In Elizabeth Gilbert’s popular memoir Eat, Pray, Love (the movie version, starring Julia Roberts, comes out this Friday!) the author faces a turning point in her life by spending a year in Italy, India, and Bali – in Italy she focused on the small pleasures of life by immersing herself in food and cooking, while in India she devotes herself to her neglected spiritual side. Finally, she ends her journey by falling in love in Bali.

While we can’t provide the money or the year off work for you to jaunt around the globe finding yourself, we have put together a little spa journey so that you can do a little Eat-ing, Pray-ing, and Loving yourself – Spa Week style!

Eat

Gilbert developed an appreciation for the pleasures of fine food in Italy – you can do the same by enjoying a spa treatment that indulges your senses of taste, smell, AND touch!

Verabella Skin Therapy
301 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.278.4733

Choice of 90 Min Gourmet Facial including Rose and Chocolate Facial, Cool as a Cucumber Facial, Hot Mama Facial, 24 Carrot Facial, Yogurt Cherry Berry Facial or Fall on Your Face Facial for only $125, normally $155

Boston Plastic Surgery Associates
131 ORNAC John Cuming Building, Suite 700
Concord, MA 01742
978.369.4499

Apple Crumble Peel: includes Vitamin C Peel that removes dead skin cells and stimulates Collagen for $60

Pray

While you may not be able to find your center in an ashram in India like Gilbert did, you can get 90 minutes of meditation in with these holistic, spiritual deals.

Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. Health Center & Spa
215 67th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
757.437.7202

Choice of 90 Min Hypnotherapy for $105, normally $120, or 60 Min Inner Sound Therapy for $75, normally $85. Hypnosis has been shown to be a safe and effective way to help improve mental and physical well-being and has been endorsed by the American Medical Assocation as a valid Therapeutic Tool since 1958. Inner Sound Therapy is a medium by which sound heals in relation to the body and its systems. The human body can incorporate, and in fact needs to move within, its natural frequency to attain and maintain a state of harmony and health.

Chuan Body + Soul Boston
250 Franklin Street
Boston, MA 02110
617.422.5108

90 Min Chuan Harmony Massage. Take a break from the heat and enjoy our most popular treatment at a special price. Designed to stimulate meridian harmony, this unique mind, body and soul experience combines therapeutic elements of Acupressure with various relaxation Massage techniques to induce a deep sense of calm, well-being and relaxation. Special: $150; Originally: $180

Love

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Gilbert ends her journey by finding love on the beaches of Bali. Create your own tropical paradise with these beachy treatments!

Transcend Spa
1116 Sycamore Avenue, Suite B
Vista, CA 92081
760.822.4850

Summer Splendor Package: includes 45 Min Massage with Warm Coconut Oil and 45 Min Facial with Creamy Coconut Mask for $99.

Ciao Bella Day Spa
2559 West Main Street
Littleton, CO 80120
303.997.8491

30 Min Beach Vacation Sugar Scrub: includes Customized Sugar Scrub scented with Sea Spray, Water Lily, Freesia and Sandalwood, followed by a Steam Shower to reveal your body’s healthy glow. Special: $45

We asked you to fill our heads with quenching happy hour cocktails and unbelievable spa treatments in order to win a 6-month supply of ZICO coconut water…and boy did you deliver!

In order for your entry to qualify, you had to identify a single edible ingredient that’s already a true multitasker and give us an example of a tasty cocktail and a spa treatment it stars in. We had a lot of fabulous entries, and quite a few of you provided the recipes for your concoctions. Below, some of our favorite recipes, and the lucky winner!

Cucumbers for puffy eyes and in a Pimm’s cup!

2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
7UP, lemon-lime soda, or ginger ale
Slice of lemon
Slice of cucumber

Pour the Pimm’s and 7UP into a chilled highball glass or metal cup over ice. Squeeze a slice of lemon well as you drop it in the glass; then stir gently and garnish with a cucumber slice. - Brenda

My favorite spa treatment is the Coconut and Pineapple Paradise scrub and YES coconut is my favorite ingredients of all times!

Coconut Caipirinha
1/2 lime cut into wedges
2tsp. sugar
1 1/2 oz Leblon Cachaca
Zico COCONUT WATER

Muddle 1st 3 ingredients in a glass fill to the top with coconut water garnish with a lime wheel. – Marc

my very very favorite ingredient for both cocktails and spa treatments is:: LAVENDER!
its not commonly used in cooking, but when used right, its amazing and especially good with lemon.

Lavender Lemon Drop

2 oz Lemon Vodka
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lavender simple syrup
lavender sprig for garnish

Lavender essential oil can be used in just about spa lotion or potion
I love a good, old-fashion lavender aromatherapy massage and maybe a lavender sugar scrub. – Karen

My ingredient is Vanilla
Vanilla rose wrap – They massage your skin with rose oil , while you lay on rose petals. Then you are wrapped with warm blankets, that have been steeped in crushed vanilla beans, cloves and cinnamon. AMAZING!

Chocolate Snow Bear
1oz Amaretto
1oz Creme de cacao
5oz VANILLA ice-cream
1/4 oz chocolate syrup
2 dashes vanilla extract

Combine all ingredientsin a blender in low speed. – Hellen Araujo

Tomato would be mine for a good ‘ol fashion Bloody Mary because they are refreshing anytime of day and then when my skin breaks out a good ‘ol Tomato Blemish Treatment refreshes my skin and makes it glow again.

Bloody Mary Recipe:

1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) vodka
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Tabasco to taste
1 celery stick for garnish
1 lemon wedge for garnish
Combine the vodka, the tomato juice, the lemon juice, the Worcestershire sauce, the Tabasco, 1 cup ice cubes, and salt and pepper to taste, shake the mixture well, and strain it into a tall glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish the Bloody Mary with the celery stick and the lemon wedge.

Tomato Blemish Remedy

1 tomato, ripe, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tablespoon instant style oatmeal or old fashioned rolled oats
Blend all ingredients until just combined, in a paste. Apply to blemished skin, making sure the mixture is thick enough to stay in place. Leave in place 10 minutes. Remove with damp washcloth, and rinse and tone. – luv_mydachsund

You can read all the fabulous entries in the comments here (there are enough recipes to take care of your happy hours for the next month.) And now, our coconut water-loving winner!

Angela – many mango loving congratulations! E-mail michelle(at)spaweekmedia(dot)com to claim your prize.

Your dad may roll his eyes at thrifting, pillow matching, and antiquing – which is fine! Not everyone in your family has to share your love for fine home decor. But just because you think he doesn’t notice your carefully selected wallpaper, drapes, and tchotchkes, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t jump at the chance to furnish a room of his own with a real man’s taste – a Mad Man, to be exact.

Actor Bryan Batt (better known as Sal on Mad Men) owns his own home decor shop, Hazelnut, on New Orleans’ stylish Magazine Street, inspired by the inimitable soul of NOLA. Batt even designed a limited edition sofa inspired by the Playboy Club of the 1960s – the piece is called “The Hef” and can be yours for a mere $15,000.

If that’s a bit out of your Father’s Day price range, never fear. Hazelnut carries dozens of other hand-selected gifts from craftsmen all around the world. Try this Lion’s Head Gold Barware Set – sure to please the Don, Sal, or Roger in your home.

9 Gorgeous Views of Bora Bora

1 Way to Win a Trip There

Enter our Wed Like A Celeb giveaway!

The newest version of the beloved game played on a thousand family vacations is going to have a very 21st century spin. Players who remember the paper cash and comforting primary colors of the beloved former Monopoly game are in for a surprise – when the game releases a new edition this fall, cash and the bank will be replaced by ATMs and debit cards.

Snatches of popular songs will play after various game actions, and prices (and income!) have been adjusted for inflation – players now receive $2 million for passing Go instead of a paltry $200.

Despite slick new clothes, the game will still use the familiar streets and boulevards of Atlantic City – and you can bet that Park Place and Boardwalk will still be hot properties.

What familiar board game do you think should get a slick, modern update?