Mike Valletta

Nordstrom Rack Opens in Connecticut!

Have you been to the hottest new store in Connecticut yet? Nordstrom Rack, the budget friendly alternative to the high end sister store Nordstrom, recently opened it’s doors just blocks away from the Westfarms Mall in the Westfarms Shopping Plaza. It’s hip, it’s trendy, and even better its easy on the wallet. I first heard … Continue reading »

One World Trade Center Grows as America Grows Stronger

I make a lot of trips down to New York City. Living within a close proximity to it here in Connecticut, we’re often referred to as one big suburb of the Big Apple. All it takes is a look around at how we drive to see just how true that is! When it comes to … Continue reading »

Spring is in the Air!

I can’t say enough about the weather this week. As much of a skier as I am, this spring like weather has indeed hit a sweet spot with me. As if there were much of a winter around here anyways, right mother nature? I swear, she has really been some kind of mother this year, … Continue reading »

Discovering the “Y” in Yoga

“Stretch to downward facing dog!” snaps the instructor on my Gaiam Yoga DVD. “Bend farther down!” he continues to bark. “Now, bend even farther, and breathe.” he says so calmly when I’m in the toughest physical position in my life! There’s just something about Yoga. Most people recommend it. They say it’s most likely one … Continue reading »

The Cow Story: A Secret to Happiness

People often ask me, “Mike, why are you so darn happy all the time?”. I often come back with the response of “Why, should I be miserable or something?”. It’s a question that is posed to me everyday. Some wonder if it’s the gallons of coffee I drink a day. Sorry, it’s not the coffee, … Continue reading »

Explore the Great Outdoors, Indoors!

It’s cold. Period. There’s no question in my mind that the place to be is indoors, but am I really the type of person to just stay in my home all day hibernating my life away from the elements? Not at all! Today, I took a ride out to Cabella’s in nearby East Hartford. Cabella’s, … Continue reading »

The Opportunity of a Lifetime: Covering The Dew Tour

This has got to be one of the best weeks of my life. Not only will I be making my way up to Vermont to check out Killington Resorts winter Dew Tour, I’ll also be covering it! You see, it all started when an email came to my inbox last week asking if I would … Continue reading »

Litchfield County Gets a Taste of Winter, Finally

Remember last year when we were buried up to our eyeballs in snow? We would often reference our homes to igloos as we mingled with other Eskimos who braved the elements that was the winter of 2011. This year, exact opposite. After a shattering Halloween snow storm that left many stranded and without power, snow … Continue reading »

Daffodil Hill Offers a Sea of Daffodils

Last night, I was watching one of my trusted news sources, NBC Connecticut, and as I was watching I happened to notice that they were airing a story that took place here in Litchfield County. I was all ears. Anything to do with the local area I immediately want to know about, even if I … Continue reading »

Geysir, Iceland

Reblogged from A lifetime's exploration: Wandering the geyser area of Geysir in the Southwest of Iceland is like walking across another world. Steam wisps up from hot pools of perfect turquoise water, puddles bubble away heated by the Earth’s core and huge vents of H20 blast out of the ground every few minutes. Waiting for … Continue reading »

Harlem Shake: Bring your own costume Monday!

Reblogged from TribeVibe: According to Nick Swisher, Monday’s filming of the Tribe’s Harlem Shake video was “Bring your own costume Monday!” And boy did he and his teammates ever. Here is the roster of the downright ridiculous costumes on display in the Tribe Town 216 edition. Parrot: Jason Kipnis (costume courtesy of Vinnie Pestano) Ohio … Continue reading »

Stay Strong, Keep Fighting

Reblogged from Broken Light: A Photography Collective: Photo taken by a woman who has suffered from severe depression. She hopes that by telling her story that she will help fight stigma, and help people to understand things like self-harm that seem so hard to understand. She would also like to help other people suffering to … Continue reading »

Summer, Where Are You?

There’s no doubt that this has been a long winter for us in New England. The days were cold. The nights were even colder. The snow was, well, let’s not even talk about the snow. The fact of the matter here is, that sometime after forty inches, we grew anxious for spring to come, and … Continue reading »

Instagram: Creating A Generation of Fauxtographers

Reblogged from State of Alaska: Image courtesy of Weighty Winds via flickr.com On the seventh day, God created Facebook, and He saw that it was good. Circa 4.6 billion years later, social media experts attempted to isolate and split a single Facebook atom in order to clone its success. The result was … Continue reading »

Six Years Ago I Was Dead

Reblogged from The Runaway Mama: The other day, Dylan said to me, “Six years ago I was dead.” We were at the gas station. I was pumping gas, and Dylan and Riley were hanging out the window. I replied, “No, you weren’t dead. You just weren’t born yet.” Then he said, “I was dead when … Continue reading »

Bond bubble may be closer to popping

Reblogged from The Buzz – Investment and Stock Market News: The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks. The Dow is at a record high and the … Continue reading »

Hope is Given to those in Need

Faith in humanity is restored when stories like this reach the inbox. The sixth annual Starlight Dinner Dance to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will be held this Friday March 8th at The Pontelandolfo Club in Waterbury, CT. Since opening it’s doors back in 1962, the hospital has an average of 260 patients passing … Continue reading »

Therapy Through Nature in the Torrington Backwoods

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” -Albert Einstein The recovery process since my motor vehicle accident has been a long one. Each day, there seems to be a new bump in the road of life. Through it all, however, I have found a great sense of therapy taking in the … Continue reading »

Stress Test Proves My Abnormalities

This past Thursday morning I was brought into the hospital for my stress test. Ever have one? They’re not fun! Not that they’re testing to see if I’m stressed out, I’m not, they brought me in so that they could purposely stress out the heart to see if they could bring on some of the … Continue reading »

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