Vermont Scenes

Every time I drive to the lake I pass this row of trees and barn. I love them so I finally decided to stop and take a picture!

Hope you had a happy weekend!

xoxo

One Year in VT...

So we've officially lived in Vermont for one year as of today. It feels like it has flown by! We received a lot of questions about why we were moving, and I still can't quite say why exactly - looking for a good fit for our lifestyle? I will say I never dreamt we would love living here as much as we do.

It's 35 degrees and snowing today on the 22nd of March while it was almost 80 degrees at home and I still wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I guess that's saying something. We've enjoyed all of our Vermont seasons so far and I've been sad for each of them to come to an end (although I could live without the cold and rain we had in November).

We have a subscription to a magazine called "Vermont Life" (and have for many years). This month they redesigned the magazine to reflect a more modern Vermont. My mom pointed out the editors note to me and I think it really fits what we love about VT. I'm going to post parts of it - you can read the rest here.

In 2009, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote an article about the changing nature of the American Dream. Brooks painted a portrait that included neither manicured lawns nor chic urban living. Instead, he argued, the new American ideal involved living in "places where you can imagine yourself with a stuffed garage — filled with skis, kayaks, soccer equipment, hiking boots and boating equipment."

As Brooks describes it, Americans today strive to live in a place "where spectacular natural scenery is visible from medium-density neighborhoods." These places have "loose social structures and relative social equality ... strong social identities and pedestrian meeting places. They offer at least the promise of friendlier neighborhoods, slower lifestyles ... ."

Sound familiar?

We experience this new American Dream every day in Vermont, and with this redesigned issue of Vermont Life, we hope to reach beyond our new logo, new paper and new features to fully capture its spirit.

It's a new direction for the magazine, to be sure, to focus so fully on today and tomorrow.
......

Times change. Over the last six decades "newcomers" have arrived in pursuit of their own American Dream. Back-to-the-land hippies, starving artists, ski bums and rat-race refugees looking for a real job and a real life have been drawn to Vermont and its enduring values.

People here still work hard, value self-reliance, enjoy the outdoors, cherish the landscape, help their neighbors and think for themselves. Vermont today is a welcoming place where roving butchers ("The Trouble With Butchers") and Emily Post's family ("Post-Modern Manners") feel equally at home.

The genius of Vermont, in short, has been its willingness to evolve.

Today we're the healthiest state in the country, the greenest state and, per capita, the state with the greatest number of local dollars spent buying local food ("First We'd Like to Say"). Vermonters today are forward-thinking.

.....

Vermont Life co-founder Vrest Orton once wrote that the thing that sets Vermont apart from other places is "the prodigious feeling that when you hear about Vermont you get homesick. It's the wonderful feeling that when you get here you're home."


Anyway, we're in the process of making more changes as we attempt to settle fully into our new state so I don't feel like we're quite "there" yet in terms of feeling completely at home. We've made great friends, we know where to order fast food when I'm feeling too lazy to cook, we've learned the shortcuts so we don't get stuck in traffic, we've found new doctors and dentist and a place to get our hair cut. It takes time to make a home, but I'm excited that we've made it this far!

I'll leave you with these gorgeous pics from VT Life that really capture Vermont at this time of year - Happy Tuesday everyone!

Winner #2

I received a few disgruntled phone calls today from disappointed commenters hoping to win the give away :) I had no idea everyone loved VT cheese as much as me!

I had quite a few other good guesses.

7th Generation makes great products! I do love them! I wasn't sure if I could find a cleaning product that would be legal to mail.

Ben and Jerry's plus maple syrup were also great guesses as I love them too. I didn't want to pony up the dough for a B&J's tee-shirt :) AND they always ask at the post office if you're mailing something liquid, so figured I shouldn't lie about the syrup. (They also ask about perishable stuff huh? I might have to educate them on how waxed cheese can be shipped.)

Flower seeds! Never even thought of it - great idea! I do have some wedding favors left over...

Simon Pearce - in your dreams! I wish! However, my friend Katie recently told me that if you open a registry there (wedding only for this one) then they give you 2 free nights at a local bed and breakfast plus all kinds of great stuff!

Cabot and Magic Hat are also great choices :) I'll have to keep them in mind for the next one...

I had picked some totally random Vermont product as my next give away. This company looks great and they sell their stuff at Wealthy Living. However, I haven't tried the products yet and there were so many cheese entries I figured the next winner would probably rather have cheese so I'm sending another block of cheddar your way :)

SO - without stalling any more - Winner #2 was determined via the number of comments in the random number generator again:

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 9
Result: 1

Congratulations Meg!

Sorry to the rest of you...I am still trying to live up to my resolution to be more thoughtful so maybe you'll get something special in the mail anyway :)

Winner #1

So. Tuesday has come and gone and it's time to pick a winner! 9 people commented out of the 100 or so visitors - my ploy to lure everyone to make a comment wasn't as strong as I'd hoped :)

The first product I picked was a block of Cheddar from Shelburne Farms. Nobody guessed correctly - you had to be specific! Sooo I decided to put anyone who guessed either Shelburne Farms or cheese in the running.

Those people were:

1. Sarah - Shelburne Farms
2. Maegan - Cheese
3. Mom - Cheddar (but from Dakin Farms)
4. Kate - Vermont Cheddar

Dad came close but didn't guess cheese...

I put 1-4 in a random number generator and the lucky winner was.....


True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 4
Result: 4
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


Congratulations KATE!

I guess being a regular commenter did pay off for you as you'd hoped :) Your block of waxed cheddar will be in the mail to you soon.

I will pick another random winner later on today...

PS - I did some research on mailing cheese another time and found that cheese put in a waxed block does not have to be refrigerated! The results are mixed but I've sent one to Meg before and it still tasted wonderful. Just FYI.

Free Vermont Stuff!

First of all, my prayers are with those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hawaii, and California. A scary time.

The Giveaway...

So here goes....I talk a lot about my love for Vermont here on the blog. People around here are very supportive of Vermont made products and local stores.



I wanted to give away a little something for you made in Vermont. I have 2 Vermont products I'm going to send out. To win you have to leave a comment making a guess about what you think I'm going to give away (be specific - don't just say t-shirt - tell me which one and where it's from).

A few hints...one of the products comes from a place I've mentioned on the blog before. To be fair if you don't know me well or haven't read the blog for a while, one of the products I've never mentioned so pure guessing could win you that one.

I'm not getting any type of sponsorship or anything for these - I just love VT products and think they're great!

The first person to guess correctly will win! If nobody guesses then I'll pick 2 winners at random (no playing favorites, I promise). You have until Tuesday to guess :)

If you don't have a google account, you can comment under "Anonymous" and just leave your name. If you have trouble commenting, let me know!

Good luck!