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Cover Image by Jatin Jangid My wife made me return the 24’x18” 2.25” thick Boos Block when I made my first purchase as it took up most of our counterspace☹️ It looked so good and was going to be the centerpiece of my part of the counter and was going to be the start of my John Boos Block Review. Unfortunately, my part of the counter is also where the dishes get staged to go into the dishwasher among other things. So… I reluctantly returned it and got a smaller, more manageable cutting board (below) that I can store in the cabinet just underneath where I work. While it is not the original one, I love my Boos cutting board. Instead of a bigger cutting board, maybe I should be asking for a bigger kitchen😄 Cutting up some fresh vegetables for dinner. We were making pork tacos. Along with loving the cutting board, I am sure you can tell that Mary Beth and I love to cook. There is nothing better than cutting up fresh vegetables. At the time of writing this, for dinner tonight we will be making pork tacos, accented with farm fresh peaches, along with sweet potatoes and corn on the cob (both also farm fresh). I know for many, cooking is a chore and there are definitely some days when it feels like it. However, most days, when we cook, there is a sense of enjoyment, especially when the aroma of what you are cutting and cooking fills the house. Why I Switched from Plastic to Wood I initially made the change from plastic cutting boards to wood based on a lot of research I was reading. The research was stating that tiny pieces of plastic were getting transferred from my cutting board to my food. As a result, I started doing some research on the type of cutting board (as there are many including plastic, bamboo, glass, wood, and composite) I should be using. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Prep time becomes a meditative experience when you remove the noise, leaving only the elegant rhythm of chopping and dicing. There is a quiet luxury to solid wood that changes the entire atmosphere of the kitchen." I landed on wood as it not only looked the nicest, I found it to be very food friendly, as well as great for the longevity of the knives. John Boos Block Review For my John Boos Block review and after selecting wood, there was the choice between End Grain and Edge Grain. The primary difference is End Grain looks nicer (crosscut) and is softer and more forgiving for the very expensive knives you just purchased. However, that also comes with a much more expensive price tag. I settled for the Edge Grain (straight cut) with a walnut finish. I think I still spent about $250 or so on the product but it was at least ½ the price of the End Grain. In the end (no pun intended), I just couldn’t justify the larger price tag but really wanted to buy it. Cutting some fresh sourdough bread with Italian olive oil on a Boos Block. From there, I then needed to select the vendor. After researching a variety of cutting board review sites, Boos Boards kept coming up in the top categories. I then made the decision to move forward with the Boos Block but even then, the decision was overwhelming as I second guessed the End vs Edge grain and then had to decide if I wanted a juice groove catcher or not. We ultimately bought three. I use the Walnut version, my wife uses the Maple version, and we bought a smaller, less expensive one just for bread. We also purchased the Boos Block Food Grade Mineral Oil (called Mystery Oil from what I can tell based on some very old marketing techniques from many years ago) as well as an applicator. Caring for the Board (and Lessons Learned) It is recommended to apply the oil about once a month. I oiled the boards up as soon as I got them. About 2 months later, my wife started to share that her board was getting warped. After consulting with my son and the internet, it turned out that it was just dry and after another application of oil, it bounced back to its original form. All is good and I probably need to do another application soon. Lastly, a great complement to a really nice wood cutting board is a really nice chef’s knife. Unfortunately, I am not in love with the one I have and thus, you won’t be seeing me writing a story about it. I did fall in love with my bread knife and that will be a future post as it cuts bread like its soft butter. I can share that I love taking my Boos Block out of the cabinet and start the cooking process. It becomes an artful experience. I hope you get the same feelings when you make your first cut. Frequently Asked Questions How do you get your cutting board from moving? Wet a paper towel and place it underneath the cutting board. Make sure when you are done, that you dry the wood on the side you did not use to help prevent warping. How do I fix my warped cutting board? A warped cutting board means the wood is dry. This is the best time to add mineral oil to your cutting board. Rub the mineral oil into the board, and let it sit overnight. I place mine on top of a small cardboard box to let it air dry on all sides. I then wipe any excess off with a paper towel. What is the difference between Edge Grain or End Grain wood cutting boards? The primary difference is End Grain looks nicer (crosscut) and is softer and will preserve the sharpness of your knives. End Grain cutting boards are more expensive as a result. Edge Grain cutting boards are less expensive and many chefs use them for some of the messier dishes like working with BBQ or using a serrated knife that may easily damage an Edge Grain softer wood. Start Your Own Boos Block Cutting Board Sensory Experience If you’re curious to start your own Boos Block cutting board sensory experience, I’ve listed my favorite boards below. Give it a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Cover photo by Joanna Kosinska *There is a special discount code at the end of this story* The Search for Better Olive Oil My visit with Louie and Tina at their house. I learned about how they got started on this olive oil journey. Turns out as I was writing this and pulling the links to from the website, I just placed an order for the Tesoro Italian Olive Oil. I had to wait 9 months as the farm had issues with shipping internationally. Now that it is back in stock, it will be in my pantry within the week! My journey to get to these high quality, Italian olive oils didn’t come overnight. This was a long process where I didn’t realize what I was missing until we found Madge & Louie’s. The Tesoro olive oil was the best I ever had. The bottle to the right is an organic version from the same producer. Like many of you, I started out with the olive oil and vinegars that were in the local supermarket and then would buy in bulk when we went to the local wholesale club. From there, we started purchasing olive oil and vinegars from those specialty stores that pop up in the highly popular tourist areas, which for me was in Boston and Newport, RI. Over time, while we were seemingly happy with the olive oils, the vinegars just didn’t taste like what we would get in a nice restaurant. The Love of Italian Olive Oil One day a few years back, we participated in a virtual pasta making class from a great local Italian restaurant in the Worcester, MA area called Volturno. As a part of the pasta we picked up, they shared a small sample of some olive oil. We loved their food (they were the first pizzeria in Massachusetts certified by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana and I figured they had to use some quality ingredients to make the food that good. I decided to give them a call, and they put me in touch with Louie. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Embrace the peppery finish. Take a moment to drink a small amount of the olive oil by itself. That distinct sensation at the back of your throat is sensory proof that you are tasting authentic, high-quality olive oil." Here is where it got interesting. I sent Louie an email asking for a vinegar recommendation and he asked for my phone number to give me a call. From there, we spoke for about 30 minutes with him asking me all sorts of questions around what I was using it for (ie. cooking, salads, bread dipping). We also talked a lot about olive oils during the conversation with Louie asking me questions which led to me buying a few. In addition, Louie also sent me a bunch of small samples to try. This olive oil changed my life in so many ways from feeling better to being the basis for my TEDx Talk. During the conversation, we also spoke about the benefits of olive oil, specifically some of the olive oils that have a very high polyphenol count like Azienda Agricola Le Tre Colonne 1000+ Olisir. While I am not a medical doctor and would encourage you to do your own research, polyphenols help reduce inflammation in the body. This led me to ultimately give it a try. Taking a tablespoon a day, I felt about 10 years younger in about 2 weeks as my body felt so much looser. I even did a TEDx Talk on it called How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life. Meeting Louie and Tina Yesterday (at least at the time of writing this), I had a unique opportunity to meet Louie and his wife, Tina. Tina and Louie run the importing, and Johnny Madge finds the farms/producers. Louie and Tina live about an hour away and I made a special visit to meet them. They were nice enough to have me visit them at their house, which is where they run the business. It was so much fun. I was like a kid in a candy store. Getting to meet Louie and Tina and learn a bit more about their business, how they got started, and even sampling some of their vinegars was a treat to say the least. What a perfect way to end the story with some Italian olive oil for dipping! We first had a tour of the operation. The olive oil is stored in a special temperature-controlled room in the basement with dehumidifiers running constantly. Louie also shared details like purchasing high quality shipping boxes to ensure the product is delivered without damage. Picture of our vinegar tasting in Louie and Tina's house. My favorite was Caterina Balsamic Vinegar. We then walked upstairs to his kitchen where we talked about how they got started. They were on their honeymoon in Italy and the local Innkeeper shared that they should go down to the local olive oil and wine bar run by Johnny Madge. It was at this point in time when the business idea struck and two years later, they were in business. Johnny himself recently got married and moved to Spain where he opened an olive oil and wine bar in Valencia, Spain. He now operates "day" tours in Spain and continues to do week-long tours with Tina and Louie when "Madge and Louie’s" hit the road "off the beaten path" to various locations throughout Italy. Johnny Madge Farm2Table Tours Italy (TripAdvisor). Louie and Tina then offered to do a vinegar tasting with some samples they received from one of their vendors, plus a few of the vinegars I was familiar with and purchased before. After tasting 7 different vinegars, I am happy to say I really liked the one I currently use, Caterina Balsamic Vinegar. The great thing about tasting good quality vinegar is that it doesn’t make your head spin around from the bite. These vinegars are smooth and were very enjoyable. Me holding a bottle of my favorite olive oil, Tesoro, along with wine, Vuaria, from the same producer, FEUDO DISISA Circling back to the Tesoro olive oil. Louie shared with me that the same producer makes wine as well. Once I try it and if it’s as good as I hope, I will share a story on that as well. Elevating Everyday Cooking Fast forward to today, I have a pantry full of these olive oils and vinegars, and it elevated our cooking, salads, and bread dipping. My wife shared with me that this was her favorite of all my purchases. It’s also probably the one that I have spent the most money on since we started a few years ago. And do yourself a favor, ask Louie for some product recommendations. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! 6 Month Update Since initially writing this post, as well as Josephinenhütte Hand Blown Wine Glasses: Review and Sensory Experience, I found that my favorite Olive Oil, Tesoro, which is from FUEDO DISISA in Sicily, Italy, also has a corresponding set of wines, of which I found one of them in my local wine shop (and just got a bottle from my mom for my birthday)! Frequently Asked Questions Are Italian Olive Oils worth it? Absolutely! Especially ones that have been hand selected. As with any farm based product, selecting one from a small producer will create some much more complexity to the flavor of the olive oil, and in turn, the recipe you are making. Do you have a favorite Olive Oil for bread dipping? Yes, TESORO by FEUDO DISISA is by far the best. It has a complexity of flavor that doesn't require any spices to be added like most olive oils. Just dip, taste, and close your eyes to elevate your sensory experience. Where can I purchase the best Italian Olive Oils and Vinegars? I highly recommend Extra Virgin Olio by Madge and Louie's. Madge is an expert in the selection of the Olive Oils and Vinegars and Louie is the local US distributor. Louie can recommend the right product based on your needs. Does a good Olive Oil have a peppery finish Yes, A good olive oil, particularly an extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), has a peppery finish due to the presence of oleocanthal, a natural phenolic compound found in the olive fruit juice. This finish is an easy way to determine the quality of the olive oil. Start Your Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Sensory Experience If you’re curious to start your own Olive Oil and Vinegar sensory experience, I’ve listed my favorites below. Give a few a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

As I look out the window just now, I am watching the tree branches whisk together in the constant wind from today's weather. It reminded me of trying to fly a kite when I was a kid. Each of the kids creating their own Newport kite flying experience at Brenton Point State Park Flying a kite when you are little is one of the great fun, sensory experiences we didn't realize we were having. Most of us were probably trying to fly kites that cost only a few dollars from the local store and tried with all of our might to run as fast as we could to get it up in the air and fly. We would run, and it would fall, and we would try again and again, sometimes in our yards when there was no wind at all. Wind or no wind, the problem most of us experienced was that the kites we were trying to fly were not really designed well. However, if we did get the kite to fly, even for a few seconds, it was the greatest accomplishment of the day, bringing smiles through dinner and stories to our friends that it was flying miles up in the air. Here is the open field outside of our kitchen window. The lack of obstruction causes the wind to whip onto the side of our house. There are a few places I think about when I think of the best places to fly a kite. The first as it turns out is the big open field next to my house, with nothing to slow down the wind, it often whips across the field to the side of our house. We notice it more lately from the windchimes we set up to prevent (unsuccessfully) the woodpeckers from making our house look like Swiss cheese with all of the holes they are creating. The second really windy spot we visit is in Aruba. In the area of Palm Beach, there are trade winds that flow 24 hours a day, which really help the heat feel manageable. Because of these trade winds, there are so many kite and wind surfers which are so much fun to watch. I tried kite surfing once and found it extremely challenging as I kept smashing into the water more than I was standing on the board. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Reconnect with kite flying to experience the joy of curiosity and wonder that comes with your childhood self." The third place, which is going to be the focus of my story is the winds at Brenton Point State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Before I get back to the kites, I would like to spend a few minutes to share my love of Newport. I didn't start going to Newport until I met Mary Beth. She grew up in Rhode Island and her mom, dad, and her would go to Newport on a regular basis for as long as she can remember. On a Saturday morning multiple times a year, they would pack it up the car with a picnic and spend the entire day there. Their favorite spot was at Brenton Point, which boasts a rocky coastline, a view of the island of Jamestown, and a beautiful state park, which is usually full of people just enjoying the weather, view, and a Del's Lemonade. Del's is a Rhode Island staple consisting of a semi frozen (slushy style) lemonade, mixed with the juice and the rind of the lemon, and sugar, served typically by a local high school or college student. There is a Del's Lemonade food truck every time we go to Brenton Point. Of course, Mary Beth and her parents were always in line getting at least a few Del's during their visits. I met Mary Beth at Bryant College (now University) in Smithfield, RI, about 40 minutes from Newport. It wasn't long before I started to visit Newport on a regular basis, sometimes just the two of us, and others with her parents on those same Saturday picnics in the summer, and then with the kids. Newport has so many great activities. Outside of Brenton Point State Park, there is the scenic drive on Ocean Ave (sometimes referred to as Ocean Drive), as it winds around the coastline. On Ocean Ave is the iconic Castle Hill Inn, as well as some beautiful old homes including one owned by Jay Leno. As you drive up from Brenton Point, past Jay Leno's house is what Newport is probably best known for, which is the historic mansions on Bellevue Avenue, with the largest one, The Breakers, at over 65,000 square feet. These mansions are available for tours and weddings (if you can afford it. I heard the average wedding in these mansions cost about $250,000). The Newport Mansions are now a part of the historical society but were once owned by New York's elite like the Vanderbilt and Astor families, until inheritance tax caused many of the children not to be able to afford them. On the opposite side of the mansions is the Cliff Walk, which is a 3-mile paved (mostly) trail on the ocean with one side of a view of the ocean (and view of Middletown) and the other side a view of the mansions. Bowen's Wharf in downtown Newport during the winter off season, which is why it is so quiet on the streets. Newport is also home to a great downtown on the waterfront, with so many boutique shops, restaurants, and bars off of the famous Thames Street. The most famous area is Bowen's Wharf, which is home to one of our favorite restaurants, The Mooring (actually on Sayer's Wharf according to their website, but just a few steps away), and a great tour company around the harbor and island, Sightsailing of Newport. One of their boat captains is also my friend and one of my college roommates, Jeff Sevich. Jeff is the Captain of the Starlight boat, which can host 2-6 guests. With so many great topics on Newport to talk about, maybe I will do a separate post on the Starlight tour, bringing in some of my college memories. Jeff and his wife Nancy (who we also met and became friends with at college), both "retired" 10 years ago and moved full time to Newport and now fix up and rent homes. If you have an interest in staying in the Newport area, I would highly recommend renting one of their two rental properties, Open Concept Beach House and Beach House, both located in Middletown, RI, just one town over from Newport. Emma and me at one of our picnics. For me, I think it's now been 30 years since I have been going to Newport and have so many other places and activities to share in future posts. For this story, I will stick to Brenton Point. I started joining Mary Beth and her parents for the picnic's each year and as we started having kids, the one car ultimately turned into two having to fit 7 people and all of the picnic items. Picnics with her parents were events, not just packing a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Her dad, and now passed on to Mary Beth, would make Italian subs with all of the fixings and chips. We upgraded from a card table to an 8' table, tent, chairs, and a few TV trays to eat off of. This is why we needed two cars. I keep trying to convince Mary Beth that we should bring down the Ooni to make pizza's but in the back of my mind, I know that is a project when we are at home and it would be a bigger challenge for us in a secondary location. We would spend all day there, typically getting there around 11:00 in the morning (following our 90-minute drive from home), usually getting the same spot at the end of one of the parking lots so we could have the extra space on the side to play games or fly kites. Newport Kite Flying Experience Kite flying at Brenton point has a combination of little kids getting their first kites to experienced adults using two hands to do tricks. We did invest in some good quality kites from Newport Kites when the kids were little so they could actually fly the kites. I can remember having to hold the string with one hand while the kids would hold onto the handle because if they let go the kite would certainly fly away, especially being hundreds of feet in the air. Emma running with her kite at Brenton Point State Park As an adult, it was so fun to watch the excitement in our kid's eyes and the smile on their faces when the kite was up in the air. As well, it is also fun to watch the experienced adult kite flyers perform their tricks and realize how much skill is needed to make such beautiful art in the sky. I think the last time we went; I let the string go as far as it could unwind which was really fun to see how high it could go and then spend what felt like hours trying to bring it back to Earth. Newport Kite Festival Every year in July, Newport hosts its annual Kite Festival. This year will be its 40th anniversary, held at Brenton Point State Park. If you want to see a visually spectacular event, spend time with family and friends, take some amazing photos, or just sit in the wonder and awe of kite flying at its best, this festival is for you. And the best part, it's free. This year's festival will be held on July 11-12 at Brenton Point State Park, rain or shine. To plan your event, visit Newport Kite Festival. "I'm changing lives one kite at a time. When families feel the wind's power through a simple string, something profound happens." - Ron Kitt, Festival Director Frequently Asked Questions Is Brenton Point State Park free to visit? Yes, Brenton Point State Park is free. Many families come for large picnics, and every spot has a view of the ocean. Are there trash facilities at Brenton Point State Park? No, it is a carry in, carry out policy. This means that if you have a picnic, your are responsible to bring your own trash bags. Can I buy a kite while I am at Brenton Point State Park? Yes, Newport Kites has a mobile truck right on the field at Brenton Point State Park. What activities are at the Newport Kite Festival? In addition to watching the kites and being near the ocean (what more could you want), there will be a candy drop for the kids to enjoy. Plus, you will be there with your friends and family, so it is bound to be a great time. Start Your Own Kite Flying Sensory Experience If you are looking to reconnect with the wonder of your childhood self, a Newport Kite flying experience will allow you to reach for the sky! Try it today and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Me enjoying a glass of Cabernet with the Josephinenhütte No 3 Glass Cover photo by David Kohler Childhood Memories: Glass Blowing and a Jug of Wine When I was a kid growing up, my best friend, Paul, lived a few houses up from me. Each Christmas, he had a real tree with all hand-blown ornaments in different colors. His Uncle Lennie was a glass blower and made them enough balls to fill the tree and it looked amazing, like a picture from a lifestyle magazine. Fast forward to just 18 months ago, I was in search of finding something special for our 26th wedding anniversary and found a gift rooted in that same craftmanship. That deep appreciation for the art, coupled with the elevated sensory experience is what led to this Josephinenhütte hand blown wine glasses review, but I will get back to the glass blowing in a bit. Just about the same time as my memory serves me about the glass blown Christmas balls, I also have a recollection of going to my grandparents’ house. During those visits, we would sit around the kitchen table, and my grandfather would take out the $2 gallon jug of wine and would pour a glass for every adult. I never remember trying it, but I do remember it smelled awful, not just because I was a kid, but because I think it smelled like vinegar. Our Journey into Wine Fast forward a bunch of years. My wife and I were married in our mid 20’s and we started drinking red wine. We started drinking wine pretty much by default at functions because neither of us really liked hard liquor or beer. For the next 25 years, we slowly started to improve our taste in wine. Unlike a future post where I mention I am a pizza snob; I am nowhere near self-proclaiming myself as a wine snob. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "The Josephinenhütte glass is a work of art. Feel the glass and give it a light ping and notice the pure instrumental note. Notice the kink in the glass. Don't just smell the wine, follow the aromas releasing the hidden notes. Slowly savor the taste, taking a moment of serenity, elevating your sensory experience the way the winemaker intended." Paul read my post and mailed me one of his Uncle Lennie's glass blown Christmas balls. In time, we started to become more interested in wine, being able to tell at least a good wine from a bad wine, and over time, being able to pick up some of the tasting notes for each wine. We went to a few local wineries and started to learn about the growing of the grapes and how even slightly different elevations can make a difference in the taste of the grapes. In two weeks, we are going to the local winery to pick the grapes off of the vines and then taste the same wine. There is so much to learn about wine, and we are by no means experts. About 10 years ago, we bought ourselves a nicer set of wine glasses but nothing out of the ordinary by any means. It probably came from Target or Bed Bath and Beyond. My wife and I both like Cabernet and the wine glasses we purchases were specific to a Cabernet where you could swirl the wine to open it up. I then learned about an aerator and a decanter, both making significant differences in the taste of the wine for the better. This is my wine glass for my side of the couch About a year ago, I had a recollection of a memory from a former colleague who mentioned he traveled with his own very expensive wine glass. I thought he was crazy at the time (but now can appreciate his passion). That got me thinking about doing some research for an upgraded wine glass. As with all of my product research process, I search through multiple product recommendation sites to find some commonality. You have to dig through the ones that just pull from someone else’s site but through lots of time, you can pull out the ones that keep coming up. Hand Blown Wine Glasses This is where the hand-blown (yes, you read that correctly) wine glasses from Josephinenhütte kept coming to the top of the list. After seeing the reviews and then reading more on the website, I was sold. I purchased two Josephine N° 3 glasses for our 26th wedding anniversary and the experience is no less than amazing. So much of the experience in drinking wine is the smell and these wine glasses deliver. There are two aspects between the shape of the glass itself where the smell is captured by the curved shape but there is also the break towards the bottom of the glass that does a phenomenon job in opening up the wine. Our Josephinehutte No 3 Hand Blown wine glasses on our kitchen table overlooking the trees in the background. As I was reading before our purchase, one comment that stuck with me is that these glasses will even make a not-so-great wine taste good…and its true. We even did a taste test with the original glasses and the Josephinenhütte glasses and there is no comparison. Small Details, Big Experience This next part is important. Because the glasses are hand blown, they are thin, and therefore delicate. This means extra special care when in use. It also means my wife won’t let me wash the glasses (partly because of how thin and breakable they are but also because I never did a great job washing the wine glasses). My job is to dry them with the Linen Cloth & Brush Care Set they offer (I have not used the paint brush to dry the very minor spots it comes with). Future purchases (someday) are the Josephine N° 7 Decanter and while I never think I will purchase it, the Josephine N° 5 Water glass. It is really hard to justify a $50 water glass, but I have a really strong feeling that the water will taste 100 times better. I haven’t done any research on it as of yet but if I ever buy it, I will be sure to write about it. Also, there may be a future post about Tequila from a friend of mine, and I am sure the Josephine N° 10 Eau de Vie glasses will make it taste amazing. Me holding a bottle of my favorite olive oil, Tesoro, along with wine, Vuaria, from the same producer, FEUDO DISISA If you want to elevate your wine experience, I highly recommend the Josephinenhütte wine glasses. It will give you the sensory experience of dining at a MICHELIN star restaurant in the comfort of your own home. I would love to learn about your wine glass experience or if you have a favorite small farm or family-owned wine that you are in love with. Cheers! 6 Month Update Since initially writing this post, as well as Italian Olive Oil Review: The Peppery Difference, I found that my favorite Olive Oil, Tesoro, which is from FUEDO DISISA in Sicily, Italy, also has a corresponding set of wines, of which I found one of them, Vuaria, in my local wine shop. Frequently Asked Questions Are Josephinenhütte hand-blown wine glasses worth it? Absolutely! Drinking wine is all about the experience. When you start with a hand-blown wine glass, there is an immediate connection to the glass as it has been made with the love and care of the glass blower, not mass produced. Pair that with your favorite wine from a local producer, and you have elevated your sensory experience. How do you care for your Josephinenhütte wine glasses? We hand wash the glasses with soap and a dish towel, and then hand dry them with the Josephinenhütte Linen Cloth and Brush set. What is your favorite wine to pair with Josephinenhütte hand blown wine glasses? We love drinking wine from small wine producers for the same reason as selecting Josephinenhütte, it is made with the love and care of an individual. We often buy wines based on the recommendations of Simone Linsin, who owns Pecorino Cheese Shop and Fine Wines in Grafton, MA. Her selection is based on all small wineries, mainly from Italy and France. Start Your Own Wine Glass Sensory Experience If you’re curious to start your own wine glass sensory experience, I’ve listed my favorite glasses (as well as a few aspirational ones) below. Give one a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself. Enjoy!

This is the second edition to my job search post. The first one covered how to redefine yourself when your job title is gone and the second post will cover how to treat job searching like a sport (or like you are in sales). Intentional Interview Preparation Me just before the tour of the Amazon facility just north of Hartford, CT. Took the opportunity to learn something new while being out of work. A few minutes ago, I got a rejection letter for a company I had 4 interviews with. I saw it coming as they moved fast and I didn't hear from them for a few days following my fourth interview. It was a pretty cool start up but just not meant to be. Separately, I have a second interview with another company today. The lesson here is to try and have multiple opportunities in the funnel. However sometimes that doesn't always work so the next best thing is to focus on the process. If you are doing all of the little things right, the big things will fall into place. I am a firm believer in this approach, and for that, I am not worried about what is next. In fact, just the opposite. I am excited for what opportunities lie in front of me as I continue to explore new roles and new companies. As referenced in the first part, I initially shared these topics below on LinkedIn but after additional consideration, I thought they would be great to share here as well. It is not required to have a job to create a sensory based lifestyle but there are many aspects of being employed that help. This includes building friendships, sharing a sense of purpose, travel, etc. I hope you enjoy. Do you have a pre-interview routine? Hopefully you do. I am sharing my intentional interview preparation below but would love to learn more about what you are doing as well. This process starts when the interview is secured. Research phase 1) Review company website, learn about company messaging, products, positioning, etc. 2) Ask AI tool the following question> tell me what customers and employees say about this company. Ask follow up questions as needed. Be curious about other topics such as if it's a start up, how does their funding rounds compare to the average. I use the standard free ChatGPT for this but any AI tool will do. 3) Ask AI to provide a SWOT analysis on the company. I like to use Storm by Stamford University for this. I found it to be better than Chat, Claude, etc. However, the new Deep research by Gemini was really impressive. I tried to do it on my last interview but got stuck in the queue so I went back to Storm. 3) Review the job posting again making sure I understand the role as every job has a bunch of nuances including responsibilities and who it reports to. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Visualize yourself being in the role as you are preparing for the interview. Tell yourself I am going to great on this interview. Manifesting can be a great tool in your success." Prep phase 1) Start building out questions for my interview. Page 1 includes a set of questions about the company, the position, and a few about the interviewer itself such as why do you like working for the company or what changes do you anticipate in the next year for your role? In total I try to have 10-15 questions ready. I put stars next to the key questions as I have never got through all 15 in an interview, sometimes I only get one due to time so I make sure it is the most important. 2) Create a second page for interview notes. Make sure I title both pages so not to get the info lost or confused with another role. Day or two before the interview 1) Send an email confirming the meeting, showing I did some research, offer topics of interest and things I can talk about. I usually do this for interviews 2 and after. I always include my resume and cover letter in pdf for their reference. Day of the interview 1) Start with a cold rinse at the end of the shower (to get the blood flowing). Eat walnuts for a snack (for brain clarity). 2) If its an afternoon interview, make sure I eat a light lunch (so not to get the afternoon crash) 3) Set alarm for 30 minutes before and 5 minutes before. At 30 minutes, I do 150 jumping jacks on the rebounder (small trampoline) to get the blood flowing again. Wash face with cold water after (same reason as above). 4) Put on a dress shirt 5) Review some notes and questions again 6) Close my eyes, take a few deep breaths Interview time 1) Join 1 minute before the interview. I always like to be early (and never want to be late) but sometimes there might be technical problems and I want to catch them before the interviewer jumps on. After the interview 1) A few hours later, I send a follow up thank you note. Something simple but try to incorporate something about the interview. Good luck in your interviews. Let me know what your routine is. 11 things I recommend when searching for a job. Me at the Joshua Tree National Park on vacation last year. 1) Get your resume, LinkedIn, and a base cover letter fine-tuned. You can customize the resume and cover letter as needed but for me, I only do very slight adjustments. 2) Be specific on what type of job you are looking for. This will help you focus and as well, help others help you. 3) Be specific on the type of company (ie. big or start up, location, salary range- if they publish it, etc). This will help you focus as well. I have passed on potential opportunities as it wasn’t what I wanted to do and have also bypassed jobs to apply to based on location. I also want to work for a company that is not in the decline. For example, I passed on applying to a role at a company because they losing customers, going through layoffs, etc. 4) Network. Don’t ask people for a job but let them know you are looking, what you are looking for, and have a conversation. Ask them for advice (ie. what was one thing they did to help them land their last job). 5) Apply for jobs selectively. Don’t send out 1,000 resumes as the companies you are applying to are getting 1,000 candidates. Apply for jobs selectively and then network to get your name at the top of the list. This could be emailing the recruiter or hiring manager, connecting to people via LinkedIn, finding 1st level connections who are connected to people at the company, or your previous employer alumni or college alumni. 6) Be mentally strong. This can be a long process and frustrating when you don't get call backs or make any progress. People need to have a mental resilience as they go through this process. 7) Be disciplined in your job search hours. Get up at the same time you would have gotten up for work. Try to keep the same or similar routine. 8) Find a hobby. This will help your sanity. 9) When you do get an interview, do research on that company and build an interview preparation guide with at least 15 questions. Ask simple questions to ChatGPT like what do customers and employees say about this company, is the company growing, stable, etc. Asking AI for a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) about the company will help give greater insight on what questions to ask. 10) The day before your interview, send the person a note with your resume (and cover letter) and outline what you would like to talk about and what you are prepared to talk about. It helps guide the conversation and gives some structure as many interviewers go freeform when interviewing. 11) Take breaks/vacation just like you would if you were working. Please share any additional suggestions or advice! I actually like to interview. Yup, you read that right. One of the things I enjoy most about the interview process is learning about other companies. Being in sales for most of my career, I always spent time learning about the companies I was calling on. From a pure business perspective, you become a student of the company you are supporting. The same is true in the interview process. I have interviewed with a wide range of companies, mostly in the software space, but not exclusively. I learned about companies that sell help desk software, affiliate marketing software, retail advertising auctions, cloud storage, insurance underwriting software, security software, marketing services, healthcare third party administration, mortgage processing software, and most recently, supply chain transparency. Being out of work allowed me to learn so many new industries and topics I wouldn't have necessarily explored otherwise. My Advice to the Job Seeker Reframe the idea of searching for a job to an opportunity to learn something new. This will help drive an improved positive mental outlook, which will help in your search. There are no right answers, but I thought you may benefit from this post. If you are currently employed but know someone that is out of work, please share. Also, as mentioned in the beginning of this story, if you missed the first post, Career Transition Intentional Practice Method, it covered one of my favorite topics, do I search for a job or do I go out an play? Do these posts resonate and if so, what lessons learned, or advice can you share?

While I have been completely open on LinkedIn about me being out of work, I actually haven't posted about it on Rooted & Refined Living. Mainly, I didn't believe there was a fit as this site is about sensory based products, lifestyle tips, and intentional living, not the grit of the job search or career transition. Me and Franklin hard at work. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was value in me pulling out some of my LinkedIn posts and sharing them here. As I reread a few of the posts I shared on LinkedIn, I decided to group them together in 2 posts. The first section (below) will cover how you redefine yourself when your job title is gone and the second post will cover how to treat job searching like a sport or if you are a salesperson. You will notice I reference this website a few times below as these posts were originally published on LinkedIn. Do I search for a job or do I go out and play? That is the question for today (and most days) as I continue to have an internal struggle to come up with an answer. I am sure there is balance, and I have done some of it already. As you know, I have been active in the job search, but I have also taken some time for myself. The question that keeps coming up is what is the right balance? The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Job Searching can test your resolve. Balancing the search with a hobby can create the mental clarity needed between interviews." I was fortunate to get severance and a few months of subsidized medical coverage but come October (it is now February and I have 2 weeks left), the cost of medical, dental, and eye for a family of 5 in the US is $2,754 (now $3,106 in 2026) through Cobra and I am searching for additional options. I do have a nest egg to carry me through a bit, and my mortgage has been recently been paid off 😀 which pretty much gets replaced by the Cobra payment 🙁. We also somehow spend a lot of money whether it be on car repairs, car insurance, helping the kids with some expenses, going out, etc. (As I am proof reading this post now, I have a plumber working upstairs as we needed a new garbage disposal, along with a clogged pipe. These are more reasons needed to get a job as I anticipate the cost to be ~$600. Mary Beth does not work but can if we need to. You get the point, life is expensive and with no income, it sometimes can get unsettling. On the flip side, this is the first time in 30 years I have been out of work and recognize more than ever that time is precious. I have taken a planned vacation (to Kauai which prompted the start of this website) and a 2-day trip up to Maine doing some hiking with Michael. I have taken the time to do some yard work (probably not enough) as well as some exercise like a hot yoga class. I am also in the process of creating a blog website (check!) on product recommendations and separately started posting my job search videos on TikTok which freaked my kids out a bit when I came up on their feed (which I will include here on this site as well in the future). My routine hasn't changed much. I still get up at 6AM, exercise and start "work" around 8AM just like when I was employed. I also finish up most days around the same time around 6PM. I do all of the normal job search activities such as networking, applying to specific jobs and being targeted in my outreach, watching videos to learn job search techniques, more networking, etc. So back to a few questions. Could I take some time off? Yes Am I taking enough time off? Probably not Am I doing enough for the job search? Yes, but like being in any job, you can always do more Should I retire? Definitely not ready to do so and I think Mary Beth would kill me if I did without a real hobby to replace my time (good thing I have this website now)! Ultimately, I am sharing this as I presume others are, or have been, or will be in the same position. There are obviously no right answers, but I do know that I want to make sure I have a healthy mix between the two. Good luck in your search if you are in the same position. "I am practicing for retirement"😃 Not quite retired but this is a great view of Lake Tahoe on a trip with some friends. That is a great way to say I am out of work, but the more I have been thinking about it, the more I believe that what I am doing now is a practice run for when I retire. I don't have a specific time period on when I plan to retire but I know it is not now and not in the foreseeable future. For example, I didn't have a real hobby and now I created a lifestyle blogging website. But I am also doing other things including: - Created 40 videos on tips to get a job based on my current search process. - Held a class on how to get a job like a salesperson - Volunteering as a student advisor for an international business 400 level capstone course - Went white water rafting - Climbed a mountain - Went on vacation and toured a Cacao Farm (coolest thing ever) - Went on multiple hikes and bike rides - Started reading again (on audio) - Did a bit more gardening and yard work - Went to a Celtics pre-season game only to be surprised they were filling a Mark Wahlburg movie, "Weekend Warriors" during halftime. So cool to be "a part of a movie" so to speak. I am sure there are other things, but the point is, I am enjoying being out of work. It has given me time to recharge and take advantage of the time away. Because I know when I start working again, I won't have the freedom to just take the afternoon off whenever I feel like it. "Career Transition: What I have learned from being out of work" Some of these aren't necessary new learnings but great examples of human spirit like the first point on my list during your career transition. 1) People are inherently good. So far, 125 people have gone out of their way to help me with specific referrals, introductions, etc. I really appreciate every act of kindness people shared. 2) Society defines introductions when you meet people by "what do you do for work"? The question makes you think about how we define ourselves as our job shouldn't define us. At some point we will all retire and you will need to answer the question to yourself. 3) Being unemployed can test your resolve. If you don't know by now, I am an optimistic person. Even for me, while I have the utmost belief that my skills are valued in the marketplace, the unknown world of the impact of AI has given me doubt at times- even as I continue to learn as much as I can about it. My Advice to the Job Seeker Take a few weeks off after your time at your company ended. This will allow for the mental and physical reset to enable the creativity to flourish. Next, find a hobby to occupy your time as there are only so many roles you would be interested in applying for. The rest of your time needs to be filled with things you like to do outside of work. It will help keep your sanity. There are no right answers, but I thought you may benefit from this post. If you are currently employed but know someone that is out of work, please share. Do these posts resonate and if so, what lessons learned, or advice can you share?

This is part two to help anyone looking to start their own business, or specifically, looking to help their kids start one of their own. If you missed the first post, it will help with context to read this next section. As a disclaimer, these Start a Side Hustle posts were accurate at the time of publish, about 5 years ago. The costs and fees from sites like eBay are now meant to be directional and educational, not factually accurate today. Michael at one of his early Farmers Markets. Chapter 5) Understanding Product Costs to Start your Side Hustle Assigning costs to a product is critical but can be challenging at times. For example, how do you assign the cost of flour to your first batch of cupcakes when you only use a portion of the package? In the last chapter we discussed the marketplace place costs and to make sure you fully understand every cent you are being charged by the marketplace companies like eBay and Etsy. In this chapter we will review your product costs. Depending on what you choose to sell, your product costs can vary greatly. For example, if you are just starting out and want to see if this is something you even want to do, you may opt to sell one of your personal items such as the clothes from your closet or some old toys or miscellaneous items lying around the house. On the other hand, you may need to buy the raw materials to assemble your product such as making cupcakes or handmade items like soap. Understanding the product cost is so important so you don't lose money every time you make a sale. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Tell a story with the product or service you are selling. It's not just a widget, but how can it help the person and how does it make them feel when they use it." To keep things simple, I will use an example of making cupcakes with the ingredients of flour, sugar, and eggs. I know you need more ingredients to make cupcakes but for this example we are going to use just three. We are also going to make 5 batches of 12 cupcakes or 60 total cupcakes. To make 60 cupcakes we are going to need 2 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of sugar, and 6 eggs (I am making this up as I go and recognize that this is not how you make cupcakes). So off to the store we go to buy our ingredients and the costs are listed in the below chart. Cost Item Size Cost per Purchase Calculation for your reference Flour $5.00 5 Pound Bag $1.00 per pound $5.00 / 5 pounds = $1.00 per pound Sugar $3.00 10 Pound Bag $.30 per pound $3.00 / 10 pounds = $.30 Pound Eggs $3.00 12 Eggs per Carton $.25 per Egg $3.00 / 12 Eggs = $.25 per Egg Total $11.00 As we leave the store, the total costs were $11.00. Now we are going to figure out how much it is going to cost for our first 5 batches of cupcakes. Item Cost per purchase Amount Needed to make 60 Cupcakes Total Cost to make 60 Cupcakes Calculation for your reference Flour $1.00 per pound 2 Pounds $2.00 $1.00 x 2 Pounds = $2.00 Sugar $.30 per pound 2 Pounds $.60 $.30 x 2 Pounds = $.60 Eggs $.25 per Egg 6 Eggs $1.50 $.25 x 6 Eggs = $1.50 Total $3.10 As we have now purchased all our items and made all the calculations, it will cost $3.10 to make 60 cupcakes or just $.05 per cupcake. So, as we look to set our price for the cupcakes, we can sell each cupcake for $.25 and make a profit of $.20 per cupcake. When Matthew first started out selling his LEGO Storm Trooper minifigures, we didn't capture all the costs correctly. For his first 7 transactions, we initially thought he was making a good profit but soon realized we missed a cost of one of the components of his sale. This resulted in a profit of $.16 on $300 in sales. When we realized the error, he updated his selling price to make sure he was making money on each sale. It was much easier with selling Michael's photography and understanding the costs of each printed photo. We went to a local photography store and printed out the photos and had each of them mated. The cost was about $12 per photo, and he sold them for $35 at the craft fairs, making a profit of $23 per photo. Chapter 6) Keeping Your Costs to a Minimum Underestimating startup costs is the single biggest reason small businesses fail. Get creative on spending money as you get started. Shipping costs can be expensive but there are ways to mitigate the costs. Family and friends will help if you ask. You will be surprised as to the lengths people will go to help others. When it's time to start a business, you may be in the position where you can be one of the lucky ones where your only cost is your time and all of the materials or service-related costs are all free. Most of us are not in that position and even if you are on the opposite end of that situation where money is no object, managing costs should always be a focus. You may have heard small businesses burn through cash at a very fast rate, and more specifically, faster than you can bring in sales. Typically, the problem all entrepreneurs and small business owners underestimate is how fast their product will fly off the shelves and they will be a huge success. The reality is selling anything is hard and often harder that you may think. As a result, figuring out how you can save money from the moment you think of your idea, the better you will be. Matthew has impressed me from the moment he started in that he was always looking to not spend money when he was selling his LEGO mini figures on eBay. I would watch him be relentless in only using as little shipping tape as he needed (even when it was my shipping tape and he wasn't paying for it). As he would pack the envelopes, he would reuse small clear bags he got from LEGO sets he bought for his personal use. If I was in his position at his age, I probably would have raided my parents Ziplock bag section and used those bags not thinking about the costs. Matthew recreated the Millennium Falcon from spare LEGO bricks. As Matthew started to sell larger sets, he needed to use shipping boxes. If you look to buy boxes at the store, a single box can run $1.00-$5.00 per box depending on the size. Those are costs he didn't want to spend and would leverage the shipping boxes we would get from Amazon or Target. At a point where this becomes a full time business, he may then need to buy boxes that show his brand or at the very least not someone else's. Until then, these are free boxes our family collects on a regular basis from all of our personal online ordering. Conversely, if you happen to be one of the few who doesn't order online, as we were running low at one point, I reached out on Facebook to one of the local town groups and asked for boxes. The offers came pouring in and we made arrangements to pick them up. We also asked family members and had to ultimately tell them to stop as we were getting too many too quickly and we did not have a place to store them. We also got help from friends, specifically with Michael's photography business. Since he was selling at craft fairs, one of our college friends offered to make him shirts and a table cloth with his logo on it. She also noticed he loves wearing hats and he now has touch of nature logo hats as well. The offer was generous and unexpected and really appreciated by our entire family. Matthew also got shirts made for one of his LEGO events he participated in last year. It's fun to see their brand on merchandise. Again, do not underestimate your costs and try to find ways to mitigate or reduce your costs every step of the way. Chapter 7) Choosing the Right Company Name Pick a name that relates to your product or service. You want to make sure the customer can easily identify what you are selling. Names can be changed over time. The original name of Yahoo was Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web. Picking a name for your company can be really easy or insanely difficult. For those of you who are old enough to remember the Yellow Pages, company names that started with the letter A were often picked first when someone was looking up the need for a service like a plumber. Many people would just pick the first name they saw and as a result "AA Affordable Plumbing" was coming to your house to fix your leaky sink. There are lots of different opinions on picking a company name. Some will say you should create a brand new name such as what Google did while others suggest picking a name that has symbolic meaning such as Nike. Other scenarios including how Starbucks got their name was from a character in the book Moby Dick. Most likely you don't have the marketing dollars to build your brand so make it relevant to what you are selling or personal to you to make it more meaningful. For Matthew, he picked his name, Summerfield's Toys, after his favorite stuffed animal, Summerfield. With Michael, his business was selling nature photography and we tossed around a few names before picking touch of nature photography by michael fiore. He wanted all lowercase for the way it was printed on any documents. In the case of my family's former business, Fiore Brothers, the simplest idea is to just name it after you. There are two other things to consider, uniqueness and is it available across all social platforms. For uniqueness, find out if the name is already taken. For example, picking the name Tony's Pizza, will be one of hundreds around the country and difficult to differentiate your pizza from someone else named Tony. The other recommendation is to google your proposed name on all of the major search engines as well as the major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You want to make sure nobody has your name already. Matthew's first logo, he initially changed it to Summerfield's Bricks to align more to selling LEGO sets and bricks. Chapter 8) Creating a Logo Match a logo that fits your brand, product or service. It is also important to have it fit your personality. Consider the future possibilities of your business growing. You do not want to be limited by your logo. Leverage free sites or friends to help with logo creation. You might not be creative but someone you know might be. Picking the right logo for your company can be daunting. Do you want it to be just words or a picture or something abstract or all of the above?. As well, do you want it to match your company name or limit it to just the one product or service you are selling?. There are lots of decisions to think about and hopefully this post will help offer some ideas to simplify the confusion. The first question you need to answer is to design the logo around your company name or the product. My preference is the company name as over time you may have more than one product or service. You also want it to fit your personality as well as your brand's personality. For example, if you are a very artistic person who is selling flowers, you may want lots of bright colors in your logo. When Matthew was deciding on a logo, he asked a friend in his class and she was nice enough to give him a few options. After just a few minor adjustments, his logo was ready to go. For Michael, he initially did not have one but as he started participating in more craft fairs, his sister Emma made him a big poster board with his name on it with a big tree. Over time, we combined a few free photos we saw on the internet and came up with the tree and camera logo. Michael's logo for touch of nature. He later created his own logo for his next business venture. Chapter 9) Getting Started with Social Media Pick one or two social media sites to get started. Start where you may have lots of personal connections. Using social media can be very beneficial but takes some work. Set the pages as a business that is linked to your personal account. Just like everything in life, getting your social media site up and running and growing takes work, a lot of work. This post will cover some of the challenges we experienced in getting subscribers and followers and hope you have better success than we did. To give you an idea of how challenging it may be to grow your followers, here is a quick story. A few years back I taught a college level class on information systems and analytics at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. The students' assignment was to work in groups of 4, pick something on campus to take pictures of, post on Instagram and grow their subscribers and user engagement (likes and comments). Many of the students thought this was an easy assignment as they had many personal Instagram followers. As they picked their theme, which included pictures of scenic campus pictures, sports, and even campus food, they quickly found it wasn't easy to grow followers. In the 6 weeks we ran the assignment, they got up to about 250 followers at the high end. One of the more popular sites was the pictures of the campus food, but while they got to an early and wide lead over the other groups, they struggled to grow once they hit 200. The reason I created the assignment in the first place was based on the experience Matthew and Michael had with their sites. They both have Facebook and Instagram sites but topped out at about 175 subscribers on Instagram and 50 or so on Facebook. It was hard to gain users organically by just posting. After you get some friends and family to subscribe, getting actual followers is a lot of work and something I myself am not skilled at, nor are my kids if you will believe that. For a while I was posting pictures every day for both of them. Posting pictures for Michael was easy as I was pulling from his collection. However, after I went through the really good photos, it was hard to pick through the rest to post. After a while he lost some interest in taking photos and I got frustrated with the lack of subscriber growth. With Matthew, he took a few pictures that I used, and I took the rest from his personal collection. Same thing happened with Matthew's Instagram and Facebook pages where we couldn't get the subscribers to grow. My assumption is content is king and our pictures along with the hashtags just didn't connect with the audience to get the algorithm to work in their favor. After all these experiences, they still post every once in awhile but not often. My advice to those who are starting a business is to keep trying, especially if you are dependent on social media to grow your following. Try different strategies like a few hashtags or lots of hashtags, but most of all, make sure the content (ie pictures) look great. I hope these two posts gave you inspiration to start your own side hustle or help your child get started in their own business. Let me know if you have any questions and how it's going.

This post is for anyone looking to start their own business, or specifically, looking to help their kids start one of their own. Michael standing at the top of some rocks after a hike in Acadia National Park A few years ago, I started my first blog site, Bringing Hobbes To Life. It was a play on words from my favorite comic strip growing up, Calvin and Hobbes, and the word hobbies, which both my boys, Matthew and Michael, created businesses from. I documented the process we went through to start a side hustle. While the website is no longer active, I printed out each of the blogs before I shut it down and had saved them in a filing cabinet. With the help of AI, I scanned them into a file and then had pulled the text out. I made a few grammatical updates, but these two posts (Part 1 and Part 2) are all in their original form. As a disclaimer, these posts were accurate at the time of publish, about 5 years ago. The costs and fees from sites like eBay are now meant to be directional and educational, not factually accurate today. About Almost 30 years ago when I was I high school, I had my first interest in starting my own business but could never figure out what I wanted to sell. As high school passed, and then college and work and family, the idea of a business just never materialized. Then a few years ago, my oldest son Matthew wanted to make extra money (at the time he was 14) and started selling LEGO mini figures on eBay. Then my middle son Michael started selling his photography at local craft fairs when he turned 14. Both were very successful and as of this initial post, have sold over $36,000 with a net profit of over $12,000. In both cases, I shared as much knowledge as I could to help them be successful, all of which I will share in the following post chapters. (Update- Total sales were $60,000+). The posts will share my lessons learned, both the good and the bad of how to start and grow your side hustle. What this is not going to be is a site to start your own business to go public but how to leverage your passion, sell something profitably, and just have fun. The name of my blog, Bringing Hobbes to Life, has a dual purpose. The phrase is both the idea of taking your hobby and doing something with it and it is in honor of one of my favorite comic strips as a kid, Calvin and Hobbes, where 6-year-old Calvin has many real-life adventures with his stuffed animal tiger, Hobbes. My hope is you find the site helpful. Chapter 1) Finding Your Passion- Start a Side Hustle Your passion is something you probably like doing already. For example, do you like to cook, organize, build, fix, write, create, draw, shop, design, or have a specific style that is unique? Picking a side hustle can be a product you create (baking cupcakes) or buying and reselling (clothes) or a service you offer (resume writing). Engage the advice of family and friends. The people closest to you may have ideas for you to get started, and they may even be willing to help out! Matthew getting his first shipment of LEGO sets to break apart and resell. As early as I can remember, my dad was sharing tips with me on business related items such as learning about income statements, making decisions and strategic planning. I took those lessons and have enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) a career in sales and now sales management helping others succeed. I will focus my posts based on what I learned helping my two boys start their own businesses. They started from scratch and built profitable and successful businesses for them to earn money. Now it can be your turn. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Follow the lead of your child." About My Family I have been happily married to my wife Mary Beth for 21 years and have three kids. Our oldest Matthew has three passions in life- Star Wars, Marvel and LEGO. Our middle son, Michael, took an early interest in nature photography and also loves WWII history. Emma doesn't have an interest in starting her own business (yet) but loves interior design. Passion Matthew started selling post cards on eBay after getting a few lessons from his Uncle Mike who gave him a box of post cards to get started. Matthew spent hours on my eBay account posting one card after the next selling them for $.50 to $1.00. After getting a few sales Mike moved him up to selling books and he also made a few sales doing that. As he was selling both post cards and books, This is what Matthew's LEGO area typically looks like. Matthew started to list and sell some of his LEGO mini figures. It turns out they sold pretty quick, but he also quickly ran out of mini figures of his own he wanted to sell. One day we were driving to a Salvation Army store looking for used books for him to sell, and as we were leaving the store he complained about how much trouble it was selling books, with issues around having to box them up and go to the post office (which became my job) as they sometimes didn't fit in the mailbox. He sat in the car and said "I just want to sell LEGO mini figures. You don't need to worry about them breaking in the mail and I can leave them for the mail carrier to pick up in our mailbox at our house". So from that point forward he started selling LEGO and ultimately creating his own blog site, Summerfields Toys (which is no longer active). Michael had a different business trajectory. He always had a creative eye for taking photos, usually at the point of view of very low to the ground and would go around taking pictures with my camera (and his own). At the age of 11, He got a small point and shoot camera and joined the photography club in middle school. He would also take some pictures during family vacations. Mary Beth and I picked out a few of his pictures and made coasters out of them for our family room table and a friend of Mary Beth's commented on the photos and how unique they were. She suggested we go and sell at this large local craft fair called stART of the Street in Worcester, MA. So we took some time to pick out about 30 photos, went to a local store, Westboro Art and Frame, and they helped us narrow down to about 10 pictures we printed for sale. We did some research on selling photography at craft fairs and 3 years ago, he sold his first pictures to non-family members validating to him that his eye for taking pictures was a talent to develop. Michael's photos are on display at Slice of Heaven cafe in Jamestown, RI As for me, I always wanted to start my own business growing up but could never find the right product to sell. As it turns out, helping our boys start their own business helped me satisfy that itch, and had the great benefit of spending great time with them. I also am leveraging the editing skills of my dad so this has become a full circle family side hustle. Chapter 2) Start Small with Little to No Monetary Investment Test your idea by starting small. Can you sell or create something from the contents in your home? Big ideas can start small. Even if your plans are grand, think how you can sell a few items to start and see how it goes. Borrow from your parents (if you are a kid looking to start out). Parents, make sure you pay your kids the profit right away to keep their interest. After Matthew decided that he wanted to sell LEGO mini figures, we sat down and tried to figure out what to sell. He shared with me that the mini figures can sell, specifically the Star Wars Storm Troopers, which people need to build an army of them. Unfortunately, when you buy a set, it may only come with 2 or 3 storm troopers and to build an army, one would have to buy lots of sets and get other parts they weren't interested in as much. As a result, we bought 5 sets of LEGO 75165, Imperial Trooper Battle Pack. It came with two stormtroopers and two Imperial Death Troopers. He opened all 5 sets and sold the troopers initially in lots of 5, meaning a person would have to buy 3 sets to get 5 troopers. His offer wasn't unique to those who sold LEGO as we would periodically see similar offers on eBay but his was the cheapest. His goal was not to maximize profit but just to make some money and have fun doing it. As the mini figures sold, we started buying more and offering larger lot sizes of 10 and 20. We had a great formula for success until the product was discontinued and he had to look at other ways to sell LEGO. Matthew's initial investment was less than $100 and based on what was selling he was making about 30% profit. Michael getting read for his first craft fair the night before Michael's photography start up costs were a bit more financially expensive. It was recommended that for his initial craft fair, which attracts 30,000-50,000 people he should get two of each picture, with matting and 3 of the photos we framed as 11x14. As we learned pictures are a challenge to sell as the buyer has to have an idea of where they are going to hang it and of course the buyer has to like the photo before buying it. The are now hanging in our house as after 2 years we couldn't sell those at the price worth making any money. We spent about $400 initially to fund his pictures and he sold about $700 worth his first showing, some from family and friends but many from strangers which helped validate that he had a talent that was just starting to materialize. In both cases, we made sure we captured all the costs, including all eBay and PayPal fees for Matthew and the craft fair fees and PayPal fees for Michael. After all costs were documented on a spreadsheet, we paid the boys the profit on each product they sold, not waiting until they sold enough to break even. This was a big motivator for both kids to continue to sell as they were seeing immediate satisfaction. Depending on what you want to sell, your initial investment may vary. For example, if you are making cupcakes, it may only cost you a few dollars for ingredients. If you are creating a blog site like this one, the costs can range from $50-$500 depending on the option you choose to set up the site. My recommendation is to start as cheap as possible to keep costs as low as you can. Regardless of what you choose to start, make sure you document your costs by item such as cost of flour and to get as granular as possible such as a bag of flour will make 10 dozen cupcakes. Then, take the cost and divide by 10 and that's how much the cost of flour is for you to make 1 dozen cupcakes. This will help greatly in the future to make sure you are selling at a profit. Chapter 3) Setting Up An Online Marketplace Pick the marketplace that fits your product. Selling art and handmade items sell best on Etsy while eBay is great for selling just about anything else. For more advanced users Amazon and Walmart offer marketplaces for general items. Specialty items such as LEGO also sell really well on sites like BrickLink and Brickset. Check to see if there is a specialty marketplace for your product. Pick one marketplace to start and learn as much as you can about it. Each site has its own unique features, benefits, and rules. Understand the costs to sell. Is there a listing fee, how much is the site taking per sale/transaction, etc? Online marketplaces are great as they connect the seller (you) with millions of potential customers. Sites like eBay have close to 200 million registered users on its site with 10's of millions active every day. Michael at his second craft fair in Worcester, MA, stART at the Station (help at the Union Train Station) The key is how do you get started. This section will not review the sign up details but things we experienced as we were starting out on eBay and Etsy. Details matter and making sure each section of your product is filled out is critical. The algorithms (just a fancy word for how the software makes decisions) are based on many factors one of which is did you complete the entire product section with things like color, shipping dimensions, and pictures- don't forget pictures. The better the picture the better your selling experience will be. If you can include more than one picture, it will help your chances of getting higher in the search and give the prospective buyer a better understanding of what you are selling. The other major thing we have learned, especially pertaining to eBay (but I am sure for the other sites as well) is that engagement matters. It is not the type of platform where you set it up once and just watch the orders come flowing in. You have to be on it constantly, and in my opinion at least once a day in some form to have the algorithm see you are engaged (most social media platforms work in a similar way also). First, I will cover what did not work for us, mainly using the experience of my son Michael in setting up and maintaining his online Etsy store. Michael is the true definition of an artist who only wants to take pictures and has no interest in any other side of the business. The business part is what I enjoy and with my help, I set him up on Etsy. Etsy charges $.20 per listing per quarter or $.80 per year. In all, not that much if you are selling a bunch of items. The nice thing about Etsy and eBay is you can increase your quantity and still only pay the one listing fee. With handmade or art based items, descriptions are key as the user has to search on a key word that describes your item. For Michael, his business was called touch of nature photography and he had photos and a few we turned into notecards. I played around with the search engine optimization (SEO) words on the Etsy site, but he wasn't getting very many hits. Except one day he got his first and only sale online and it turned out to be a great one. The sale itself was only $10 for a digital print of a dam in our hometown. However, the person who bought it worked for the Massachusetts State House Library, and it was featured in 2019 in their summer display about Waterways of Massachusetts in the State House in Boston. It will also be archived in the State House library forever. It was a pretty cool and unexpected result from just a $10 sale. However, with that being his only sale, and trying multiple approaches to get his product sold, we opted to pull the listing after a year and focus solely on craft fairs which have turned out to be very successful for him. Michael's photos on display at the Massachusetts State House Library in 2019 Conversely, Matthew has had a tremendous amount of success selling on eBay and the LEGO specific site of BrickLink. Selling LEGO, or any defined product, is a bit easier as there is already a set name and number that people search. Plus there are ways eBay makes it easier to list similar products which copies over all of the relevant data. Another key factor for success is listing the product on eBay as they recommend. For example, if eBay states the product is best sold at $7.50, if you sell for more than that, it may not sell as well because eBay will put it further down in the search listing. Conversely if you offer it for a lower price, you may get a better chance at selling but may also lose out on potential revenue. My recommendation is to always use what eBay states, at least in the beginning so you can build up your site and customer credibility until you gain the knowledge of what works and what does not. The last thing you absolutely need to understand is the platform fees. eBay recently moved to Managed Payments which ultimately cuts out their partnership with PayPal. In doing so, it costs 12.5% plus $.30 per transaction. The 12.5% is on most products but each selling category (ie toys may be different than books) is different. You may also get charged a listing fee of $.30. I have not seen it recently but when Matthew first started he had to pay listing fees. As an example, if you sell something for $10.00, it will cost you $1.25 (which is 12.5% of $10.00) plus $.30 for a total of $1.55 just to get started. However, if you sell something for $1.00, it will cost you $.125 plus $.30 for a total of $.425 just to get started plus you have to factor in the cost of the item and if there are any shipping costs and listing fees. This is just a quick overview as I wanted to give you something to think about as you start to plan your selling strategy. Chapter 4) Understanding Marketplace Costs Understanding selling costs from the marketplaces like eBay and Etsy can be confusing but it is possible to figure out. This blog post will help. We are going to cover just one tip because it is so important to understand and get right. If you miscalculate, you could be losing money on every sale and not know it. My goal is to prevent you from getting into that situation. In this example, I will explain the selling structure of eBay and their new Managed Payments program. The costs that will be outlined are for most products, but you will need to check the actual costs for each item category you are selling. For example, selling books and toys are in two different categories and as such, the selling costs are different. In most categories including toys which is where Matthew's LEGO sets fall under, the cost of the category is 12.5% plus $.30 per transaction. So if you sell a product for $10.00 it will cost you $1.25 ($10.00 x .125) right? Not quite . eBay charges 12.5% on the total of the sale of the product, the shipping that the buyer paid and the tax that was collected, which varies by state (some states do not charge tax). At the time of this article being written eBay collects tax from 44 states in the US. For us to get the complete picture of how much your sale will cost, let us use the following example costs. For simplicity, we are going to say you are selling something you already own and as a result, the cost of the product is zero. You list and sell the product on eBay for $10.00 and you charge $2.76 for shipping. The buyer also lives in a state where they charge tax of 6% or $.60 ($10.00 x $.06). The total costs can be summarized as follows: Item Cost Product sale $10.00 Shipping cost $2.76 Sales tax $.60 Total cost $13.36 Based on this chart the buyer will pay eBay $13.36. One nice thing about eBay, and I assume all of these marketplace sites, is they collect the tax and pay the government tax on your behalf. This saves the seller a lot of time not having to process and pay sales tax. However, while they take care of the sales tax, they still put it in the calculation when they charge you for the sale of your product. Adding one more column to the chart above, the costs eBay will charge you in their Managed Payments program is as follows: Item eBay fee at 12.5% Cost Product sale $1.25 Buyer's shipping cost $.345 Sales tax $.075 Total cost $1.67 Transaction fee $.30 eBay's fee $1.97 In this specific example, the eBay fee is $1.97 ($13.36 x .125 plus $.30) on a product sale of $10.00 or 19.7% of the product sale. The 19.7% is much different from the 12.5% you might have been expecting and why it's so important to understand the marketplace costs so you don't lose money on the sale. When Matthew first started selling on eBay, we really did not pay attention to the costs. We knew there was a listing fee at the time of $.30 per item when he was selling the post cards but that was about it. Since he was under 18 at the time, the account was in my name and I let him list and sell. All was going great up until I got a monthly invoice from eBay. It came as a shock to me that I owed eBay $42 and it was automatically deducted from my PayPal account at the time. I quickly started to learn about the costs eBay (and PayPal at the time) charges on each sale and built a spreadsheet to track our progress. I also helped him by building out a second tab that he could input some sample data to identify how much profit he was making on each sale. To continue how to start your own side hustle, or help a child get started, please read chapters 5-9 at Start a Side Hustle: The Family Business Method- Part 2.

Photo by Sid Saxena "Disclaimer: This article shares personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not replace professional medical consultation." I am not an avid reader. I wish I was but never truly enjoyed reading (until I found a few purpose and longevity books that I will share below). I do recall going to visit bookstores and the library on many occasions where I would walk in and wish I could absorb all of the great information by osmosis. When I was growing up, my schools didn't require a lot of reading either. I remember reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller but that was about it. In fact, most of my time was spent reading the daily comic strips in the newspaper with my favorite being Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. If you don't know about Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin is a 6-year-old boy and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger but comes to life in his imagination and they do great things together as well as get in a bit of trouble. I miss that strip and now pick up a daily dose on Facebook. You can also pick up the books as individual or the complete collection on Amazon. Balancing my love for Calvin and Hobbes, I have fallen in love with two books that I would recommend to anyone. More importantly, these two book recommendations are rooted in everything we do within this lifestyle website. The first book focuses on your purpose and the second focuses on your longevity, and honestly both go hand in hand. Purpose and Longevity Books The first of the intentional living books is Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Simon gained popularity around the world from his TED Talk on the same topic. The book helps you understand why your why is so important. Basically, it's your purpose in life. Simon created a company around it called the Optimism Company. The company's why is "We are here to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better." This video catapulted Simon Sinek to a household name. Even if you watched it before, it's a great reminder to help center yourself and your purpose in life. To give you a personal example, I like to help others. Very early in my career, I started mentoring colleagues and still do so today. I also spent a few years as an Adjunct Professor which I loved and hope to be able to do it again in the future. As well, I was a TEDx speaker on a topic of personal productivity, wrote a blog series on it, and even created a Udemy course about it. I post an article each year around college graduation on advice from others in the business world, both experienced and recent graduates. These last few items are pinned to my LinkedIn profile if you would like to know more. So regardless of what action I am taking, if I can relate it back to helping people, such as this starting this website, it aligns to my why. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Think back to your favorite book as a child. Take a trip to your local library and find a quiet place to read it. Settle into the emotions of how it makes you feel. Enjoy the elevated sensory experience." The second book is The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner. The book chronicles 9 regions around the world that have a significantly higher than average life expectancy. Dan, originally highlighted the regions with a blue marker on a map, hence the name, visited each region and interviewed many of the individuals who were well into their 90's, 100's and beyond. Dan Buettner's approach is no special diets, no fad exercise routines...just simple movement, eat beans, and socialize. There were a few key themes that emerged from his book including movement (walking, gardening, exercise) and eating a plant-based diet, with a strong focus on beans based on their combination of supplying protein, fiber, and other key nutrients at a very low cost. Two of the other key factors was having purpose (such as volunteering, helping others, i.e.- finding your why) and connection, such as having good friends. Driven from much of what I read in the Blue Zones, I have a mindset to live to at least 100. Hiking in Stowe, Vermont I turned 50 last year, and people look at me funny when I tell them I’m at least five years away from my midpoint. Yup, my plan is to live to at least 110. Living to 100 makes you a Centenarian. Living to 110 makes you a Supercentenarian. That’s my plan. It’s really a mindset more than anything else. I eat right and try to do all of the things that will keep me healthy, but I don't go overboard. I do eat cookies and drink wine occasionally, but for the most part, I live a healthy lifestyle. By subscribing to the concepts in the Blue Zones, I started putting beans into my daily smoothies, walk frequently and try to get a much movement as possible, connect with friends and family, focus on meditation and other stress related activities like walking without my phone, and offering help to people, such as publishing this website to have people get closer to sensory experiences they had when they were kids. As well, if you read many of my other stories in each of the sections, you can follow along to the activities and mindset I follow. It didn't happen overnight, but it does make a difference in how I approach life. Regardless of your age, enjoy life! As you have read through this entire post, you can only see there are just 2 book recommendations (outside of Calvin and Hobbes). What books have helped you level up your lifestyle? Cover photo by Sid Saxena For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

"Disclaimer: This personal story is for informational purposes and is not medical advice." Just a picture to give you a little sense of calm. Last night, I watched the movie Woman of the Hour. It's a story of a serial killer based on true events. I watched it because Mary Beth was on the phone. She avoids intense movies since they make her anxious. Surprisingly, the film affected me too. That anxious feeling is the same reason why I am stopping the news and to regain my sense of calm. Normally, I can handle this genre without a hitch. To make matters worse, we then turned on the news to catch up on the day’s political events. While the news wasn’t horrific, the combination of the movie and the news left me feeling unsettled. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "News is like clutter and removing it will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders." As we do every night, we wrapped up our bedtime TV routine with an episode of Friends. Sometimes we only watch halfway, but other nights we enjoy the full episode. This routine helps Mary Beth (more than me) calm her mind. Last night, it helped me too. My Relationship with News Last night’s experience was unusual for me. I realized I hardly watch the news anymore. It's been about ten years since I made a conscious effort to cut back. I used to tune in every night, and my social media feeds were filled with news stories. You probably know how social media algorithms work, they feed you what you engage with. The more you watch something, the more it appears. Your brain operates similarly, but that’s a topic for another time. Now, if a major event occurs, I usually hear about it from Mary Beth or our kids, not through social media or TV. I’ve even set my social media feeds to exclude news entirely. Here’s how successful I was in eliminating news from my social media: I received ZERO notifications when Queen Elizabeth passed away a few years ago. The only way I found out was through my family. I also only got one notification about the winner of the last presidential election. Today, political news seeps into business and entertainment posts. As a result, I’ve had to unsubscribe from various outlets to reduce the negativity that news brings. Video of the stream behind my house after a few nice days melting 2 feet of snow. This is to help provide you with a sense of calm. Best is to just listen to the water falling. If you close your eyes, you may be able to hear multiple spots where the water is falling. Stopping the News For me, news, whether political or local, is often 95% bad or anxiety-inducing. I strive daily to eliminate these sources from my life. For instance, I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, hoping to read about business news. However, 90% of their front-page articles have political headlines. Earlier this year, I unsubscribed from several other business publications for the same reason. I re-signed up for WSJ because there were articles I genuinely wanted to read. Instead of consuming news that seems to consume me, I focus on what uplifts me. Some might say I live in a bubble. But I prefer to eliminate negativity that comes from watching, listening to, or reading the news. By choosing to eliminate negativity, I create space for positive thoughts. The Neuroscience of Filtering Information Lately, I’ve been diving into neuroscience. One fascinating topic is how our brains filter what we want to see, much like social media algorithms. Did you know your brain processes 11 billion (yes, with a B) bits of information every second? Yet, you only consciously process about 40 bits per second. Think about that. It’s such a small number that my phone calculator struggled to display it. When I divided 40 by 11 billion, I got .0000000036. That’s an incredibly tiny fraction of what our brains process. Consider when you’re driving. You focus on the road and maybe the car in front of you. But what about the hundreds of trees whizzing by or the clouds overhead? Your brain filters them out. By choosing what we allow into our minds, we can create more space to elevate our sensory experiences. One specific meditative practice that I engage in on a daily basis is having a hot cup of loose leaf tea. Embracing Positivity So, why not filter out the news and opt for a good comedy instead? You might feel better as a result. I know I do. 😊 Cover photo by Cole Keister and post photo by Nadine Marfurt.

"Disclaimer: This article shares personal experiences and is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not replace professional medical consultation." Photo by Mikey Frost I have always been a breakfast eater. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would always make me breakfast. Sometimes it was eggs, other times it was pancakes or waffles. Some days, I would make myself breakfast cereal with milk. My Blue Zone smoothie journey has been nothing short of evolutionary. The thing that I loved the most was reading the back of the cereal box. That is what we did before the days of scrolling on a cell phone. As I became an adult, I continued to eat breakfast but during the work week, I would usually have breakfast cereal augmented by eggs on the weekend. About 7 or 8 years ago, I noticed that I wasn't feeling great after breakfast (even after switching to the healthier, organic cereals. I don't know if it was the milk sensitivity or the lack of real nutrition that was derived from the cereal, even though it was fortified with vitamins. After consulting with some friends, my wife and I embarked on making smoothies. We purchased an organic protein powder with Mary Beth choosing the chocolate flavor and me picking the veggie flavor. Researching the ingredients, it had everything we could ask for including 20 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber (21% of your daily allowance) and up to 50% of the daily allowance needed across over 15 vitamin categories. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Smoothies can provide a complete meal experience. Periodically assess how your daily smoothie is making you feel and make adjustments as needed. Treat the process as an ongoing experiment in sensory health. Assess how you feel two hours post-consumption, both physically and cognitively. Make adjustments as needed." Mary Beth's smoothies were fairly basic with the protein powder, a banana, ice, one or two other supplements and she was good to go. Mine was much more involved adding frozen fruit, bananas, ginger, and a few other items. Over time, my smoothie kept getting more involved. I should mention now that I pre-make the smoothies on Sunday for the 5 workdays, usually still having eggs or an Acia bowl on the weekends. In general, I felt great and so much better than I did when I was having cereal and milk. I even talked about it in my TEDx Talk, How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life. However, a few months ago, Mary Beth started to pull back on her smoothies referencing that she was starting to feel bloated from them, and for me, it wasn't having the same effect that it had when I started. Something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I read a post by Azadeh Gharehgozlou about protein bars and the reason why people are experiencing the same symptoms as Mary Beth. It was the way some of the proteins were processed. As a result, I decided to do something which seemed a bit radical but honestly, not that strange once I started digging into it a bit more. I replaced my protein powder with a combination of 1 can of Black Beans and 1 can of Garbanzo Beans (also known as Chickpeas). I think I almost gave my mom a heart attack reading this as I can't tell you how many times she tried to get me to eat beans as a kid. Now I am putting them in my smoothies and consuming them daily. The reality is that the black and garbanzo beans don't have a taste, and their texture gets mixed in with everything else. I do want to share that I do eat both on a regular basis anyway, but this is a deliberate way to consume both daily. I also wrote in another post, The Books That Transformed My Purpose and Longevity, where the author, Dan Buettner shared that one of the best foods that people consume in the Blue Zones regions are beans and they are consumed on a daily basis due to their inexpensive cost combined with their high protein and fiber content. For those of you who are wondering, here is what I put into my smoothies. I use an older version of the Ninja Professional and we also have this Ninja blender version for more daily use. My Blue Zone Smoothie Ingredient List: Frozen Wild Maine Blueberries Frozen Organic Strawberries Frozen Pineapples Frozen Spinach 2 Bananas 1 can of Black Beans 1 can of Garbanzo Beans 3 Tablespoons of Local Honey 2 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup 3 cubes of fresh cut Ginger 1 Fresh Turmeric Root (or 1 tablespoon of the Turmeric Spice) 1/4 cup of Steel Cut Oats (I pre-grind them so I am not chewing my smoothie) Ground Pepper 1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of Cayanne Pepper 5 scoops of Bran 2 scoops of Peanut Butter Powder 2 scoops of Cacao Powder Daily, I add a trio blend of Chia, Hemp, and Flax Seed Mix (because it will expand and harden if premade) I think I got it all. I know this combination of foods is not for everyone (including my family), but it works for me. Plus, I know I am getting a well-balanced breakfast each day. I would love to hear about your breakfast / smoothie experiences in the comments below. For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Disclaimer: This post reflects my personal productivity routine and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a professional before making significant changes to your diet or health routine. This story is a bit like creating a LEGO set as every topic was a building block for the next to ultimately build high-performance productivity. It started with many of the topics I shared previously such as Blue Zone Inspired Smoothie with Black Beans and Garbanzo. From those building blocks, I shared my TEDx Talk, wrote some LinkedIn posts, and then created a Udemy course. This is the story of how I decided to create my Udemy course. A few years ago, I had two overlapping jobs at the company I was working for. I had just started a role in January and in June, I took on a different role, but I couldn't fully exit the first role until they hired my replacement. This lasted until the end of the year. 5:10 am sunrise on Cadillac Mountain on Acadia National Park, Maine (which is just outside of Bar Harbor). The air was crisp in the July morning. Following the sunrise, Mary Beth and I headed into town and had a delicious pancake breakfast with Maine maple syrup. It was the busiest I had ever been in my career. As I had time to reflect following the turn of the next year, I realized I was highly productive, keeping the same pace and productivity all day long, regardless of if it was 8:00 am, 1:00 pm, or 6:00 pm. This pace and productivity didn't just last one day or one week, but for months. I wasn't tired nor was I burned out, two things I unfortunately had experienced in the past. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Reclaim your childhood sense of freedom when you leave your phone behind to jump into the water." At the same time of this reflection, my alma mater, Bryant University had just sent out applications for its TEDxBryantU program, with the theme being Reboot x Refresh. I always thought it would be great to share some of the building blocks that allowed me to reach this sustained productivity and participating as a TEDx speaker would be very cool to be a part of. After being accepted to speak, I spent months curating the right message and then working on my speech. The topics I cover include sleep, taking vacations, managing distractions, and confidence. You can watch the TEDx Talk below. Hopefully from watching the talk, you can see that I have a passion for helping people and educating where I can, with the balance of not being too preachy, which I get sometimes with my immediate family. Following the TEDx Talk, I created a series of blog posts on LinkedIn on the same topics, and as it turns out, I found a love of writing which ultimately turned into this lifestyle blog website. As well, a few years ago I was an adjunct professor at Bryant University. I taught for 3 years and loved it, only having to give it up due to my travel schedule at the time. Sometime in the future, I hope to go back to it but in the meantime, I just spent the last semester as a student advisory to an International Business capstone course. That was a great experience as I got to help students without having to grade papers! Putting all of these topics together, with my personal experience in maintaining a high level of productivity, my TEDx Talk, the LinkedIn blog posts, and then the teaching experience, I thought it was time to create a course on Udemy, which is now merging with Coursera. Building this course offered another set of new challenges for me, everything from putting myself on camera, to building a course that would actually be helpful to others for them to buy. As I learned with this site, along with a few other prior not so successful ventures, marketing the offering is just as important as the content itself. For this course, I honestly didn't do a great job promoting it but do have 5 stars across a small number of people who have taken the course. The basis of the course is the following: Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck in a fog by 2 PM? Welcome to "Invest in Yourself," the practical guide to reclaiming your energy and elevating your performance. The goal is to Master Sleep, Hydration, and Focus to Eliminate Burnout and Achieve Peak Performance in Personal & Professional Life, to achieve high performance productivity. Here are some of my thoughts on each of the topics to achieve High Performance Productivity: How Quality Sleep Boosts Productivity and Performance We have all heard statements from experts as well as our parents, "you need 8 hours of sleep a night". I know some of you may require less but most of us need to be close to that 8-hour mark. However, as much as we hear the 8-hour target, do you invest in your sleep? You invest in other things like the stock market but what about investing in your sleep? Do you have a quality mattress, comfortable pillow and good sheets? Drink Water to Boost Energy, Focus, and Productivity For me, here is my approach (and I am better in the work week than the weekend). I drink a glass of water when I get up, 1 after my walk, 1 after a 15-minute calisthenic type exercise, 1 while making my tea, maybe a 1/2 during the 4 hours of work in the morning, 1 at lunch, maybe the other 1/2 during the afternoon, 2 at dinner and 1 while watching TV. I have also started putting some lemon in my water at times during the day which I enjoy. Finding Clarity Through Walking For as long as I can remember in my professional career, I would walk at least a few days a week before work. I do remember in my 30's though, there were some days when I just didn't feel like it and would wake up to a much longer hot shower than normal and bypass the walk. I thought it did the same thing, but I was wrong. When I walked, it was a brisk 15-minute pace around my neighborhood which consisted of a pretty big hill for half of the 3/4 mile (1.2 kilometer) trip providing me mental clarity and focus for the day. How Lighting Boosts Productivity and Focus I would encourage you to do your research (and there is a lot of it out there) on what the best lighting is for you. To help you get started, I will share what I did. When I started working in my home office, I always tried to sit facing the window. Unfortunately, the way my basement is set up, my window is underneath my porch and doesn't provide a lot of natural light. Couple that with all the trees in my backyard, it is not as bright as I would like it to be. As a result, I have to augment my office with my own lighting. I outfitted my 4 lights (2 overhead and 2 behind me on the wall) with the brightest "daylight" light I could find at the store. The Ten-Minute Phone Free Walk Practice How can we disconnect? First, you have to make the mental shift that the world is not going to come to an end if you are not connected to your phone. I know this is really, really, really hard but I am sure you already disconnect and don't even know it, maybe when you jumped in the pool or ocean this summer, or even the shower each day. We are all so protective of our phones, not just because of the need to be connected, but because they are so expensive and we don't want to get them ruined with water and thus, we willingly break the connection with the phone to go into the water. In the course, I teach you how to replicate that sense of freedom without needing a swimming pool! Start Your Own Personal Productivity Experience If you are ready to reclaim your focus, energy, and productivity, I would love for you to join me. Below are the details to get started. For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.