“A great trip is only a hashtag away!” So says Ali Nejad, host of HLN’s new weekly travel series The Social Life, which rolled into Boulder on a chilly day last November.
A self-professed travel junkie, adventure lover and foodie, Ali seeks off-the-beaten-path sites with the help of his nearly one million Twitter followers’ suggestions. The fun series uses social media to uncover the food, art, music, and local curiosities that make each city special.
When @Ali_Nejad set his sights on Boulder, his goal was to find out why our beloved city is named “the best place to live
in the country.” During his day at altitude, Ali checked out Pearl Street’s performer scene, sipped through a Tajikistani tea ceremony with our friends at Dushanbe Tea House, and of course, came by PL&C for a few bites of something sweet. His favorite? Our best-selling Salted Caramel Truffle, or as he called them, “little heaven balls.”
We had a fabulous afternoon of filming with the personable and energetic Ali, whose smile lit up our entire store and put everyone at ease in front of the cameras. We gave him a tour of the shop, explaining how we’re “all things chocolate,” then we put him to work in our kitchen. There, he ran salted caramel truffles through Roberta, our trusty enrobing machine, and carefully sprinkled Maldon Sea Salt on the finished product. The results? Not bad for a first-timer. Ali, you’re hired!
HLN, a CNN network, underwent a more tech-savvy rebranding in 2014, moving toward a mission of providing the social media community with top social news and lifestyle content. Inspired by the national passion for social sharing and instant technology, HLN rips its headlines from social media and actively interacts with viewers on what they’re searching, playing, sharing, shopping, creating and watching.
Be sure to check out GIFs from our shoot with Ali on HLN’s site, and catch The Social Life Tuesdays at 8pm MST on HLN. On Twitter? Join Ali’s community of 900k+ followers: Follow him here.