You, travel, and your furry friend

Many modern women (and men) spend time traveling. It's a fact that our generation is more global than any other generation before us, and our jobs require us to to travel from time to time and our friends span the globe. So when travel calls or its time for a reunion with some college friends, finding a kennel for your furry friend, whether a dog or cat, can be a process.

Over the years, the trend in pet care has been not a kennel concept, but a "pet resort." More and more kennels are offering detailed "menus" of options for your pet's activities while in the kennel's care. These can include supervised play-time for your pet, long walks, specific treats at bed time, or even (and this may be extreme for some pet owners) a bed-time story and a tuck-in every night. So how do you decide where to go?

You must first start with a thororugh knowledge of your pet. Does your pet play well with others? If so, then maybe a kennel that offers supervised play groups is the one for you. If not, then you may want to look at a kennel that offers individual care without interaction with other animals. Does your pet need plenty of excercise? If you answered yes, then you will need to ensure that your dog is signed up for some long walks and some playtime.

The most important point here is to ask the right questions and actually VISIT the kennel before you drop off your pet. Perhaps, even show up unannounced. That way you get a chance to check out the kennel in its "natural habitat." Ask these questions: "How often will my pet get exercise? What exercise options are available? Will it cost extra? Do I need to bring my pet's food? (If they offer food - make sure that your pet doesn't have a sensitive stomach - if you don't know this answer - bring your pet's food!) Do I need to outline my pet's feeding schedule and rations? Do I need to bring bedding for my pet? Where will my pet sleep? (Ask if you can see the place where your pet will stay,  If you can't - then I would not be as keen to stay at that kennel - any good kennel will give you a tour).

These are just some of the basic questions, but any good kennel will walk you through the steps if it's your first time. Regardless, there are many options in most areas, so take the time to check them all out. For me, when my puppy needed to stay in a kennel for the first time (in her four years of life), I called three different kennels in the area and canceled on a few places until I found the place I liked the best. Now she can't wait to hop out the car when she gets there. I drive 25 minutes, granted, to get there. But it's all worth it to go to a place where I know my pet will be well taken care of and that gives me the piece of mind when I'm away.

Simply Cooking with Wine

Red and White. Sometimes that is as deep as some people go into deciphering the difference between wines. Some might even throw in what some call a rose' (the pink wine people).

For me wine is much more complex. In fact, wine is an art. The complex flavors and smells are tantalizing. I love the smell of oak barrels and I dream of living on a winery. Those who know me, know this, and for that reason one of my Christmas gifts this year was a wine package (decanter, wine stoppers, and a "Wine Lover" glass) - catchy idea for those who have a hard time deciding on gifts.

However, as we know, here on MMW - we like to keep it simple. So we'll delve into the basic reasons why you would choose between red or white for cooking, as I most recently discovered by trial and error. Many recipes call for wine in their ingredients, but many may not realize why one recipe may call for white and some red. Some of you may, admittedly, not be very familiar with wine but it's a MUST to have in your kitchen. It adds some complex flavors that you will be sure to enjoy (and if you are anti-alcohol, don't worry it burns off in the cooking process).

In choosing meats (no fish today), you have the white meats and the red meats. Pork, chicken and turkey (not the dark meat) fall into your white meats. Steak (any cut), lamb and duck fall into your dark/red meats. Fun side note: Any poultry that sticks to the ground and doesn't fly will have white meat except in the legs. Poultry that flies (geese and ducks) are dark throughout.

Click Read More Below to continue the article..

I don't hate you Martha...

Morning is always the best time for me to get things done. I wake up and clean the house, get some personal work done on my computer before heading to work, and I usually try to watch a few minutes of the Today show. Who doesn't need their fix of Matt Lauer in the morning?

This morning there was a New Year's theme, which usually includes some food. There she was. Martha. Cooking up four minute meals with some decently priced items. I had to like her for that moment. She was efficient, quick, and she can cook good food. What could Matt, Meredith, Ann and Al do but eat it and say how good it was? They were sitting ducks. I think Martha even picked out foods that she knew they would like (Al got a steak meal).

Now you may be staying, "Miss Millennial Modern Woman, you profess to be a "non-Martha Stewart blog." And there I must agree with you. I'm not. I don't have time for the pretty frills (all the time) or the money to pay for some super fantastic food items. BUT Martha has some good tips every now and then, which includes these recipes she had on national tv, and for that I have to say, "I don't hate you Martha." I just know that some things need to be simplified for the day to day - and that's what the Millennial Modern Woman is all about.

Christmas Cookies... Your Way

Who doesn't love Christmas cookies?? I would go to wager a great deal that even those who don't celebrate Christmas, love Christmas cookies. Personally, I can't live without them and one of my most favorite parts of Christmas, besides decorating the tree, is making Christmas cookies. It's a family tradition that my mom and I make the cookies together each year, but now that I feel like I have a little more cooking savvy, I felt that it was time to give the cookies an MMW twist.

While searching through the magazines and cookbooks, I decided that I wanted non-bar cookies with almonds. Conveniently, there were no non-bar cookies with almonds. SO we created them. I took another cookie and replaced the walnuts with almonds and "Walla!" non-bar cookies with almonds. And oh are they fabulously tasty! Now you may  be saying to yourself, "wow what a change," in all your sarcasm, BUT surprisingly enough many individuals will not take the risk to deviate from the cookie recipe. Especially if they don't bake often.

Allow me to empower you. While you may not bake often, you always know what good cookie dough tastes like, and ultimately how a good cookie tastes. As long as you start with a basic cookie dough (try making the dough for chocolate chip for example and not putting in the chocolate chips yet), you can make any type of cookie with easy add-ins. Try cranberries, or walnuts (though I don't like them), or chocolate chips and walnuts and cranberries. You'll be surprised with how crafty you feel and how good the cookies taste. You might even go as far to have your friends call you "chef". I warn you against this one unless you can back it up in the kitchen with a killer meal.... But I digress.

I remind you not to forget the fallback of the pre-made cookie dough for those who don't want to make the mess in kitchen.  While it's not my preferred cookie, you can always decorate these to your preference, such as the sugar cookie with lots of icing! Or you can use the sugar cookie dough and mix in what you want (just pull out all the cookie dough and put it in a mixing bowl and mix in your add-ins). Remember however, to adjust your time of cooking for your add-ins. I might suggest you do a sample (1 or 2 cookies).

The most important detail to remember is: Don't feel limited by the cookie recipes that you have. The worst that can happen is you throw a batch away, but if you stick to basic changes, I doubt that will happen - unless perhaps you decide to put in a crazy add-in.

Happy Homemaking!

Holiday Decorating - Quick and Easy

I love the winter holidays. For some its Hanukkah. Others - Kwanzaa. For me, it's Christmas and I love it.

The problem with me loving anything though, is again the problem that I have a tendency to not be able to rein it all in. So holiday decorating can be a budget buster, but if you're spending conscience and you purchase items that can be used year after to year, you'll be able to slowly build up your holiday decorations stash.

Pictured here is my dog Nona, who of course loves Christmas just as much as I do. Who wouldn't when you get a bunch of treats and all this extra food drops on the floor? Well maybe not on the floor, but you get the point.

This Christmas tree here is only 4 1/2 feet tall and is perfect for my one-bedroom apartment. Now, I understand that not many people enjoy the artificial trees, but noting that this tree cost me just as much as a real one would each year, I think I got my money's worth for the last seven years - YES SEVEN! Imagine the savings each Christmas!!

Which leaves you room for other items such as garlands, lights for your windows, signs outside your patio (or home). However, what is most important is to stick to a budget. This year (the 7th year of the tree), unfortunately, my built-in lights went out. But for $10 I went out and bought new lights, used the same ornaments, etc. and the tree looks great! Or at least I like to think so...

The MMW twist? Use items you wouldn't normally have out for the holidays to jazz up your holiday decor. I had a statue that I didn't think would look nice out on a bookshelf . I though of putting it away, but when I put up a cheap, pre-decorated garland up on the bookcase, in front of the statue, it really sealed the deal! This year I only purchased a cute happy holidays sign for my porch, the lights for the tree, and the garland. It really has made a difference, and all for less than $40. What small items can you purchase within your budget to help create the ambiance you wish to have in your home? Trust me, that expensive snowman will still be there next year - and you don't really need him...

The problem with "That's just the way I am."

"That's just the way I am."

Those six words can end any conversation. "That's just the way I am." "That's just how he/she is." Doesn't really leave room for flexibility does it? You can almost feel the tension in the words, just by reading them.

Saying "that's just the way I am" is like saying, "period, end of conversation." It means, "I don't know what to tell you but I'm not changing, so either get used to it or give up and leave me alone." Usually, it ends up being the literal version of that because, unless that person truly cares about you, they will leave you alone. Take it from someone who has learned the lesson - the hard way. Personal development is key to success and to better relationships, which requires a certain sense of self awareness. Being self aware of our own challenges and shortcomings helps us to chart a path to developing these areas and quite possibly, making them strengths. It also helps us to build stronger relationships with our friends and family. This requires us to open our eyes, mind and heart to the possibilities and to feedback. "That's just the way I am" is a limitation.


Those words were a regular part of my vocabulary for a long time. I was addicted to the words, "that's just the way I am." They seemed like such a logical reasoning for how I acted or responded or spoke. How could anybody argue with that reasoning? But these words are like using smoke bombs to screen yourself. You get all the smoke and sound, but after the smoke clears, you're still there. You have to first realize that you have been hiding behind  the words before you can understand the need to change. The next step is identifying when you use the words as an excuse and why; probably related to a weakness or bad habit that you're not ready to admit to. The most important thing to remember is you can change. You might even be able to make these weaknesses into strengths.


My best friend told me once, quite simply, "you just can't say that." We weren't best friends then, but we are now. Maybe it's because I actually listened and realized that "just the way I am" really isn't "just who I want to be." Personal development and being open to feedback is the best way to develop our understanding of our inner self. It's also the key to being a great professional and a whole person. How can you improve something if you don't even know that it's in need of an upgrade? How can you begin to really understand yourself, if you don't even acknowledge your shortcomings? We all need to start somewhere, and sometimes it's just as simple as saying "That's not just who I am - I can be, and I am, more."

Are you giving away cookie dough?

I often hear, "I shouldn't allow one person to ruin my day." I know that I am a person that usually allows one person to sully what could have been quite possibly a great day, but I like to believe that the exact opposite is also true and allows for one person to do quite the opposite.

Most recently, I was rushing to the office for a meeting, which means I was also rushing to find a place to park. Unfortunately, my fail-safe parking spot was blocked by a large truck that morning, which happened to be driven by the mailmain. Stupid of me to think that I could honk "nicely" (nicely meaning short and only once) and wave to ask him to move. He proceeded to near my car and yell at me and ask me where he was supposed to park since there were "other cars blocking where he parked". Excuse me mr. mailman. I was unaware that you had a designated parking spot. However, not wanting to cause trouble, I said forget it, and though he was blocking a driveway, I went to find another spot. This parking problem began a snowball effect of lateness and frustration with all of my appointments that day, leading up to my lunch meeting.

However, when arriving to that lunch meeting, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a small ball of cookie dough at the end of our meeting, as the person I met with had realized what a day I had thus far, and knowing I was an addict, sorted through the early shipments of boxes in the kitchen, to get me the one sole piece of sunshine that I needed to turn around my day.

For those of you who may be wondering how one piece of cookie dough can turn around your day, you must not be a sugar addict like me. Or you may not be open to seeing what may seem like trivial or inconsequential acts for what they truly are, something that can completely alter your day. Which made me think...

Am I handing out cookie dough?

It is quiet similar to opening the door for the person behind you, or the concept of paying it forward, but somehow handing out cookie dough has such a better ring to it. So again I ask myself as well as you, the reader, are you handing out cookie dough? What small act of kindness can you do today to make someone's day better, or maybe even better than it already is. Sometimes it's very easy to go through the day in our own worlds, not really relating to the number of strangers we pass in one day, just in the hallway of the office or lunch room. But what would it take to actually see these people, and perhaps "give away a piece of cookie dough" to them? Maybe it's as simple as having candy on your desk...or perhaps not blocking a driveway. But I might be pushing it there...