Colorful tea towels from Hammocks & High Tea

Founded in 2007 by designer Karen Young, Hammocks & High Tea is a home décor company that creates luxurious eco-friendly everyday products infused with a modern Caribbean aesthetic.  Influenced by the designer’s South American upbringing, vivid colors and contemporary ethnic patterns permeate the collection of drawer liners, tea towels, pillows and other tabletop items.

Adorable sachet box.

The Spring/ Summer 2010 collection is inspired by the cultural blends that travel and trade can create and that can be found in patterns throughout the world. “The new designs embrace and meld the stories of each culture with a nod to African, Indian, and Portuguese,” says Karen. “For instance, our Portuguese tile print decorates South America as well as Turkey, and we grounded the collection with a subtle infusion of African and Indian shapes.” Each pattern forms a statement on it’s own, but can also blend seamlessly into any decor.

The products employ a tropical color palette with hues such as turquoise, coral, mango and lime, and mellowed with indigo blue and sharkskin gray. The pillows, napkins and tea towels are digitally printed on 100% certified organic cotton with non-toxic water-based inks that contain no volatile compounds. The best-selling drawer liners are printed with soy-based inks onto 100% recycled paper and lightly scented in your choice of Rose Tea, French Lavender, Mandarin Jasmine, Coriander, Amber and Patchouli Rose.

Lovely lavender bergamot perfume box.

Hammocks & High Tea also introduces cloth sachets and perfume boxes this spring. A sophisticated take on potpourri, each gorgeous laser-cut perfume box is filled with herbs and flowers.  Designed to scent clothing and intimates, these boxes can be used anywhere for a lovely scent. The perfume boxes will be offered in:  Amber/Balsam and Lavender/ Bergamot.  Amber/Basam contains sweet spices, resins, and florals and is topped off with essential oil of peru balsam. Lavender/Bergamot is a light floral scent containing florals, including jasmine, and rosemary. All ingredients are 100% certified organic.

Cloth sachets are made with 100% certified organic cotton and will be available in Lavender and Lemon Verbana. Each sachet as a loop that makes it easy to use anywhere – from your closet to the car.

Prices range from $20 – $165. Hammocks & High Tea products can be found at various boutiques across the country as well as online at www.hammocksandhightea.com. For additional information, samples, or a catalogue, please contact Moderne Press at info@modernepr.com or (510) 647-9761.

About Hammocks & High Tea

Launched in 2007 by designer Karen Young, Hammocks & High Tea is an eco-friendly home décor company that embraces a vibrant Caribbean aesthetic, interpreting it for the modern home. Inspired by the designer’s South American heritage, each product reflects contemporary tropical and tribal imagery with a nod to traditional artisan techniques. For more information, please visit www.hammocksandhightea.com.

A gallery of lucious ideas at Lola Grace....

Rachael Gross is the CEO of lolagraceEVENTS, and we love her insoucient style. She even states on her site that she does Anti-Bride weddings, fashion and special events. We couldn’t agree more! We welcome Rachel as our guest blogger!

It isn’t about the décor, although, it makes for fabulous photos. It isn’t about the shoes… that in the most perfect shade of purple, scream “BRIDE REBEL”! It goes beyond the barbecued ribs, the pulled pork, and the delicious homemade cornbread. And it certainly isn’t about the fusion of the venue’s urban architecture with the rustic-country table-top design.

Cocktail hour BEFORE the ceremony? Opting out of the bouquet toss? No cake cutting ceremony? Insert “GASP” here! These are just a few of the many non-traditional details of  “Living the Life of Riley” a recent lolagraceEVENTS wedding, celebrating the love between Courtney & Josh!

At lolagraceEVENTS, we love individuality, creativity, and stress-free engagements. When you are doing what YOU want, you are less likely to find yourself in the planning pitfalls that many engaged couples experience when they try to plan a wedding within the lines that society has drawn for us over the years. Contact our event planners to plan your Anti-Bride wedding today!

About

Rachael Gross is the founder/owner of lolagraceEVENTS , a Boston based event planning boutique that specializes in ANTIBRIDE weddings, fashion, and special events. Over the years, Rachael has planned numerous weddings, parties, fashion shows, and special events. Through the sweat & tears, she has developed a love for working with the non-traditional bride, committing herself to the creative process, stepping outside of the box and taking risks that shock clients (in a sophisticated way) and their guests.

Puckering pink rosé

Summer is the time of the year that I usually switch from drinking reds to whites; or better yet, rosés. Not to be confused with white zinfindeal, rosés are made using a Syrah (or Shiraz) varietal, which is usually made to produce red wine but not in this case.

Syrah is a rising star when it comes to summer wines. It works perfectly because it pairs so well with many summer dishes, such as BBQ and spicy Mexican, and offers a refreshing vino tasting experience.

Recently, I had the pleasure to meet with Chris Phelps, winemaker of Swanson Vineyards, who describes the wine to me as “strawberry, watermelon and raspberry on the nose.” He also says “its pink, its fun and it gives the perception of sweetness without being too syrupy.” Phelps says that this wine “embodies the celebratory spirit” and suggests it as a brilliant wine for any wedding as well. Or just for a warm summer day.

About This Wine

Walking brilliantly between the crisp, aromatic world of white wine and the bold, complex world of red, you’ll find our dry, refreshing rosé. The 2007 Salon rosato offers everything you’d expect from the most celebrated lifestyle wine in the Old World: fresh, bright red fruit with delightful aromas of roses, ripe cherries and raspberries.

For more on Autumn Millhouse and her book Romantic Napa Valley, An Insider’s Guide for Couples, click here.

About Autumn

Autumn Millhouse is an award-winning travel writer who specializes in wine, food and romantic getaways. She is also an international trekker who has wined and dined across the globe from Barcelona to Beijing . A self-proclaimed “hopeless-romantic” and author of Romantic Napa Valley: An Insider’s Guide for Couples, Autumn also has a bi-monthly column called “Love Vines” published in Napa Valley Life Magazine. She resides in Napa Valley where she cultivates her wine and food relationships with top chefs, winemakers and a slew of other foodies. Besides, sniffing, swirling and sipping wine daily, Autumn is currently working on her next travel book Romantic Sonoma Valley: An Insider’s Guide for Couples.

Cool down with Kilo Kai

Wedding libations conjure up visions of sparkling wine, Chardonnay and predictable bar offerings. With the advent of Mad Men, the new mixologist craze, and retro, signature cocktails being offered at weddings (Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons served up hand mixed whiskey sours at his), it was only a matter of  time before rum saw it’s day in the sun. Enter  Kilo Kai Spiced Rum, which gives a little kick to your typical tropical cocktail and nudges an entire class of of rank and file rums to the side. Light years ahead of the Captain Morgans-esque spiced rums, Kilo Kai is a premium, spiced sipping rum with notes of vanilla and anise, and is as good straight as it is mixed.

Everyone knows that weddings are unofficially graded by your guests on a sliding scale of points, rooted in innovation, food quality and of course, what is served at the bar (kind of like ice skating at the Olympics). Your guests need to be feted, cosseted and walk away feeling that they celebrated something special that day. And nothing says ’special day’ like a signature cocktail.

When you contemplate your signature cocktail on W-day or pre-events, consider the road less traveled when it comes to rum. A stand out cocktail that delights the palate and leaves behind a memory – like an early evening breeze on a secret island.

Kilo Kai is a honeymoon in a glass.

Recipes

Kilo Crush

Ingredients
1 ½ parts Kilo Kai

10 fresh mint leaves

¾ part simple syrup

½ part fresh pineapple juice

½ part fresh lime juice

Directions
Shake Kilo Kai, mint leaves, simple syrup, pineapple juice and lime juice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a pineapple spear and a mint leaf.

Kilo Kai Punch

Ingredients

2 ½ parts Kilo Kai

1 part lemon juice

½ part grenadine syrup

Club Soda

Directions
Mix Kilo Kai, lemon juice and grenadine in shaker with ice. Pour into glass and top with club soda. Garnish with orange and lemon slices.

Tasting Notes

Kilo Kai is spiced rum blended with the unique flavors and scents of the Caribbean.  The complexity arises in the flavors of anise, vanilla, banana, cherry, nutmeg and orange peels that linger harmoniously on the palate.  Kilo Kai is crafted with 1 year old and 3 year old rums for a smooth blend that delicately balances the integrity of both the rum and the spices.  Kilo Kai is the perfect rum for aficionados and novices alike because its complexity and unique blend of flavors allows it to be mixed in a favorite cocktail or enjoyed straight.  Kilo Kai is a premium spiced rum designed with the insight of bartenders and aficionados and crafted by a third generation Master Blender.

Say I Do to the Pegu

The day before Christmas while reveling in the sparkle of Christmas lights and the anticipation of good times to come, I shared our love of Christmas cocktails with Carolyn.

Christmas in Australia is somewhat of a mish-mashed affair. With many cultures living here, there is everything from a traditional turkey feast, to a buffet of fresh seafood. There is plum pudding, but it’s often a travesty to not have a meringue pavlova with fresh passion fruit drizzled over it.

I suppose in some ways it is very much the same with all of our entertaining – we love traditional touches but we embrace the weather, the produce and the deliciousness of our own melded culture.

Are signature cocktails passe? Not in Australia. Here we’re still embracing the love of a good drink and for us, there‘s no better excuse to toast than Christmas, New Year or even a wedding. So in the spirit of sharing, here are a few of our favourite cocktail recipes that are perfect for summer.

Lychee Caprioska

1 shot of vodka

1 shot of lychee liqueur

1 shot of cranberry juice

2 lychees

1 lime

sugar syrup and lychee juice to taste.

Lychees are easiest from the can, especially at Christmas time, plus the oozy sweet juice makes an otherwise strong cocktail a little easier for the oldies to handle. We always have lemons but limes are a little harder to come by, so a dash of lemon is used. As we want quick drinks fast, we make this in a jug, putting all the ingredients in, muddling with a rolling pin and using a shot glass for measurements. Eager we are, accurate we’re not. Taste test before serving over ice!

Original recipe from RecipeZaar http://www.recipezaar.com/Lychee-Caprioska-244201

Lychee Mule

6 large lychees

2 limes cut into wedges

Handful of fresh mint sprigs

1 cup vodka

1 litre chilled ginger beer

We love to make jugs of cocktails in our household, it’s easy and a great way to have everyone help themselves. This recipe is great for taking to the beach (as they recommend) with the ingredients muddled and thrown into a sealable container and adding ginger beer at the last minute (use a good ginger beer, we use Australian Bundaberg ginger beer because it actually tastes like ginger).  Again we use canned lychees and make use of the juice!

Originally from Real Living Magazine January 2010

Pomegrante Caprioska

½ lime cut into wedges

50ml, vodka

30 ml Pomegranate Juice

1sp sugar or sugar syrup

Place two wedges of lime in a cocktail shaker with vodka, pomegranate juice and sugar on top. Muddle the ingredients together and then add plenty of ice and shake well. Strain into a lowball glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the remaining two lime wedges.

Pomegranate is traditionally cold weather fruit. But like most Australian Christmas traditions, we don’t seem to care! Pomegranate juice has a brilliant tart flavour, which cuts through the strength of the vodka.

Our approach to Christmas cocktails is relaxed- we add a little bit here and add as little bit there because if it’s paired with fine cheese, amazing food and good company, it’s simply a case of toasting to moments to come.

Originally from Gourmet Traveller December 2007

About Polka Dot Bride

Polka Dot Bride is Australia’s premier wedding blog and is read by thousands of brides worldwide. Polka Dot Bride is ranked within the top 20 Australian Women Bloggers and #53 out of the Top 100 Australian Bloggers as of June 2009. Polka Dot Bride has a passion to provide information on the latest trends in weddings, and inspirational and creative ideas for the Australian bride.
Ms Polka Dot’s aim is to create a fun, informative, and stylish blog that is engaged with, and inclusive of, its readers. She writes a daily feature on the blog that includes new ideas, real weddings, fabulous finds and the beautiful and the inspirational. Polka Dot Bride readers are stylish and savvy; they want to make their wedding stand out from the crowd. Ms. Polka Dot’s aim is to inspire brides and grooms to create the wedding of their dreams.

Photo by Barbloke: Stuart Webster

Double your pleasure, double your fun.

Besides swirling, sniffing and sipping wine there is another, more adorable way to utilize wine for a wedding: custom-designed wine infused cupcakes! Amber Vandervliet, pastry chef and owner of Enjoy Cupcakes located in the heart of Santa Barbara’s Wine Country was inspired by local produce, flavors and wines and has found a creative way to combine a couple’s favorite wine with their favorite dessert and make their wedding just that more extraordinary.

Amber suggests using the cupcakes as a non-traditional tiered wedding cake, a conversational treat on the dessert table or as a delectable wedding favor for guests. She says it’s a marriage of sorts developing compatible flavors for a cupcake around a specific wine. Wine cupcakes are a necessary detail for a Wine Country wedding, and add another special detail to personalize a wedding. Amber not only creates a customized cupcake for a couple on their big day but she also sells them at Saarloos & Sons Tasting Room in the picturesque town of Los Olivos. Most days they sell out before the afternoon crowds show up to taste wine.

If you have a special wine that commemorates your first date, first kiss or the perfect proposal this is an original way to embrace the purple grape. The result will be a mouth-watering experience.

Below are some of Amber’s best selling wine-infused cupcakes:

Chocolate Blackberry Syrah – Chocolate, syrah infused cake, filled with dark chocolate Belgium fudge, topped with blackberry frosting and a wine soaked blackberry that’s rolled in sugar crystals.

Citrus Sauvignon Blanc – Sauvignon Blanc soaked cake, with fresh grapefruit, lemon curd center and frosted with a wine, cream cheese frosting that’s speckled with citrus zest and topped with wine soaked sugar crystals.

Cherry Vanilla Merlot – Merlot vanilla cake, soaked with cherry puree, vanilla cream filling, topped with vanilla frosting and a merlot soaked cherry.

Pomegranate Chardonnay – Chardonnay cake with a meyer lemon pudding filling, cream cheese frosting, topped with pomegranate seeds, lemon zest & candy pink pearls.

Caramel Pinot – Pinot cocoa cake with a gooey caramel filling, topped with a swirled caramel cream cheese frosting.

Olallie Berry Rosé – Rosé infused cake, with a creamy olallie berry core, topped with fresh olallie berry frosting.

Bubbly Strawberry Champagne – Champagne cake, filled with strawberry curd & topped with fresh strawberry frosting and secret surprise.

About Autumn

For more on Autumn Millhouse and her book Romantic Napa Valley, An Insider’s Guide for Couples, click here.

Autumn Millhouse is an award-winning travel writer who specializes in wine, food and romantic getaways. She is also an international trekker who has wined and dined across the globe from Barcelona to Beijing . A self-proclaimed “hopeless-romantic” and author of Romantic Napa Valley: An Insider’s Guide for Couples, Autumn also has a bi-monthly column called Love Vines published in Napa Valley Life Magazine. She resides in Napa Valley where she cultivates her wine and food relationships with top chefs, winemakers and a slew of other foodies. Besides, sniffing, swirling and sipping wine daily, Autumn is currently working on her next travel book Romantic Sonoma Valley: An Insider’s Guide for Couples.

Japanese comfort food at Katana

Medieval martial arts movie meets marvelous.

Inside, Katana is a little bit medieval martial arts movie, with a dash of nightshade and industrial sensibility. On the patio, it’s pure Hollywood, baby, located right by Miramax, on the Sunset Strip, and rife with agents, starlets, and the strivers that make the city of lights so very bright. Even on a Wednesday night, Katana was hopping and every table packed! So beyond hipster ambiance, what’s the buzz all about, because, although I adore sushi and stir fry, when I think about Japanese food, I don’t often think comfort food or (which in my East Coast memory lies comfortably in the domain of Italian, or Jersey diner). Katana takes it all to a whole new level with their Robata, grilled with smoky binchotan wood and delivered, warm, yummy crispy and tender to your table. Let the wait staff guide you, as the menu is extensive and you want to get it right. Our server, Cal took on the task of pairing expertly mixed, delicately flavored cocktails that worked in concert with the entrees. Standouts were the Shrimp Bacon Skewers, the Yellowtail Hanabi, the Baked Crab Hand Roll, and the Fois Gras skewers. Although I went with my favorite girl date, Heidi Richman (our Rocker Bride blogger) Katana is a perfect place for a pre event, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, or hot date. Sharing is caring and the generously proportioned small plates makes sure that everyone gets a nice big bite.

Robata is just about as satisfying as any comfort food I have ever experienced, and I will run, not walk back to Katana, not for the scene (if that matters to you) but for the food. It was stellar.

Tasting Menu

Salmon Truffle
Yellowtail Diced? Tuna Carpaccio
Regular Hanabi
Yellowtail Hanabi
Seabass skewers
Shrimp Bacon skewers
Foie Gras skewers
Green Beans
Baked Crab Hand Roll
Volcano Dessert

Libations

Pear Martini
Vodka with muddled Cucumber and Sake
Ginger Pomegranate Martini
Passion and Spice Martini
Effen Black Cherry and Soda
Blueberry Vodka w/ Simple Syrup splash of lime and Curacao
Vodka w/ splash of Watermelon Puckers Midori and dash of Sour

http://katanarobata.com/katana/index.htm

About VintageGlam Weddings Blog

Excerpted from the Vintage Glam Blog Site
Vintage Glam Weddings is not about lavish or over the top wedding ideas, but rather talks about handmade and flea market treasures that can help you make your vintage inspired wedding a special day for you and your guests to cherish. I love sharing my vintage finds, DIY projects, wedding templates and everything in between for your vintage inspired wedding! I think we all hold onto something that reminds us of the past. An old trinket, an old photograph, your grandmother’s jewelry. Vintage by definition is anything that is older than 20 years. Vintage style is your passion for vintage inspired things (clothes, jewelry, cars ,…) that remind you of a certain time or decade you love.

The hardest working wine in your wine cellar, Korbel Rouge

Everything you love about bubbly is here in Korbel Rouge, but this time rendered in a ruby-red glass of exquisite beauty. Combining pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon grapes give you intense ripe black cherry aroma and a hint of plum. Okay, from a distance it might look a little like Boone’s Farm, Ripple, or Mad Dog 20/20, but Korbel Rouge is anything but. I always order a few cases for the holidays, because it’s a festive looking libation, and a real crowd-pleaser. Korbel used to only make it from Thanksgiving until New Years, but they got wise to the fact that:

1. It’s jaw-droppingly beautiful in a glass, and dressed to impress…
2. It’s goes as well with a burger and a steak as it does with a more ambitious holiday meal
3. People love the fact that they are drinking a sparkling, cold, glass of dry, red wine
4. For $11.99 a bottle it’s a steal
5. Especially if you are in the Wine Club
6. For this reason, they make it all year long….
7. Lucky us!

Perfect for a wedding, pre-event, bachelorette party or barbeque, Korbel Rouge is quite possibly the hardest working wine in your wine cellar.

About

[Excerpted from the Korbel.com site]

KORBEL Rouge is a medium-dry champagne created from pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon grapes. With a distinctive red color, the aroma and flavor are those of intense black cherry, strawberry and plum. Approximately 1% residual sugar keeps it as dry as the KORBEL Brut but removes any tannic bitter edge.

Food Pairing
Korbel Rouge is excellent with a holiday turkey dinner.  It also teams perfectly with hearty pastas, red meats and robust seafood dishes. Try champagne turkey lasagna; tomato base foods: soft-shell crab with roasted tomato sauce, gazpacho, blue cheese ravioli in a Korbel Rouge sauce.

Wine Profile
Harvested:  September 2007
Sugar Level:  21.3 Brix
Tirage Bottled:  August 2008
Disgorged: As required

Wine Information
Appellation:  Sonoma County
Fermentation:  SS Fermentation, Part Barrel Aged
Composition:  Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah
Acid/pH:  6.6 g/l  3.41
Alcohol:  12.3%
Dosage:   1%
Production:  2,500 cases annually