{friday cocktail: celine fizz}

Well I'm back this Friday with another cocktail from my new favorite cocktail book (I'm assuming you now own this book too since you ordered it immediately after reading last week's cocktail post).   Once again social commitments (Halloween, #sinistersupper, general avoidance of responsibilities) has prevented me from traveling out to get obscure cocktail ingredients so I tried to find another recipe in the book where we had all the ingredients on hand.  The Celine Fizz cocktail reaaaaaally surprised me- it is decadent from the egg white foam, but still tart and delicious from the lemon and St. Germain.  You'll wanna make this cocktail for the chicks in your life who want something a bit sweet, something that includes the ultimate lady ingredient of St. Germain Liqueur and something that is "not too strong" (even though this cocktail is just as strong as most).  

Cheers!

{what i loved this week}

on instagram:  Moroccan inspired mini bites.  Cannot wait to go check out the new Revolve Pop Up Shop at The Grove.  Loved seeing all the glamorous fashion from the Melbourne Cup.  Jacin of Lovely Details just killing it with her Halloween couple's costume.

on pinterest:  Love this neutral dining room- especially the gorgeous chairs.  These are mini pancake bites- enough said. 

on the blogs: Amazing party inspiration over on The Glitter Guide

in real life:  Chris and my Halloween costumes from this past weekend. 

on my wishlist:  The most random selection of wishlist items this week:  a gorgeous lace dress, the perfect camel coat at a great price from ASOS, a girly bralette from Net-a-porter and these amazing mid century bar stools from West Elm. 

{unwinding at home with Starbucks + some deck updates}

I'm back with the final post in my series in partnership with Starbucks® flavored K-Cup® packs (see post one here and post two here) and today we're talking about the way that I like to unwind at home. By far my favorite place to unwind is out on our rooftop deck that is attached to our loft- you can see the before and after pictures of it in this post. We really poured our hearts into this one to make it a space we would be able to spend a great deal of time on whether it's a dinner party, morning breakfast or a lazy Sunday laying out. Since I work from home right now, I love to unwind in the afternoon with a little caffeine jolt to get through the rest of the day. Sometimes it just takes a little 15-minute break where I escape out on to the deck to enjoy a cup of coffee and distract myself with a little Pinterest or online shopping to become reenergized to finish out the day.

When I first starting drinking coffee back in high school, I used to order a mocha latte since coffee still tasted pretty bitter to me, so I needed lots of things like chocolate and steamed milk to distract me from the taste. While I certainly can't drink it black now, I have definitely graduated away from the more dessert like lattes and take my coffee with just a splash of cream. I was excited to try out the Starbucks® Mocha K-Cup® Packs for a little bit of a throwback to my original coffee flavor preference and was surprised to find the flavor quite enjoyable without overpowering the coffee.


Here's a few photos of some of the updates we've made over the past couple weeks out on our deck:

{we switched up the layout a bit since I first showed you the deck- moving the shuffle board to the center and the dining table off to the side}

 {I originally had a garden stool in between these chaises, but the top of it wasnt exactly level which made it obnoxious to try to rest drinks on.  I picked up this black metal table on clearance at Target recently along with the white hurricane from Home Goods}

{our next door neighbors moved out back in September and gifted us these three amazing (and huge) white planters which are now lined up against the back wall of the deck.  I planted ficus hedges in two of the planters for some added privacy and used the third planter for a orange tree, rosemary bush, lavender and a iceberg rose bush}

 {our lemon tree is alllmooost ripe!!}

I'd love to hear how you like to unwind at home?

The rich aromas and sweet flavors you love from Starbucks®, now brewing at home. Introducing two new K-Cup® flavors for fall, inspired by our café favorites.

LEGAL: Developed in partnership with Starbucks Coffee Company and their new Starbucks® K-Cup® packs. K-Cup® packs for use in Keurig® K-Cup® brewing systems. Keurig, the Cup and Star Design, Keurig Brewed, K-Cup and the Keurig brewer trade dress are trademarks of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., used with permission.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Starbucks Coffee Company, via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Starbucks Coffee Company.