Tag: travel tv host

I’M A TELLY AWARD WINNER!

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I’M OFFICIALLY AN AWARD WINNER!

Well, I’m officially an official award winner. I’ve got plenty of participation trophies – that don’t have my name on it, because they don’t do that for participation trophies – but now I have a legit trophy!

Vacation Creation won a Telly Award in the travel and tourism category!

Now, you might be asking – what? What’s a Telly Award? 
The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring the best in video and TV across all screens, receiving more than 13,000 entries annually from 5 continents. And boo yah! We won. And I’m so proud. Our team put in a ton of long hours, a lot of heart, and maybe 3.5 million gallons of sweat into the first season of Vacation Creation, so it feels great to have it recognized and rewarded.

As a gracious winner, I will say congratulations to all the winners and thank YOU to all who who have been watching! 
The best news is to come- Vacation Creation will be back– and this time airing on ABC! So make sure you keep your Saturday morning open to watch on ABC starting October 7, 2017.

Now I just need to build a mantle to put this award on… Anyone know a good carpenter? 😉

Brand New Demo Reel Premieres!

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This past year has been a wild ride. I am officially Gold Status on both American and Delta Airlines, thanks to all my travels for UMF TV. I freshened up on mi espanol in Buenos Aires shooting for MTV. I fully embraced my inner geek (well, it’s not so inner) working at SyFy. Oh, and I got up close and personal with the fiercest people on this planet, the bull riders of the PBR, with Clash of the Cowboys. I’ve met so many interesting people and been to so many far away places that it’s still hard to grasp this is my job. How strange show business is… especially to my Midwestern family.

Luckily, all these adventures are caught on tape– also known as my brand new demo reel! Check it out!

 

We Are Live Again from Miami for ULTRA 15!!

Our motto this year was ""Let's Make History Together"" - and we have already done that from Weekend 1. During Hardwell's set - who is set to become the #1 DJ if you believe the buzz in the Twitterverse - we concurrently streamed with close to 100,000 people worldwide AND broke his twitter! He received a letter from Twitter saying that he used 30% of the Twitter bandwith and subsequently shut his account down (temporarily of course). We also broke Goldfish Live's website after we did an in depth 10 minute interview with the South Africans, which included questions like ""What shampoo do they use?"" Have you seen their hair- then you will understand.

And then, of course, there is this weekend. It is Swedish House Mafia's final set EVER as a trio, and we are going to be airing it live. Let's see if we can make real history- and all come together for this special moment! I will try my best to hold back the tears.

Join me as I host the livestream at http://www.youtube.com/umftv from 4:30pm Eastern Time.

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Top 3 Wine Tastings in Napa

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For some, Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth. For me, it’s anywhere with excellent food and wine, which is why I make the pilgrimage to Napa twice a year to find happiness. In a bottle. Please don’t judge me.

After years of research, here are the best wine tastings in Napa Valley.

BEST WINE IN NAPA VALLEY

Ehlers Estate: To quote my video below, “Ehlers rose is better than a lot of my ex-boyfriends.” I did go through a date only-male-models-or-ex-professional-athletes phase so this is saying a lot… or maybe it’s not. Anyways, not only is the wine absolutely fantastic, but 100% of the proceeds go to cardiovascular research. The owner was saved by a cardiovascular surgeon, and so from the heart label to the names of the wines (120/80 Cabernet is especially divine- and named after perfect blood pressure) to the profit margins, Ehlers is all about heart. And I can cheers to that!

Fotor0529110157BEST AMBIANCE IN NAPA VALLEY

Von Strasser: Just a hop, skip, and a jump down the road from Ehlers, this place is the definition of picturesque. I swear I didn’t copy that from a brochure. It’s essentially two tables on a patio and you feel like you are at someone’s house, enjoying their award-winning vintages. They have literally the best Gruner Veltiner in the world. It’s super small so reservations are a necessity, but considering it’s also super hidden, it’s usually open. Oh, and that’s my niece making a pillow out of the Von Strasser dog.

THE MOST CHARMING SOMMELIER IN NAPA VALLEY

Jason at Signorello: I can appreciate someone who takes risks in the name of entertainment, and so I give you Jason. He was bizarre, made strange noises that were not English, and over poured. And that made him my new best friend. The wine was okay, but I would make the drive to Signorello just to have an ab workout in the form of laughter from him. (That’s the best workout IMO.) You definitely want to check out the video below to see what I’m talking about.

Check out the wineries for yourself in my video:

How to Get Drunk off Donuts

 

I feel like the M&M guys, “Oh my gosh- They DO exist!” In a little pastry shop in Chicago, Illinois sits a Polish woman making donuts that do in fact get you drunk. To be precise, it’s more of a head buzz from the combination of sugar and strong alcohol used in the filling, but whatever the case lots of laughter ensues after eating the donuts. Don’t believe me? Check out the video above.

To get your own Drunken Donuts, check out Delightful Pastries. They deliver- even outside the Chicago area. I had mine shipped all the way to Los Angeles, and they arrived way fresher than the Starbucks donuts around the corner.