What's Kentucky to You?

I'm lucky to spend nearly every day at work traveling through--or writing app listings for--destinations around Kentucky.  (Shameless plug--download the Travel Kentucky app! It's free on iPhone AND Androids).  I'm a tried and true Kentucky girl, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Sure, it's a little too conservative and sometimes a little too behind-the-times.  But I have yet to visit anywhere else in this world that rivals the diversity of Kentucky's countryside and landscapes.  Rolling horse farms, mountains, "city" living, charming small towns--we really do have it all.  Throw in our local culture, style, food, and special traditions and you have a place beyond comparison.  And its easy to forget that most people don't grow up with all of this right in their backyard.

Sean's family is coming to visit this week, and I want to be sure they get a real "Kentucky Experience" while they are here.  His mother was here for WEG last September, but didn't get to visit anything other than the event. His dad and brother have never been here.  We only have one full day to be tourists, and I want to be sure they get a widespread look at what our state has to offer! 

I know this state backwards and forwards, and yet I am somehow overwhelmed by making the right choices on the key things they should see and do while they are here.  Sean's mom wants to visit Berea, and I would love to take them to a distillery.  But what else can we squeeze in? Breakfast at the Keeneland Track Kitchen?  A quick stop at Shakertown?  And where, oh where, should we EAT? These places all seem iconic Kentucky and at the same time, I feel like I'm missing something. 

More than anything, I want them to leave here with a fond and affectionate impression of the place I call home.  Sean and I have very different upbringings and that's largely due to geography.  Growing up in California brings a widely different perspective than growing up in Kentucky!  It has been so much fun to experience Kentucky through his eyes, and see his fondness for this place grow over time (I think we may be making a resident out of him!).  And yet he will never quite understand what it's really like to be "from" here.  I just hope that we can give his parents a whirlwind taste of our state... so they will want to come back and see more.

So... what should we do? What is Kentucky to you? 

HELP :)

What Am I Doing Here?

Let me start by being very honest--I've always thought blogs were kind of pointless.  In a time where we are bombarded with news, follow Facebook all day, Google chat on Gmail and text... I just didn't see the point.  Who cares about anything beyond my Facebook status... and do I want you reading it all in the first place? 

But, here I am.

I'd like to say that this is really a work experiment.  After all, I'm in PR/Marketing (working for the fabulous Kentucky Monthly magazine which everyone should read... end shameless plug) and I spend far too much time working on and researching social media trends.  We have several bloggers for the magazine that are expanding our online presence and developing quite a following.  So I NEED to see what this is all about, right?

Not true.  Because the cardinal rule of a successful blog is having a specific purpose, a topic that attracts people to your posts and keeps them as your followers.  Isn't that how the chick from the Julia Child movie ended up making millions, after all?  Well, I don't have a purpose. I have no idea why I'm doing this at all! 

So, let's start with the process of elimination.  This blog is definitely NOT:

1) Your guide to quick tips for shopping, recipes, or general advice.  Sadly, I fall somewhere between my grandmother, who is a fabulous natural chef, and my mother, who Lord knows is lucky to have kept from burning down her kitchen.  I can cook but don't like to.  I love to shop but don't obsess over deals (although I did discover couponing recently and admit I got a nerdy thrill out of saving $33 at Kroger this week).  And I'm not thrifty, crafty, or creative. So that's definitely out.

2) This blog is definitely not dissertations or lengthy opinions on political topics or moral views.  I rarely see things in black and white; most things in life come in shades of gray--at least for me.  Live and let live, be and let be.  I'm rarely going to give an opinion unless you ask.  And then I'll be honest. And you can take it or leave it; I'm really not interested in some incredibly prosaic debate.

3) It's not going to showcase that I have the best relationship/dog/family/job/life in general.  Nor is it that I have the worst relationship/dog/family/job/life in general.  All of these things are pretty wonderful but no one cares about the day to day minutia of their existence in my life. Unless of course they do or say something really interesting.  We'll amend this rule in that case only to allow them a cameo appearance as a topic.

So...that leaves little--or maybe everything--to the imagination! 

Right now I am reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  Sean's dad got this book for him as a Christmas gift, but I'm the first one to crack it open.  I'm only 100 pages in but already find it fascinating.  Franzen creates a character portrait in such a subtle, gentle way, albiet through jarring circumstances and experiences.  There is so much more to read and yet I am already developing an understanding of this family, this neighborhood, and a curiosity for how a young woman who was an awkward student athlete grows into the mold of "model" wife and mother, and through those very efforts somehow ruins that image and her family.  It speaks to a view that I struggle with--and I hope other women my age do--of somehow wanting it all and not wanting it all in the traditional sense, simultaneously.

I'm also finding after a hiatus from reading how much I miss a scholarly discussion on books.   Where's Dr. Coke and Dr. Allen when I need them?  Where's Katie to review crazy notes with me in the Grille at Georgetown? And why, more than six years later, do I still miss college so much?  Well... I have some theories on that one...

Maybe that's why I chose to name this blog Southern-ish. I find so many of my opinions to be colored with the life experiences I have had growing up in a small, Southern town.  I wouldn't change that for anything but I realize the impact that has had on me--good, bad and in between.  I feel disconnected to those roots, and yet I can't escape them.  The "way I was brought up" stands in contradiction with my thoughts on so many things today, as an adult, and I think I'm still learning how to reason through those things versus what is best for me as my own person.  I want that "home" in a very true, Southern sense, but that home has to be truly mine, and to fit the me I know and who I am.  And that's hard when you are raised to make everyone else proud from your Sunday School teacher to your grandfather...old habits don't need to die but they do need to adapt!  I can only make me happy.

So... here's to making me happy.  Wow that sounds selfish... but I suppose that's a topic for another day.