Falling in love in different countries…

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love, photographer, sweet, travel, traveling lovers

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

Paddle Boarding: My New Obsession

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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?

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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

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travel, Mykonos, Greece, 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

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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

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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?

Ditching the 9 to 5

Working inside a cold, dark office just isn’t for me. With my job being a creative one (writing + design), I need sunlight and the sounds of the ocean to keep me inspired. I love taking a break in the middle of my day to walk along the beach and refocus my thoughts. Or, I may get on a roll and work until 4 in the morning…then I might need to sleep in the next day. Or, I may need to take more than one coffee break, or work through the weekend. And sometimes, I even take a day off right in the middle of the week. And I’m not alone. Many creative types have this same flexible, sunny schedule.

But for the typical corporate boss, this just doesn’t work. Clock in at 8. Clock out at 5. Take two fifteen-minute breaks and an one-hour long lunch. Take 12 days paid off per year, IF YOU MUST.

For the last 12 months, I’ve tried to balance my creative life with my corporate life, and it worked fine for a while. But you know what? I missed the beach. I missed the sun. I missed my creative freedom. So here are my 2-weeks notice to corporate life.

So here we are. Back in freelance marketing full-time. Okay, more than full-time. But now I’m working with the clients that inspire and doing work that challenges me. And the only commute I do is the 2 block walk to the beach.

The New Plan

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beach, city, life, marketing, quitting my job, San Francisco, work

I know it’s long, but we have a lot of catching up to do.

I am a planner.  My Google calendar is perfectly synced with my hand-written pocket calendar, and everything is planned out perfectly.  Dinners, parties, bottomless mimosa brunches, client meetings, and vacations are all written and color-coordinated weeks to months in advance.  But it wasn’t always this way…

12 months ago my life was in complete chaos.  I didn’t know whether I was coming or going.  After a slow winter professionally, I was also treading water in my personal life.  I needed something to pull me out of my funk and get me back to kicking ass and taking names.  So I created a plan.

After leaving my home and my relationship, I moved into a high rise downtown and started a new job as Marketing Director of a technology company, while still balancing 30 hour weeks for my own firm.  I was convinced that keeping myself as busy as possible would help keep my mind off everything else in my life that seemed to be spiraling out of control.

It worked.  My new job was equal parts challenging and fulfilling, and my own firm began to pick up speed.  With the help of my amazing friends, I was back in the social world: traveling, dating, and experiencing all that this awesomespice city has to offer.

Now here we are, 12 months later, and it’s time to take take the next step.  But, what exactly is the next step?  It’s been months of arguing back and forth with myself.  Should I stay in San Francisco or move to Europe?  Expand my business or keep it boutique?  Keep going at this pace or settle down?

Here, in no particular order, is the new plan (parts 1 & 2, and mostly 3 are complete):

FOCUS:

Quit my job, focus completely on my clients Studio 41.  Instead of working 80-hour weeks, spend a human-size amount of time working, and spend more time drinking lemonade on my roof deck with the people I love.

SIMPLIFY:

Forgo the sky-high rent by moving out of the high rise and into an equally charming, but half the rent, house, 2 blocks from the beach.  Also, buy less shoes, more plane tickets.

CONNECT:

Spend less time at the gym, and spend more time running on the beach trail, kayaking, surfing, and other sun-soaking activities.

So that was the new plan.  Now that we’re all caught up…what’s new with you?

Later this week I’ll be writing about how I ditched the 9-5, again.  I’ll also give you a tour of the new digs.  Here’s a sneak peek: THIS is my new neighborhood:

Expand and Explore in 2013

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business, travel

1. Expand.  When I think about where I wanted Studio 41 to be by now back when  we opened in July of 2010, I was hoping to be a bit further along.   We’ve had some set backs, mostly because of my own faults or fears.  But 2013 will be different.  I’ll be hiring more employees this year, and expanding to New York, LA, and beyond.  I’ll also be launching a sister site, in which we’ll be offering solely website design at first.  But, we hope to expand there, too.  Take a sneak peek here:  ParachutePress.net.  We’re holding our breath and jumping in, because without risk there is no reward.

2. Explore.  Of course, this is not a new resolution.  Every year I push myself to see more and more of this beautiful planet.  2012 was rich with travel, and 2013 I’ll be seeing even more.  Just a few of the places that top my list are Barcelona, Greece, Ottawa & Montreal , and Mexico.

How are you planning to expand and explore in 2013?

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