Personal tales of life and work in Loudoun & Western Fairfax by local small business owner Mayra Ruiz-McPherson

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Paneral Bread's steel cut oatmeal with strawberries, pecans and brown sugar

Dear Panera Bread: I’m Obessed with Your Steel Cut Oatmeal, But …

About two months ago, I noticed the Panera Bread in Leesburg was offering a steel cut oatmeal dish on their menu. It was about 2pm in the afternoon and I...

Why I Can’t Be a Foodie, Even Though I Want to Be

Confession: I ***want*** to be a foodie. Reality: I ***want*** to be a foodie soooo badly but I just can’t be one right now I want to blog endlessly about exquisite...

Cutie pie Brandon has become obsessed with dinosaurs and Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Brandon’s Latest Toy Craze: Dinosaurs!!!

It’s actually more than just dinosaurs. While the dino craze has definitely hit my 7 year old son extremely *hard* as of late, his TRUEST LOVE for dinos is most...

Downtown Leesburg proprietor and owner of Eyetopia Paige Buscema is one of the primary planners for the Spring Forward event on Saturday, March 9, 2013.

Downtown Leesburg Shops Unite to Showcase Latest Trends This Season

A couple of days before the Spring Forward event held in downtown Leesburg this weekend … I wrote up this piece for AOL’s Leesburg Patch over at leesburg.patch.com. In fact, to fully...

Delicious Italian cannolis from Luccianos in Herndon Virginia

My First Bridal Shower (with Italian Cannolis in Tow) … Part 1 of 2

Yeah so call me crazy but I’m just not the “bridal shower” type and, were it not for the fact that the bride in question is a beloved, cherished and...

Deborah Morbeto is an artist in residence and instructor at ArtSquare

Leesburg’s Own Deborah Morbeto: The Pre-Interview

I was recently assigned a feature profile write up assignment for I AM Modern Magazine on long time Leesburg-resident, loving mom, ardent community volunteer and artistically fabulous Deborah Morbeto of...

Holly the swimming cat at Olde Towne Pet Resort Dulles

Ashburn, Local, News

Meet the Lovely, Adorable Swimming Kitty Cat Holly

Yes, you are NOT nuts. That *is* a cat in a pool wearing a life jacket. But that’s not an ordinary pool for humans. Nope. That’s actually a salt-water, temperature-controlled indoor lap pool for pets (mainly dogs) at the Olde Towne Pet Resort in Sterling, Virginia. And that adorable feline is none other than Holly, the…

Leesburg, Local, Loudoun, News

Loudoun Health & Fitness Fair Promotes Active Lifestyles, Overall Health

Thank you to the Sterling Women organization which emailed me earlier today about this upcoming, FREE community event produced by JP Events & Consulting! The Loudoun Health & Fitness Fair is a full day event promoting overall health active lifestyles and fitness for the entire family. The first 200 families to arrive will receive a free goody…

Guest Posts, Of Interest

Planning a Wedding? Here Are 4 Helpful Rehearsal Dinner Tips!

I’m getting married soon and my soon-to-be husband (the **ever** handsome Joshua Nehr ) and I have been planning our wedding for at least all of 2012 and now 2013 (our wedding date is set for May 11, 2013). In that time, as you can very well imagine, I’ve learned quite a few things about wedding…

Business, Fairfax, Local, Loudoun, Work

Attention Loudoun & Fairfax Bloggers: Save the Date!

Are you local and living in Loudoun or Fairfax County? Do you blog professionally for business or as a hobby for pleasure … or both!? If you answered “yes” to either question above, I warmly invite you to consider attending our upcoming Loudoun Fairfax Local Bloggers Meetup scheduled for Tuesday, February 12, 2013 from 6:30 –…

Life

No, You Can’t Have OREOs for Breakfast, Charlette

Charlette’s is shown above in all 2-year old drama glory, crying for OREOs. The problem is that it’s well before 10 am and just way too early for cookies when this pic was shot. You can clearly see how Charlette took to the devastating news of “no” LOL Ahhh toddlers…

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Charlie Learns to Zumba (and Get Dizzy!) with Abuela! from Mayra Ruiz on Vimeo.

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- Father and son go bass fishing near the Loudoun-Jefferson county border
  Brandon and dad spend a fall foggy morning catching bass near the West Virginia state line.
- Oven-roasting farmers market tomatoes … *yum*
  My client and good friend, Kathleen Nixon, is an avid enthusiast and passionate advocate for locally-grown produce. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s one of the founders of the Falls...
- Caricature artist illustrates local doggie at the Reston Pet Fiesta in Reston, Virginia
  This caricature artist was drawing amazing illustrations of dogs and their owners at this year’s Reston Pet Fiesta in Reston Town Center. I couldn’t help but be fascinated at how...