Let's Make Sunset Sangria

Hello and welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  I'm going to share something on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm thinking about the wonderful sangria my daughter-in-law, Kayla, makes!

Kayla knows just how much I adore her sangria recipe—it’s one of my absolute favorites. While we were visiting for Mother’s Day, she kindly whipped up a fresh batch, and of course, it didn’t disappoint. As she was putting it all together, I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of the process. I wanted to make sure I could replicate it perfectly back at home, step by step. The recipe itself is wonderfully simple—no fuss at all—but the flavor is out of this world. It’s refreshing, perfectly balanced, and always a crowd-pleaser. I can’t wait to make it myself and relive a bit of that special day with every sip.

Here's What You Need

1 750 ml bottle Moscato D'Asti

1/2 cup Malibu Rum

3 cups Simply Lemonade with Raspberry

Desired amount of Triple Berry Blend Fruit

Here's What You Do

Measure and pour your liquids into a pitcher.

Give it a stir.

Add your fruit.

Enjoy!

Now it's your turn - what are you thinking about today?  Link up and share!

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Five on Friday - August 7, 2020

Hello Friday!  I'm taking a vacation day today, so the weekend is beginning a little earlier than normal.  The weather is supposed to be gorgeous today and I can't wait to spend some time outside!  Before I get out the door, here's my five for this week ~

1.  Made in Italy
A new movie comes out today and it looks like one I'll love!  Eric and I are really missing going to see movies in theaters.  It was a favorite thing for both of us and we've been struggling a bit without it.  This week we are going to turn down the lights and kick back on the couch with a big tub of popcorn to watch Liam Neeson's new movie Made In Italy.  Neeson plays alongside his real-life son Michael Richardson.  It released to theaters (if you can find a theater open) and streaming.  Here's the synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes ~

Made In Italy is a heart-warming father son story set in glorious Tuscany about bohemian London artist Robert (Liam Neeson), who returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Micheál Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. Neither expects to find the once beautiful villa in such a state of disrepair.... Renovations go badly, with father and son soon finding themselves at odds. Robert's comical lack of DIY experience leads him to seek help from some colourful locals including the no nonsense Kate (Lindsay Duncan), an ex-pat making her living selling villas who quickly captures his attention. For Jack, the state of the house seems to mirror his search for memories of happier times with his mother. He soon falls for Natalia (Valeria Bilello), a vivacious young Italian chef, who restores both body and soul with delights from her local trattoria -- until the pair find their developing relationship in jeopardy from Natalia's jealous and threatening ex-husband. As Robert and Jack painstakingly restore the villa to its previous glory, they also start to mend their relationship. The future may now look quite different and surprise them both.

2.  Member's Mark Sangria
We did a small social distanced happy hour on my friend's patio this week and she served Member's Mark (Sam's) Sangria.  It was to die for!  She added a little fruit and it was a refreshing cocktail.  I'm adding it to my Sam's list so we can have a bottle at home to enjoy.  If you're looking for a new cocktail, check out this one.  It's a winner!



3.  Perseid Meteor Shower
Get outside over the next week and gaze into the skies for a glimpse of the Perseid Meteor shower.  This coming week should be the peak for the Northern Hemisphere and is considered the best meteor shower of the year.  Fifty to a hundred meteors per hour should be shooting across the sky. Pre-dawn hours are the best, but it's possible to view meteors from this shower as early as 10 pm.  Go HERE to get specific information for the best viewing in your area.



4.  What's Your Enneatype?
Have you been hearing people talking about what enneagram number they are?  Been wondering what number you really are?  Liz Carver and Josh Green's book, What's Your Enneatype? is here to answer all your questions!  It was released this week and is getting great reviews.  Here's the summary from Amazon ~

Pronounced ENN-EE-UH-GRAM, stemming from the Greek words ennea (nine) and grammos (a written symbol), the Enneagram is a centuries-old categorization tool that classifies human personalities into nine interconnected personality types. It is a powerful tool for self-observation, maximizing your strengths, and improving your relationships.​
Learn—through in-depth descriptions, illustrations, and more—how to assess how you think, feel, and experience life, so that you can correctly identify which of the nine types you are.

• Type 1: The Improver/Reformer/Perfectionist (Life Strategy: "I must be perfect and do what is right.")

• Type 2: The Helper/Giver/Befriender (Life Strategy: "I must be helping, caring, and needed.")

• ​Type 3: The Achiever/Performer/Motivator (Life Strategy: "I must be impressive and look accomplished and successful.")

• ​Type 4: The Individualist/Romantic/Artist (Life Strategy: "I must be understood uniquely as I am.")

• ​Type 5: The Investigator/Observer/Theorist (Life Strategy: "I must be knowledgeable and equipped.")

• ​Type 6: The Loyalist/Skeptic/Guardian (Life Strategy: "I must be secure and safe.")

• ​Type 7: The Enthusiast/Optimist/Epicurean (Life Strategy: "I must be enjoying myself and avoiding pain.")

• Type 8: The Challenger/Protector/Advocate (Life Strategy: "I must be strong and outside the control of others.")

• Type 9: The Peacemaker/Mediator/Reconciler (Life Strategy: "I must maintain peace and calm.")

Authors Liz Carver and Josh Green, creators of the hugely popular Instagram account @justmyenneatype, help you discover how knowing your type—and the types of those around you—can affect your daily life, your decisions, and your relationships with others, and how to use this wisdom to live life with more clarity, peace, and insight than you ever thought possible.
So what's your enneatype? Find out today and get started on the journey to better understand your world, yourself, and your place within it.

5.  Beware.....

       

Have a great weekend!  Eric and I are going to visit his sister and delivering some baby gifts for our upcoming great-nephew.  I'll be wearing a mask more than I normally do on the weekend (because we're normally staying home), but it will definitely be worth it!    Pop in next week to read all about it.

Linking up with:

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday

Five on Friday - April 22, 2016

Hello Friday!  I'm so ready for this weekend ~ friends are on their way to my house and an epic weekend is just a few shorts hours away.  We have an action packed couple of days planned and I can't wait to get this weekend started!  With some luck, I believe the weather is even going to help us out by delivering a couple beautiful spring days.  Before I head out, here's my five ~

1.  Purple Rain
In honor of Prince, I think I'll be serving a batch of Purple Rain drinks this weekend.  So sad to lose this musical icon at such a young age.  He was on my concert bucket list and I'm sorry I won't have the opportunity to see him perform in person.  Raspberry Beret is one of my favorite songs.  What was your favorite Prince song?

2.  Catastrophe

This adult Amazon original series is very clever.  I'm hooked.  I binge watched the entire first season in one sitting and am on to season 2.  Have you seen it?  Here's the description from Amazon:  "Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan write and star in this R-rated comedy about a one-week stand between a Boston ad exec and a London schoolteacher that leads to an accidental pregnancy. When Rob moves to the UK to help figure things out, cultures clash and hormones flare as these two realize they don't know the first thing about each other."  You need Amazon Prime to have access.  Not a Prime member?  No worries ~ Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial by clicking on these blue words.  

3.  National Picnic Day

Guess what tomorrow is?  National Picnic Day!  Who doesn't love a picnic?!?  The weather is supposed to be great in our area all weekend.  Perfect for packing up a cute little picnic and heading outside.  Even when it's raining, it's still fun to spread a blanket in the living room and pop a squat right there on the floor.  What a fun thing to do with the kids!  Check out these adorable reuseable outdoor utensil set from Pampered Chef.  They are on sale right now for $2 for a set of 6.   Great deal!  Click HERE to purchase.   

               

Add the utensils to this collapsible cooler tote and you should be ready to go!  Love the monogram on this bag!

4.  Quaker Breakfast Flats

I'm going to be on the lookout for these babies. Getting out of the house in the morning is sometimes a challenge and Quaker's breakfast flats looks like something I would love to grab for a quick breakfast. They come in three tasty flavors: Banana Honey Nut, Cranberry Almond and Golden Raisin Cinnamon. Quaker Breakfast Flats are under 200 calories -- perfect since I'm trying to cut down on my calorie intake. Added bonuses ~ they are a good source of fiber AND have no artificial flavors or added colors.

5.  I remember these days....

Have a fantastic weekend!  Get out there and do something fun.  No time like the present to start enjoying life!  See you on Monday!

Linking up with:

Rebecca at XOXO Rebecca

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Hill Collection

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home

High Five for Friday
5 on Friday 
The Triplet Farm
Why Girls Are Weird
Ins and Outs

This post contained affiliate links.  I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase.  Thanks!

Five on Friday - June 19, 2015

Friday -- you really sneaked up on me!  But here we are and I most certainly am not going to complain about having a weekend ahead of me.  I'm really looking forward to celebrating Father's Day with my dad tomorrow.  He's the best dad ever!  We'll be travelling back to the small town in mid Missouri that I grew up in to see him.

And now for my Five on Friday for this week ~

1.  Martini Day
As we all get ready for Father's Day on Sunday, let's not overlook what today is ~ National Martini Day.  My favorite martini is a pomegranate one.  My version is super simple to make -- just use one part Pearl pomegranate vodka to two parts pomegranate juice.  I like to use the Langer's Zero Calorie pomegranate juice ~ it makes me feel like I'm drinking a low cal drink.  Mix it, shake it and pour.  Cheers!

2.  No Wait App
Remember a couple weeks ago when I talked about going to the restaurant Peacemaker, well Eric and I used this cool No Wait App.  We figured there would be a long wait -- and we were right.  We checked on our cool No Wait app and it said there was a 75 minute wait.  We were able to check in with the app and start our wait time before we even left the house.  When we arrived, we just told the hostess we were there, got a drink at the bar and 10 minutes later were at our table.  Worked out great!  Have you used it before?

3.  Nola Honey & Aloe Vera Anti-Aging Facial Cleaning Wipes
Tracy had these in her Tracy's favorite things Christmas package this year and I'm in love with them!  They do a wonderful job removing makeup and leave your face feeling fantastic.  I've been using them before bed and they make my face feel so soft I don't even have to use lotion afterwards.

Available on Amazon HERE

4.  Galleria Big Flower Folding Umbrella
It's been rainy all week in St. Louis.  Wouldn't it be fun to have this flower umbrella!  It folds up to a size you can slip in your purse and opens to a nice large size that will cover you when the rain is coming down.  Even though the weather is kind of gloomy, this bright umbrella would bring some cheer to the day.

Available on Amazon HERE

5.  True Chick Flick....

Have a great weekend everyone!  I'll be back on Monday to let you know how mine went down.  We are supposed to go to an outdoor theater tonight to see My Fair Lady, but the weather might not allow that to happen.  Keep your fingers crossed that the rain stops long enough for us to get in the show!

Linking up with:

Rebecca at XOXO Rebecca

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Hill Collection

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday 
The Jenny Evolution
Serenity Now
The New Mrs. Adventures

This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you choose to make a purchase. Your cost is the same no matter where you click from.

Weekending - November 7, 2014

Why is it that the weekends always seem to go by so quickly!  This weekend was a mixture of work, relaxation and fun for me.  Friday night was work.  I got home around 9:30 pm and went straight to bed.  Eric delivered pizza to me and I enjoyed being propped up in bed munching on a late dinner.

Saturday came and Eric had to work -- so guess what I did.  I laid in bed all morning finishing the book Roses by Leila Meacham.  I have blogged about this book before and honestly thought I'd be done reading the 641 page novel long before now.  I was determined to get to the end of this page-turner on Saturday!  Guys, no joke -- GREAT BOOK.  Highly recommend it.  You know how you are kind of sad when a book ends because you want to keep reading about the characters.  Well, this was that kind of book for me.

Saturday night we met Ian and Kayla to celebrate Eric's birthday.  He chose Maggiano's.  Ever been to one?  We enjoy going there.  The food is good and atmosphere fun.

                                               

And since Saturday was National Harvey Wallbanger Day, of course I had to try one.

We wrapped up the night at P. F. Chang's watching the end of the Blues game.  The Angry Orchard was better than the end of the game -- Blues lost 2-1 to the Nashville Predators.  

Sunday was Thanksgiving decorating day.  I'll be linking up to some other bloggers on November 18th for the Thanksgiving Holiday Link Up.  Here's a preview of our mantle.  More Thanksgiving decorations will be revealed on the 18th.

Sunday we got the bad news that the water pump is going out on Eric's vehicle and they recommended not driving it until it was fixed.  Holy cow -- how did/does families with two working people make it with one car!?!  I think we have a plan in place to get us both to work, but please keep your fingers crossed that the shop can fix it FAST and we'll have two working cars in our life again soon.  

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and I'm off to work.  It's unusual that I have to work on Sunday, but we have a special program going on for a couple days so I'm pitching in to help.  Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  

Check out what others were up to this weekend.

Join the Gossip

Champagne and Suburbs

B Loved Boston

I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Life of Meg

More Pieces of Me

Five on Friday - November 7, 2014

Hello!  Welcome to Five on Friday.  Like so many others, this week has flown by.  Wednesday was a special dinner out, celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday on Thursday and planned Eric's birthday celebration for Saturday night.  Love fun, busy weeks!  Since the rest of the month is super packed with activities, I'm hoping to use this weekend to do some planning for Thanksgiving.  But before we step into the weekend, here's this week's Five on Friday.

1.  Billy Joel -- The Definitive Biography
Hey Billy Joel fans -- Fred Schruers' new biography on the piano man has hit the stands.  This book came together after hours of interviews with Billy himself.  The book weaves song lyrics into Billy's stories of life and love.  This could make an excellent Christmas gift for any of the Billy Joel lovers on your list.

2.  Vintage State Pins
I had the opportunity Wednesday night to meet up with some of the Missouri Women Bloggers for dinner and it was so much fun!  I'll be talking more about this group later, but wanted to give a shout out to Brittany Sherman.  She blogs over at Va Voom Vintage,  She also has an Etsy shop called Wacky Tuna Vintage that sells the most adorable things!  Below is a pin she was wearing on Wednesday and, I must say, it was absolutely ADORABLE!!  Definitely making some purchases from this site!

                                                     

3.  National Harvey Wallbanger Day
In case you haven't heard - Saturday, November 8 is National Harvey Wallbanger Day!  This concoction can be made by mixing 3 parts vodka, 1 part Galliano and 6 parts orange juice.  Pour into a highball glass and garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry.  November 8th is also National Cappuccino Day, but the way I look at it is you can have a cappuccino any old day but not many days are set aside for Harvey Wallbangers.  Cheers!!

                           

4.  Thanksgiving Turkey
Thanksgiving is coming and I've been giving some thought to my turkey.  I was browsing through my Real Simple magazine and it gave the below recipe for brining your bird.  Since I love a nice, juicy piece of turkey, I'm going to be giving this recipe a try.  Thought you might like to see it also.

Ingredients

• 2 gallons cold water
• 2 cups Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 12- to 18-pound turkey

Important: You will need a food-safe container large enough to hold the turkey and brine while it is marinating. Make sure the container fits inside your refrigerator.

Directions

1. In a large pot, mix together the water, salt, and sugar until dissolved. Place the turkey in the container and cover with the brining liquid. If necessary, use a heavy plate to keep the turkey submerged. Brine the turkey for 18 to 24 hours.
2. Remove the turkey from the liquid and place on a large platter. Discard the brining liquid. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. If you plan to roast the bird within 2 hours, you can leave it uncovered on the counter. If you aren’t going to roast it for 2 hours or more, return the turkey uncovered to the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it.

5.  Quote

Here's one we should all try to remember.

                                      

Have a great weekend and stop back by on Monday for my weekending edition.

Linking up with:

Rebecca at XOXO Rebecca

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Lauren at The Lauren Elizabeth

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Crazily Normal

5 on Friday 

Five on Friday - September 5, 2014

1.  Scooby Snack

I'll be headed to Kansas City next weekend for Girls Weekend and was reviewing some cocktail options to take with me.  I remembered my friend Sherri and I having Scooby Snacks and we swore it made our skin glow.  Think I'll take the ingredients to make these:

SCOOBY SNACK

1/2 oz. (15ml) Midori

1/2 oz. (15ml) Coconut Rum

Splash Pineapple Juice

Splash Whipped Cream

Shake

Top with Whipped Cream

2.  Tailgate Emergency Kit

Our family is invited to tailgate with some friends on Sunday to welcome the first game of the Rams season.  I made this little tailgate emergency kit for them as a thank you.  Hopefully no one will need any of the stuff inside, but just in case they do they will be ready.  A full post containing the 411 on making a kit of your own will be coming soon.  Hope the Rams are as ready for the season as we are!

 

 

3.  Breaking Bad

Monday was a total binge watching day for me.  I know I'm late to the Breaking Bad party, but man -- I could not stop watching this on Monday!  I started the weekend about midway through Season 2 and by Tuesday morning I was on the first episode of Season 5.  Yes, that's A LOT of watching Breaking Bad.  Anyone else a binge watcher?

 

                                                  

 

4.  Power Bank

Eric brought home a little surprise for me one night this week -- a portable power bank with LED flashlight.  This is a real gem!  I'm notorious for forgetting to charge my phone then when we're out I have no power.  Well, this little baby charges it in a jiffy.  It came with 4 types of connectors so it will work with all my mobile devices.  If you're one that could use some extra juice every now and again, this could be for you.  The flashlight is an added bonus.  And he was smart enough to get my favorite color - pink. 

 

5.  Guardian Angel

If you know me, you know this is probably true.

 

                                                     

 

I'm off with Tracy, Sherri and Carol for a girl's night out tonight.  Hope you're doing something fun too!

 

Linking up with:

Rebecca at XOXO Rebecca

Jennie at The Diary of a Real Housewife

Lauren at The Lauren Elizabeth

Amy at The Farmer's Wife

Amanda at Meet At The Barre