After a few requests, I'm finally getting around to this blog post! Rob and I use Airbnb a lot when we travel, and I've had some questions about how we pick the right place for us.

I totally understand that staying in a stranger's house can feel totally weird, especially if you're used to staying in hotels, but I've found that a few things help me feel really comfortable with it, and a lot of the time I actually prefer an Airbnb to a hotel. But that was not always the case--our first Airbnb experience was not a good one, and it ended with me driving from Asheville back to Charlotte in the middle of the night. There was nothing wrong with the property we chose, and looking back I know that it all went to hell because of my personal preferences. So keep that in mind when you're traveling--what makes you feel at home? How far outside your comfort zone are you willing to go? 

1. Use a Superhost. This is the easiest way to know that you're going to stay at a great place hosted by a great person with a lot of experience and good reviews. We picked one for our condo in Miami in February and we could really tell the difference.
2. Plan ahead. We kind of forgot about our Asheville trip until the last minute so our options for places to stay were limited, and we ended up in what was quite literally a cabin in the woods. No one was there to greet us and we were 20 minutes from town. We also arrived at night so it was already dark and I had just sort of lost my bearings. If you know me at all then you know that none of that is within my comfort zone.
3. Speaking of which, keep your comfort zone in mind when searching. Do you want a place to yourself or would you rather rent a room from someone who will probably be home? Surprisingly enough I've found that I prefer to either rent a room or maybe a guest house and have the hosts actually on the property. But if you feel weird about sleeping under the same roof as a stranger, then you probably want to rent the whole house/apartment.
4. Pick a place that's conveniently located. Pretty simple advice, but it can be hard to pick a neighborhood when you're visiting a really big city. Our San Francisco trip last summer was kind of difficult because we wanted to go everywhere. We ended up staying near The Castro District so we could walk around there, and then we Ubered everywhere else before staying with a friend in Japantown for a few more days after we checked out of the Airbnb. It worked out pretty well. 
5. Use Google to check out the area. The location might be good but you want to make sure you like the neighborhood's vibe, especially if you're Instagram-obsessed like I am (embarrasing but true). Google Street View is really helpful for this, and make sure to check out the map and make sure there are some things around the Airbnb--coffee shops, dinner spots, maybe a little market--it's up to you to decide what's important to you but we always love having a few options nearby that we can walk to.

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Some of my favorite places we've stayed (I can update this list after future trips):

California:

• Scenic Neighborhood Garden Cottage in Santa Rosa
• The Loft in Downtown Healdsburg (seriously one of the most gorgeous apartments I've ever been in)

Florida:

• Midtown Miami Guest Suite

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Let me know if you have any questions! I absolutely love reader requests so if there's a post you'd like to see me write, you know where to find me!

I stopped doing monthly puppy updates after a year of having Ender, but the past month of Rob traveling has been really interesting--I didn't think I could get any closer to this pup but sure enough I feel like I know him even better now than I did in June. Since we're approaching a year and a half since his adoption date, I thought it'd be fun to pop in and do a little documenting.

• Weighs 51-52 pounds but looks like he's about to go through a growth spurt--is that a thing?
• Loves our backyard and can't believe we ever lived in an apartment.
• Will be two years old in November. Goodness gracious.
• Is getting a lot better at riding in the car. As long as we're going somewhere in town, he'll usually just sit in the back seat and look out the window, but after a while he gets anxious so for the most part if we're traveling we use the crate.
• Is obsessed with sunbathing and likes to lay out until he can't stand it anymore and then come inside and throw himself on the cool kitchen floor.
• Eats veggies instead of dog treats. His favorites are cucumber, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, and carrots. He's a weird one.
• Got really scared during a thunderstorm the other day so I swaddled him tightly in a blanket and held him like a baby. It did the trick.
• Will sometimes bring one of his bones over to me and start chewing on it when I take it from him. This means he wants me to hold it for him. So spoiled.
• Has his own Instagram even though at one point I said "never." Never say never, people!

Hi friends, happy Friday! Sorry I've been MIA this week, I needed to get away on Monday so Ender and I drove to Virginia and now we're in DC for the weekend with Rob before hitting Richmond on the way back to Charlotte. As always, you can follow along with me on Instagram--I post there even when I'm out of town, which is often not the case for the blog.

Today I wanted to pop in and let you know that for the next few weeks until the release of The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook, Friday will be a giveaway day! We're giving away four signed copies of my book and the contest starts next week, so stay tuned! Every week I'll be sharing one of my favorite recipes from the book so you can get a peek into what you can expect from your copy.

I'm so excited to show you what's inside! Thank you all so much to everyone who has pre-ordered already. Your support means the world to me and I can't wait to hear what you think of my first book!