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

Office Inspiration

November 7, 2013

As much as I love the black executive suite at our office, the marketing team’s space on the top floor is collaborative, bright, airy, open and white… which is truly my go-to aesthetic. It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since we moved into our space and within that year, we’ve inevitably had everything from boxes to paper samples to glass samples, ribbon – you name it – pile up… everywhere. I took a day this week to de-clutter my personal work space and I was shocked at what an unbelievable weight was lifted off my shoulders. I actually WANT to get to the office early, light a candle, put on some tunes and get creative.

Around the same time, I’ve been ~~stalking~~ admiring Emily Henderson’s latest project (isn’t she seriously THE BEST?!?!) and being that my color palette right now is basically mint/sea foam green, white and flax, I realized how insanely easy it would be to integrate some of the warmer blush tones and a hint of raspberry or coral to spruce things up. I finally pulled the trigger and ordered some art that I’ve been wanting forever and can’t wait to pull everything together hopefully next week 🙂 Below is a little inspiration board I threw together… What do you think?

love print / made by girl
greek key pillow / caitlin wilson textiles
monique lhuillier / blush champagne coupe
french cade lavendar candle (favorite candle ever) / voluspa
do good print /sugar paper
faux sheepskin / ikea
hold the phone / fab
gold polka dot pillow / caitlin wilson textiles
peonies in a vase / minted

Monday Inspiration

November 4, 2013

Just a little something to keep you inspired on this Monday 🙂 What steps are you taking toward achieving your dreams today?

Wishing you a happy, healthy and productive week!

Pumpkin Weekend

November 1, 2013

After so much recent travel, Jake and I managed to fly past one another all October long and spent the month apart. I’m looking forward to having a cozy weekend at home together to catch up, visit our favorite restaurants and enjoy fall. I’ll be doing some baking as well and I’m really looking forward to trying out some pumpkin based recipes including these waffles and these yummy donut holes. Can’t wait to see how they turn out! Hope you have a wonderful weekend 🙂

image via

Wine Wednesday (HalloWINE Style)

October 30, 2013

When one of our co-founders at work suggested that we put an adult spin on Halloween and pair our wines with classic trick-or-treat candy, I was game. She conducted a tasting and figured out which flavors would work the best with one another before passing it over to me to style and shoot. The office was FULL of goodies yesterday so we all did our own little tastings and they were AMAZING… Some of the pairings were really different and unique so I didn’t expect to like them all as much as I did, but I guess you really can’t go wrong with candy and wine! It was tough to pick a favorite. Thought I would pass these along for a little Halloween inspiration in case any of you wanted to give it a whirl on your own! And I know it might be tempting, but try not to eat all your kids’ Halloween candy 😉 Cheers!

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