Summer Series: Le Postcard


 
“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” Sir Richard Burton

Uh ma gaa! That’s what I say every time I see the daily Instagram photos of my favorite travel website LePostcard. This ain’t your regular Joe travel website…

Le Postcard is a travel diary from the actual globetrotting jetsetters themselves. Conceived in 2014 by travel journalist, Stephanie Steinman, it is a little “E-black book” for the chic traveler. Stephanie was “curious and inspired by the wanderlust of the travel habits of the influencers around the world” and voilà, Le Postcard was born.

Not only does the website guide you to “where to go“ but it also shows you “how to go” and by that I mean… The details. The chic details.

Want to know what to pack? Check out the website’s “LeValise” (suitcase) and shop directly for the hippest, not your regular fare, It Girl items for your vacay… Let’s take a look…

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
What I like about the website is that it’s not the glitzy hoity-toity travel guide. It’s more for the unusual, chic, slightly Bohemian, Gypset traveler. Advice is given from the coolest Globetrotters on the planet… Fashion stylists, celebrity makeup artists, Vogue accessory editors, models, fashion editors, photographers, and entrepreneurs like the founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes (who should, honestly, be President of the World.) Let’s take a look…

 


Serena Hood, Executive Fashion Editor for British Vogue always remembers to stock up when traveling to a beach destination on face and body sunscreen from Institut Esthederm.

 


Hair guru and celebrity hairstylist to the likes of Olivia Wilde and Jessica Biel, Mara Roszak, never forgets her Sheila Stotts hairbrush. Immediately after arriving to her hotel, Mara shampoos and conditions her hair, brushes it out, adds a little serum and puts it in a braid for an hour or so and voilà, perfect hair without the fuss… Remember, you’re on vacation….Not the Oscars.

 


Photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank, always a Nikon in hand, offers her advice on how to combat jet lag (coffee and green tea), recommends always taking a hard drive for extra photos, and prefers a spicy tomato juice for her in-flight beverage.

 


Model Carolyn Murphy always packs her travel yoga mat by Manduka and drinks water water water. A definite travel expert, Carolyn travels with T. Anthony luggage which seems to be the preferred brand of choice by most of these jetsetters.

We all know that the best time to read a good book is while on vacation and Le Postcard offers a reading list from their Book Club from some rather interesting travelers…

 


Kelly Talamas, Editor-In-Chief of Vogue, Mexico and Latin America, suggests Ernest Hemingway’s, A Movable Feast. Cofounder of JeanStories.com and the style director of Travel + Leisure, Jane Bishop suggests a great read… The Flaneur by Edmund White. A personal favorite, Micaela English, web editor of Town & Country, suggests Betty Halbreich’s (legendary personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman’s) book, I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style With a Twist.

Le Postcard’s best asset is its Instagram account. You will be so jealous you will want to kill yourself. Follow HERE if you dare. Now, let’s take a look…












 
 
Remember, there are four seasons a year to vacation so Le Postcard is a definite go to website for all things travel… Chic travel that is.

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”-Mary Anne Radmacher


*Something you don’t know about me? As today is Gracie’s 20th birthday, I thought I would tell you a few things. First of all, August 10, 1995 is, was and will be the greatest day of my life because Amazing Grace “saved a wretch like me.” They put the little butterball on my chest and my life changed forever, for the better. Here are some interesting facts…

Little Petit Gracie was actually a big fat pig when she was a baby. Weighing in at her fighting weight, a whopping 10 pounds the day she was born.

I weighed almost 170 pounds when I had her. Mother/daughter big fat pigs.

Every time after I would breast-feed Gracie, she would projectile vomit.

Gracie has only required one Band-Aid in her entire life… And she still talks about it.

The day Gracie was born, the nurse had to brush and part her hair and slick it down because she had so much.

Gracie slept with me until she was four years old.

Gracie took a purse to the first day of preschool.

On Gracie’s 10th birthday, she got her ears pierced and immediately fainted.

Gracie loves to cook and still uses her self-made cookbook that she made in the fourth grade in cooking class.

Gracie has three fathers… Dylan, John and David. She uses all of them appropriately.

Even though Gracie is 20 years old today, she still calls me “mommy.”

At any given point in Gracie’s bedroom there are 3 half full glasses of beverages, an empty plate of spaghetti on her bedside table, clothing all over the floor and makeup spread out all over her fireplace mantel that she uses as a vanity. Curtains are mostly closed and her flowers are usually dead.

Gracie loves makeup, clothes, horror movies and any sort of online shopping. Her favorite book is Catcher in the Rye.

Gracie hates cheese, cooked tomatoes and tuna.

Gracie is painfully shy, loves family, traditions and any sort of expensive heirloom that she thinks she will inherit one day.

Gracie loves my friends like they were her own mother (and wishes they were sometimes) including Jenny, Yolanda, Mer, Diandra, Amber, Susan, Christy, Teran, Ursula and Tom (that’s in no particular order, my friends).

Gracie has never had a cavity.

Even though I have ALS, I would never trade my life for anyone else’s because I am the luckiest woman on earth because I have been blessed to spend even one day with this child, let alone 20 years. So, Happy Birthday my fair Gracie. Mommy loves you (even if you don’t read my blog).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 comments:

  1. I JUST started following @lepostcard on Instagram three days ago and LOVE it! Takes me to all the places I'll probably never get to go to - as do you!! And I LOVED the little ice cream boat! Even showed my teenage sons bc of all of our memories of chasing the ice cream trucks down the streets in the summer (although the characters driving them in small town Missouri are getting scarier and scarier!?). And those shots of the sea and beaches in Greece! Beautiful! And I may have to get some of that shampoo bc at 56 I still have my long hair. Love that bikini also! Finally, what a sweet sweet birthday tribute to your daughter! Should be printed and framed and tucked in a drawer where she will find later and appreciate! My youngest son turns 17 on Wed! Can't believe my baby will be 17! He's a very fine young man. Not perfect - but a nice, fun and caring young man with excellent manners who is so nice to his friends and family and others. A friend told me yesterday at lunch that I've raised two of the finest young men ever!?? My heart swelled inside! Am NOT bragging - was in shock and VERY appreciative and proud of them because I have spent their entire lives wondering if I was doing it correctly and giving them "life tips" and rethinking my strategy and grounding them and threatening them and overreacting and screaming at them and laughing with them and etc.! His brother graduated recently from high school and got the top student award which was for character and other things. I nearly jumped out of my chair! Was stunned and so happy for him!!! So it makes me feel happy for you when I read the nice things you write about your daughter!!

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  2. I am sending many happiest returns for a fantastic Birthday to Gracie today! I hope that she is being spoiled rotten and having a wonderful time. :) I have to say of all of the items listed here...that she took a purse to her first day of pre-school just kills it. That girl was born to work in fashion! Happy Birthday Gracie! Twenty is such a great age, be fearless!

    And you, Ms. Ellie, have just given me something else to follow...like that is all any of us need! Good thing it is so undeniably fabulous... ;)

    Sending you a whole lot of Love and a crate's worth of Haelan 951 Strength!

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  3. " Blessed to spend even one day with this child " Weepy here in SB as I feel the same way with mine . Blessed indeed . Happy Anniversary of the greatest day of your life ! Love You , A

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  4. I come over here and read from time to time but not sure if I ever left a comment (does that make me a stalker?) Happy birthday to your wonderful daughter. Le Postcard sounds like an addictive website to follow. I enjoy travelling. I just wish I had more free time to do so.

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  5. SHE IS READING...........especially TODAY!
    GOOD JOB MAMAN!!!!!!!!
    I think you past me in weight gain as I gained 53 pounds with each birth............I think I tipped at 163.
    NIcholas was 10 pounds 2 ounces................SO I beat YOU there!
    YOU have a BEAUTIFUL child.................LOVE TO YOU!
    XOXO

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  6. Not many people can say that they gave birth to Grace, but you did, in all ways. xob

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  7. Happy Birthday to Gracie. I love it that she is a leo- all that loyalty and great hair. I myself adore a leo. Like you, the best day of my entire life is the day my gorgeous son was born. He aways makes me feel lucky. xxxx

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  8. Happy Birthday, Gracie! I suspect you know well how much your Mommy loves you.

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  9. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE, you are very fortunate to have such a great mom to guide you and torment you every day of your life.
    Wishing you all the happiness in the world today and always, we know that you are a strong, beautiful woman because you got your moms genes
    Xoxoxo
    Lourdes

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  10. Happy Birthday Gracie! Love all of the facts about Gracie you shared today especially that she took a purse to preschool. She sounds absolutely charming even if her room is a total mess. 10 lbs! Chubby babies are the best, my biggest baby was 9.5 lbs and I remember thinking she looked like a little Marilyn Monroe, curvy little baby.
    Enjoy this magic day Ellie XOX

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  11. Hi Ellie! Happy Birthday to dear Gracie! I loved hearing more about her from you She is a very bright and beautiful young woman! Le Postcard ( I am now following) , wow, now I have extreme wanderlust! Instagram is a daily gift of beauty as are you Ellie!!

    xoxo
    Karena
    The Arts by Karena
    Artist Nicoletta Belletti

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  12. How beautifully you expressed the love a mother has for her child. So true.
    I may need to return to Greece ASAP in order to find that ice cream truck!

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  13. Love you! Love you! Love you! and today, I love you even more because of your unbiased attitude towards your gorgeous 20 year old. Hope she will be blessed with all things sparkly and happy this coming year!

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  14. Awww 20, happy birthday Gracie !

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  15. We are blessed by our daughters and I like to feel they are blessed by us. Who can love a child more than their mother? Or at least it should be that way. Great view into your feelings for Miss Grace although most of know you are nutso about her.
    Thanks for the travel info....oh the yearning.....

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  16. Thank you for this beautiful post. Happy birthday to your wonderful daughter, Grace, which she shares with my feisty, courageous, tenacious, infuriating grandmother, Maxine Elliott O'Rourke Martinez, who we lost 2 years ago at the age of 103. She was a force of nature as I am sure your daughter is also. I completely agree with you that the day my child was born was the best day of my life. He is the best thing I have ever done or will ever do and he has my heart completely and forever. His accomplishments take my breath away. Every day, I have to remind myself to let him go so he can be the person he is meant to become. At almost 15, he is growing into an amazing, handsome man.
    Thank you for sharing your life with us.
    Allyson in Louisiana (I sign like this because I don't know any of the other stuff. I'm completely inept with any tech)

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