The Part Time Enthusiast: Two Years Later

I came up with the concept for this blog exactly two years ago today. I was sitting at the pool at The Carneros Inn in Napa Valley. I had indulged in quite a few wine tastings in the earlier half of my day and the seed that my sister had planted in my head a few weeks before finally sprouted then and there.

I was in an odd place in my life (not physically, because if you know The Carneros Inn, you know that it is one of the best places on earth). But, figuratively. I had been out of college for a while, living in NYC since graduation, and still had no real direction or idea where my career was headed. I had endured long hours in corporate finance, brutal bosses in financial consulting and now, monotony in financial research. The idea came about one night when I was sitting at the dinner table with my family at my parent's house in Rhode Island. My sister and I were home from New York for the weekend and I was complaining that I hated my job and needed to do something I was passionate about (to which my Dad always answers with an eye roll - and rightly so if you know me). It was my sister who said that I should start a blog. Maybe it would just be something fun for you to do when you have spare time sitting at your desk all day, she coaxed, reminding me that I love to be on the go, always exploring, meeting new people, trying new things. Maybe this would be a way for you to do that, she said. 

I didn't have any idea how I could take my love to fashion, travel, adventure, food, and turn it into a blog or anything even remotely worth reading. I didn't even know what I would call it. That was, until I came up with the name 'The Part Time Enthusiast,' that afternoon in Napa after a few too many wine tastings where I didn't spit. I mused to my boyfriend how I wish I knew more about wine and how one of my life goals was to become a knowledgable 'wine enthusiast' - but a part time one, I quickly asserted. I have too many other things I want to learn and experience to focus solely on wine, I said. Then I laughed out loud knowing how absurd I must have sounded: I was The Part Time Enthusiast. And, I had been like this for my entire life. I was excited about wine today, but maybe it would be something else tomorrow. And something else the week after that. Why be tied down to one thing when you can try it all? 

From its very conception, this blog has been a place for me to share my adventures with readers all the while knowing that I must sound ridiculous to some people. But that didn't matter to me. The idea for the blog originated as a way that I could take ownership of the fact that I really just want to live life to the fullest - doing things that amuse me today, but maybe not tomorrow. 

Since my blog started with strong undertone of self awareness and self deprecation, I have never taken it too seriously. But over the past two years, it has somehow transformed into my job (I finally was able to quit my job in Finance), and I have built a following of people that come to me for recommendations on how to live well.  Even now, I still am the first to make fun of myself. I fully realize how ridiculous I must look posing for pictures in the middle of a crowded NYC street while I make someone take my picture, but I have also learned a lot about myself and what is really important to me along the way - besides, of course, the pursuit of leisure. 

What was meant very literally to be a part time enthusiasm in and of itself has become a wild two years that has allowed to try some amazing things, meet some amazing people, indulge in some incredible experiences and embark on countless new adventures....

What started that day in Napa, led to my first collaboration with Bemelman's Bar at The Carlyle Hotel in New York. I will forever be grateful for the legendary bar not only teaching me how to make a proper cocktail but also allowing me to come in the first place....

I will never forget all the other adventures I have had since then and things I have learned in the past two years. Like racing Maseratis....

Exploring the streets of exotic cities like Buenos Aires....

Going dog sledding in Utah....

Flying helicopters over Manhattan....

Jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet (in a dress) in Newport, RI...

Channeling my inner Desert Diva in Joshua Tree....

Spending time in London...

Sitting front row at fashion shows during NYFW...

Exploring ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico....

Going to Art Basel in Miami...

Biking through Brooklyn...

Attending to the Irish Derby in Dublin...

Sailing on the high seas....

Going behind the scenes at the iconic Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center...

Living out my life long dream of being a ski bum for a month in Deer Valley...

Spending lots of time in my natural habitat (the beach) in destinations near and far (for work purposes, of course)... Like Tulum, Bermuda, Florida and Montauk...

Drinking way too much Malbec in the vineyards of Mendoza, one too many barrels of aged Scotch and Whiskey in the City, far too much champagne on the ski slopes and one too many Modelas in the manatee-filled Mangroves of Mexico....

Eating more caviar in one afternoon than even most lucky people get to eat in a lifetime, consuming enough tacos to feed a family of four for a year, and eating over 30 lobsters rolls in under five days as I drove up the coast of Maine in search of the very best one... 

I have gotten to meet so many incredible people over the past two years - chefs, artists, restauranteurs, designers, hoteliers, marketers, blogger babes, coworkers, collaborators - some of whom I  am now lucky to call my dear friends. I have been fortunate enough to work with some truly incredible brands and I have loved working to create content for and with you, especially the brands that have been with me from the start. I cannot wait for many more years of collaborations together.

 And to all my friends, family and loved ones whom I never cease to annoy by making them take all these pictures of me...going on these adventures would not have been possible without your support, would not be photographed had you not been by my side and would surely not have even been half as fun without you to experience them with. I cannot wait for what lies ahead with you all. 

In what has been a wild two years, filled with thrills, failures, heartbreak, achievements, milestones and excitement, I have learned so many valuable lessons about myself and the world at large. The most important one, though, is that whatever enthusiasms and adventures you may pursue, the key to truly living well is to enjoy and share in that life and those adventures with others. And though I am the part time enthusiast, I will forever be wholly enthusiastic about experiencing the best the world has to offer with the people that make my world go round. Cheers to many more years of endless enthusiasms.