair well with the Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider. 
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This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain®. All opinions, images, and ideas are my own.
There is an endless bounty of pumpkin spice flavored recipes and products now, and when I decided on the pumpkin and apples potluck theme I knew I had to find a way to incorporate some pumpkin spice treats into the menu. Green Mountain Coffee® Pumpkin Spice Coffee was a mainstay for our warm beverage bar and it was so nice to have that warm, spiced fall aroma welcoming guests into our house as it brewed in my new, white Keurig® K475 brewer! (I just learned that Green Mountain Coffee® Pumpkin Spice Coffee is having it’s 15th anniversary this year – they’ve been pumpkin-spicing for half my life!). 
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I’ll admit, I was a little bit nervous when I posted my first entry in this new series. I wasn’t sure how people would react introducing this new part of my life into the content here. I did notice a few followers drop off from Instagram when I jumped into the topic, but overall I found it was some of the most engaging conversations I’ve had on blog posts in a long time! So, the verdict is the bump diary posts will continue — both for my own love of recording all of phases of life (seriously, I found a box of dozens of my journals in my parents attic when they were moving houses this summer!), and for the every so helpful advice and comments I’ve gotten from sharing my pregnancy journey here and on social media. The past five weeks have zoomed by faster than I can could have imagined, which brings many new changes and updates on my ever-growing bump! 
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This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain®. All opinions, images, and ideas are my own.
Earlier this year I threw a little blogger potluck party with some of my blogging-buddies from Boston Bloggers. We always bump into each other out at events in the city, but rarely get time to really hang out and catch up. With the cool weather creeping in this time of year in New England, I decided to host another potluck get-together – this time with a seasonal theme featuring everyone’s two favorite fall flavors: pumpkin and apple! 
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Pulsar Watches sent me one of their newest solar light-powered watches to try out and help me celebrate “Life in Real Time.” This new campaign is about savoring each and every moment in time. With our new family addition on the way, I was totally onboard with this idea; savoring these quiet moments while we have them has been a new priority for me. It’s so easy to get caught up in my full inbox, and ever growing to-do-lists, but my husband and I have been making it a point to slow down a bit more on the weekends, live in the moment, and appreciate the time we have together as a family of two.
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So, nesting is a real thing, huh? I love me some decorating, but I’ve never really been so meticulous about a “plan” for a room before, until I started thinking about how we’re going to decorate Baby B’s room. We were both on board with finding out the gender, so it’s nice to go into the planning process with a girl-scheme in mind. It’s been really fun to research the pieces we want to use in the space, and now I feel like I have some clear marching orders for what we need to invest in, what we’re adding to our baby registry, and what little details will pull it all together. 
We’ve still got a few more hours until the official first day of fall, but I’m jumping in head first while planning for a little autumnal get together this weekend! I had so much fun with my potluck dip party earlier in the year, that I decided to revive the idea and invite a few friends over for a pumpkin-spice themed potluck. Everyone is bringing pumpkin or apple themed recipes and I’m serving up some treats of my own, along with warm apple cider and pumpkin spice coffee from my pretty new white Keurig Brewer! For my party preparations I got a chance to visit the new World Market near us and stocked up on the prettiest palette of fall tabletop decor, and some classic white serve ware pieces. I’m planning on coupling these pieces with lots of pretty white pumpkins for a soft, serene fall tablescape. Can’t wait to share more after the party! 
How gorgeous was the weather this weekend? It had that crisp hint of fall that makes me so darn happy. We spent what felt like our first glimpse of autumn up in Portland, Maine this weekend to celebrate some the wedding of our good friends. While our trip was brief, we managed to pack a ton in and I thought I’d share my mini-itinerary should you ever find yourself with 24 hours to kill in Portland, Maine!
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