Miss Adventures

Conan O’Brien Invents a Museum I Wish Existed

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:57:12 +0000

Posted in Media

I tuned in to Conan last night to see one of the best sketches in ages. Conan enlists the help of Corbin Bernsen to present the Museum of Pop Culture References, a fictional museum for viewers who are too young to get Conan’s jokes. Wouldn’t that be a great idea for a real museum? Coincidentally, [...]

How To Eat Pocket Coffee

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:01:23 +0000

Posted in Consume

Sometimes I feel goofy. Other times, I’m in the mood for chocolate. Still, there are other times when I’m in the mood to film myself being goofy and eating chocolate. So, here’s a little video on how to eat Pocket Coffee. Sources tell me that you can buy Pocket Coffee in the U.S. now at [...]

Photos: The National Arboretum and Bonsai Museum

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:00:04 +0000

Posted in DC

Being in Washington, DC, I live so close to national museums for everything. Lately, I have been trying to make an effort to visit more of these museums, which is why I found myself at the U.S. National Arboretum on a warm afternoon last week. I was particularly interested in checking out the National Bonsai [...]

What Makes You Happy?

Melanie Renzulli — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:38:24 +0000

Posted in Random

It’s a new year and time for a new resolution. Rather, it’s time to pull last year’s resolution off the shelf, dust it off, and try again. In truth, everyone’s resolution is the same. It is a search for happiness. We think we’ll find it this year if we lose those 10 pounds, quit smoking, [...]

Spending the Holidays Three Houses Down from America’s Christmas Lights Display Winner – #sonyholiday

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:36:54 +0000

Posted in Family Technology Travel

I’m spending the holidays in Tallahassee, Florida, which happens to be the town from which the Whitis family, the winners of Good Morning America’s “Our Lights Are Better Than Your Lights”, hail. I’m not only in the same town as this Christmas lights attraction, but approximately three doors down from it. When my family and [...]

Old and Busted vs. New Hotness and the Elephant in the Room – #sonyholiday

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:42:59 +0000

Posted in Technology

When a PR representative recently offered me the opportunity to review the new Sony VAIO S Series laptop, I was hesitant. But I realized that it would be a great opportunity to compare my previous Sony VAIO experience with my new one, as well as compare the two laptops to my relatively new MacBook Pro. [...]

Talking Tech for the Holidays – #sonyholiday

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:06:31 +0000

Posted in Technology

I am no stranger to writing about technology on this blog. While MissAdventures started out as a sort of diary-cum-travelogue, it has evolved to include all sorts of interests and life events – writing, parenting, social media, gadgets, men, apps, clothing, and even baseball. One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on here [...]

You, too, Can Say You Live in New York City

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:33:45 +0000

Posted in Technology

Harold Cooper, the man behind extendny.com, has given all of us who’ve ever wanted to have a New York City address a reason to celebrate. This fun little application uses the Google Maps API to extend the Manhattan grid to anywhere in the world. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I do know [...]

Stephen Colbert On Working For Free

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:52:05 +0000

Posted in Writing

The Colbert Report I haven’t posted on this blog in forever, but this video – a clip from last night’s Colbert Report – seemed like a good way to get my feet wet again. In this clip, Stephen Colbert discusses the recent layoff of 50 staff members at CNN: “Nobody important. Just editors and photojournalists.” [...]

Is There Anywhere You Wouldn’t Want to Travel To?

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:35:56 +0000

Posted in Travel

I’ve probably been thinking about this post ever since I learned that Bobby Flay doesn’t like lentils. While that may not instantly trigger in your mind the idea for a blog post about travel, I remember thinking, “He’s a chef – he’s not allowed to not like lentils.” But of course chefs have their likes [...]

Resolutions

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 15:45:07 +0000

Posted in Random

This year I resolve to: -Write more and tweet less -Get to know people and not just avatars -Take the time each day to step outside and away from my desk -Exercise more / return to yoga -Start finding answers instead of only asking questions -Send at least one postcard or letter through snail mail [...]

Rule Britannia: My Article for Saveur

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:08:06 +0000

Posted in Consume India Travel Writing

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of writing a FOB (front of the book) “feature” on the legendary Parsi eatery Britannia & Co. for Saveur magazine. At the time, I was living in Bombay, India, and had frequented Britannia enough to know that it deserved to be written about – if not by [...]

Twitterland Is Full of Goodness

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:53:35 +0000

Posted in Technology Travel Writing

Over the weekend, I was in New York City where I finally got to meet up with fellow travel writers and talk shop at a “tweet-up.” For the uninitiated, a tweet-up is a meet-up whereby Twitter is involved as the coordination tool. Indeed, almost all of the travelers I met with I had gotten to [...]

My Culinary Tour of Montreal

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:14:55 +0000

Posted in Consume Travel

There are some travel destinations you visit for the sightseeing and some you visit simply for relaxation. Montreal falls into the latter category specifically as a city where you can relax, recharge, and tuck into some of the best food this side of the Atlantic. I had always heard about Montreal’s culinary traditions: France-centric with [...]

Blogging Conferences You Should Know About

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:16:52 +0000

Posted in Writing

I started blogging back in 2003 (on Blogger) and on this blog in 2004. But it was only recently that I realized a whole world of blogging conferences had sprung up, promising to help bloggers up their game, find sponsors, and more. I’ve learned about these conferences almost exclusively on Twitter, where I see hashtags [...]

Hot Men of Travel Writing: The Results

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:00:58 +0000

Posted in Writing

About a month ago, in response to a fun article on the Galavanting website, I wrote that I wanted to create my own, crowd-sourced list of the hunkiest men in travel. Well, I am happy to say the results are in! And there are some pretty good names and faces to add to the original [...]

Review: Vinturi Wine Aerator

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:00:17 +0000

Posted in Consume

I am not a wine expert. I’ve never been a sommelier and I have a rather rudimentary understanding of wine grapes, varietals, bouquets, and all the other vocabulary that goes with being a connoisseur du vin. So it was with great surprise when the PR company behind the Vinturi Wine Aerator contacted me about reviewing [...]

My Travel Life List

Melanie Renzulli — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:09:45 +0000

Posted in Travel

As long as I’ve been traveling and dreaming of travel, it is a surprise to me that I’ve never sat down and written out my travel life list. After all, one of the earliest goals I ever remember setting for myself was to visit Paris before I was 20. As an exchange student to Germany [...]

Five Films About Italy

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:29:25 +0000

Posted in Italy Travel Writing

I recently got the coolest invitation ever. The editorial director of focusfeatures.com, distributor of the new George Clooney film The American, asked me to come up with a list of my five favorite Italy films. The result was Five in Focus: American Expat Bloggers on Italian Movies. I was one of six bloggers that was [...]

The Hunkiest Men in Travel

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:29:50 +0000

Posted in Writing

Travel writing has always been considered one of the sexiest kinds of writing. Everyone wants to travel, everyone dreams of travel, and travel writers can make those vacation fantasies just pop off the page. So, it made sense when I saw today that the girls from Galavanting posted Galavanting Picks: The 2010 Hunkiest Men in [...]

Six Things You Must Do in Istanbul

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:23:23 +0000

Posted in Travel Turkey

As you may know, Istanbul is the Europe Capital of Culture for 2010. Istanbul has been prepping for this year for quite some time, readying the city for an influx of new tourists to sights like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Grand Bazaar. While I’m not heading back to Istanbul any time soon [...]

Everything You Need To Know About Blogging You Can Learn From Hip Hop

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:44:43 +0000

Posted in Writing

Time for a true confession: As a freelance writer, I have definitely been intrigued by the possibility of making money from blogging. In this day and age, who hasn’t? I’ve made a little money from Adsense ads, affiliate ads, and a few ad sales on my other website Italofile: The Italy Travel Resource. But it [...]

28 Things I Learned At TBEX

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:31:11 +0000

Posted in Travel Writing

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend TBEX, a meet-up of travel bloggers organized by Travel Blog Exchange and, in particular, Kim Mance of Galavanting. For those of you who attended and may have met me, I was under the guise of Italofile, my blog about Italy travel (@italofileblog on Twitter), and also [...]

Favorite iPhone Apps of a Freelancing, Gadget Geek Mom

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:06:49 +0000

Posted in Technology

I’ve been meaning to write about my favorite overall iPhone apps ever since writing about the Best iPhone Apps for the Italophile on my Italy travel blog. But as a freelance writer and stay-at-home mom, I don’t have a whole lot of time to devote to writing on my personal blog. Enter BestKidsApps.com, a genius [...]

Freelance Travel Writing and the Art of Being a Parent

Melanie Renzulli — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:38:55 +0000

Posted in Writing

I recently turned down a press trip to a place I’ve always wanted to go. The press trip was going to be an all-expenses paid trip to a destination near the Mediterranean Sea. I would go, see the sites, and write about the destination for a few publications. I didn’t have a firm assignment for [...]

Istanbul: 2010 European Capital of Culture

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:32:37 +0000

Posted in Expat Life Turkey

Tomorrow – January 16 – Istanbul will be introduced to the world as the 2010 European Capital of Culture. Istanbul, the Capital of European Culture, you say? But Turkey is not even part of the European Union. You’re right…not yet. But, most of Istanbul is in Europe, even if the majority of Turkey lies in [...]

Five Reasons Why I’m Returning My Kindle

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:47:44 +0000

Posted in Consume Technology

On Christmas morning, I was one of the thousands of people who awoke to find a Kindle, Amazon’s e-book reader and the company’s “most gifted” product ever, under the tree. As my family’s gadget geek, I was definitely excited to test out the holiday season’s most talked about toy, even though I hardly have time [...]

More Great Gifts for the Sensory Kid

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:30:33 +0000

Posted in Consume

Looking back over my last post Gift Ideas for the Sensory Kid, I know I could’ve included even more gift ideas. So here I am – back with some more tips. Crayola Color Me a Song I am pretty excited about this product, which I bought a couple of weeks ago to put under the [...]

Gift Ideas for the Sensory Kid

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:48:47 +0000

Posted in Consume

Since my son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (aka “atypical autism”) and Sensory Processing Disorder, I’ve had a tough time figuring out suitable toys and games to get him. Sure, he’s happy with just about the same stuff any other kid is – blocks, mind-numbing, battery-powered toys, ride-on toys, etc. But I know that a lot [...]

Three Best Travel Secrets

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:00:06 +0000

Posted in Travel

I’ve been tagged by Robin Locker at My Mélange to provide my three best travel secrets. She actually tagged me on my Italofile.com site. But I had so many good secrets beyond Italy that I wanted to share my top three non-Italy secrets here. To see the Italy list, head over to Italofile. Have a [...]