My life navigating COVID unemployment one day, post & glass of wine at a time
Confession: I had a totally different cocktail planned. But our “dusting’ of snow turned out to be 4-5 inches….on Oct 30th…I know!! So I switched it up.
Bourbon Apple Cider Hot Toddy – You are Welcome!
Ingredients:
Creative presents are usually my thing. I file away good ideas or comments I hear family members make about something they need….and plan ahead for xmas shopping.
I am a firm believer in a gift being both useful and enjoyable….especially if it would solve a problem or make life a little easier. Yes, holidays are a time to make loved ones feel special – but gifts can still have a purpose.
This is the first year in a long time that I am a little stumped. My oldest nieces and nephew are entering their tweens and not as easy to shop for like they used to be.
So far, for my Hamilton loving nieces, I am leaning towards this hoodie. Not the regular playbill Hamilton logo, but a fun take on our country’s history & founding fathers.
I am continuing to brew ideas and will keep you all posted.
This might be the most delicious cocktail recipe yet. I didn’t exactly plan it, but when I had a ton of pomegranate juice left from a dinner recipe – which is what inspired me. And boy was it yummy!
If you haven’t made homemade margarita mix yet – here is the recipe! It is easy and tastes SO much better than the store bought kind.
Ingredients:
Mix tequila, margarita mix and pomegranate juice over ice. Mix in cocktail shaker.
In separate dish put 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and the zest of one lime. This will be your lime sugar rim to your glass. (you can also replace sugar with salt rim if you would like. I did a sugar rim since the pomegranate juice is already a little tart)
Here is a video on how I made both the margarita mix and drink!
Stop using the store bought, syrupy overly sweet, artificially flavored margarita mix. Making your own is surprisingly easy and tastes so so much better.
Ingredients:
Mix the boiling water and sugar, stir until all sugar is dissolved. Then add lemon and lime juice. THAT IS IT!!! Juicing the lemons and limes was the only time consuming part but overall you can do this in under 15 mins. No brainer!
Enjoy & impress your friends and family.
Move over pumpkin spice latte, I need a little more kick in my drinks on the weekend.
I chose to use the real pumpkin puree and not sugary pumpkin vodka, but you can substitute to whichever your palate prefers. Speaking of substitutions, most creamy drinks call for half and half. No thanks! So I used a little of our whipped cream instead.
Ingredients
Shake and serve in a martini glass with caramel & cinnamon sugar rim.
I have this really crafty friend. She is talented, perfect calligraphy penmanship, considerate and so good at crafts….oh and she is beautiful too (I know).
My friend organized this craft for our friend group and we zoomed while putting it together. I am shocked how easy it is, a little time consuming as you have to be patient and let it dry. But what a fun project! I am definitely hoping to do this again next year.
Materials needed:
I chose a white pumpkin because my napkin had white in it and the orange would’ve shown through.
Here is my insta reel showing the step by step process. One piece of advice, work on the top and sides of the pumpkin first. Let it fully dry before flipping over to cover the bottom.
A couple years ago, I was looking through Adult Education classes. I was lacking hobbies and was jealous when my husband left to golf, because he had a sport he enjoyed so much. I looked and looked and looked and decided on: Floral Arranging & Dance.
Why do we stop doing the things we love? Yes we get older and busier but we still find joy in them. I was happy to put the “extras” on hold when babies were little/while pregnant, but as both girls got in routines a little more time freed up. I found myself asking “now what”. It was time!
The class was fun and I had a beautiful holiday arrangement that lasted a month. But I enjoyed the Florist’s advice and tips the most. One of which was putting a bouquet together.
Florists Advice:
I had always arranged them in a vase…not my hand. It was so much easier!
Here is a bouquet I was putting together for a friend’s birthday last night. She is such a great host and has “everthing”…so when in doubt, choose beautiful flowers.
I am not going to lie, I am still riding the high from my yellow front door. While I still get excited every time I see it turning the corner to our cul de sac but, we must move on. So what is next? How about one of the first things people see when they come through the front door: my dining room table next to an undecorated mantle – IT. IS. TIME.
When we knocked down the wall and redesgned our kitchen in 2018, my father and I whitewashed the brown brick. It was a huge improvement and matched our new white cabvinets.
Here is the blank slate I am working with and hope to make some progress next week. My goal is to have a range of size, shape, color & texture to jazz it up. Stay tuned and comment with any inspiration!
We have all heard for years that there are harmful ingredients in over the counter deodorants. To be completely transparent – I tried natural deodorant after both of my pregnancies. While I was nursing, I tried to be as healthy and chemical free as possible. But I will be honest, I wasn’t impressed. Thank goodness I was home most of the time on my maternity leaves to shower or freshen up because it was needed.
BUT that was a few years ago, and it seems like natural deodorant brands have made strides! So I am giving it another shot.
Truth is, I would love to do a real comparison with like 10 or 15 brands. But I’m unemployed and on a budget so unless natural deodorant brands want to send them to me for free…. slide on up in my DMs!!! We gonna work with this little sampler as step 1. Sorry #ThisIsCOVID (and obviously this is not sponsored by Native ahhemmm., the budget reference)
I got this little cutie at Target in the beauty samples section for $2.99 (instead of $11.99 for the full size). I had the sample for a couple days before I put it to the real test, 91 degree 9 holes of golf.
I have been part of this women’s golf league for almost 3 months now and the group is AWESOME, so hopefully they would forgive my sweaty stinky mess if this experiment is an utter fail.
Update & Review – 7 hours later:
I am going to stick with it, and if happy I will buy the full size when mine runs out. I hope to post an update on another brand in the future for a comparison!
....but will there be wine? 