Posts filed under ‘The Good Life’
Easy Pomegranate Punch
Sometimes you just want to put out Grandma’s punch bowl and let the holiday crowds serve themselves. Then, you too, can enjoy the festivities. Pomegranate is the hip, happening thing to sip these days–delicious and good for you.
Pomegranate Punch
(from November’s Glamour Magazine)
- 14 oz. Pomegranate Juice
- 8 oz. Vodka
- 4 oz. Triple Sec
- 3 cups Limonata*
Combine ingredients in a pitcher filled halfway with ice, mix. Or, put it in a punch bowl with ice or an ice mold (put water in a Bundt cake pan and freeze). Serves 8 to 10.
*If you can’t find Limonata, (check for fizzy lemonade at Trader Joes) you can make your own version by using frozen lemonade concentrate and club soda. Follow directions on package.
Margaritaville: Hotel Villa Cimbrone, Ravello, Italy
If you’re itching for a trip to Italy and you’re looking for romance with a capital R, head to the Hotel Villa Cimbrone in Ravello.
The village of Ravello hugs the Amalfi Coast, high above the water with glorious views. This town makes me feel like I’m almost in Disney World for grown ups. It is so perfect, that you can’t imagine it can be true, but it is. The shops, cafes and sights are breathtaking.
You feel like you’re in a small town–all safe and cozy. Magical. The rooms are quaint, the service is friendly and personable. Romantic. Romantic. Romantic.
Gummy Eyeballs and Inexpensive Spooky Shot Glasses: Last Minute Halloween Entertaining Tips
If you are serving some spooky drinks, the Gummy Eyeballs from Cost Plus World Market are FANTASTIC. I am freezing some right now to serve in my Midori Martinis tomorrow night. I’m also putting them at the bottom of shot glasses and freezing them, too. $7.99 for 100. Great for midori shots.
CHEAP, FESTIVE SHOT GLASS ALERT!!! I saw many charming halloween shot glasses–but they all were pricey. Yesterday at Safeway, I found spider web clear shot glasses in packs of 4 for $3.38! They are cool, spooky and look especially creepy with the gummy eyeballs.
Happy Halloween shopping!
Halloween, Wine and Shopping: Get Ready for a Margaritaville Bay Area Road Trip!
I love Halloween. Friends all make fun of my costumes and hokey decorations. My husband even said our house looked like Target yesterday. I’m just going to take that as a compliment.
What I really want to talk to you about, especially if you live in the Bay Area, is combining a beautiful fall day, Halloween costume hunting and the glory of wine country.
Snuggled on a side street just off the town of Sonoma’s town square is The Laughing Queen. This little shop is cluttered with all kinds of gag gifts, costumes and accesories. It’s truly worth its weight in gold if you’re searching for that unique item that will be the central anchor or accesory to your costume.
On our last visit we found a leather nurse’s dress, a silver metallic trench coat and jungle man pants. All of these items were one of a kind–no pre packaged halloween costume in a can! You will come away from this shop with something creative and fun.
If you need it, ask for help. Queen Linda has fabulous ideas and knows her shop from top to bottom. She will be able to help you put some kind of stellar pieces together that will make you your own king or queen of the costume ball.
You can go a little crazy in her store, but most things are priced reasonably. You definitely will save, if not spend the same, on a one of a kind costume at her store than you would get by buying costume in a bag at other places.
The trick is, before you arrive at the store, taste some delicious Sonoma County wine and have a picnic lunch on the square. You could even visit a few of the picturesque wineries. A few personal favorites are the Schug Winery and Gundlach Bundschu–both beautiful places to sample some fruits of the Sonoma harvest.
Take a road trip. Enjoy some scenery. Treat yourself to wine and a fabulous Halloween costume at the same time! After all, it’s all about the treats, isn’t it?
- The Laughing Queen
- 122 E. Napa St. Sonoma,
- CA 95476
- 707-935-6611
Sonoma Mission Inn’s Harvest Kur: Margaritaville Without A Glass
My husband and I were invited to a 5 p.m. wedding in Sonoma–it was a perfect opportunity to spend a beautiful, autumn day in wine country. On the spur of the moment, we booked the Harvest Kur Couples spa treatment (described below) at the Sonoma Mission Inn.
The spa facilities at the Sonoma Mission Inn are beautiful. The bathing ritual pools with steam and sauna are a treat, as are the outdoor pools and facilities. It really is a relaxing, luxurious, full service spa. You don’t feel fed through the tourist meat grinder–which is a sensation you unfortunately find in many wine country spa spots.
The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Our therapists greeted us and proceeded to explain the Harvest Kur. We were scrubbed, soaked, wrapped, massaged and completely relaxed by the end of our treatment. We enjoyed the bathing ritual, showered, dressed and made it to the church on time.
Of all the spas in wine country, I find repeatedly that the Sonoma Mission Inn is a good, solid choice. Due to its size, there is usually availability for short notice treatments. The facilities are always immaculate and the therapists are skilled. It’s a spa that actually feels like a spa.
Sometimes a splurge is worth it, and when you splurge, splurge on quality.
Couples Harvest Kur
(100 minutes / $495)
Embrace the healing of the ‘Valley of the Moon’. This fabulously regenerative treatment, using local products, begins with exfoliation to naturally stimulate the body’s immune system. Relax with a warm, fragrant grape seed oil infused bubble bath followed by a warm, nurturing grape seed mud body wrap concluding in total bliss with a full body massage using grape seed body oil. This treatment uses products that are high in antioxidants, vitamins C and E, which enhance well-being throughout your body, mental relaxation and spiritual balance.
USA Today’s Headed To Margaritaville Song Lyric Contest
Just thought Margaritaville fans might find this interesting. USA today had a contest where they were searchin’ for a new verse to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville song. Raise the glass to Jack Honey of Salem, Oregon. Click here to read more from USA Today about his “glass of perfection ode.”
Original Lyrics from the USA Today website here.
Glen Ellen’s Gaige House, Sonoma Valley, California
When the world’s your oyster, sometimes it’s hard to decide which oyster to open first to find the pearl. A few moms and I had decided it was time to see if we still had wings and could fly from the nest and have some time away from our 24/7 Momfressional lives. We chose luxury digs with good food and wine close in proximity. It wasn’t Paris, but it didn’t cost as much as going to Paris in this economy either.
We pitched our tent at the Gaige House in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California. What woman doesn’t love the wine country–or wine for that matter? The rooms were spacious and elegent and the grounds were lush and beautiful. It was almost too romantic for a group of moms. We all kept wishing our husbands were on our Mom’s Getaway. Next time we are taking the men.
The first thing you must know about the Gaige House is about the knock you flat, gourmet breakfasts that they serve each morning. It is added to your room cost is you so desire, and desire it you should. This is breakfast done as I’ve never quite seen or appreciated breakfast before: in fact it’s rated the #1 Bed and Breakfast by Travel & Leisure.
Glen Ellen is a tiny, picturesque town nestled into its own little hidden spot just off Highway 12, so you are close to everything Sonoma but in a world all your own. In this quiet, sleepy town we walked to dinner many a night by flashlight end enjoyed The Fig Cafe and The Glen Ellen Inn. Don’t miss the dynamite vodka cocktails by the bartender there who infuses her own vodka!
We played scrabble (once), read our books and trashy mags, hot-tubbed, jacuzzi-tubbed, and hiked in nearby Jack London Park. The Margaritarator was broken in, as were several bottles of wine. A fine time was had by all, and we highly recommend this locale to anyone wanting to enjoy wine country at a slow, relaxing pace.
Yankee Pier: Summer Nights and the July Wine Event
Every year for one month the Lark Creek Restaurant Group has their July Wine Event. This is a time to go out to dinner and go a little ‘crazy’ ordering a bottle of wine that you would never order at regular price. My husband and I look forward to this each year, and we take advantage of it at a time that couldn’t be more beautiful in our little town.
Most local Larkspur families know the Yankee Pier Restaurant. It was planned to be a family hang out, considering the sandbox with toys on the front patio and its proximity to ‘Dark Park.’ It’s definitely a place that offers good food and a nice, cozy atmosphere for parents that don’t want to end their day at California Pizza Kitchen.
The kid’s menu offers healthy choices, in fact I think this restaurant is the reason my kids like steamed broccoli and gourmet soups. There are also the usuals, meaning that kids who like noodles with butter and chicken fingers with fries are not ignored. Even if you don’t like seafood, there are many satisfying choices for all.
There is nothing like a warm, summer night on the patio with a little breeze blowing through the beach grass. Enjoying a delicious meal with a beautiful glass of half price wine in hand–what could be a better way to have a family dinner?
