My boyfriend and I recently did a little “freestyle cruising” aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Dawn. We sailed right out of Boston Harbor and cruised to the beautiful island of Bermuda. The waters were a little rough coming out of Boston, not to mention it was pretty chilly and windy the day we left. Starting my vacation off in a sweatshirt was not ideal. But as we pulled into King’s Wharf, in Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard, we passed an array of colorful homes that drew you in and instantly made you feel relaxed. With temperatures in the 80’s and clear skies, we soon felt like we were truly on vacation. The beaches were beautiful and picturesque. It amazed me that the sands were actually pink!

One of the things we enjoyed the most was Fun Golf at Royal Naval Dockyard. The mini golf course is on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. We played right when the sun was setting and it was probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. That is where this picture was taken. The best part about this place was not the life-like holes or that they replicate some of the best golf holes around the world. No, the best part was that every 6 holes, it came back around to the bar! My kinda mini golf.

I felt like my time was so short there. An extra day would have been perfect. Leaving from Boston was very convenient and recommended. Just don’t forget the Dramamine!

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Ruby

These cats are descendants of Ernest Hemingway’s cats and get to roam around his house (now a museum) in Key West. That’s the life!

Jake

I’m a big fan of the TV show Project Runway, and no it’s not ONLY because of Heidi. I also happen to be a fashion addict and would wear a different outfit everyday if I could! Anyway, one of things I like about the show is their obnoxious product placements (OK not really), particularly when it comes to technology. The use of tablets and touch screens and custom printed fabrics has grown through the years, but this 3D printed “tech-couture” is something new and very cool. Makes you wanna pop your collar!

Beth

Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the short sleeves in the summer breeze. Whatever it is, I think this gorgeous, newly-released video of New York City in 1939, filmed using 16mm Kodachrome, the first commercially successful amateur color film, is just so sexy.

Michelle

Whenever I freeze strawberries, they always freeze together in a ball. This might seem simple but I am glad that I saw this step-by-step for how to freeze strawberries.

Kat

Many of us have loved E. B. White’s writing. This longish post recounts writer Mira Ptacin’s visit to the area in Maine where White lived and wrote. The photos convey a sense of what inspired him and, in turn, Ptacin.

Andy

By far one of the most exciting websites I have shared so far. duoLingo is a website for learning a language completely free. That’s right, you read that correctly, FREE! I know what you’re thinking “Can it really be that good?” Well, if you have ever heard of a little program called Rosetta Stone, you know that one that costs hundreds of dollars. Duolingo uses the same exact principle, but is free. The best part, is that there is a mobile app for it for both iPhone and Android.

Photo Credit: Rob O’Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau/AP

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“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.”

This is my truth and I am eternally grateful to be living it.

Every day the beautiful sand and ocean beckons me, and I answer their call by taking long walks alone. Do you want to know what happens during these solitary, chit-chat free strolls along the shoreline? I stop thinking. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. What I mean is that after I have been strolling for a while my mind stops racing. I stop making a mental grocery shopping list. I cease analyzing a recent pant purchase. ‘Am I really going to wear those neon orange capris? I mean, I wore neon in high school in the ‘80’s. Should it remain in my past?’ I take a break from worrying about my sister’s seizures. As I become more present and aware of the pelicans flying and the sandpipers racing to and fro my mind truly clears. The waves break on the sand and I watch some of the pebbles get dragged back into the ocean as the tide pulls out. This same action seems to pull my thoughts right out to sea.

Each wave crashes and drags a worry away, yet returns to me beautiful treasures in the form of shells, sand dollars and sea glass. This is not a fair trade, I realize, but time spent with Mother Nature always reminds me of her superior knowledge and powers. I am a dot on the sand and she is the beach. I sweat one drop at a time yet she is the ocean. I crack a smile while she lights the world with sunshine. There is something humbling and reinvigorating about my time spent at the beach. As I return home with wind whipped hair, sandy feet, and a few more freckles to add to my collection, I enjoy my clear-headed natural high from all that delicious salt air.

So what can you do at home if you do not live near the beach but are looking for a chat-free, totally clear your mind workout in a beautiful outdoor setting? I highly recommend the YouTube channel GymRa Fitness. I have tried a couple of their verbal cuing-free workout videos which have beautiful waterfront settings. The videos have calm music and written instruction making them very easy to follow.

SLIMMER, STRONGER BODY PILATES FULL WORKOUT

A 55 minute total body Pilates workout focusing on arms, abs and butt. It is filmed in front of an infinity pool overlooking the ocean. A Pilates Toning Ring is used during some of the exercises. I felt strengthened, lengthened, stretched, and calm after this workout.

KETTLE BELL ABS, BUTT, THIGH…TOTAL BODY

A 56 minute kettlebell workout designed to tone your total body. This workout is filmed on a bluff overlooking the ocean. A pair of kettlebells is used during the video; however, one kettlebell is used for the majority of the exercises. This workout session left me feeling like I had a fabulous toning workout head to toe.

If you like their YouTube channel workouts, you may want to check out Gymra.com in order to sign up for their affordable online personal training options. And, yes, I kept those neon orange capris because, ‘This little light of mine. I’m going to let it shine.’

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A little over a month later, on another gorgeous spring day in Boston, tragedy struck just steps away from Max Brenner. The second bomb in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013 exploded at 755 Boylston Street. As I write this, a little more than a month has passed since the bombings and all that ensued–including the shooting of Officer Sean Collier at MIT, the lockdown, the manhunt, and the eventual capture of one of the suspects. It has been a difficult time in the Boston area, but also one that has, for many, created a sense of being Boston Strong.

In the wake of these tragedies, I know I will never forget what happened that terrible week in April. I also know that I want to remember the beauty of my visit to Boylston street in March. One way that I have done that is to create a new cookie, the Boylston Beauty. When I left Max Brenner that day, I brought home a few chocolates for my husband. One was a box of Marbles, which are described as “crunchy waffle balls rolled in white chocolate, milk chocolate praline and roasted coconut.” I knew right away that I wanted to find a way to incorporate those flavors in a cookie. After the events, I knew I wanted to do it for a second reason. The cookies are as good as I hoped, and restore a little sweetness to the name Boylston.

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“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

A few days ago I turned 42 and I’m so thankful to still be blessed, in so many incredible ways. But I’ve spent most of the hours of the last decade focused on working, working, and working. Working my way up the ladder in companies, then on to building up (and sometimes) tearing down my own companies, trying to “get ahead” and “get somewhere”, but where? I had not only lost sight of the life I always aspired to live, I had completely abandoned and turned my back on the person that I truly am. I wasn’t living to my potential. I wasn’t living to my value system. I wasn’t living. And I wasn’t happy.

That was me a mere two months ago, in the March 2013 blizzard, putting up the pending sign on my house near Boston, Massachusetts. Since then, I’ve averaged about 2-3 hours of sleep a night. I’ve packed all my worldly possessions into one portable storage container that’s currently living in Nashua, NH. I’ve driven over a thousand miles. I’ve whittled my traveling gear down to whatever fits in two duffle bags and my computer bag (which by the way can surprisingly fit my laptop, tablet, chargers, memory cards, travel chargers, earphones, camera AND an extra network cable. What, you think I have a problem? I DO have to work while on the road you know!) Which brings me to last Monday…when I dropped my Ruby and Mrs. Jacob Clayton off at the home we’re renting and then immediately left to work around the clock for 3 days on a launch for a huge re-brand/website/social media/everything project (announcement coming this week!) in a hotel where there was high speed internet, and no distraction, a vending machine, and free, unlimited coffee. I’ve dropped the ball on so many other MyUntangled Media clients. The company has grown. I spent too much time doing business with the wrong people. I made mistakes, but that’s how I learn. I don’t like goodbyes, so I kinda skipped them and I know that’s rough for many people. I’m so sorry to my peeps that fit in that category…Welly, Jose, Claire and so many others, please don’t be mad. It’s such a big move and it just got so crazy at the end. I’m also learning how to live with regrets.

This is me now, on an island off the southeastern coast of North Carolina. I crave solitude. I crave the ocean. I long for a place to write and play music. I got so tired of trying to fit a square into a circle, that I finally gave up. In Massachusetts, to have a home 3 blocks from the beach you need to be a millionaire, and I wasn’t seeing that on my horizon, despite my efforts. Those lucky folks are relegated to living in the fancy suburbs, and commuting in traffic for hours a day in and out of the city so they can spend a couple of weekends a year and a week or two here and there, sitting in more traffic, to get to their house on the Cape. (I know, first world problems here but I’m just baring my soul…so bear with me.) I don’t understand how I let myself start blindly following someone else’s set of “rules”. You know, the ones that say the only correct path in life is to go to college, then go get a big job, then go buy a big house (with a good school system, and of course you’ll need a big mini-van or SUV), then rinse and repeat until you’re 62, then (supposedly) you’ll get enough money to live off of. Then what? THEN you move to an island in North Carolina? I’ll be 62 in 20 years, and since I make my own rules, I say “my time is now”, and I’ve never been more sure of anything.

When I first visited the island a year ago, on the coffee table at my hotel was a copy of the book Desiderata for Dog Lovers: A Guide to Life & Happiness. I had never seen it before and wasn’t all that familiar with the poem either. I opened up the book randomly to this page and snapped the picture above which has served as my constant reminder ever since. Of course I immediately Googled the poem, which begins:

“Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

and ends:

“With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”

I’m not sure what my religious beliefs are but, at that moment, I definitely felt something powerful washing over me. I cried like a baby and I promised myself I would get back here someday, that I would drown out the noise with the sound of the ocean and throw everything up in the air for a chance at happiness and peace and what I know is a better life for me. It’s so hard to know if you’re making a mistake, especially when you’ve made so many. It’s so hard to trust your own voice, to trust that it’s OK to choose happiness, whatever that means for you, whatever your age. Well, it was hard until 5 days ago when sitting alone in that hotel room somewhere in North Carolina, working on a website, delirious with exhaustion, smelly, hungry, beyond stressed, I received the following email:

“Hi Jacob,
I know this may be a weird place to do it but I couldn’t find you anywhere else.
My name is [deleted]. I am an alumni of UML and you were my adviser. I am sure you had many students walk through your door in those years so I don’t expect for you to remember me. I am emailing you to say Thank You…. whole heartedly I remember having chats with you about what I was going to do as a career, music, art, poetry, food, and just life. I remember every time that you see me you would say to me, “big things man, you, your going to do big things”. I use to laugh it off. I remember you telling me to go do whatever it was that made me happy, that I was meant to share (poetry). I remember our last conversation where I told you that I would always stay in contact with you… I’ve been looking for you ever since. Your kind hearted words and in your face advice really had an impact on me. So I just wanted to let you know what I’m doing these days..with the poetry. My friends and I have successfully started our non profit [name deleted] we teach young people in the city of Lowell to “write” their wrongs and find voice in verse. I have also moved on to becoming the Teen Program Director at my local Boys&Girls Club. So once again Thank You Jacob for the impression and the confidence you left with me.

Sincerely,
A guided soul”

This email touched me so deeply and affected me so much, I cried like a baby and felt something incredibly powerful and wonderful wash over me again. I haven’t been able to talk about it or even respond to it, until now. So, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you so much, guided soul. I’m sorry we lost touch and let’s not let it happen again. Of course, I remember everything about you and, more importantly, I remember everything inside you, your beautiful poetry. I wanted to let you know what I’m doing these days…I just walked the 3 blocks it takes to get from my house to the beach. I’m pretty much all alone out here as it’s late in the day and the tide is high. I just sat down on the sand and pulled out my notebook and a pen to write some wrongs in this post, old-school style. But I’ve gotta sign off now to go watch the sunset over on the other side of the island. I’m trying really hard not to miss any of them. Every single day is a gift and I’ve wasted too many. I’ve changed a lot since we last spoke. I’m not just advising it anymore, I’m living it. I’m living. And I’ve never been happier. I hope you’re as proud of me as I am of you.

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When the kind folks at CloudStar.com approached me to do a review of some of their Wag More Bark Less products, I leapt off the couch at the chance. My first order of business was to do a little research on the company. I nosed around their website and discovered that Cloud Star began their wholesome, healthy dog treat line with a product named the Buddy Biscuit. It may be coincidence or kismet but it is kind of neat that I began my residency in Massachusetts at a shelter called Buddy Dog. This had me feeling like my buddies from Cloud Star and I were off to a great start.

My treat package arrived quickly and quietly. It is interesting to note that a new delivery guy started servicing my area around the same time my Cloud Star package arrived. He seemed to intuitively know – or had he been warned? – to drop the package at the garage and slowly back away toward his truck. Either way, this simple, smart act he delivered along with my treats made me immediately Wag More and Bark Less. Thanks, new delivery dude.

Okay, okay, I am getting to the good stuff: the treats! I received a box of Wag More Bark Less Oven Baked Dog Treats in the Pumpkin Pie Recipe flavor. Mom is kind of a stickler when it comes to ingredients and she was thrilled with these all natural, wheat-free treats. With glee she read off some of the ingredients: barley flour, oatmeal, rice bran, pumpkin, whole oats, and chickpea flour. Those words made her happy which meant I got to move on to the taste test. Finally! I am happy to report that the Pumpkin Pie Recipe treats boast a nice crunch to go along with their delectable flavor. I look forward to trying the Apple Smoked Bacon, Chicken Pot Pie, and Peanut Butter Cookie varieties soon. Very soon. Like, if you are reading this please arrange for a delivery, okay?

Moving on to the Wag More Bark Less Soft & Chewy Dog Treats. I received two varieties of these soft and tasty nuggets of a dog treat: Apple Smoked Bacon and Peanut Butter Cookie. The fact that chickpeas are the first ingredient listed in these natural and wheat-free treats made mom ecstatic. She is a chickpea kind of chick. Whole chickpeas go in a whole lot of her favorite recipes: chilies, soups, lasagnas, and salads. Given this, I may have tasted a “just dropped on the kitchen floor delicious and nutritious” chickpea or two in my time. I am happy to report that my new favorite soft dog treats have chickpeas as a main ingredient. The Apple Smoked Bacon has a sweet and smoky flavor while the Peanut Butter Cookie has a sweet and nutty flavor. The Chicken Pot Pie and Pumpkin Pie Recipe varieties are on my “must try soon” list as well.

Some people have me confused with a sommelier because during my walks I am often overheard rejoicing, “smelly, yeah!” I am not in the business of pairing wine with food, but in the spirit of being a good sport, I highly recommend pairing any of the Wag More Bark Less treats with a clean bowl of H₂O from the 2013 Household Tap Collection.

PS Thanks for the Wag More Bark Less stickers and magnets. I have put them to good use!

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