How beautiful are you, Myrtle Beach? This pretty picture was snapped over Labor Day weekend when my boyfriend Tim and I took a mini road trip to South Carolina. Waking up across from the hazy sun floating atop the Atlantic was a wondrous way to greet the day.
But we couldn’t sit there and be mesmerized by the warm waves riding up the soft sand on our first day. We had a flyboarding class to attend, as you may recall from a previous post. Read More
Last week at this time my boyfriend Tim and I were headed to Jetpack Adventures in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to blast off above the water and take on the sky. We’ve watched flyboarding videos on the Internet, but now we were about to be the ones strapped to a jetpack and swooshed above the glistening lake. It was an exciting and jittery feeling, but it was an experience waiting to be lived.
We were scheduled to go one at a time: I’d fly at 11:00 and Tim would go at 11:30. We arrived a half hour before my flight, as suggested, and watched a man hover through the air, connected to a large hose dragging a jet ski. His family cheered him on and snapped photos, and before I knew it, it was time to sign my life away and strap on the pack. Read More
Stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP) has been surging in popularity, and by now you’ve probably heard of it. If you live near or visited an ocean, lake, or river, you might have planted your feet on a board and hit up the waves already.
Part surfing and part canoeing, this rapidly-growing water sport originated in Hawaii, and packs a punch of a workout, especially for your core. Now pretty much offered at any body of water in the world, I found myself with my toes in the sand as I carried an 11-foot paddle board and its accompanying paddle toward the gentle shore of beautiful Jordan Lake. Read More
From tacos to Philly cheesesteaks to lobster tails and mini doughnuts, Raleigh’s food truck rodeo had every kind of food you could imagine, all in one place. With 58 food trucks and eight food carts lined up along Fayetteville Street, the food party spread out over 11 city blocks.
On Saturday, August 9th, 58 food trucks covered 11 city streets.
No matter if you were craving Italian, Chinese, bacon, cupcakes, or are a vegetarian, you were guaranteed to be satisfied. Vendors showing off their delicious skills included Soomsoom Pita Pockets, Gnam Gnam Gelato, D’ Burritos, Master Bacon, Thai Box Zing, CockADoodleMoo, Baguettaboutit, OMG Chicken, Gussy’s Greek, Valentino’s Food Truck, Pie Pushers, and Barone Meatball (that was a mouthful). From 4-9 p.m. these trucks and others were constantly cookin’ up the goods, as the lines at many of the stations were continuous.
I had to stop at Taco Grande for a chicken taco!
Because my boyfriend, friends, and I wanted to taste a couple of different foods, we didn’t fill up at one place. In total, we stopped at about eight places to eat and drink, which included chicken and beef tacos, burgers, lobster tail, beer and cider, wine, a Philly cheesesteak, a spicy chicken rice bowl, ice cream, and doughnuts. We would have continued, but there’s only so much one person can eat, unfortunately. Read More
Central Park
You can row around Central Park for a fun workout and some pretty sights (this costs a few bucks).
Though the majority of parks are free to visit, most aren’t Manhattan’s famed Central Park. Originally designed in the 1860s to boost real-estate value uptown, it’s filled with beautiful sites such as Strawberry fields, the “Imagine” mosaic, statues, free events, and of course, people-watching.
The High Line
A friend and I up on the High Line last week!
This park has the feel of a real-live attraction, complete with its own opening hours. Created from an abandoned elevated railroad track, this park, being 30-feet in the air, connects the Meatpacking District with Chelsea’s galleries. Catch amazing views of the Hudson River, tall city buildings, and the streets of pedestrians below.
Chelsea Galleries
Image source: explorecation.com
Located mostly in the 20s Streets between 10th and 11th Avenues, New York’s top spot for gallery crawls is in the Chelsea district. You’ll find art galleries hosting group shows by up-and-comers, exhibitions from art-world celebrities, and a stretch of all life-forms of artwork. All galleries are free, and there’s no pressure to buy. Read More
There’s so much out there in the world, more than one could ever imagine. There are so many different ways of life that are lived everyday; so much breathtaking natural beauty; so much to explore and learn from. Below are some pictures from my first time traveling outside of the States that are from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy in December 2010 and January 2011. I’m getting the traveling itch, so posting these pictures (it’s about time!) is soothing. Feel free to suggest your favorite European city in the comments! I’d love to know. Ciao!
Zürich, Switzerland
Prague, Czech Republic
At the end of May my boyfriend and I packed up my little Honda and took a road trip down to Raleigh, North Carolina for an extended weekend. Here are three fantastic things I loved most about this small city with a big urban vibe.
The Food
There are plenty of great food options in downtown Raleigh, and I wished I had more time and money and room in my stomach to try more restaurants than we did. Though Raleigh is small, it packs a big city punch, and with the warm, breezy weather, most restaurants had outdoor seating. There were all kinds of cuisines, too: Mexican, Italian, Thai, Chinese, and more, all within walking distance. My boyfriend, Tim, and I stopped at an absolutely delicious restaurant, bu•ku, smack-dab in the middle of downtown Raleigh. This place served global street food, which pretty much consisted of a dish from every different nation in the world. The waitstaff was cheery and attentive, and we had an excellent time, from appetizers to dessert (and the drinks in between!). Read More
Mark Cuban’s got nothing on these sharks!
Yesterday I went to the Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center and made quite the splash. In other words, I took a chunk of my most recent paycheck and put it towards being locked in a cage and reeled down into a tank swimming with sharks — eight of them to be exact.
So why did I put myself in this oh-so-dangerous situation? Why would I want to spend 20 minutes under water with nurse sharks and sand tiger sharks with only pieces of metal in between us? My first answer is because it’s not your ordinary daily activity — it’s an adventure — I felt alive down there, doing some crazy thing for the first time. Life is all about experiences, and this bucket-list-esque want of mine was possible, so I did it. I’ve also gained respect for these cold-blooded creatures. Having them inches away from my face, seeing their strongly-built swaying bodies and rows of sharp teeth is a powerful thing. It made me feel small and great at the same time. In the wild I’d never get this close to these magnificent creatures! So there’s that.
So about the dive itself. Read More
No matter if you’re an experienced artist who can work up a masterpiece with a few strokes of a paintbrush, enjoy dabbling on a canvas as a hobby, or have no artistic experience at all, it’s easy to express yourself at Paint Nite. This new concept blends two timeless pastimes: artistic painting and drinking cocktails, as a way to draw patrons into local pubs with the opportunity to be creative and socialize. Paint Nites, which are two hour step-by-step painting classes with a nice glass of whatever-you’d-like, are held daily around the country, each with 25 people in attendance.
Since I’m drawn to anything artistic, Paint Nite caught my attention, so I signed up for the spring blossoms painting this past Thursday night at a wine bar. It was a fun, cheery way to welcome the spring. Since the classes fill up ahead of time, I signed up about a month in advance, when there were only a few seats left.
Theresa Christensen was the lead artist of the night. She had us women and one man (my boyfriend, Tim) dip our paintbrushes into the cup of water and run it across our canvases. After it dried, we used some blue to create a circle, which would eventually become our sun, and then cover the rest of the canvas in blue. Read More
Las Vegas. Disney World for adults. Sin City. An addict’s dream land. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in this flashy place, right on the Strip up in Caesars Palace. My purpose there was to attend the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on behalf of the magazine and website I work for, electronicproducts.com. I enjoyed CES, which was at the Las Vegas Convention Center and scattered about the Strip. I spent the majority of my mornings and afternoons at the show, mingling, snapping pictures, riding the monorail, and pretending I knew where I was going (somehow, I kind of did!). But when the sun went down and the moon came out, after my articles were written and I spammed my Twitter followers with pictures of dancing robots, huge TVs, and self-driving cars, I joined the buzzing crowds outside to explore my new surroundings.
I was very excited to see the Bellagio water show, which was fantabulous. Absolutely beautifully done. I was amazed how the shooting and swaying water was so in sync with the music. Read More
Nicole DiGiose 