In the last few weeks, I have attended multiple functions that came directly out of communication through twitter, facebook and meetup.com.

In early January, I was invited to be a part of a round table discussion on local news and making it more interactive which included a tour of the local NBC17 studios in Raleigh.

Then, on Thursday night, with over 100 other people, I attended the first 2009 Triangle Tweetup where I got to meet a couple women I know on Twitter, in person for the first time.

For me, online social networking has led to some great opportunities to meet a variety of folks in a more traditional live networking setting. I also attend several meetup groups in the area, both for social gatherings and for business connections.

Online interactions can be impersonal, so I always love putting a face to a name at these events!

Last night seemingly half of the Triangle area showed up at LoneRider Brewing Company near Brier Creek for their first open house brewery tour. We arrived about 10 minutes early (thanks to no traffic on I-40), picked up a logo pint glass and walked right up to the tap.

They only have two beers available now, the flagship ‘Shotgun Betty’ Hefeweizen and the ‘DeadEye Jack’ Porter but the three owners are planning to expand their core offering with seasonal brews.

Eric really liked the Hefeweizen, it had a strong banana and clove taste, so the description on their website is wholly accurate. I, of course, tried the porter which had a nice mild chocolate flavor, lighter mouthfeel and none of the bitterness found in some porters. The flavor improved once the beer warmed up a bit.

I also introduced myself to Sumit Vohra, who is the voice behind LoneRiderBeer on Twitter.

shiny brand new tanks

the LoneRider Brewery logo on the warehouse wall

By the time we left, around 7:15pm, the brewery warehouse was completely packed and the owners looked a little shellshocked. They aren’t going to be bottling for another six months, but their beer should be available soon at local restaurants.

As for us, we have a nice signature pint glass to add to our collection and I am looking forward to more opportunities to try LoneRider brews.

So, I am planning a trip to San Francisco for the NTEN nonprofit conference and although I found plane tickets and a hotel for a reasonable price (not a steal, mind you, this is San Francisco we are talking about), I was having a heck of time nailing down a good rental car rate. I wanted to pick the car up at the airport and drop it off downtown, thereby eliminating an extra trip for each of us on BART to and from SFO.

I started looking on Kayak.com but they don’t let you search by non-airport locations, so that extra factor will never be included in the quotes. I choose the cheapest airport option and went directly to the rental car website to try my luck with their system. We originally considered taking advantage of the Alamo $10 a day on the weekends deal* that is going on right now but you need to keep the car on a Saturday night. Parking at my hotel was $49 a night, so that option was, well, not an option. I was coming up with quotes around $179 for two days which I probably don’t have to tell you is ridiculous. But Enterprise, Alamo and National were all in this range (or higher)… simply because I wanted to drop the car off at a different location.

I decided to book at Alamo just so I would be sure to get something, wait a few weeks and try again. This is a beauty of rental car reservations! You can book and cancel up to the day of the rental in most cases, so there is no penalty for looking around. Be aware that Alamo (and others as well) has started a pre-pay option where you “save 15%” for paying upfront. This effectively eliminates your ability to change your mind when you see a better deal later, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Hotels? Sure. Rental cars? Nope.

Yesterday, I had some time in between projects, so I did another search on Kayak and found that Dollar’s rate had dropped to the lowest quote for an airport pick up and drop off. I went directly to their website and was able to modify the drop off location to three blocks away from my hotel. This time, the price was much more reasonable… $76.

That’s $103 less than my original reservation!

My advice is to always keep looking. You never know when a good deal is going to come up, so prepaying for a U.S. car reservation almost never makes sense.

* We have used this deal twice already, in San Diego and Chicago. It’s awesome.

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! Eric quickly checked the weather hotline and learned that he had a snow day, which means he gets to stay home with me to watch Obama’s inauguration!

I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven and Eric took some photos… :)

After breakfast we took Riesling out for a good romp in the snow…

It took a while for all the little snowballs to melt off her beard and legs, but it was totally worth it. You can see more of our snowy photos on Flickr.

I will have some of my pastel paintings hanging at the Hope Valley Bottle Shop (4711 Hope Valley Rd in Durham, NC) for the next few months and tomorrow night (Tuesday) there will be an artist’s reception and free wine tasting from 5-7pm.

Eric and I will be there, so if you are local, feel free to stop in and try whatever great wines Thomas and Drew have picked out, see some of my artwork in person, and say hello.  :)

Hopefully, we won’t be snowed in because the weather people are predicting 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow and with few salt/sand trucks to go around, we may have to reschedule!

Eric reminded me last night that I never created a page for our Ireland trip last November. This is partially because I spent December traveling back and forth to Florida and time just got away from me.

The page is now up for those interested in seeing all our Ireland posts in one place.

I also never posted about the two bed & breakfasts we stayed in during our long weekend. We liked both for different reasons, so I’ll start with the Windway House B&B in Killarney.

(That’s our little gray rental car on the left!)

The best feature about this place was the mere 5 minute walk to the center of Killarney. The rooms were comfortable and plenty big enough, the breakfast was hearty and you were allowed to choose from one of five main entrees. We were able to park off the street, so that made finding parking a non-issue. Frank was a fantastic host; he gave us printed directions and suggested mutiple activities when asked, including providing us with a detailed map of downtown marked up with good restaurants and pubs. Wireless was also available, but for those without laptops, there was a computer for guests to use in the hallway. The only minor hassle for us was having to pay in cash as he didn’t accept credit cards, but I would still highly recommend this place for anyone spending the night in Killarney.

Our other B&B, the Avalon House, was perfectly located for our flight out of Shannon airport the following morning. The house was a bit hard to find in the dark (even with our GPS) but Mary was a lovely host and gave a us a few suggestions on where to grab a quick local dinner after the stressful drive from Killarney (i.e. in the dark, while it’s raining, on the opposite side of the road).

Her breakfast the next morning was supurb, I had the eggs and smoked salmon (the fresh pink kind, yum) and Eric had the full Irish Breakfast. The coffee was tasty and we nearly missed our flight because we spent the whole morning talking with her and a local lighthouse photographer, John Eagle. My only complaint was that our room was in need of some repair. On the surface everything looked very nice but during our stay the door handle to the bathroom came off (I was briefly trapped), the shade wouldn’t open and there was mold growing behind the toliet. Still, for one night it was more than adequate.

Feel free to send me an email or just ask if you want to know more about our trip. :)

On this day, one year ago, I opened up my business bank account and began the process of registering my business name and making my freelance web design career “official.”

Even though there have been challenges (getting paid on time, seemingly endless networking events, etc.), I have never once regretted the decision to quit my job at UNC and strike out on my own.

Plus, all of the self-marketing and conferences and after-hours events have not only helped me become more comfortable talking about what it is I do for a living, but it’s generated a large list of possible leads for 2009.

I have spent the first week of this year researching client management systems (I like Highrise), new hosting companies, and planning out what conferences I want to attend in 2009. So far, I am traveling to San Francisco in April for the NTEN technology conference. Very exciting!

I have a feeling this is going to be a great year. :)

I’m in San Diego for the Plant and Animal Genome conference, and since Alamo is running a great $10 a day weekend deal, I have a car till Monday for $36 total. Nice.

After checking in to the hotel, I drove down to South Mission Beach and walked along the ocean front walkway. After a day in airline seats it was a perfect antidote! I stopped in to Cane’s to watch the sunset -  a bit touristy, but the view is unbeatable, and my southwest spring rolls were good.

This morning I went to the Hash House a Go Go for breakfast and had the turkey and bacon hash. It was enormous, easily enough for two people, and about $12. More importantly, it was a good mix of flavors and quite tasty.  I’m pretty sure that I won’t be eating again until dinner time.

Hello!

Between Eric being sick over Christmas and me currently on the tail end of a sinus infection, nothing much has been done around these parts. We don’t even have that many photos from Christmas to share.

Trust, however, that despite all the driving and stuffy noses, we had a lovely visit on Long Island and came home with a ton of good loot.

One major highlight was Pam and Ziggy’s reaction to the pastel pet portrait I completed for them in November. We also had two chances to visit with Eric’s grandmother and sample her fantastic cooking, which is always a bonus.

And, of course, Riesling spent a lot of time being snuggled. :)

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a good start to the New Year!