It’s Miller Time Blog
To me, lifestyle encompasses many areas that allow me to feel fulfilled and grow as a human being.
I love sharing inspiration for practical fashion tips (especially when traveling abroad) many of my outfits and style reflects a basic but classic, pulled-together look. I like dressing for the occasion but my go-to is typically a soft black sweater, jeans and riding boots.
I also enjoy using and sharing really great products. This can be anything from well-made items or businesses to beauty products.
I’m interested in financial wellbeing and continue to educate myself about saving and investments. I feel it’s important to continue to educate oneself on the aspects of finance and credit throughout life.
I’m also big on food and nutrition especially as it relates to fuel for life. I married a chef so I absolutely know what I got myself into. I’m always working on my Sous skills to be worthy of working in the kitchen alongside my husband 🙂 his culinary blog is here btw…
Salt and Love – A Cooking blog by Glenn Anderson
Lastly, I can’t leave out fitness. I’ve always led an active lifestyle. I studied martial arts as a young girl (from age 8 to 16). In college, I got into ballroom dancing and followed it into becoming a competitive International Standard dancer training with an amazingly dedicated partner and coaches (I danced competitively for about seven years). I resided in the Bay Area for several years and enjoyed getting out to hiking trails on the weekends in addition to weeknights at my home gym, Courage Performance, doing weightlifting and Crossfit.
During the global pandemic, my husband and I relocated to be closer to family that was residing in Louisville, Kentucky. That’s where we’ve been living out our our new adventures, in horse and bourbon country, discovering local eateries, outdoor activities among the natural Kentucky landscape and a new gym community. Our golden retriever puppy, Rizzo, came into our lives in early 2022 and has been every bit a part of it since.
Lifestyle Blog
KY Derby Fashion: The great debate – hat first or dress?
This one’s jucy because it’s such a nuanced topic for us, ladies. A lot of thought, time, effort and money goes into creating an outfit for Derby. In reality, though, IMHO and experience, the answer is: whichever one you find first that inspires you to wear it because it’s your budget. Sounds very similar to…
Top Distilleries to Explore Near the Kentucky Derby
Do you know how many people attend the Kentucky Derby? Upwards of 150,000. Many of which are in town for as little as two days to attend Oaks and Derby (Friday May 2nd and Saturday May 3rd). It got me thinking, if I were in town for this major, bucket-list event and could only get…
A Local’s Guide to the 2025 Kentucky Derby Events
It’s late April and that time of year again in Kentucky where everyone is gearing up for the Kentucky Derby. Billed as the most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports, the Kentucky Derby is America’s race for 3-year Thoroughbreds. This year is the #151st run for the roses. Derby Day & Race Time 2025 The Derby…
KY Distillery Tours: bourbon trail visits to Michter’s, Wild Turkey & Old Forester
Bourbon Chronicles: Wild Turkey, Michter’s & Old Forester Welcome to another installment of the Bourbon Chronicles where we experience distilleries that are part of the bourbon trail and rate the tour and tasting experience. In December, we were able to get out to three distillery tours and taste their bourbon. The tour and tasting experience…
Build Your Capsule Wardrobe with Under Armour Essentials
I’ve been watching a lot of Master Class lately, specifically one by Tan France “Teaches Style for Everyone” where he talks about building a capsule collection in your wardrobe. Now, I work for Under Armour so, yes, I’m biased and realize not everyone builds their entire wardrobe around our gear…but hypothetically if you could, this…
Transforming Our Guest Bathroom: Tips & Budgeting
I think when anyone moves into their first home, there’s always a few things they want to fix up. Compounded by the fact that there are numerous renovation TV shows on HGTV showing you how easy and quick it is (eye roll). Though we do like watching Love It Or List It, my motto for…
Buy & Try: Sunday Lawn Care
This post is my product review of Sunday Lawn Care. I decided to try Sunday because, I fully admit I do not know what I’m doing when it comes to law care, but I want to use products that work, are easy to apply, and are safe for kids, pets and the environment. I know,…
Essential Bourbons and Gins for Your Home Bar
Being that we’re in bourbon city, I feel confident in adding my voice to this topic. Also, fun fact: “the Bluegrass State produces and ages approximately 95 percent of the world’s bourbon whiskey.” History.com How Kentucky Became the World’s Bourbon Capital Basic Bourbons to have on hand Woodford Reserve Bulleit – don’t forget the rye!…
Essential Tips for Comfort at the Kentucky Derby
I learned the official Kentucky Derby site publishes a “what to wear” 2024 style guide each year. But as someone who attended Oaks Day in 2023, I’ll continue to tell you that whilst style is important and fun, so is planning for the local weather and amount of walking you’ll be doing once on the…
KY Bourbon Trail Experience: 2 day bourbon tour & tasting playbook (inc. Woodford Reserve, Evan Williams, Copper & Kings)
Bourbon Chronicles: Willet, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Evan Williams, Coper & Kings When you’re hosting your also married friends (who have two young kiddos) + a 40th-birthday is in the mix, for a two day-buck-list-bourbon-trail adventure in Kentucky, you make the most of it! These are the adult diaries of 40+ year olds. At first,…
Stylish Resort Wear for Winter Getaways
No matter the time of year, resort wear for women is all about being comfortable and looking effortlessly stylish at the same time. I’ve captured some of my outfits from a recent trip to the Saint Regis resort in Deer Valley, Utah. A beautiful winter resort that was the backdrop of a marketing leadership retreat.…
Top Amazon Finds for Prime Big Deal Days 2023
If you’re like me, you typically have a bunch of items in your cart or on your “to-do” list to restock. I rounded up a few of my favorites just in time for Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days on October 10-11, 2023. Beauty Murad skincare has some of the best products for dark spot repair…
Lightweight Cocktail Tables for Functional Living Rooms
Sometimes you think you have your furniture needs covered. But then there’s that little extra item that takes functionality and aesthetics to a new level. This tiny cocktail table I found on Amazon has elevated our main floor living room and basement living room area in a beautiful, functional and simplistic way. I ordered two…
Top Amazon Prime Day Deals of 2023 – Exclusively from Amazon Associates
It’s Day 2 of Prime Day and below you’ll find a list of Amazon deals you’ll want to take advantage of this year. Amazon Prime subscription deals As an Amazon Associate, I get access to some additional deals offered by Amazon that I can extend to you. These promotional rates are good for a limited…
Essential Products for Happy Pets and Owners
My list of must-have items for your pet and/or puppy in training. For your dog Pets First MLB Tee Shirt for Dogs (and cats too): It’s arguably the best Halloween costume because it’s also fun to wear it for football nights and weekend games. There are 35 different jerseys to choose from, you’re certain to…
KY Bourbon Trail Experience: Willett Distillery
Bourbon Trail & Tasting: Willett Distillery Also on the list of distilleries not to miss is Willett. Location: The distillery is located just over an hour south of Louisville near a city called Bardstown. It’s also geographically close to the James Beam distillery, and is all but in the back yard of Heaven Hill’s main…
KY Bourbon Trail Experience: Castle & Key Distillery
Bourbon Gin Chronicles: Castle & Key Distillery This is a location not to be missed. Personally, I’m more of a gin fan than bourbon. And while this distillery is technically not (at this time) part of the KY Bourbon trail, it is absolutely worth your time to visit. They’ve recently started releasing a line of…
Product Review: My favorite things from Under Armour – 2023 edition
This post contains a list of the products and items I’ve purchased from Under Armour for my personal workouts and everyday wear. Please note, I work for Under Armour and I receive an employee discount on the items chose to I purchase. But since I genuinely love this brand and believe in the quality of…
Essential Hair Products for Ballroom Competitions
For about 7 years of my life, I traveled and competed regularly in ballroom competitions. A few times I booked an appointment to get my hair done professionally but most of the time, I did my own. I learned over time what style worked for me and could do my own hair and makeup. Ballroom…
Investing in Skills for Profitable Side Gigs
Side Hustles and Skills Worth Investing In or Developing There are very few side gigs that can truly replace a full time income. But, side gigs are just that, gigs that are worth a bit of investment if you have time on the side and want to make extra money. This page from the Penny…
Navigating SEO Careers: Agency vs In-House
In my career as an SEO professional and digital marketer, I’ve spent time on the agency side as well as an in-house and as a consultant. For context, my “agency days” were roughly between 2012-2015. Cough, cough, so I suppose, at the time of documenting my reflections that’s now about 6 years ago which, isn’t…
Reflections of a Millennial on 9/11 and the Pandemic
Observations from a Millennial who lived through 9/11, the 2008 economic recession followed by a global pandemic in 2020. I started writing this post in 2020 as a way to cope and process what was going on during the COVID-19 outbreak. I updated it in late 2021 and all I can say is I’m really…
Remote Work and Life Transitions Post-COVID
With March 2020 bringing on the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in many ways the word “unprecedented” became the word of choice. For 2021 and me personally that word still fits. In a way, the last 3 ish years have been rather unprecedented for me personally and professionally. For context: August 2019: we got married…
Understanding Influencer Outreach: Red Flags to Watch For
I started to see a pattern in the outreach messages I’ve received about doing brand collaborations and thought I’d jot down some thoughts…because, you know, my ultimate hope is to make the world a better place so let’s start with the internet. There’s a marketing tactic called “influencer marketing” where basically, anyone with a substantial…
Channeling Positivity for Success
What topic would you automatically assume I would be speaking on? I thought this was a fun social media experiment. I posted the below image with this message on Facebook and Instagram: The responses were pretty interesting. Ball Room Dancing as a Metaphor for Google’s Algorithm SEO landscape Working out Swing dancing Talk about the…
Best Online Deals This Cyber Holiday Season
As I browse the online deals this Cyber Monday, I have a song stuck in my head: “last Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to someone special…” In my head, I’m mentally swapping out the word…
Key Questions Before Buying Jewelry Online
One of the hardest things to purchase online is jewelry and second to that is clothes. I recently went through the experience of buying a wedding ring online for my fiance and ran into difficulties with a vendor. My hope in publishing this article is that it reduces the likelihood of this happening to someone…
Top 10 Everyday Items You Can’t Live Without
You know the cliche “the best things in life are free.” But I also happen to think the best things are things that are actually helpful: tools, recommendations, products and every-day items that solve a problem and make life easier. Here is a list of the incredibly helpful items I cannot live without. Collapsible folding…
The Reality of Freelancing: The Dream Is Free. The Hustle, Sold Separately
I used to dream about what it would be like to be a digital nomad. Just me, my laptop and a turquoise stretch of ocean on either side. I’d think about what it would be like to work from a remote location that inspired my creativity and not just a desk where I’m accounted for…
Creativity in Chaos: My Unique Work Experience
My very first job out of college was anything but a typical 9-5. But it’s part of who I am today. To this day, I’m not really sure how I came home and told my parents my first job was going to be a magician’s assistant. Quite literally but not literally. You see, I was…
How Social Media Shapes Millennial Identity
Imaging there is no Facebook. No Instagram. No Twitter. No Snapchat. What do you spend your time doing? Who are you telling that story to about your weekend adventure in LA rescuing the neighbor’s cat and breaking into your friend’s apartment because you were out partying but they fell asleep on the couch. Who is…
The Balance of Rest and Activity After Surgery
This past week I’ve been recovering from a surgery where I had a gum graft done (that’s where they take a portion of skin from the roof of your mouth to essentially cover over the gum area of the tooth where you have a receding gum line. Exciting stuff, I know.) Anyway, I’ve been resting…
Why La La Land Deserves Best Picture Recognition
‘La La Land’ encapsulates what it means to reconcile with the choices we make, bearing witness to outcomes that could have been, and in spite of this, owning our story and making the best of the choices we’ve made. This helps us move on in pursuit of becoming the best version of ourselves. There’s something…
Why Salt and Love Matter in Every Dish
I got to have dinner with a chef the other night. It was fun to see a completely different perspective on food, its taste and presentation — all the stuff you take for granted after awhile. It was kind of like sitting next to a director while watching a movie. You just know this person…
Conquer Self-Doubt: Strategies for Mental Resilience
Let me give you steps of a completely different kind because there is no checklist to getting over your fears; there are no shortcuts here. For what it’s worth, I’m learning it has more to do with leveraging a balance of mental and physical strength. Getting into a routine that helps you build physical strength…
Protein Shakes: Timing for Better Results
I had gotten into the habit of consuming my protein shake on the drive home from an evening workout. Good, healthy habit, right? Well, lately I noticed that once I got home, I wasn’t hungry for a real meal. This was happening fairly regularly over the past few weeks and for as much as I…
Compete With Yourself: The Secret to Personal Growth
Lessons in Agility and Life from a Dancer Turned Obstacle Course Racer A collection of my consolidated blog posts from 2017. Largely the result of consuming a lot of Seth Goden content. Transitioning my fitness hobby of competitive ballroom dance to obstacle course, endurance racing (Spartan Race). You’re welcome. On making New Year Resolutions (in…
Reflecting on What Matters: Lessons for Planning A New Year
I love Christmas time but not for the reasons you might expect. To me, this time of year is a reflection point. In particular, it’s a day where we collectively consider what’s really important in life and make an effort to be surrounded by people who contribute to it most. I think we should have…
Top Books for Digital Marketers
I typically over prepare for questions I might get asked on webinars or talks I’m giving. But I was recently part of a panel at an event hosted by the San Diego American Marketing Association where I was asked a question about what books I’ve read that have had the most influence on my professional…
Reframe Your Thinking: Overcoming Life’s Storms
Conditions change every day. The stock market goes up and down; the weather shines and storms. What matters is what we do when that storm comes. Challenge yourself to re-frame your thinking about the “storms” in your life. Challenge yourself to think differently. Here are two quotes I really like around this concept: “Listen, there’s…
The Importance of Your Inner Circle in Personal Growth
I skimmed over this quote once on Instagram but it has really stuck with me: “You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with” This picture is from a year ago. This is when Searchmetrics began to regain its foothold in the US, bolstering the team with more SEO Consultants. As I…
Top Quotes to Embrace Failure and Achieve Success
I used to write out my favorite quotes on 3×5 index cards and tape them up everywhere. Eventually, it became too much so I’ve tried to collect my favorites below. “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” Coco Chanel “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure…
The Power of Teamwork in Spartan Racing
If it’s both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it. – Erada Nothing but 8.5 miles of incredibly uneven terrain, hills that silently wear away your calve muscles, and pools of shockingly cold mud and your own faith in your abilities. The Spartan Sacramento Super this weekend tested everyone’s endurance. I ended up…
Embrace Change: Insights from the 2016 Election
“The remedy of all blunders, the cure of blindness, the cure of crime, is love…” Ralph Waldo Emmerson A Black Swan Event It’s the day after Election Day in 2016. I couldn’t not post today with the unexpected turn of events: Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States of America. This…
Essential Gear for Your First Spartan Race
I’m excited and nervous for this weekend gearing up for the Spartan Sacramento Super. Wooo! This will be my second Spartan race this year after doing the Sprint at AT&T Park back in May (that’s my game face while on those monkey bars!). Let’s be honest, I’m way more excited for the obstacle parts than…
Navigating Election Information: A Voter’s Guide to Staying Informed
Everyone is busy these days. But that shouldn’t be an excuse to not at least be informed of the important issues, policies and candidates involved with shaping our nation. I vote by mail and I usually keep an ear to the ground on several different news and radio stations. Admittedly, it has become increasingly difficult…
Inspiration from Seth Godin to Blog Daily
I watched a great interview recently on Marie Forleo’s YouTube channel with Seth Godin. It inspired me to start something today that I’ve been gradually getting better at; writing more. But more than that, it challenged me to up my game by taking on the challenge of blogging every day. On a good day, I’m…
Finding Balance: CrossFit and Competitive Dance
A friend in the advertising industry recently interviewed me about being involved in CrossFit as part of a research project he is conducting working on the Reebok account. While I’m nowhere near a being a competitive lifter, his questions, however did make me reflect on how grateful I am to be able to dabble in…
Why Spectre’s Bond Girl Missed the Mark
I recently saw the latest Bond installment, ‘Spectre’…and I’m a bit conflicted on how I feel about the move–especially the ending. (Fair warning for those who have yet to see it, this post is both a movie spoiler and a bit of a rant on how this Bond girl should have been portrayed). I feel…
Wedding First Dance Advice from a Ballroom Dancer: Finding Comfortable Dance Shoes
Ladies, to start your marriage out on the right foot – literally, wear the right shoes that you can dance in. This goes from wearing the same dance shoes to your lessons as you practice your first dance together and on your wedding day. As a (former) competitive Ballroom dancer with 7+ years of experience,…
Lessons from ‘Date Night’ Marketing Mistakes
I remember my first feature film. Dear Domestic Marketing Team at 20th Century Fox, In my (evolving) professional opinion, the campaign of your recent release, “Date Night” is a classic case of movie marketing miscommunication. I happened to be in NY a month ago in Times Square and saw much of the outdoor space filled…
10 Essential Performance Tips Inspired by Skate America
I happened to catch Skate America the other night watching the men perform. I was amazed at how critical the commentators were throughout each performance. I’ve never even attempted to lift my leg but 3 inches from the ice and here were these young athletes doing full extensions while moving! I found it amazing! But,…
Navigating Toll Fees: My Experience with a Violation Notice
So, I received a violation notice from the Toll Road Department the other day for apparently not having paid a $0.75 fee. I responded online with the following dispute: To Whom It May Concern: Upon exiting the north bound toll road, I paid $O.75 at the off-ramp booth. I proceeded to turn around and re-enter…
Connection and Balance in Dance and Life
Once upon a time, I was a competitive ballroom dancer. Dancing taught me a lot about the relationships between connection and balance. There’s this thing called “Sway” In ballroom partnership, the lady is looking to achieve a shape using the top part of her torso and arms much like a table top. This type of…
The Price of Passion: Costs of Competitive Ballroom Dancing
With the popularity of dancing shows today such as “Dancing with the Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance” many people are unaware of the price professional and amateur athletes and performers pay to become accomplished in this sport (that is, of course, if you’re not naturally talented). In particular, the training, competition and…
What Makes a Person Classy? Understanding Class and Elegance
How does one become classified as being “classy?” Who or what determines what classy is? Is it the style of your hair, cut of your clothes, or the accessories you put on for the day? Maybe it’s more ethereal; what if it’s in the way you sit, stand, walk, approach people, or interact with a…
It's Miller Time Baby 