A Beautiful Giveaway!

Tags

beauty, giveaway, shopping, Ulta

I love giveaways!  Especially those that benefit my readers.  This giveaway is sponsored by LashControl®, an awesome new line of mascara formulas that have squeeze technology.  It’s pretty awesome actually.  With LashControl® you can vary the amount of mascara formula that comes out on the brush, every time you use it.

HOW IT WORKS: There is a flexible wiper built into the tube that is controlled with finger pressure when you pull the brush out. You squeeze harder if you want a light application to start then layer it on. Or, apply a generous amount of mascara then re-insert to the brush and squeeze off the excess so you can separate the lashes and draw out the lashes to its longest point. Any excess stays inside the tube. No need to scrape off the tip of the brush or wipe with a tissue so you don’t get that glop on your eyelid or nose. No waste, no foreign particles go back inside the tube, no clumps!!

TO WIN:  Here’s all you have to do to be entered to win a $50 giftcard to Ulta, sponsored from my friends over at LashControl:

“Like” LashControl on Facebook.

That’s it!  It’s THAT simple.  Just be sure to come back over here when you’re done and leave a comment to let me know you did it.  The winner will be chosen randomly by Random.org on June 5th and notified by email, and of course, I’ll post the winner here as well!

 

Best Limoncello Recipe

Happy #WW…For all you non-Twitter users it’s Wine Wednesday!  I’ve decided to start a new weekly wine & recipe column on my blog, on which I’ll post a new recipe every Wednesday.

This week, I’ll show you how to make limoncello.  I’ve been in love with limoncello ever since I went to Capri, Italy for the first time and saw the bright yellow & green limoncello carts everywhere.  It’s a refreshing lemon liqueur that is served chilled, usually as a digestivo (delicious liqueur that helps digestion after meals).

Here’s what you’ll need:

10 Lemons

1 (750-ml) Bottle of Vodka

3 1/2 Cups of Water

2 1/2 Cups of White Sugar

A large, sealable jar to hold limoncello ingredients.

Large pot

Strainer

Cute jars for storing or giving limoncello as gifts

Here’s how to make it:

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons, leaving as little white as possible on the rinds.  This is really important because the yellow part of the peel is where most of the oil (read: taste) comes from.

2.  Put the rinds into the tall jar.  Add the entire bottle of vodka.  Seal the jar.  Make sure no air can slip through the top.

3.  Place the sealed jar in a dark place, like a cupboard, for 2 weeks.  It’s worth the wait.

—- 2 Weeks Later—-

 4. Make a simple syrup on the stovetop:  Bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Once boiling, remove from heat, and add sugar.  Once sugar dissolves, let cool.

5. While your simple syrup is cooling, remove the rinds from the vodka mixture using a strainer and a large pot.  Use a big enough pot that you’ll be able to add the simple syrup later.

6.  Once simple syrup is totally cooled, add to the pot with the vodka mixture.  Stir softly.  When ready, use a funnel to put the limoncello into your cute bottles.  Chill in your refrigerator until ready to serve.

Makes about this much:

Enjoy!

You know you’re addicted to traveling when…

When googling ‘addicted to travel’ to see if there were others like me, I found these adorable quotes about the hold travel can have on you:

… you sleep with your passport. — @kasiainparis

… you live out of your suitcase even when ‘home. — Judi E. (I do this a lot! -Natalie)

… you can and have given tourists directions in London, Paris, Tokyo – or any other places you don’t live in. — Bruce

… you’re planning one trip while on another! — @missyfarrenPR

… you already know the airport codes for airports you’ve not yet visited. — Jo Ann Slate

… you can pick up your luggage and guess, within a few ounces, the weight.” — Barbara Calder (Totally!  I know exactly what 50 lbs feels like! -Natalie)

… you start collecting small, clear plastic bags for check-in. — @MonicaSarkar

… you sit down at your desk and reach for the seatbelt. — Alan G. (HA!)

… waking up at home feels strange. — Jeff

… your cubicle at work is covered in postcards. — @DanielleRauch

… you always have at least two bags at home: one in ‘unpack’ mode and one in ‘packed and ready to go’ mode. — Bruce

… you know which customs agents to avoid! — @MayDayTravel

… the only reason you work is so you can afford to upgrade your next trip. — Marvin

Source

Falling in love in different countries…

Tags

love, photographer, sweet, travel, traveling lovers

This is just about the coolest thing I’ve seen on Pinterest yet.

Paddle Boarding: My New Obsession

Tags

beach, california coast, dana point, Miss Social, paddle boarding, san clemente, southern california, the beach life, travel, water activities

I hate running. And stair climbing. And lifting weights. And pretty much any other type of exercise that doesn’t involve something else interesting enough to distract me from actually ‘feeling the burn.’ Enter: Paddle boarding.

Last week I tried paddle boarding for the first time while some friends were visiting from out of town and I wanted to show them all the fun things you can do when you’re living #thebeachlife, other than lay on the beach and worry about getting skin cancer.

Paddle boarding was a little unnerving at first. It was a little windy out, which make my board shaky, and made me fear falling into the deep blue and getting eaten by a shark (unlikely, I know). After getting used to the balance and the small wake, I was moving quickly along like I was doing something as familiar as riding a bike.

The best thing about paddle boarding is that it’s so fun and challenging that you actually forget that you’re doing a full body work out. The next day after boarding, my core, legs, and arms were sore, and I didn’t even have to enter the smelly gym.

I’m officially obsessed.

Can Travel Become an Addiction?

Tags

d h lawrence, Miss Social, natalie grinnell, travel, travel addiction

Traveling in Carole, Italy

The more I see and learn about the world, the more I want to see the rest of it.  When I look through my photos albums it appears as if I’ve seen so much of the world.  But when you think of how many countries, cities, towns, villages there are in the world, I’ve barely seen anything yet.

This morning I finished my budgeting for this summers travel excursions.  On the document includes flights to Hawaii, Canada, Greece, Spain, Southern California, and Las Vegas, plus a week long American road trip with my family…not to mention daily food and lodging expenses, cash for native public transportation, my souvenir budget, and my shopping budget (hey, if I’m going all the way to Spain, I need to buy at least one pair of shoes whilst there).

Looking at the pad of paper with all the expenses and notes printed untidily, exceeding the lined area, you’d think I had a gambling or alcohol addiction.  You can see my drug, how much it costs, and how I plan to keep feeding my dependency.

But, unlike a gambling or drug addiction, traveling actually enhances your life, as so cooly put in this quote from D. H. Lawrence:

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in.

Photoshoot: San Francisco

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downtown san francisco, model, modeling, Photo Shoot, San Francisco, san francisco pier

Recently I had the pleasure of working with Cheshire Issacs, a really talented photographer in the Bay Area.  Cheshire had an idea to do an iStock photo shoot with the Digitally Chic girls at our favorite spots around the city.  Here are a few of my  favorite shots from that day:

Travel Envy: Mykonos, Greece

Tags

Greece, Mykonos, travel, Trips

I apologize ahead of time for all the exclamation points in the following post…I’m just really, super, uber excited.

On my bucket list for a while now (aka my whole life) is Mykonos, Greece.

Every time I’m browsing the travel section of Pinterest, I’m always drawn the the white and blues of Mykonos.   So it’s officially on the calendar for Summer of 2013.  But now I need your help!  Have you been?  Tell me where I should stay, where I should eat, what I should see.  I don’t want to miss anything!

Also, I’m going to Hawaii for the first time in 3 weeks (!!!) so if you have any suggestions for Kauai, please let me know as well!

Photos via 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Brugge in Photos

Tags

belgium, belgium beer, belgium chocolate, bruges, brugge, travel, world travel

Today I want to share with you my newest addition to “Natalie’s favorite places on earth“…Brugge, Belgium (Or Bruges, depending on where you’re from)!

Getting off the train in Brugge feels like stepping into the pages of a fairy tale book.  Cobblestone streets, canals weaving in and out from under the streets, and to-die-for chocolate makes Brugge my second favorite place on the planet.

My sister and I had been in Belgium for the wedding of a friend I had met in Rome 3 years earlier.   The day after the wedding we were due to take the train back to Paris, where we had been staying the week before.  But, at the wedding we met a charming brother & sister duo who convinced us to travel with them to Brugge the following morning.   The wedding had lasted until 5am that evening/morning, so exhaustedly we took the first train out to Brugge on a Sunday morning.

At first, Brugge felt like any other European city we had ventured thus far in our trip.  As we pulled into the train station we saw the usual slew of Americanized dining; Starbucks, McDonalds.  After grabbing a map from the travel kiosk, we crossed the street and stepped into what looked like Belle’s hometown in Beauty & the Beast.

 We discovered we liked Belgium beer…

…And love Belgium chocolate!

We were only able to spend a couple days in Brugge, but I’m planning on going back later this summer.  I need to restock my Belgium chocolate stash.

My Favorite Places…A List in Progress

Tags

barcelona, belgium, bruges, brugge, california, capri, italy, roma, rome, San Francisco, travel, travel tuesday, world travel

I haven’t been everywhere, but I’m well on my way!

1. Capri, Italy.

This enchanting island off the coast of Napoli (Naples), Italy is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been.  It’s a tiny island full of everything a girl could want: breathtaking scenery, high-end shopping, warm water for swimming, limoncello cafes around every corner, and most importantly, it’s very own Blue Grotto.

2. Brugge, Belgium.

Getting off the train in Brugge feels like stepping into the pages of a fairy tale book.  Cobblestone streets, canals weaving in and out from under the streets, and to-die-for chocolate makes Brugge my second favorite place on the planet.

3. Barcelona, Spain.

There’s just something about the free spirited disposition of the residents of Barcelona that makes you want to join in their celebrations of life.  Not to mention you’re constantly surrounded by the likes of Picasso & Gaudi; their art shows up everywhere throughout the city.  It is truly of place of inspiration.

4. San Francisco, California, USA

As much as I’ve traveled, there is still one place I always come to that feels like the most interesting place on Earth.  When I come home to San Francisco -the city by the Bay, home of the Champions, Fog City, the Golden City – I always get butterflies in my stomach.  There’s a reason it’s known as “Everyone’s Favorite City” (it’s on Wikipedia…look it up).  San Francisco is a meeting place for people from all over the world…a true melting pot.  Cultures from all corners of the earth have come here and set up shop.  The city may only be 7×7 miles, but within the city limits, you can experience almost any other city.  From SOMA to Chinatown, from North Beach to the Mission, from Fisherman’s Warf to the top of Nob Hill…it’s all here.

5. Rome, Italy.

Rome has been one of the world’s most interesting cities for thousands of years.  If you like history, this is the place to be.  Hundreds of historical sites and museums allow you to not only learn about Italian history, but the history of everything you may or may not believe: religion, creation, evolution, revolution…it can all be seen in Rome.

I could go on to tell you my top 100 places, but there’s only so much time in the day, and only so much you are willing to read.

What are your top 5 favorite places in the world?