Well, it’s no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Snapchat. I know, I know… some of you are still shaking your heads about that fact, aren’t you? If you aren’t on Snapchat though, you are missing out on some really fun ways to see unfiltered glimpses into lives of everyday people! If you still aren’t sold, hop on over to this post I wrote last year about why I really love Snapchat. Then, if you want to see who some of my friends are who make me love Snapchat, check out the rest of this post below.

As many of you know, I do a daily Coffee Talk on Snapchat and it has become one of my absolute favorite ways to engage with readers, friends, family, etc. During coffee talk, we chat about things we might be chatting about if we were actually having coffee together. Each morning, I get to have a virtual coffee date with thousands of you, and it’s one of the best parts of my day each week.

I’d love to have you join me for Coffee Talk! You can do that by downloading snapchat, then by clicking HERE on your mobile device. You can also just take a picture of any of the yellow individual Snapcodes in this post using the camera in Snapchat to easily follow any of us on Snapchat. (Here’s a quick tutorial for how to do that.) In addition if you need another way to add people, you can simply add my user name (dineanddish) as a new friend on Snapchat. It’s that easy! (OK I know it’s really not… let me know if you need help!)

(This list is simply in the order my friends got their snapcodes emailed to me. Also, if we’re friends on Snapchat and you aren’t on this list – I’m sorry! It’s not intentional…it just means you must have missed my request for you to send me your info. Please see the very end of the post so I can get you added ASAP!)

I’ll be updating this post often, so be sure to check back for more friends and foodies to follow on Snapchat!…

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Hi friends! I just wanted to take a moment out of the holiday weekend to say I hope you all had a truly wonderful, family and friends filled, Thanksgiving. As I counted my blessings this week, you were among those – right up near the top. I am so thankful to each and every one of you who make Dine & Dish – the recipes, travel, and full on life posts – a part of your own life. It truly means the world to me every time you click through, leave a comment, send an email, or share one of my posts with your friends.

For those of you who survived the craziness of Black Friday shopping, or for those of you who made it through Thanksgiving without ticking off someone in your family, I have a special recipe for you! This Pineapple Hard Cider recipe will keep you warm from the inside out – and has just enough of a little kick to to help you relax after the hustle and bustle of the day….

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How many of you have mini-me’s in your children? You know, maybe not a payback child, per se, but one where you seem to know their every move before it happens because you pretty much were the same person as a child.

Kelly is that kid for me. It’s crazy how much my life as a child and her life now are alike. I have always noticed it, but notice it more now that she is entering the age I was when I moved to the town where I met my best and oldest childhood friends. Watching her grow is like getting to replay my own childhood all over again.

One of my best friends from childhood and I had a special language we spoke. Kelly and one of her best friends speak a special language, with an accent and everything. One of my best friends from childhood and I used to dance with the vacuum, and play school or house every chance we could get… Kelly and one of her best friends are the same.

I love re-living these memories through her and her friends. And each time I do, I want nothing more than to reach out to my friends and reminisce. “Remember that time…?” “Hey, do you remember how we used to…” and on and on.

…

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So… I turned 40 last week and oh what a week it was! I spent a week away, part with friends, part with my husband and had a lot of time to think and reflect and plan. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my birthday! With the thinking came a few regrets. One of those being that I really, really miss doing the Project 365 photo project and sharing it on Dine & Dish with you all. They were never my most popular posts… I know you all come here for the food… but they were one of my favorites.

I’ve decided to start a new daily photo project called #ThisIs40 and I plan on documenting the next 365 days of my life through photos. Today is the first installment. As always I’d love for you to follow me on Instagram…my favorite social media platform. I’m going to try to take most of my pictures for this project with my DSLR Camera (so they won’t be on IG), but there are always some fun things I might share on Instagram with the hashtag #ThisIs40 that I won’t share here.

So with all that said, here we go! Thanks for coming along for my 40th year! …

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The post #ThisIs40 Photography Project {Week 1} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Working from home can be isolating if you let it. Lucky for me, I have a whole crew of colleagues I can reach at the click of a mouse.

True friendship and support in the blogging world can be hard to come by… you have to navigate the waters carefully. Who can you trust? Who is genuine? Who cares about you beyond what you can do for them and how you can help them to grow their blog?

I can tell you, for me, I’ve discovered these friendships are harder than “in real life” friendships because we don’t get to see each other face to face. We don’t know if we are seeing the “real side” of the blogger or a side for show. I’ve found out through the years though that the “true” side of most people becomes very evident once you get to know them better. It’s fairly easy for me now to know who I can count on as a friend, and who I want in my “tribe”….

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When I turned 39, I wrote that one of my goals for the next year was to really nurture my friendships. I’ve been putting relationships with my girlfriends on the back burner for far too long, even though I know how important time with girlfriends can be.

I was thankful when my friends at Dole Banana Dippers suggested having a girls night in…what a great excuse to get together with some of my favorite people!

I invited friends who I can be “real” around… you know, the ones who know that deep down, I’m really a hot mess. (Don’t you love that wine glass? Check out my friend Renee’s online store to get one of your own!)…

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Do you see that picture right up there? The one with the bright, shining sun and palm trees? The kids and I are leaving on our annual 16 hour road trip to find the sun… down near South Padre Texas, where my parents live! I am so excited to leave the chill behind and head towards the warmth! The thought of warm weather in my near future is obviously making me smile. I thought it would be a great time to share what else is making me happy these days!

Have you seen this video with Billy Joel and the college student? Find out what happens when Billy Joel gives an unexpected answer to a student willing to take a risk. The moral of the story? It never hurts to ask! Love this life changing moment – it makes me smile from ear to ear!…

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This morning, some of my friends came over for coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls. I thought it would be fun to have a coffee gathering this week to tie in to the #Shot4Shot campaign Tracey and I are participating in for Shot@Life. Have you taken a shot of your mug yet to help raise awareness for Global Immunization Week and to be included in the giveaways for some great prizes? If not, head on over to this post for more details to see how you can get involved. It’s as simple as helping to spread the word!

I asked each friend to bring their own coffee mugs to breakfast this morning. I thought I’d do a little bit of analyzing to see what kind of insight I could gain about my friends simply by checking out the coffee mugs they chose to bring. Let’s start off with Bree……

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