Hola friends!
With quarantine and stay-at-home orders in full swing, the days have begun blurring together. You’d think a stay-at-home-mom would be an old pro at this, but, we have definitely entered new territory. I find it more and more important to set work-play boundaries for myself and our family….
¡Feliz Cinco de mayo a todos! This punch is a fun play on the classic paloma (grapefruit + tequila) and an easy cocktail option for a crowd so you’re not playing mixologist the whole time and get to enjoy your guests! …
Happy almost 4th of July! I thought of no better way to kick off the holiday weekend than with a festive rosé, white and blue cocktail. It’s part cocktail, part smoothie, part dessert, but wholly delicious. …
It’s another beautiful Sunday in Austin, Texas! Typically during this time of year, I relinquish the oven from its faithful service and my cooking domain switches over to the counter top OR I kindly coax my chivalrous husband to man the grill. But it’s August 3rd and we’ve hardly hit the triple digits. My body is so seasoned in terms of the August + Austin = Melting equation when I temporarily become a “no” person in regards to any and all outdoor activities sans cool body of water, that I’m a bit at odds with what to do! The options are so bizarrely ubiquitous. Picnic in the park? Don’t mind if I do. Leisurely jog around the lake, sure! Watch in reverie as the glowing sun plunges beneath golden horizon from my back porch? Absolutely. I’m just in awe that I can walk outside and not immediately start to “glisten” (that’s a Southern euphemism for sweating your face off). I [don’t] apologize if you are reading this and live in a more temperate climate. We ramble on about the weather around here not because we are simpleminded, but rather because its capriciousness equally captivates and bewilders us (and our wardrobe!)…
Right now, as I await my connecting flight back to Texas in the frigid, stale airport air, I can’t help but reminisce on warm memories of the fun-filled, long weekend I just spent with my best friend in sunny Florida. The past five days were a little slice of heaven to my soul. We took long walks down the powder-white sand beaches, swam in the cool azure waters, tasted our way through some fantastic restaurants and just enjoyed one another’s company….
My best friend’s grandmother, “Oma,” has been an inspiration to me ever since I can remember. Argentinian-born and raised, German-married, yet Texan to the core, Oma is one of those women you can sit and talk to for hours on end without so much as a glance towards the clock. Her breadth of multicultural experiences interlaced with genuine warmth, compassion, and an extremely sharp “wit” (hmm coincidence that “Wit” is her last name? I think not. ) are ingredients for a truly amazing woman, and some inevitably fascinating stories to boot.
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You know that depressed, sinking feeling you experience when the end of a vacation is approaching? Well…I think its severity is directly proportional to the length of your trip, because I can’t seem to stop daydreaming about and making plans to return to mi querida (my beloved) Costa Rica. I am aware of my extensive gawking over the place, but I can genuinely say I’ve never experienced a culture or a country quite like it. Traipsing down scarcely populated, pristine beaches scattered with shells and sand dollars, but never a trace a garbage (sorry, Texas beaches), lounging underneath the shade of the lush, towering canopy, and meeting some of the most beautiful, easygoing souls I’ve had the pleasure to know were merely a microcosm of my favorite memories. And while I continue to feel homesick for a place I don’t even call home, I also take heart in the fact that all I experienced and enjoyed in Costa Rica is now a part of me. I can take all that I learned, the importance of living simply, of just being, of la pura vida, and allow it to permeate my life and my outlook wherever I find myself….
Ahh…finally…the weekend! Was your week as long as mine? If so, this blog post is just for you! This fresh and vibrant cocktail will ease you into the weekend spirit in no time. What else is there really left to say? I think the picture speaks louder than any descriptiveness my foggy mind has to capacity to put into words at the moment. So, in light of that, I’m off to mix myself up one of these bad boys and go relax…Enjoy! (responsibly :)…