National Hot Toddy Day

Today is National Hot Toddy Day!

The Hot Toddy is my go-to cold-weather cocktail and fix-everything cold medicine.

The recipe is pretty simple. Use the bourbon of your choice (I prefer Maker's Mark!)

• 1 oz bourbon 
• 1 oz steaming-hot water 
• honey 
• 1 lemon 


Put a kettle of water on to boil. Drizzle honey in the bottom of coffee mug. Pour in one ounce bourbon, or to taste. Squeeze juice of 1/4 lemon into mug. Pour in hot water. Add additional bourbon and/or hot water to taste.  Warm up. Feel better.

Follow Your Dreams Friday

When we first started planning HerKentucky, we wanted to share the stories of as many Kentucky women as possible. Over the past two and a half years, we've told stories of professional success and personal triumph, stories of heartbreak, hard work, and happiness. In 2014, we're introducing a new feature called "Follow Your Dreams Friday", which will tell the stories of Kentucky women who are living life on their own terms. The women who've traded stressful and unfulfilling careers for happier lives. Mothers, artists, small business owners. Dreamers. 

Every Friday, we'll share the story of someone we know who chose to follow her dreams. We hope these stories provide y'all with as much inspiration as they've given us.  We welcome submissions to this series. Please email me at heather@herkentucky.com for more information.

HerKentucky Happenings

We're pleased to present HerKentucky Happenings, a roundup of things we love from across the Commonwealth.

• My hometown's favorite band, Sundy Best, will be returning to the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow night. Really makes me wish I were in the Music City this weekend to see my high school football coach's son (whom I'll always think of as a gorgeous toddler... Sorry, Nick!) rocking the Home of Country Music. 
• Saturday in Louisville is Rainbow Blossom Natural Food Market's Resolutions Solutions Fair. It's a great time to quit smoking, work on your fitness goals, or focus on cleaner eating. Rainbow Blossom has experts to help!
• Also in Louisville is Craft(s) Gallery's exhibition by Shawn Garrison, entitled "The Fruits of Rashness." I just adore the whimsical colors and use of motion of this piece, "Let's Go Shopping", and I can't wait to stop by Craft(s) to see the rest of the show!

Image via Craft(s) Gallery

• Another exhibition I can't wait to see is the Eye of Napoleon at the Frazier Museum. This Saturday night, they're offering a special "Date Night in Paris" event that includes the exhibit as well as a cash bar, entertainment, and more!
• The Kentucky Governor's Mansion turns 100 later this month. Celebrate at Frankfort's Grand Theater next Wednesday and Thursday with special showings of a documentary of the historic home, or schedule a trip to see the Mansion. I'll bet you haven't been there since a class trip in grade school!

  The Governor's Mansion

• Louisville's Fleet Feet Sports recently met the challenge of logging miles for charity. A running team representing the store earned a $2,500 donation for Girls on the Run Louisville, a nonprofit which inspires elementary school girls to be healthy, joyful, and confident while engaging in fun and age-appropriate lessons on topics such as healthy living, self esteem, and how to handle bullying.

What's happening in your nook of the Commonwealth?

If your organization has an event you'd like to see featured on HerKentucky, please email details to heather@herkentucky.com.

The Year of the Goal

I have decided that 2014 is The Year of The Goal.

Several of my blogger friends -- including HerKentucky's own Sarah and Lydia -- participate in the One Little Word project by Ali Edwards. It's pretty self-explanatory: you choose a word to serve as your guide for the year -- a word that embodies the things you hope to accomplish, or how you want your life to look in the upcoming year. (You can read about Sarah's word here and Lydia's word here.)

As I think of the year ahead, I am filled with so many ideas that I don't know where to start. I recently moved to a new home  in a city that, while familiar, has changed enough since I left to seem new and exciting. My beau and I have greeted some wonderful new opportunities, both personally and professionally. To be honest, I'm so bombarded with ideas for "what's next" that I'm a little overwhelmed. I can't do it all. 

Jessie Spano, y'all.

Maybe I can't do it all, but I can do most of it with some careful planning and even more carefully set goals.  That's why 2014 will be, at least for me, the Year of the Goal. Resolutions are easy to make. Dreams are easy to conceive. But goals? Goals are something that you plan to accomplish. Goals require action and accountability. Goals mean that you're going to get something done.

So, as 2014 came around, I asked myself "What do you want to accomplish this year?" I took those ideas and turned them into something concrete, with plenty of room to reassess, revise, and reestablish goals. I'm looking for long-term happiness and success, not crossing something off a to-do list just because I said I would.

I started January with three ideas. I want to publish my writing in more outlets, I want to exercise more frequently, and I want to start knitting again. I turned each idea into a goal: "I will publish in forums x, y, and z by the end of the year"; "I will complete another half-marathon this spring"; and "I will knit a scarf in January." See how my aspirations were turned to declarations? Goals are something you will accomplish. 

Knitting was an easy skill to re-learn. Today is January 8th, and I'm nearly finished with a dark grey wool scarf for my beau. That one was almost too easy. 

Country Music 1/2 Marathon, 2008

As for the 1/2 Marathon, I don't know if it's the right goal. Of course, I'd need to start a training program right about now to get myself up to 13 miles in the spring. But, I've been fighting a back injury for several months, and I worry that this isn't the most attainable goal. Getting fit might be a better goal for my long-term health and fitness. I'm consulting with a doctor and logging my mileage. I'm not giving up just yet, though. There are exactly 100 days until the Derby Mini. A lot can be accomplished by then.

Promising Prose.

And then there's writing. I've devoted a lot of time to brainstorming ways to make various articles and essays better fit their intended audience. I've studied the submission guidelines for the publications in which I want to be published. But, I don't know any surgeons or lawyers or any other professionals who got to be great just by brainstorming and studying. They succeeded by practicing their trade. So, in 2014, I will reach my publication goals by writing more. It's easy to call oneself a writer. But, as Holly Golightly famously asked her neighbor Paul, "Do you write every day? Did you write today?" I hope to write something every day in 2014, even if it's just a character sketch or a well-planned Facebook status. I nearly allowed this goal to be derailed because our new computer, ordered just before last year's end, was delayed in shipping. If you think about it, though, the list of great works that were not composed using OS Maverick is infinitely longer than its cutting-edge counterpart. Writing simply takes an idea and a means for recording. A goal shouldn't be abandoned due to a mere technicality.

Limping to the finish line. I didn't run it all, but I did finish the thing!!

I figure I'll add goals as I mark others as complete. But, I want to embrace this year as the year I get things done.

2014 is The Year of the Goal.  (Click to Tweet.) What are your goals for 2014?

Happy New Year from HerKentucky!

2013 was a huge year for the HerKentucky team.

Our writers were everywhere.  Megan's dream of writing fiction became a fantastic reality. Shannon's fiction was featured in not one, but two literary magazines. Two of Sarah's essays -- about gender disappointment and rising tuition costs -- were featured on the Huffington Post. Emily's inspiring story of body image and weight struggles was featured in Ladies' Home Journal. Erin's essay was featured in the anthology This I Believe: Kentucky.

We had a lot going on personally as well. Glenda was a fierce warrior for her daughter's health. Erin and her family moved to a new church and a new part of the country. I moved to Louisville and realized that everything isn't quite where I left it. Liz said goodbye to her beloved NYC as Dr. Hotpants took the next steps in his surgical career. Sarah and her husband renewed their wedding vows on their 10th wedding anniversary.

As we reflect on all the changes of the past year, we're excited to share new stories with HerKentucky's readers in 2014. We look forward to telling you of our newest goals and dreams. We want to share the stories of Kentucky women who have followed their dreams both professionally and personally. We're excited to spend another year bringing you the best of Kentucky life.

Happy 2014 from HerKentucky!

What are your goals for the New Year?

Merry Christmas,Y'all!

W and M Jewelry Giveaway

When you walk into the W & M Jewelry studio in Louisville's St. Matthews neighborhood, you immediately feel like you've gone to visit old friends. 

Owners Becky McClellan and Megan Walz greet cutomers as they create beautiful, unique pieces. "It's like our therapy," Megan laughs. "We sit here and talk it out and make jewelry!"

Soon, the conversation turns to life, family, and dogs. (The studio dogs, blonde labs Rosie and Ruby, aren't there when I visit, but I've seen them plenty on walks through the neighborhood. They're simply gorgeous, and my dogs are dying to become their BFFs!) It feels way more like a visit with your neighbors or sorority sisters than a visit to a shop. 

The jewelry is simply beautiful. Fun, colorful pieces that are appropriate for work or play. It's hard to choose a favorite!

The ladies at W & M have graciously offered a holiday present to one lucky HerKentucky reader. You can win these beautiful gold tulip earrings -- one of W & M's most popular items -- by entering the Rafflecopter drawing below!

Earring photo courtesy W&M.

You can enter now through Sunday night (with a once-a-day tweet option!) and the winner will be informed of an early Christmas present on Monday the 23rd!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much to Megan and Becky of W & M for the gorgeous earrings and for being great friends of HerKentucky!