Sparkle and Hearts

February 6, 2014

I’m so excited about a big project I just wrapped up for work! Our limited edition All You Need is Love (and Wine) gift set is available exclusively for Valentine’s Day! The bottle of reserve North Coast Pinot Noir is covered in ruby red glitter and is paired with hands down the best dark chocolate toffee on the planet, B.Toffee. To keep things romantic, a 3 wick Goji Tarocco Orange scented candle by Voluspa is also included and smells SO good, you guys! Plus, how pretty is this all put together?! I absolutely love it!

Being that we’re supporting the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign during the month of February, we’ve committed to donating enough per package to educate 50 women on heart disease prevention. Heart disease causes 1 in 3 women’s deaths, killing approximately one woman every minute. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! 1 in 31 women dies of breast cancer, while 1 in 3 dies of heart disease. As a woman with heart disease in my family, I was floored when I heard those statistics and I’m thrilled to be working with such an amazing organization. Today is the last day for east coasters to order and guarantee delivery by Valentine’s Day so be sure to head on over here to check it out (and enter GORED at checkout for 30% off). I’m swooning over the rest of the gorgeous images from this shoot with Lisa from L Marie Photography, but can’t share any more until they’re published. I’ll be sure to post some more as soon as I can and just wanted to pass along some sneak peeks!

With love (and glitter),

Meg

Ohhhh Leo…

January 13, 2014

So this happened over the weekend…..

Yes. That is real life. I’m still having a hard time processing it. I, like every girl in the entire world have been obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio for as long as I can remember. And on Saturday, all of my ~~wildest fantasies~~ dreams came true. Well, almost.

Huge thanks to BAFTA for always choosing ONEHOPE Wine for their BAFTA LA Pre Golden Globes Tea Party (Leo was drinking our Chardonnay). I was able to chat with him for a brief 10 seconds where instead of chumming it up about something original and memorable (my amazing former boss, Bonnie is credited for discovering him), I was so starstruck and overwhelmed that I could only formulate a measly, “Congratulations! Your performance in Wolf of Wall Street was absolutely unbelievable…. I loved every minute. I’m Megan, by the way, from ONEHOPE Wine… you’re drinking our Chardonnay… thank you so much for the support. Do you mind if we take a picture together? I would love that so much.” Like EVERYONE. Else. There. FAIL. He was so kind, so gorgeous, smiled during our entire 10 second exchange (please, just make me melt even more), but immediately after taking the picture, I was pushed and shoved away by the rest of the women swarming him… and that was it.

Did I mention that I love him? <3 <3 <3

Happy Monday!

Apple Pie Sgroppino

January 10, 2014

I’ll tell you what’s not on your list of New Year’s Diet approved drinks: this. This is not on your diet. However, the Apple Pie Sgroppino Cocktail that I put together for work is so good, that I had to pass along the recipe… in case you’re planning a cheat day. And cheat days happen over the weekend… so you’re welcome 😉 If you’re a fan of apple pie, or of sweets in general, this is your girl. It’s an apple pie whipped up into a frothy liquid delight of epic proportions. You will love it, I promise!

PS: This just got featured on Style Me Pretty Living!!! I’m so honored and thrilled to be published on their blog again! Check out the feature here.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup chilled vodka

1 pint caramel apple gelato

1/2 bottle ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine

1 cup ice

Ground Cinnamon (for garnish)

1 thinly sliced apple (for garnish)

4 ground honey graham cracker crumbs (for rimmer)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.
Rim chilled martini glasses with graham cracker crumbs.
Pour mixture into glasses and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon

ONEHOPE Holiday Party

January 8, 2014

Helloooo! Are you staying warm out there?! I can not believe the news coming out of the midwest and east coast! I’m slightly jealous that I’m not there to witness the biggest snow storm in DECADES (my inner 10 year old self would do anything for a snow day), but I’m also thrilled at the fact that I’m not there to experience the super cold temperatures. I think the lowest I’ve experienced is a wind chill of 18 below and I never want to face that again. I feel you, ‘Merica! Stay warm!

I REALLY wanted to share all of our ONEHOPE Holiday (#ONEHOPEHoliday) images before Christmas for anyone searching for last minute inspiration, but as I detailed previously, that just couldn’t happen this year. Since half of the country is facing winter to the max, I thought I’d still share this little winter wonderland transformed office conference room in case you’re planning a snowy get-together. The second half of the images are of the DIY we did that day where we gold-leafed our own glassware. It was really fun and the results were so unique and gorgeous… definitely something creative and different to do with your girlfriends if you ever feel like having a ladies night in 🙂 I apologize in advance for there being tons of pictures, but I just could not narrow them down further. We had an absolutely amazing photographer, Jen Wiley who crushed it for us. I usually shoot most of our content, but knew that we needed a professional for a project of this magnitude and Jen was SO nice, so receptive, so creative… I could not have asked for anyone better. She captured the day perfectly and didn’t miss a SINGLE detail. If you’re on the market for a wonderful photographer, hire her. Now 🙂

PS: If you’re new to Design Wine Dine and are interested in the background story of why I planned this little holiday get-together, check out my reasoning and inspiration board for the party and decor here. Also, I had this crazy vision in my mind that included a pallet wall, but we didn’t have one at our office… so I made one. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to get it done that I didn’t document a lot of the process, but will break it down step by step and put it up here soon. Stay tuned!

DIY Information

Supplies

Flutes or Champagne Coups – We used these and these to give our guests a little variety.
Gold leaf, adhesive and sealant (available at craft stores)
Paint brushes

Directions

Using a paint brush, apply adhesive to the glass. Get creative with shapes and stripes!
Wait a few minutes until the glue gets tacky (2-5 minutes). We had the best luck when the glue was almost dry.
Place your gold leaf on the glass and press down to smooth out any bubbles or inconsistencies. Allow your gold leaf to set for 15-20 minutes.
Carefully remove excess gold leaf from around the glued areas.
Once all excess gold leaf is removed, brush your sealant on over the gold leaf. This will allow you to drink out of and handle the glasses. Since your glasses are hand crafted with love, please hand wash them with care

Wine: Hope at Home
Coffee: ONEHOPE Coffee
Linens: La Tavola
Gold rimmed glasses and ghost chairs: Classic Party Rentals
Deer Head: ZGallerie
Frames: West Elm
Event/Floral Design and Production: Me!
Calligraphy: Beth Phillips at ONEHOPE
Photography: JWiley Photography

Holiday Table Inspiration

December 29, 2013

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Happy, Happy Holidays!!! I hope everyone is having some much deserved down time and rest while gearing up for 2014! I think it’s going to be a big one and I’m actually super excited to see what the new year holds 🙂 So, without getting too distracted, I REALLY wanted to get this published before Christmas, but if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen what a ridiculously chaotic yet successful December we had over at ONEHOPE Wine. We more than quadrupled our sales over last year and we had an all-hands-on-deck situation for most of December. Instead of dabbling in anything creative, I was with the majority of our team in our warehouse packing boxes, sourcing product that we’d run out of (eeeek!) and helping to load hundreds upon hundreds of boxes onto multiple UPS trucks daily. The experience of seeing our company grow like that and watching all of our hard work finally pay off was nothing short of incredible and I wouldn’t change being there, smack dab in the center of it for anything in the world 🙂

In early December, I posted a few sneak peeks from our ONEHOPE Holiday party (#ONEHOPEHoliday) at work. Since the wine industry is absolute madness in December every year, in 2012 we didn’t plan anything fun during the holidays. It was the first year that I really felt that the holidays just slipped through my fingertips and it bummed me out beyond belief. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again this year and planned an afternoon for the girls on our team to spend some time together outside of the work madness to decompress and do something fun. We played Christmas music, did a little wine tasting and gold leafed glasses to give away as gifts… It was just what we needed. Since we were going to have a photographer there to capture it as a DIY, I wanted to make sure that we gave our conference room a little TLC and turned it into a winter wonderland. I am SO HAPPY with how it turned out and can not wait to share the images our amazing photographer captured. In the meantime, take a look at my inspiration board for the project 🙂

PS: I know Christmas is over, but I truly believe that so many Christmasy pieces can be carried into New Years Eve/Day parties. So, recycle that garland, grab some gold confetti and wintery fur and enjoy your seasonal decor for a few more days! If you’re not diggin’ it, keep this in your back pocket for next year 😉

xoxo

Meg

Apple Cider & Thyme Sparkling Cocktail

December 17, 2013

Whew! What a week already! We’re cranking out so many packages at work (several thousand since black Friday) and I’m dying for some downtime, a cocktail and a lots of Christmas baking. Last year the holidays were here and gone in the blink of an eye so I’m hanging on to them with all my might and I’m making sure I don’t miss out on my favorite part of the year. On the topic of all things festive, I created an Apple Cider & Thyme cocktail for work as a part of our Fall/Winter cocktail shoot and this one was one of my favorites from a taste profile perspective as well as aesthetically. I love the added layer of complexity the Thyme makes (I’m huge on herbs in cocktails) and the Sparkling Brut combined with fresh apple cider keeps things just slightly sweet without going overboard. We only have a few weeks left of fresh cider so make sure you’re taking full advantage of it now 🙂 Cheers!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total: 2 hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients
8 ounces dark rum
1.5 ounces lemon juice
4 ounces thyme simple syrup (2 cups sugar, 1.5 cups water, 10 thyme sprigs)
12 ounces apple cider
8 ounces ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
4 dashes Angostura Bitters
Sprigs of thyme for garnish
Apple wheels for garnish

Directions
1. Combine sugar, water and 10 sprigs of thyme. Heat in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes or until sugar is completely dissolved. Place in the fridge to cool (1-2 hours).
2. Combine all ingredients (except sparkling) into a carafe and stir.
3. Fill glasses with crushed ice and fill half with mixture.
4. Top with ONEHOPE Sparkling and garnish with sprigs of thyme and sliced apple.

Cheers!

Recipe adapted from here.

Cinnamon Orange Mulled Wine and Cocktail

December 9, 2013

It seems so silly to me to be SO unbearably cold in 40-50 degree temperatures after growing up in the midwest, but almost at 5 years removed from frigid Michigan, my skin has become impossibly thin. Mulled wines are a favorite of mine when the weather is cold and I’m looking forward to sipping on one of these tonight. The amazing thing about this recipe however (aside from the fact that it is so delicious) is that it can be cooled and refrigerated to create a “syrup” if you will, to combine with champagne, creating an absolutely divine sparkling cocktail. If you’re looking for a cocktail with the complexity of a mulled wine at lower temperatures, this is a wonderful option. I recently served this at a party in both forms – warm for people looking to escape cool, fall temperatures as well as chilled and topped with sparkling for guests looking for something refreshing yet still festive.

Cinnamon Orange Mulled Wine

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total: 20 minutes (if serving warm) / 3 hours (if serving cold)
Serves: 8 (if serving warm) / 12 (if serving with champagne as cocktail)

Ingredients

4 cups apple cider
1 (750 ml) bottle ONEHOPE Cabernet
1/4 cup honey
1 orange zested and juiced
10 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
3 star anise
2 oranges peeled for garnish

Additional Ingredients for Cocktail

1 (750 ml) bottle ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest or rind

Directions for Mulled Wine

1. Combine the cider, wine, honey, orange juice, zest, 2 cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise in a large sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Pour into mugs and garnish with orange peels and cinnamon sticks.

Directions for Cocktail

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above, but put aside 1 teaspoon of orange zest or a small piece of rind for your rimming sugar.
2. Remove pan from heat and set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Using a strainer, remove the excess orange rind and cinnamon sticks from your mixture and transfer into a carafe or bottle to cool. I like to funnel them into these with a fun and festive label or tag.
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until cold. (Can store refrigerated for up to one week).
5. While mixture is cooling, create your rimming sugar by combining sugar, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of orange zest/rind in a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed.
6. Rim glasses in sugar, pour glass half full with cooled mulled wine mixture and top with Sparkling.

CHEERS!

*Warm mulled wine recipe inspired by Ina Garten from here. Sparkling cocktail twist is my own 🙂

Recipe adapted from here.

Pear Salad

December 2, 2013

Following a weekend traditionally made up of non-stop eating, I figured we could all use a salad 😉 Exhibit A:

Believe it or not, until a few months ago I “hated” pears. I’d tried them as a little girl, decided they were “gross” and then never tried them again for probably 15+ years. I can not believe what I’ve been missing!!! When searching around for cocktail ideas for work, I kept coming across pear recipes and decided to overcome my ridiculous fear of pears and surprise, surprise… I completely fell in love with them! You guys, I’m SO happy about this… I think they might be my new favorite fruit and I crave them constantly. When I had a few left over from shooting this, I decided to put them to work in a new salad and figured it would be a nice change of pace from my go-to greens. I found this recipe for a Honey Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (yes, it’s even better than it sounds) and knew that the flavors would pair insanely well with pear.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients

5 oz. Mixed Greens (I used spring mix + arugula)
3 oz. Goat Cheese
1 Pear
1/2 cup Glazed Walnut Pieces (I used Fresh Gourmet brand – available in the salad or crouton aisle)

Ingredients for Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients for dressing until thoroughly mixed. I like to put everything in a mason jar and shake it up to get an even consistency. This also makes it easy to save leftovers 🙂

2. Combine spring mix, walnuts and goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing and mix. Top with sliced pear and serve with a crisp chardonnay. This and this are both great options for Chard 🙂

Cheers!

My Work on Style Me Pretty Living

November 29, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!!! Following a grueling drive from LA to SF on Wednesday, Jake and I were so happy to have arrived in one piece in time for a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. It has truly been a tremendous year that has flown by, but aside from feeling a little ~~huge~~ over-indulged at the moment, my heart is full knowing that those around us (as well as ourselves) are healthy, happy and on their way to big things. On the business side, I could not be more grateful to Style Me Pretty Living for featuring a cocktail I created for work this fall. It was one of my favorites that we did and is something light and refreshing to enjoy this weekend… a little change of pace following the holiday yet it’s still bursting with fall flavor and won’t disappoint 🙂 If someone told me 6 years ago as an International Relations major in Michigan itching for some ounce of creativity in my life, that I would be designing, styling and photographing fun spreads for a living, I never would have believed them. Seeing this feature was definitely a pinch me moment of gratitude. Here’s to a wonderful weekend filled with thanks and reflection. Cheers!

Pear and Sparkling Cider Cocktail

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total: 10
Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 cups chilled pear nectar
2 cups apple cider
2 cups ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
4 ounces bourbon whiskey (I used Knob Creek)
1 pear, unpeeled and cored cut into thin slices lengthwise
2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup cinnamon mixed for rimming

Directions

Rim champagne coups with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Combine pear nectar, apple cider, Sparkling wine and whiskey in a pitcher and serve immediately.
Garnish with sliced pear.

*Recipe adapted from here.

Photo Shoot Inspiration

November 18, 2013

Image via

Oh hello! Happy Monday! I’ve been a little MIA and apologize there. My best friend from high school got married over the weekend and her sister, who was the maid of honor, is very pregnant with twins and couldn’t travel last minute. She asked me to step up to the plate and it was such a whirlwind of a weekend. There were some stressful moments, but everything ended up perfectly and I could not be happier for my friend and her amazing new husband. They met during our first week of college and are truly a perfect match. I’m such a sucker for love and seeing them so happy on their day made my heart burst with joy. Eeeee! Even thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes. I’ll be sure to share more there as soon as we get some pictures 🙂

On the work front, this week is going to be a big one as we plan a holiday crafts + cocktails photo shoot. I’m SO excited for it. I’ve pretty much been using the above image for every ounce of inspiration for styling this thing… everything about it is perfection. The rustic textured table, the simple rosemary place settings and green + gold + white/neutral is my FAVORITE color palette on the planet. So many ideas flowing… Time to get to work!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

xoxo

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