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.
Maybe it is all the time we are spending at home, but I find myself forgetting what our house was like before our 2018 renovation. Hopefully that speaks to all the time and detail we put in that the house would look as if it should have always been built this way. The two of the areas that people congregate most are 1) the kitchen (obviously) and 2) the wet bar. Here is a little more detail on each of those:
Wet Bar:
This was a nook off of the living room with a large sliding door so it gets a ton of light. Initially our builder asked “you’re going to put bookshelves there, right?”. Ummm what? Clearly he didn’t know us that well. We are other built-ins in mind.
There is no “before” as this part of the house was outside before our addition, but here it is after dry wall:
And the finish product:
Kitchen:
Before pics speak for themselves. Walls came down, we had to move into an apartment, but boy am I glad we did this renovation when we did! Who knew we would spend so many months at home this year.
After:
And yes, those are the same two windows! Crazy!
Cabinet Colors: Chantilly Lace & Chelsea Gray both Benjamin Moore
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.
Happy Prime Day. This is the page I will continue to update as more deals get released through Wednesday night. So keep checking back in!
Due to the mess that. is 2020, Prime Day was rescheduled to Oct 13-14 from its usual July date. This being the case, I am going to try and get as many Holiday presents as possible while they are on sale. Hope these categories & links help you with your Prime Day & Holiday Shopping. GOOD LUCK!
ButWillThereBeWine’s Prime Day Guide
My Favorites:
For Him:
Kids:
Home:
Holiday & Stocking Stuffers:
Essentials:
(or as I like to call it, stuff you need anyway so might as well stock on while it is a deal)
Deal Updates!!!!
Lots of great gifts “for her” in this new update!
Gifts for a wine lover!
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.
Welp, didn’t make it to the store to do the fall cocktail I envisioned. So I went ahead (like we have for all of quarantine) and made the best drink possible using what we had.
Ingredients:
Muddle strawberries and squeeze lime. Then add vodka & st germain and shake over ice. Top with soda water and garnish as you like.
....but will there be wine? 