Finkelstein's Center's awkwardly adorable creatures

Is it weird for an adult to want to buy stuffed animals? Not if they're as cute as Michelle Jewell's "Finks." I recently interviewed the artist for Charleston magazine. My favorite quote:

"No one questions the amount of stuffed sloths you own when you’re a toy maker. If I quit, I would just be weird again."

Read the story here and check out her Etsy shop here.

Fridays for a Freelancer

The meaning of the word "Friday" has changed so much for me since I started freelancing full-time. There's still an excitement for the weekend, but there's not an overwhelming relief that the week is over.

I'm working harder than ever to make this life work, but I can honestly say that every day is pretty darn good. I wake up early now, without a trace of dread. I make coffee, take my dog to the park, work out, and then head up to my sunny office with some breakfast. I'm still learning to work at my own pace, even if it's not 9–5 (though it's really hard to shake off those 9–5 habits).

My only regret is that I didn't take this leap years ago.

Francophile.

In honor of Bastille Day, let's indulge our finest French fantasies, shall we?

Plus:
Itinerary ideas from Design Love Fest.
A sweet Paris video that deserves re-sharing.
Dressing like a French girl.
Photos from two days in Paris years ago.

Travel Diary: Barcelona

The last time Todd and I visited Barcelona, we spent less than 18 hours in the city, stayed in a crappy hostel, and decided we didn't like it. We gave it another chance, and I'm so glad we did. By the time we were done with our short visit, we were making fantasy plans to move there.

We stayed in El Raval, an up-and-coming neighborhood a few minutes from Las Ramblas. The apartment we rented had an awesome view of the street below; it made us feel like residents of the neighborhood. (Note that all of these photos were taken on my iPhone, because I got tired of carrying my camera around.)

We were tired from our early flight, so we decided to just sit for awhile and take in the scenery at Plaza Real. Our past trips have been all about go-go-go, but this time I think we really perfected the art of relaxing, watching, and soaking up the atmosphere. We may not have seen quite so many sites, but I think we enjoyed our time more and got a better sense of the city.

 

Everything I read about Barcelona said we had to go to La Boqueria, a massive food market that's apparently as popular with locals as tourists. It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip. There was every kind of food imaginable, from delicate chocolates to neon-colored fresh fruit juices to seafood so fresh it was still moving. And then there were the churros y chocolate, which easily ranked as one of my top three food moments of all time.

Our feet were aching terribly from the previous day's hike, so we did something we've never done before: We purchased a bus tour. We decided on a double-decker, hop-on-hop-off option, and it allowed us to see the far-flung sites we couldn't have fit in on foot: Olympic Park (above), Gaudi's buildings, and the beach, for example. Todd may or may not have lost his ticket after eating lunch on the beach, but luckily we'd already seen most of what we wanted to see, so we just took the metro back to our apartment before heading out for more tapas and sangria (sensing a theme?) in Barri Gotic.

Barcelona, you might be the most delicious place I've ever been.

Friday Favorites

Bottled Cocktails: Three Places in Boston to Find Them

I find myself writing about cocktails a lot lately and drinking none of them, since I'm on a semi-strict post-vacation diet. It's a bit torturous, really.

Anyway, this is my first contribution to GM's Drive the District blog. It's all about bottled cocktails, a trend that's catching on in Boston ever-so-slowly. Read it here.

Can you afford this cocktail?

Photo via Boston Magazine

I've been a fan of Paste for years, so it was a thrill to get one of my stories published in the magazine this month. I wrote an article about crazy expensive cocktails that was inspired by a $100 drink at Boston bar Wink & Nod.

“Every single person who bought it said it was the best cocktail they’d ever had,” Wink & Nod GM Curtis McMillan says. “I want to make sure that when a person buys this cocktail, they don’t feel like they got gypped. I want them to feel like there’s a reason that they paid $100 for it.”

Read the full story here!