Pay It Forward..with your vote!

Hi there! How's your 2013 going so far?  One thing I decided I HAVE to do in 2013 is travel to Europe.  It's one thing I've been wanting to do for years, but year after year I put off because of work, money, and all those other little things in life that just seem to cut in line before my dream of traveling the world.  Maybe you can relate?  Not this year though, I put my foot down so the career, money, everything that kept me from going have to take the backseat at least for a bit.  I figured if I move out of my place in Los Angeles, sell some of my stuff (I also plan to move to New York this year) and store my car with some of my things at my parents house then I could manage to backpack through Europe for a month or so.  So that became the plan, the big plan for 2013.  

Rigggght until I heard about My Destination's Biggest Baddest Bucket List Competion where the winner will get to travel the world for six whole months! The opportunity to travel the world is one of my wildest dreams and deepest of desires in life.  So I decided to up the ante on my travel plans, the new goal being to enter the travel competition and well, win! Yeah, I know the concept of winning this is probably beyond ambitious, but then again ambitious is my middle name, well right after Nicole (my real middle name).  I'm not sure how its going to happen, but I'm trying to be optimistic.  So far I have 40 votes thats only like 2421 votes shy of being in the lead.  So my 31 followers, if you're reading this its your time to shine.  Yes, I need YOUR help and your magic social media skills :) In order to increase my votes I need people to share my video on facebook, Tweet it, Google +1 it, Stumble it, and Pin it to Pinterest.  Each click counts as a new vote! And you can do it at http://www.mydestination.com/users/natashanicole/bbb#tab 

I'm going to need to reach people way outside of my network and hopefully convince them share it with their network.  Reaching this insane goal starts with you. You are the first tier in expanding my reach.  Its simple to do, but that may not be a good enough reason for you to help me, I know.  I'm hoping that you'll do it out of the kindness of your heart, maybe you just believe in paying forward.. I can promise if you pay it forward to my by voting and encouraging your friends to do the same that I make the extra effort to support those working hard spread the word about their cause (be it about a blog, business, opportunity, whatever it may be) I want to help others, travel, inspire those around me and make a positive impact in the world.  If you have any advice for me I'd love to hear it :) Thanks for reading and for being a friend. You can watch the video I made below and CLICK HERE TO SHARE/VOTE YAY!

“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

[xo] the garage gypsy

pesto.

Not only is this an elegant video, but nothing gets me like fresh basil, so of course I have a soft spot for homemade pesto.  Watch & enjoy :)

Classic Pesto from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

new year.

It's kind of sad to see 2011 go, it was a wonderful year.  Old friendships grew stronger, new relationships blossomed, but mostly I was introduced to and led down a new career path that will forever change my life.  As a result to 2011, I'm able to start 2012 with both feet on the ground, with foreseeable, exciting goals for myself, along with a sense of comfort and confidence in who I am and where I am going.  Sometimes you're in the backseat, sometimes you're riding shotgun, and sometimes you're in the driver's seat.  They're are all good places to be, you need them all to gain perspective, the key is to not remain in one seat for to long - otherwise you might lose touch with all that you once knew.   I don't mean to get all philosophical here, but I think it's interesting.  You can't appreciate being in the driver's seat if you didn't spend your share of time in the backseat first.  I don't think you can reach your full potential without transitioning from all three either.

Aside from all of that goodness, here's a little video I created on my iPhone from my New Years Night spent with my friends in Los Angeles.  Gotta love the capabilities of an iPhone :)  It was a fun night, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to missing my three best friends, unfortunately we all reside in completely different states these days.  Miss you guys XOXO

in the moment.

Do you take the time to appreciate all the little moments in life?  There is poetry in a moment.  A feeling.  This video I just discovered does a pretty incredible job of capturing that.  If you tend to get caught up in the busy hustle and bustle of city living, don't forget to step back once and a while and enjoy the moment be it good or bad.  It's not a waste of your time I promise :)

xo.

writer's block.

So looking back at my more recent posts, I've realized I've been writing significantly less and cheating by filling the voids with photos and videos.  Which on one hand, I prefer simply because its easier and I am just an extremely visual person, but on the other hand I feel that I'm also losing my opportunity to connect with you as my reader.  Although I will give you a valid excuse, claiming my hectic lifestyle and never ending list of things to do as the villain; I do believe that if I was more diligent I would be able to make the time to write.  Discipline and diligence; I'm working on it.  :)  In the meantime, if you haven't read my past posts (the ones from, like back in the day), you should, I mean if you want that is.  And here's a little video I wasted time making as an excuse to get away from making jewelry for an hour.  Yes, another video..

[xx] Natasha