blr loves roadside farms

Had to stop:

cone and get it!

Today is Free Cone Day at all Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops.

Who else is sprinting to one of those shops besides me? Jimmy Fallon, I love you and your delicious new flavor Late Night Snack.

I LOVERMONT.

I LOVE BEN AND JERRY'S.

I LOVE FREE TREATS.

This reminds me of the day last year my Mom, sister, brother and I ate the Vermonster:



My sister and I didn't waste any time digging in. We couldn't stop laughing at ourselves and all the people in line were laughing at us too:



This one absolutely cracks me up every time I see it. My brother; Spent, completely done and stuffed in an ice cream coma:



Who's says ice cream can't build muscles? One of the reasons why I run and zumba all the time? So I can eat the treats I want of course!



Our nearly empty bucket:



My sister actually walked to the car finishing it all off. Good to the last drop. That's my kind of girl:



Peace, Love & Ice Cream. I'm with you Ben & Jerry.

Here's to Free Cone Day and much sugary fun with people you love!

grinder anyone?

Yes please.



The only good excuse for eating that giant white bread.

Mmmm...lunch in the northeast at old-school Mom and Pop joints.

run for the border

I woke up in Florida with the balcony door to my hotel room wide open this morning and rolled over to see a text from my sister. She wasn't able to get to the gym for her boot camp class because the snow drifts where she currently lives had buried her car. After I responded: "Boo! Better you than me!"- she emailed these photos:





Nuts.

This is Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. (Usually hustling and bustling any day of the year.) If you've ever been to Vermont, you know that even during the frigid winter months, people are out, about, driving, shopping- you name it, snow doesn't stop them. Well, today was obviously a different story. Even the interstate was closed! (My sister sent me a photo of snow drifts halfway up the sliding glass door at her house too but I can't find that one now...)

I think I'd rather be hung by my toenails upside down for a week than to live in these kind of conditions. This means I am one whimpy Vermonter and have been gone long enough to think that 70 degrees is cold. Hats off to you Green Mountain Staters that can hack it in this stuff. I be you'll be happy when (if) spring comes.

If you live there, send me you address and I'll send you some hot cocoa!

anybody up for a swim?

Come on in- the water is fine!

I had a full on plan to jump in that and make a snow angel but I forgot. Now I'm gone so it's too late. That is a total bummer.

Anyone else have a photo of a self-made snow angel they'd like to share with us?

score!

I picked up some very important materials for the kick-off of the next BLR project starting tomorrow:



It made me very, very happy to know my small town "penny candy" store was still kickin' it old school, same as 20 years ago:





I visited Willy's in 2009 and wrote about it here. I was glad to see the wall of candy fully stocked this go around. I didn't see the blue lollipops I needed, so asked the girl working there. (Same girl who's worked there for at least 20 years.) Why do I love small towns? For that reason, and the fact that she happily answered my "Can you order me some?" with an "Absolutely! They'll be here tomorrow by 3pm and don't worry about paying for them until you pick them up!"

Small town country store experience: Check. Speedy service and better price on my blue razz pops that I have found anywhere else in the country: Check, check. Nostalgia and feel good times in Vermont: Check, check, check.

Thanks for helping me kick off my next project Willy's. High-five's and blue lollipops all around!

"my legs are numb!"

We dress in ridiculous clothes, do the robot and jump in snow piles that are almost up to the roof to entertain ourselves around these parts when the temperatures are frigid. There is no time to be cute, so I am looking super hot in Dad's big boots:



My sister likes jeans instead of snow pants:



I had to make some video:



It was pretty easy to convince her to jump back in the snow pile:



She was screeching that her legs were numb (it was her idea to jump in and take photos in the first place!) We laughed so hard we were crying. It's too bad we are so boring and don't know how to have fun.

No snow bank jumping this morning. It still says -15 on the thermometer outside at 9am. OUCH! I'm thinking Costa Rica or some other southern destination might be a good choice for next January...

vermont in the winter

Remember a few days ago when I posted those lovely green mountains and summer photos from Vermont? As promised, here's the winter version! The Peacock mailbox looks a bit different eh?



Mom's wheel barrel of flowers? No, you can't see it. Do you spot that bump in the snow? Yep, it's buried under there:



Here's the BLR Mobile covered in powder. This was on the first day I was here. There's even more on it now. I am taking up a collection to see how tall it gets before I brush it off and start it up:



I thought it'd be fun to go out in my pj shorts and sweatshirt with just Dad's boots on to snap some photos:



That got cold real quick.

Since I took these photos, it has snowed more, more, and more. This morning my sister and I thought that was a great excuse to go outside again, act like complete jackasses, take more photos and shoot video. I don't know when was the last time I laughed that hard.

Check back for more on the subject of snow in Vermont on this soon to be -17 degree night and what we do to entertain ourselves. I'll post the jackass video this weekend.

Ahhh...family time.

my view from this morning

Finally that homemade cinnamon sugar doughnut I was craving all fall. I had to get an old-fashioned style photo...



...and one in living color too:



YUM.

Blue Lollipop Road LOVES some Blue Benn Diner. (How many times have I written about this place? :) I just had to add a review to the New York Times Travel Guide today too to spread the love.

Where's your favorite diner breakfast?

vermont in the summer

The green mountains:



The good old country mailbox at the folks house:



Mom's flowers:



Vermont in the winter? None of the above. In fact, the weatherman is talking some crazy stuff about -11 overnight this Friday night. (Yes, that's negative.) I sure do pick a good month out of the year to go home for a visit!

Stay tuned for "Vermont in the winter" photos and me frozen in a snowbank.

Where is your winter wonderland?

vermont gets voted over?! gasp!

Why oh why?

Check out my fellow wanderers, my soul peeps in love with adventure: Alex and Luke. I have written about them before. I just saw this note on their website. WHAT?! "poor Vermont just kept getting voted over time and time again..."

(Insert stake through the heart.)

This is a travesty. Come on my fellow Vermonters or whatever non-Vermonters out there who are lovers of the green mountains, delicious cheese, ice cream, fun country frolicking in fields of organic produce and progressive mindset and lifestyle (just to name a very few amazing things!) We need to send lotsa notes to Alex and Luke and rally them to Vermont or bust. It looks like they will be staying for 2 months in New Hampshire starting 1/2/11 so it will be easy for them to hop, skip and jump on over.

Dear Alex and Luke~

Look at me in Vermont in May. Don't I look like I'm having fun and in gorgeous scenery? See what you have to look forward to?!



My fellow Vermonters and I would like to cordially invite you here to Blue Lollipop Road so we can fill you in on all the best places to see, eat, visit- you name it, in the great VEETEE. Lets be in touch eh? Any question you might have, myself and my crew o' Green Mountain Gringos peeps have you covered. Never again will Vermont be voter over!

Here's to your bomb-diggidy awesome start of 2011 at the Balsams and in our neighboring New Hampshire!

~Diane

fall

I took this photo a few weeks ago when I was at a roadside farm stand in California:



This was that scene that got me missing those homemade Vermont Apple Barn hot cider doughnuts. I haven't stopped thinking about them since. I do have to say there are few better places than the VeeTee during fall. All the foliage and those spots to get apple-infused treats? YUM. I'm so thankful I grew up as a country kid there. This is the first year in 32 I didn't see New England foliage at all. Looks like I'll have to make a date with The Apple Barn for next year. There's no way I can go two years in a row without those doughnuts!

If you're ever making your way through Massachusetts up to Vermont, stop at this place. You're sure to leave stuffed and smiling.

i'm not on vacation. i live here.

Sponsored By


Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine and Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

Did somebody say dream vacation?! I am IN! You all know I am a lover of road trips, so I naturally would plan a big ol' road trip for my dream vaca. (Ok, so I haven't been to Australia or New Zealand yet and I have been dreaming of feasting in Italy lately too...) I was joking with my little sister last week about taking her on the road and making the Diane and Erin Show. How fun would that be? I've recently updated the "bucket list" in my head from learning fluent Spanish and becoming a killer Salsa Dancer. I've added going x-country in/on:
1.) A convertible
2.) An RV
3.) A train

...and if you know me, you know I will make these trips happen. What do you want to make happen? I want to hear your story!

If I attempt to complete my mental bucket list I am in a good spot: My sister is trying to score a gig being an Au Pair in Spain so she will be able to teach me Spanish. My little bro is a Farmer and travels during the winter so I'm sure he could teach me some mad Salsa or other Spanish style sassy dances from all his South American adventures. I'd throw these two cuties in an RV or convertible and we'd hit the road Jack on June 1st one summer and just go go go until September 1. Full on top down, music blaring laughing and blowing through miles. We'd feast and explore. We'd go to National Parks and visit friends and talk to strangers. We'd take a million photos and videos and blog all of our stories. Oh how fun that would be. Here's a photo of my two cutie-pie sibs that could be my partners in crime:



Aren't they adorable?

Get dreaming peeps! It could happen! I left the east coast with barely a dime in July and made it to Alaska safe, sound and jumping around like an idiot. If you dream it and enter it- it will come! Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Um- Are You Kidding Me?

It's April 27th and my sister just sent this photo to me this morning. Yes- that's her car, in Vermont- as in, today.

Spring time snow-fest. Yuck.

I love you Vermont, but I am oh so glad I moved away years ago. I'm typing here now with my morning coffee looking at the sunshine with my apt. doors wide open.

Hang in there kid. Spring will have to spring for you soon enough. (I hope before I get there! Brrr!)

I Chose The Lager

...well, first anyway (see below) then I had some pilsner.

My Vinyl, the spring seasonal brew from the one and only Magic Hat was cold and delicious. I love this brewery and not just because I was born in the Green Mountain State. The Magic Hat peeps and all that come with the company it are totally un-average and perfectly quirky. (You should visit the actual brewery in South B-town, VT- it's awesomely odd.)

Yummy beer, outside work meetings, a baseball game with lawn seats and good friends, my most favorite ever Cadbury mini eggs (sent via snail mail from my Grandparents who never forget) for a flawless yet half-melted and broken desert after my traditional Mexican food bunny day dinner and a near 90 degree few day stretch? Now that's what I call the right way to begin an April. This girl is one happy spring chicken.

Whatcha Thinkin'?

I saw this "Community Issues" board on the wall at a coffee shop in Vermont. I like it. What a great way for people to voice thoughts, concerns, opinions in a simple and peaceful way.

I think things like this should be up in every place of business or anywhere people interact. Wouldn't it be great if we could share information like this anonymously on a regular basis? Maybe we could all open our minds and see things from someone else's point of view a little bit easier that way...

I Need To Pay My Bills...

...plus Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are pretty much just totally incredible musicians, it's going to be 80 and sunny in Wilmington, NC tomorrow, hanging out with random people is fun- especially at an amphitheater- on a lake, we're sponsored by a local micro-brewery and cold beer is delicious, not to mention we're raising money for a local nonprofit. 

Um- can you say, win, win, win, win? 

Please buy yourself a ticket at our website and get ready to rock and roll. We will be there with bells on along with 900 other people. Yeah baby! 

VERMONT GIRLS RULE.

(Yes, this is my shameless plug. Actually, there's nothing to be ashamed about loving my job and encouraging people to get out and spend a little dough so we can keep bringing awesome music and events to our cool little city to help it grow:)