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Zippy at Champagne Living

How Long Have You Been Blogging?:

2018 makes 10 years

Why Did You Decide To Start Your Blog?:

I was a serial retiree.

• I was an actress & dancer and then taught both, but burned out and retired.
• My husband and I owned restaurants and a catering company (don’t worry…they never let me in the kitchen, only behind the bar), we sold them and retired.
• I’ve owned quite a few businesses and either sold them or retired from them.
• Eventually, I took a retirement job at Starbucks doing multi-unit management. When my husband and I decided to call it quits, sell our house in Rhode Island and move to Florida I retired for what I thought was the last time.
• Six months later I couldn’t stand not having something to do every day, and so Champagne Living was born. I’d always had a knack for living beyond our means without it costing a lot…going to theater, dinners out 3 nights a week, traveling on the cheap (or free), etc. and I began by sharing my techniques for things like
• How to buy a car at wholesale (My dad and later my husband owned a large wholesale automobile business)
• How to score free theater and movie tickets
• How to dine at 5-star restaurants for free (and even get paid for it)
• etc.

Over the years I watched my audience grown and change and my blog changed along with them. As I aged, so did my readers. I saw that a good number of them were retiring, had more disposable incomes, were snowbirds with 2 homes, etc., so I began writing more of what they wanted. It was like going from writing about Zonin Prosecco to Veuve Cliquot Champagne.

What Do You Hope to Achieve With Your Blog in 2018?

I designated 2018 as the year of living YOU…which means that I (and my readers) will do the things that we’ve been putting off and jumping in to do them NOW. This is my real focus.

What is Your Favorite Social Media Channel and Why?

Because I have so many Twitter follower it is my least favorite platform. I still love the true engagement that I get on my personal Facebook page the best. It’s easy to build relationships there.

Who is Your Blogging Inspiration?

I’m inspired more by print than blogs in the past few years. The reason is that once I find myself looking at others in the same arena, we all begin to look and sound like each other with less originality. If you’re asking who I read, it changes often.

I always check out Career Girl Daily and Home Food Fun (my son & his wife) and The Simply Luxurious Life

What Advice Would You Give a New Blogger?

Other than technical information… don’t listen to other bloggers like me. Develop your own voice, find inspiration in the things that you love, if you listen to anyone…listen to your readers, follow your gut right from the beginning, and my always mantras

• Dare to be different
• You can do anything you set your mind to, as long as you read the directions.

Tell Us Something Fun About You

I used to live in Paris, I own over 20 striped shirts (but have one that’s my favorite) and I get an attitude when I have to cook (and not in a good way).