Sangria Sippin'

A rough week = well deserved drink! Lets go Sangria for wine time.

Sangria is a light and refreshing beverage that is super easy to make. Start with a bottle of wine, sparkling water, ice and of course fresh fruit. Love sangria cause its tasty and cost effective (compared to a cocktail at the bar).  In my opinion for wine, the cheaper - the better. This drink is my summer favorite because it makes the most of the fresh citrus and berries of the season, and goes with brunch, lunch or dinner.

Basic Sangria Ingredients:

• 1 Bottle Dry White Wine
• 4x cups Fresh Strawberries
• 5x Oranges - sliced
• 2x Lemons - sliced
• Ice
• 1L Sparkling Water
• Optional - mint

For summer fruits I also think of peach, pommegranate, watermelon - ahh the fruit combinations are endless!

I 've never actually tried the Landsdowne Vineyards wine from Adelaide Hills but it the wine label design just looks chic fabulous!

Have a great weekend all!

Enjoy Cupcakes

Am sitting here with a cup of tea and a jar of chocolate M&M's for a Friday afternoon - when it suddenly dawned on me that I havent blogged about "Enjoy Cupcakes" – a cute little cupcake trailer store. Checking out their blog, I just found out that they opened a second store that compliments their 1964 restored vintage Shasta airflyte cupcake trailer. Unfortunately it is all the way in the US, but we can still enjoy the images!

The lollipop and sunshine colour palette setting is fun and stunning. Definitely one that would inspire us to entertain outdoor in the same manner for a birthday or party.

There are some inventive flavours like Chocolate Blueberry, Banana Orange Foster, Strawberry Peach Chardonnay - if anyone knows of a cupcake store like this do let us know!

Gossip Tabloid Magazines

This week, the News has been horrible with random home invasions, mother shot her own baby and murder in our country that sometimes it is easier to silence out tragic and read only the entertainment stories. That is what I am doing during Friday's wine time with a hot cup-of-soup reading OK! Magazine. I just want to look at pretty celebrity fashion and pictures. Looking at paparazzi pictures does make you appreciate our privacy. I mean I honestly don't care about celebrities and their daily activities but it is entertaining (like how they can interpret a celebrities relationship based on one captured moment and body language and how easily everything can be SO taken out of context), sometimes bizarre and other times interesting. Hey trivia knowledge can be useful for entering competitions on the radio or magazines!

Ok I have to confess sometimes standing in line at the supermarket or at the servo station if there is a special offer on one of these magazines I am likely to buy it.

Wine Time: Good Health

I am a bit of a magazine junkie and have expanded my interests to health magazines. Today for wine time (without any wine) I am enjoying 'Good Health'. It has a nice mix of articles on nutrition, psychology, fitness and beauty as well as a touch of fashion & style too! My favourite section is 'Eat Smart' which has great meal ideas for a healthier lifestyle. It is really interesting getting to know more about what we digest (fruits, snacks, greens, cheese - there is a whole lot of info)

This month's Good Health has:
+ Tips to fight colds & flu (as well as the myths)
+ headache health book
+ earthly pleasures (organic beauty products)
+ the green zone
+ cheese whiz
+ much much more... this month's issue will keep me entertained for a while!

I am really tempted to subscribe to Good Health Magazine because they are giving Trilogy Vital Moisturing Cream worth $38. 

Unwind with Little One Baby & a cup of Hot Coco

Brr... its cold, got my vanilla candles out and made myself a nice cup of hot chocolate. This week has been least to say real crappy, but I am thankful for this blog and all the generous compliments from fellow readers. So I am now going to enjoy Little One Baby with my kikki.K post it notes - marking everything I think is chic and then passing it on to Kristy to evaluate (she thinks I am a bad influence)
 
There are some sad stories there I can semi-relate to but I am not strong enough to read them just yet :( Does that ever happen to you – where you'd rather skip real sad stories and feast your eyes on pretty products that you can buy instead?

$14.95 is a little pricey for a baby magazine but its a heavy, premium glossy magazine that comes out bi-annually and is jam packed with inspiration for baby, kids, and nurseries. Ah the photography is stunning - full page cute lil babies in chic outfits from Sooki Baby, Baobao, Gaia and much much more.  Mums-to-be are not forgotten looking real swanky. Not convinced? Just check out the magazine online but I guarantee, you'll want the hardcopy.

Another great thing about Little One Baby is that every $1 from each copy sold is donated towards a baby in need.

Le Champignon Mushroom Stool is what caught my eye today!

Wine Time: Health Smart Magazine

Thank goodness its Friday! Finally, I am going to have time to enjoy the latest issue of 'HealthSmart'.

There were days I felt I just wanted to get out of slumber. I just wanted to feel motivated to get active. I didn't want to go to the gym all the time or feel like looking after myself would be such a chore. Trying to be the ideal mother, daughter, partner, friend, employee and colleague is exhausting as it is, that it is too easy to forget about 'you'. That's how health lifestyle magazines came into my life (taking a break from fashion, tabloid and design magazines).

I enjoy 'Health Smart'  because it gives you loads of tips to living a healthy and balanced life - nutrition, great recipes, relationship advice managing stress levels, emotional well being, and interesting facts on food and drinks - all delivered in a fashionable manner. It is greatly designed to make an enjoyable read. (This magazine has been around for a while - thank goodness for its new makeover otherwise I would not have noticed it - just makes it feel fun and fashionable)

One of the articles "Pulling the Plug" has given me the idea to make sure that this Friday when I unwind, I am going to make sure that I will have no electronic distractions i.e. computer and phone switched off all night. No temptation to check emails or facebook, no working - just 'me' time and learning something new from words on a printed page.

How do you celebrate 'me' time? Is it as simple as a taking a bath? walk? reading a good old book?

Wine Time: A family Table: Julie Goodwin's

This evening I will be winding down with my latest book purchase (30% off from Myer) - Our family table by Australia's first MasterChef, Julie Goodwin. The soy candles from Dusk, lychee, rose & guava scented are lit and I am starting to feel a sense of calmness and satisfication from this week's achievement.

Our family table is a simple Donna Hay like recipe book with stunning food photography to re-inspire you of all the familiar food recipes (like Spag Bol, Meatballs and Muffins that you all probably have cooked to death). From lazy weekend breakfast meals to special occassions to Julie's famous lemon diva cupcakes it is a delight to flick through.

Unwind with Barefoot magazine

This afternoon's wine time will be finishing up on reading barefoot magazine. Lots of informative and interesting articles that are written by like-minded mums who are conscious about the environment, relationships, and the community. It is no shop til you drop but it is important to think about the eco-logical footprint we make to think about the future we are making for our children!

Unwind with frankie magazine

How are you all unwinding for Friday afternoon? Unfortunately I am sick so I will be trying to enjoy my hot water with lime and organic honey with the latest issue of frankie magazine.

Here are ten reasons why I love frankie magazine
1. Supports and features independent artists, musicians, illustrators, photographers, designers and creative goodies.
2. Superb Art Direction - love the layout and choice of images
3. It is a nice change from all those other celebrity-driven glossy magazines out there.
4. Frankie showcases cool collections of things like soap, buttons, tea towels, plates etc...
5. Entertaining writers who are so smart and witty.
6. Great choices of relatable topics. 
7. Genuine reviews on products and interviews on upcoming artists, creatives and your everyday person.
8. Dreamy pictures and creative illustrations
9. Printed on a nicely recycled uncoated stock
10. Even the ads looks good!

Wine Time... How do you Unwind?

This will be a new Friday feature "Wine Time" - How do you unwind on a Friday Evening? For me it's a glass of wine, a good o' hot gossip magazine and using my sticky notes to tab all the things I want but can't afford.

Not that I want to encourage alcohol... but I thought a great way to start this feature is with a lovely showcase of Australian wine packaging. I know it sound so superficial but when I am at the liquor store I like to try different brands and I go by the label design.