Wednesday Weekend Warm Up: Winter Wonderland Martini

We’ve made it half way through the week! This is actually our “Friday” since we are spending the weekend traveling to Minnesota to visit friends and family. It’s going to be a short weekend trip to celebrate the holidays and I’m excited to bundle up for the chilly weather! To keep us extra warm, I’m posting this hot cocoa recipe to take the chill out!

Winter Wonderland Martini

Ingredients:

2 oz Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate Vodka

4 oz Hot Chocolate

3 Roasted marshmallows on a small skewer

Directions:

Pour Van Gogh Chocolate Vodka and hot chocolate into a mug and garnish with roasted marshmallows on a skewer.

*cup of goodness found here, image found here

Tuesday Thoughts {a quote + a pretty dining room}

Hi there! I hope your week is off to a great start! Isn’t this little reminder so good? Just a nice, simple way of thinking. If you don’t like something, change it! And on to the dining room…loving this color combo! Aqua + orange = happiness! I like the simple white window coverings, especially since there is a bold color on the walls. The dining chairs are very cool with their stripes and I really like the organic centerpiece of branches. The side chairs offer the perfect pop of orange, along with that throw pillow on the settee! So cute!

*image source unknown

Me Monday: Girl’s weekend in Palm Springs

Hello there! I’m getting a bit of a late start this morning due to the extreme amounts of fun that I had in Palm Springs over the weekend with my girlfriend, Colleen. WARNING: this post is a bunch of pictures of her and I, with a few design elements thrown in the mix.

 

 

Smile…it’s a (Girl’s road trip to Palm Springs) kind of weekend!

Happy Friday!! I hope all your Thanksgivings were delicious and full of family fun! We had a nice time at Nick’s family’s. I’m excited to do it all over again when we visit my family in Minnesota a week from now! Who all shopped this morning? Not me! I’ve never woke up early to experience the whole Black Friday craze! I’ve never been one who loves to shop, so waking up early (which I don’t like) and rushing around stores with a crowd of people (which I really don’t like) doesn’t sound like any fun to me!

Instead, my girlfriend and I decided to take a little road trip to Palm Springs for the weekend!

 

It’s going to be a fun weekend full of lounging by the pool, shopping in downtown Palm Springs and dining at fabulous restaurants! The weather is supposed to be in the 80’s! Yay!

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

*click on image to see where I found it

Wednesday Weekend Warm Up: Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipe

It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow! That means I get to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning while drinking a mimosa, prepare a couple of side dishes (which I’ll probably choose from here), drink another mimosa or two and head over to Nick’s Mom’s house to stuff myself with some turkey. The holidays can be stressful for some, so that’s why I didn’t want to leave you hanging without an instant stress reliever…

 

Pomegranate-Champagne Punch

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

1 cup pear nectar

1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

1 bottle (750 ml) Champagne

Directions

In a large pitcher, combine pomegranate juice, pear nectar, and orange-flavored liqueur. Slowly add Champagne. Serve over ice.

Cook's Note

We used Champagne in this punch, but other sparkling white wines, such as Prosecco, are equally festive and just as good.

*yumminess found here

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway Winner!

For the past week I held a Shabby Apple Dress giveaway. Too bad for the rest of you who didn’t enter, I only had 21 entries, so your chances of winning were high compared to the rest of those blog giveaways with like 300 entries!

I’m excited to see which dress you’ll choose!

Thank you, Shabby Apple for providing the dress for this giveaway!

Tuesday Thoughts {a quote + a pretty bedroom}

 

Happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all off to a great week! It’s a short one for me! I love this time of year. The holidays are right around the corner and darkness falls quicker, which means things run at a slightly slower pace than usual! It’s a nice time to catch up on household organizing, cleaning out closets, and taking a little more time for myself. How about you all…is this time of year a good time to relax and rejuvenate?

How cute is this bedroom? Who says red and green are reserved solely for Christmas? In fact, the color palette in my office is red and green! I think it’s a nice, warm and inviting color story. I can say that I really like everything about this room! The bedspread is my fav, the green drapes & window hardware are simple, but good looking and I’m dying over the arched cut-outs! Love that character.

Have a great Tuesday! Please, if you haven’t already, enter my Shabby Apple dress giveaway. Entries are very low, so you’ll have a higher chance of winning! Contest ends tonight!

*click on image for link

HOUZZ: Festive holiday ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree!

I'm over at Houzz today sharing festive ornaments to decorate your tree. From glimmering glass baubles to shimmering handmade ornaments, this list is all about adding some sparkle and shine to your holidays. Adorn your branches with some of these Christmas charms to add character and personality to your tree! These are a few of the things on my list:

1. West Elm Double Glass Sphere Ornament 2. Cost Plus World Market Swan Ornament Set 3. Z Gallerie Glass Dog Ornaments 4. Anthropologie Fireside Feelings Ornament

To read the full article and see all festive holiday ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree, click here.

Smile…it’s a (Twilight: Breaking Dawn) kind of weekend!

Is anyone else guilty of this pleasure?

Heading to the movies this weekend to get my fill of teenage romance and drama via Twilight: Breaking Dawn and Mr. Edward Cullen (heart beats faster!).

I just can’t help it! I flew through the books when they first came out and have been waiting in anticipation for the rest of the movies to premiere!

Who else is headed to the movies this weekend to see this love story? Other than this, I think it’s going to be a low key kind of weekend. Working a bit and getting ready for the holidays! Who knows…maybe I’ll even put my Christmas tree up! Have any of you started decorating for the holidays? When do you usually start? Before or after Thanksgiving?

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!

*click on image for source

Thursday’s This + That: Alive + Olivia & Adam & Viktoria

Delicate little prettiness…

Wear this Alice + Olivia Ruffle Slip Dress while decorating your home with that adam & viktoria artichoke brown and poppy orange pillow.

*as always, "Thursday's This & That", inspired by the creative Bekka from Oh Joy!

Wednesday Weekend Warm Up: Turtle Dove Martini Recipe

Oh my. Hello turtle dove martini. OK, so I’m not usually one for cocktails mixed with cream, but this has got me over the moon! Yum! I don’t think I’m the only one frothing at the mouth with this heaven in a martini glass! I’d like to try this one without the cream too. I think it’d be equally as yummy! Cheers!

Turtle Doves

Ingredients:

2 oz Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka

2 oz Hazelnut liqueur

1 oz Amaretto

1-1/2 oz Cream

Directions:

Rim martini glass with cinnamon and sugar crystals and set aside. Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into the martini glass.

*deliciousness found here

GIVEAWAY! Women’s Dress from Shabby Apple!

CONTEST IS OVER

CONGRATULATIONS, MARIE!

The kind folks over at Shabby Apple would like to giveaway one of the women’s dresses pictured below! Choose from fun & flirty women’s dresses or classic and vintage inspired dresses in colors like aqua, ivory, chocolate, burgundy, black or red!

     

     

BOOGIE WOOGIE - SKI BOP - TOO DARN HOT – AHOY! – LIGHTHOUSE - SPANISH STEPS - COCO BEAN - MOON RIVER

To enter and win this amazing dress:

1st: must be a subscriber or follower via GFC

2nd:  "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook

---> HERE <---

and then…

3rd: come back here and leave me a comment saying you did so!

(must do all 3 to enter the dress giveaway!)

**********************************************************************************************

Giveaway ends November 23rd, 2011. Please leave an email address if you don't have a link!

And guess what? If you didn't win, you can at least have the discount code to shop! "IMAGINEDESIGN10" Will give you 10% off your order at Shabby Apple!

10% off coupon code "IMAGINEDESIGN10OFF" expires in 30 days.

The winner must have a US shipping address. There will be no exchanges for the winning dress.

Once I’ve picked the winner I will need the name, phone number, shipping and email addresses, which dress you chose and the size of dress.

Thank you for entering and GOOD LUCK!

Tuesday Thoughts {decorating mantras + a pretty space}

I couldn’t agree more with these mantras! I didn’t really realize it, but I do those things naturally when I decorate! I’m loving this space ---> the mustard gold sofa, the intricate moldings, the funky black pendant chandy, the venetian style mirror, the ceiling medallion…all very cool and they all work really well together! Happy Tuesday!

*from: House of Havoc: How to Make- And Keep- A Beautiful Home Despite Cheap Spouses, Messy Kids, and Other Difficult Roommates by Marni Jameson, room = source unknown

A Love Affair: Niches + Nooks

There’s just something so warm and inviting in a niche or a nook. So cozy.

  

<< click on picture for link >>

Me Monday

Hello all! I hope you all had a great weekend! We had a wedding to go on Friday – 11-11-11. I’m sure that was a popular day for weddings! This wedding was a really gorgeous and the reception was held at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.

 

That’s Nick and I and our beagle, June. I got my make up done at MAC beforehand. Did you know that if you spend $50 on their make-up you get a free make-up application? I love it. And it’s pretty easy to spend $50 there!

This was one of the table decorations that they had guests take home after the reception. I’m loving how well it looks on my dining table! Red, rust, orange, mustard…perfect autumn décor!

We went out to eat in Pasadena Saturday night the Parkway Grill. It was my first time there and it was absolutely amazing and I’d definitely go back. I normally don’t order chicken at restaurants, because I think that is kind of boring, but our server described it so well, that I just had to order it. It was delish. Sorry I didn’t take anymore pictures of the weekend, but the rest was pretty uneventful! I showed a bunch of houses on Sunday, made a Costco run and did laundry! Every weekend can’t be fabulous!