The premise of this question goes in direct opposition to what I believe … my belief is “do what you love, and the money will follow.”

All the jobs I have I enjoyed and in all of them I made money. I was a waitress at a high end restaurant and made good money. I was a real estate agent and consistently was in the top 25% for both sales and listings. I made good money.

Later I worked in nonprofit as a development director and made good money.

Do what you love and the money will follow!

With a name like “Bernadette” I wasn’t going to fool anyone about my heritage! My Italian heritage comes from my mother’s side of the family. Her parents, my grandparents migrated here from Italy.

My fathers side was Irish and both parents were Catholic and I was raised in an Italian, Irish Catholic home.

A big part of my heritage is cooking and making food. My Italian grandmother was a huge influence here. She owned and operated a hotel and was always cooking and making food. I love to cook and often make Italian dishes and baked goods.

When I was younger I joked “I am Irish and Italian and have the temper to prove it!” Fortunately age has mellowed me.

My dad was so proud of his Irish heritage. I do celebrate Saint Patrick’s day with Irish drink and foods.

There is nothing more fun than attending an Italian Festival and/or restaurant and pub, same can be said for the Irish celebrations.

My Catholic faith has stayed with me and for many years I worked for Catholic organizations. There were many times through the years that my faith has not only saved me but sustained me.

I don’t even view it as “proud” but matter of factually that I was born and raised Italian, Irish and Catholic that’s just who I am, and has stayed with me for my entire life.

There are certain brands that I like and therefore “brand loyal.” One of them is Marriott properties as I find them to be consistently clean and welcoming. I love that their Residence Inn properties allow me to travel comfortably with my two precious pooches. I love being a “rewards” member and this coming December we have a special holiday trip planned to Nashville that will be completely covered by my rewards points!

Another brand I support is Wegman’s grocery store as I find their name brands to be of good quality and a value price. The stores are clean and show so beautifully too.

I am brand loyal to Trader Joe’s for their coffee that I grind from beans while at the store knowing how freshly ground my coffee is makes me happy.

Over the years we have become “brand loyal” to several Jeep vehicle purchases. We have loved them all. They have worn well, held their value and last.

As far as clothing I love Ann Taylor, Loft and Talbots. I find things I enjoy wearing from these shops.

If I find a business that sells products I like at a fair and reasonable price, generally I am happy to support them.

My husband laughs at me because I carry so many “loyalty” cards where there are benefits for being loyal to them. At the time of this writing I carry three cards for local craft breweries that have many perks like free drink and food, discount prices and one currently has a cash value of $60 that we may use for lunch and dinner when we visit there.

I personally enjoy being brand loyal to places we frequent …

The best advice I ever received was on parenting from a father of seven children. He said, “Children when they deserve your love the least is when they need your love the most.” He shared this with me when I was a young mother of a toddler. It wasn’t until many years later when I could appreciate his wisdom in these words.

Our home is filled with music as we love most types and lean toward classic rock and roll and both old and new country music.

My husband is a true rock and roll guy with music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty and more.

I was raised on Johnny Cash and grew up to be a huge fan of Country Music Artist Gary Allan. We have probably attended more than 20 of his fan club parties and more than 50 of Gary Allan’s live concerts.

Recently we have become huge fans of Anderson East and have attended several of his concerts.

We stream music still play our CD’s and how a large vinyl record collection.

Music is for all reasons and seasons and all emotions. I can’t imagine living in a world without music! While sitting at home, driving in the car, or on the beach and more, music fill our hearts and warms our souls.

We love the holidays, all of them! From Thanksgiving through to New Years there are some “traditions” for how we celebrate. Every season we make time to view these three movies; The Holiday, The Family Stone and A White Christmas.

We love visiting New York City during the holiday season where we take in The Radio City Christmas Show, Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and some shopping that always includes Macy’s. And some dining too. It’s a trip where we take the train into the city and walk and walk and walk. We using exceed 20,000 steps on that one day in NYC!

Another great holiday trip is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The hotel is decorated so beautifully and there are white lights on most exterior trees with horse drawn carriages.

At home we decorate and dine on traditional turkey dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually surf and turf.

Now that the kids are grown and gone we do celebrate more with our friends and neighbors. Our home is decorated and we play Christmas tunes while baking homemade cookies, cakes and pies.

Whether traveling or staying home we love the holidays and do raise a glass or two in celebration.

Happy Holidays all !

In an early morning attempt to bake a birthday cake for a co-worker before work, I forgot the eggs! As a pretty accomplished baker I couldn’t understand why the cake I had just baked was as flat as a pancake.

After some deduction and detective work I soon realized I forgot to include the three eggs the recipe called for, I was just moving fast and in the desire to get much accomplished, really accomplished very little.

Baking unlike cooking is more science based and those eggs were necessary for success.

Oh well a quick trip to the grocery store to purchase a birthday cake ended up being plan “B” and the takeaway for me; enjoy baking cakes more when you actually have the time to bake them.