Happy Things & Winner of Facial Giveaway!

Happy Friday! Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway with Broadway Skin & Body Retreat for a 60-minute Cooling Facial! The winner is Mandi Kane!  Mandi, I just had this facial last night and I can tell you, you are in for a treat!

To show all of you how much we appreciate you entering this giveaway, Broadway Retreat is offering each of you a 30-minute Express Facial for only $25 (normally $45)!  This discounted offer is valid through August 31, 2012.  To take advantage of this, call the spa at 505-246-2400 and reference the giveaway.  Thank you again! We are grateful for each of you for supporting us!

Here are the happy moments from my week captured in pictures!

20120719-104559.jpg

{My friend Shay came in town for her birthday and Jon and I were lucky enough to spend it with her and a few of our old friends}

20120719-103521.jpg{Clean, sheer nails were a nice change from my summer brights. This is Essie Pop Art Pink}

20120719-103540.jpg{A Diet Vodka Tonic was the perfect evening refresher after a long day at work. Just mix 1 shot of good vodka with diet tonic water and squeeze the juice of 1 lime wedge}

20120719-103553.jpg

{My collection of lipsticks and glosses that I carry in my purse on a daily basis makes me both extremely happy and embarrassed at the same time. My coworker Melanie calls these my “just in case” items!}

20120719-103628.jpg

{Happiness came in the form of mail this week when both my July Birchbox and my summer NewBeauty TestTube arrived! Posts coming soon about both of these delights!}

20120719-103648.jpg

{I found the most perfect bouquet of creamy white Hydrangeas for my Mom’s birthday at Trader Joe’s}

20120719-103655.jpg{We spent my Mom’s birthday at her home in Corrales enjoying Indian food and the beautiful post-storm weather}

{Spending Thursday night at Broadway Retreat with Devon sipping wine and getting a Cooling Facial!}

What brightened your week?

Watermelon Breeze Cocktails

Our Memorial Weekend was full of great friends, delicious food, sun, swimming and creative cocktails. One of my best friends, Pala Nicole, and I whipped up an insanely delicious and skinny cocktail on Saturday that even had the boys putting down their beers and snatching our glasses for more sips. Of course this was after Jon stated he did not like “fruity drinks” and did not want one of his own. :)

Pala Nicole also helped me come up with the very popular and tasty Basil Lime Vodka Freeze, so we are on a roll with delicious and low-calorie drinks. We are going to make this our new tradition whenever we hang out…coming up with new and skinny (and strong!) cocktails.

We made these when it was already dark out so the pictures aren’t as pretty as they would have been in natural sunlight. Oh well.

20120529-144427.jpg

This cocktail is a simple and quick combination of watermelon vodka, fresh watermelon and ice. That’s IT! It’s not too sweet and it tastes like real, fresh watermelon. Not artificial tasting at all. It’s really refreshing and the only calories are technically from the watermelon vodka since watermelon is mainly water and extremely low in calories.

Pala Nicole, her fiance Adam, Jon and I spent about 30 minutes trying to come up with a name that would do this delicious cocktail justice. Call it whatever you want…just make it! It’s THAT good. You’re welcome! :)

20120529-142659.jpg

Enjoy!

Watermelon Breeze Cocktails (serves 4)

Ingredients

  • 4-6 shots of watermelon flavored vodka (we used Smirnoff)
  • 1/2 of a fresh watermelon, cut into chunks
  • 2 cups of ice

Directions

    • Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until mixed well
    • Serve immediately and garnish each glass with a piece of watermelon

Flirtinis!

What better day to give you a recipe for an easy, strong and skinny cocktail than Friday?!  I first heard about flirtinis on an episode of Sex & The City and just had to try it.  It’s a genius and simple combination of vodka, champagne and pineapple juice.  It tastes like a mimosa made with pineapple juice…you can’t taste the vodka at all.  Which makes this a fantastic and dangerous little concoction!  If you have some grenadine on hand, add a splash to each glass for a bit of color and added sweetness (although this also adds to overall calorie intake).

I like to make these for those nights with the girls when wine just won’t cut it!  They are always a hit. They’re also a great brunch drink.  Just make sure your guests know there’s vodka in them!  These sneak up on you.  :)

On another note, I’m a proud May sponsor of one of my favorite blogs, Steph’s Bite By Bite, and she gave me a nice little write up today!  Check it out here and take a look at her AH-MAZING treats while you’re at it.  She’s quite the baker…and runner…she’s awesome.  :)   TGIF!!!

20120510-110433.jpg

Enjoy!

Flirtinis

Ingredients

  • Champagne
  • Vodka
  • Pineapple juice

Directions

  • Pour half a shot of vodka into each glass
  • Fill each glass with champagne, leaving your desired room for pineapple juice (I like my pineapple juice to take up about 1/3 of the glass)
  • Serve and enjoy!!!