Strawberry Martinis and Picnics in the Park

Summer is by far my favorite time of the year. I love wearing skirts, sitting on restaurant patios with friends, wearing open toed shoes (with a french pedi of course!), and; getting some color on my sun-starved skin. I also love the new summer drinks that pop up every year.

Two weeks ago, I met my ultimate summer drink: The Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Martini. It was so delicious, I prefered it over my popcorn shrimp and braised lamb. There I was at the restaurant in my own little martini-heaven world, when the waiter notices my untouched plate and comes over, "Is there something wrong with your meal?" Me: "Hmmmm? Oh yes please! I'd love another one of these! Hee hee! They're soooo delicious! Are the strawberries grown in-house? You're getting a big tip for this one! Hee hee!" My husband cuts in, embarrased, "The lamb's fine. Thank you."


Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Martini:
2 oz Creme de Cacao
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Fresh blended Strawberries. * This can be substituted for 1/2 oz Raspberry or
Strawberry Schnapps

While travelling through Ontario's wine region, Niagara-on-the-Lake, my husband and I thought it might be fun to have a picnic in the park with cheese, baguettes and a little bit of local wine. We had just finished touring Peller Estates where we happened upon a perfect mini picnic set that fit easily in my purse along with the, um, beverage, and two mugs to conceal our illegal activity.

Yes, my bag is huge, but that's irrelevant. Back to the picnic.

This little set, complete with cutting board, cutlery, corkscrew (yes!), and cute napkins, folds neatly together into a little pouch. At just $12.00, it was money well spent.

When we got to the park we saw another couple having a picnic with a portable mini barbeque, huge cooler, large plates and cups and a 2L bottle of coke. I felt bad for them. Their picnic probably took all day to set up with professional movers. Ours fit in my purse and was way cuter. I was going to go over and give them a few simple pointers on how to have a better picnic, but I thought that would be mean.

We ate our delicious picnic, got a little tipsy and then went for ice cream!

Favorite Products Part 1: Hair and Skin

Just as I enjoy a good complaining session over products and services that make me mad, I believe it is equally important to mention those that reflect money well spent. I am constantly reviewing hair and skincare products so this is only the beginning…

1. Bumble and Bumble Styling Lotion

My hair is naturally straight and thick, but my individual strands are very fine. This makes my hair difficult to style because it doesn’t have any natural wave. A few spritzes of this stuff and my hair responds wonderfully to blow dryer and curling iron alike. For once, the label is accurate. It says, “For amazing combability, the perfect amount of volume and hold – excellent for heat styling fine, delicate or processed hair.” Amen.


2. Wild Sage Rose Geranium Face Lotion

Wild Sage creates natural herbal skin care for those of us that don’t want to use chemicals on our skin. I was introduced to this little gem by the owner of Elixir Spa. I have combination skin with an oily t-zone and often found it hard to find lotions that didn’t make my skin gleam in a very bad way within 30 minutes. The Rose Geranium face lotion combines Jojoba oil, rose petals, chamomile, strawberry leaves, geranium, grapefruit seed extract, and a few others into a light delicate facial lotion that makes my skin look fresh and healthy. It is available at Elixir Spa or online.


3. Johnson’s softlotion 24 hour Moisturizer

This moisturizer is by far the best body lotion I’ve ever used. It really keeps my skin soft and smooth all day long. I normally have very skin on my legs and feet but since I started using this lotion my skin has been remarkably moisturized without the oiliness that usually accompanies heavy lotions and creams.


4. SeaVital Aloe Vera Gel made with Dead Sea Minerals

This was given to me by a friend to help with a bit of eczema/psoriasis I get from time to time. Normally I just get a few patches on my torso, but this year I got a bit at the corners of my mouth. It looked like I was eating spaghetti with tomato sauce and forgot to wipe my mouth. Very sexy. I’ve tried steroid creams in the past, but didn’t want to put that near my mouth, plus they are not good for your skin. I wanted to try a natural solution.

SeaVital uses Dead Sea Minerals, plant extracts and vitamins in all of their products, which are natural healing agents.Their Aloe Vera Gel is light and non-greasy with a calming subtle fragrance. I used it every day for less than a week and the red blotches from my mouth disappeared. It’s been 3 weeks and they haven’t come back. I also found this nice to use after sun exposure. It calms the skin and helps take out the redness.

The Product Police Part I: Air Canada, Dish Cubes and Night Cream

Every now and then, I feel compelled to air my 2 cents about things that were a huge waste of money. To be balanced, I will also mention some stuff that I think is great.

But let’s start with the negative, since it is way more fun!

1. Air Canada

Last week I was stranded at an airport in North Carolina over night. Not only did this ruin my planned shopping expedition with Giselle, it cost me a lot of money for a hotel, food and taxi at my own expense. Air Canada, who didn’t even have a representative at the airport, was only reachable via cell phone on their reservations line to book a new flight. I waited on hold for over an hour, roaming charges and all, only to be handled by a hostile telephone representative who informed me I would have to foot all of the related expenses from the cancellation because it was weather related.

If Air Canada had an employee at the airport, they could have rebooked our flights and made sleeping arrangements for all of the stranded passengers, or at least provided us with some guidance on the next steps. Thank you to the United Airlines staff who were the only ones available to answer our questions - even though their response was, “I don’t know. You’ll have to call Air Canada”.

Perhaps the money spent on Celine Dion would have been better invested in smaller things like, I don’t know, STAFF at the airports they service.

What works: Lufthansa, KLM, and Westjet. Good experiences every time.

2. Method Dish Cubes

Now why would I write about something as trivial as dishwasher detergent? Because it ticked me off, people! I bought the grapefruit dish cubes at Shoppers Drug Mart because A: They were cute, B: Their all-purpose glass cleaner is great, and C: They are supposed to be environmentally friendly.

Being the tree hugger that I am, I thought this would be a wise purchase. However, they didn’t work at all. Not only did they fail to clean my dishes, they also left a white film on them along with some mysterious grey sludge. Never seen that before. My dishwasher is only a year old so I can’t blame it on the appliance. I tried the cubes several times because I wanted them to work, I really, really did! But every time the same thing happened.

The label reads, “Pink Grapefruit scent refreshes your kitchen while you have fun elsewhere.” What does that mean? While you have fun at Loblaws buying a better detergent? This product needs some serious tweaking. Let me know when they actually work. In the mean time, I want my money back!

What works: President’s Choice The Clear Choice Detergent. This is the ONLY dish detergent I have tried that never lets me down.

3. Garnier Skin Naturals Lift (Night)

If you can’t tell by the title, this is supposed to be a night cream to visibly reduce the wrinkles that have been slowly appearing on my much-too-young-for-wrinkles skin. They claim I will awaken with smoother skin. All I have to say about this one is thanks for the whiteheads, Garnier! They blossomed into very lovely pimples.

I definitely look younger.

What works: Jamieson Vitamin E Ultra-Rich Moisture Cream. I slather this on my face at night and wake up with visibly softer, smoother skin.

Also: Garnier Skin Naturals Fresh Cleansing Gel. This stuff is great. I’m hooked and it’s a really inexpensive cleanser.

Giselle to the Rescue!

Not to toot my own horn, but I always thought I had pretty good taste in clothing. It’s not like I get stopped on the street and asked where I shop or anything, but I do get my share of once-overs and I’d like to think it’s not because I look like a fool…

My friend Giselle is a fashionable Argentinean import with taste, beauty and a knack for style. A merchandiser by day and an image consultant by night, Giselle is a style guru who is always willing to share her thoughts on how a person should dress.

Over an espresso the other day, Giselle shared some recent photos of a trip to Buenos Aires where she and her girlfriends are swathed in custom made designer dresses for a friend’s wedding. The dresses are stunning and they all look like models. Picture after picture, Giselle and her glamour girls are in flawless hair and makeup wearing one gorgeous outfit after the next.

I look down at my jeans and t-shirt with shame and say that I wished I could put myself together like that. Giselle closes her laptop and looks at me seriously. After a moment she says, (with her fab exotic accent), “You know what Aleeee? You are a pretty girl. Your hair, your body, your face… even your feet ees nice, but your cloths… I would change e-ber-ything.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, I would change it all. You need to learn better how to dress for yourself.” She smiles encouragingly. I stare blankly.

“It’s ok. I will help you!!!”

So that leaves us where we are today. Giselle and I have a shopping date set for May 19. I have a feeling I'll end up donating half my closet to the Sally Ann after Giselle goes through it, but it’s going to be worth it when I see the look on my hubby’s face. Er... before the visa bill arrives.

My Solution to Crocs

Since many of you have been emailing me to find out what I would recommend for comfy shoes instead of Crocs, have a look at these. These cutie patooties from Geox feel like bedroom slippers and make any casual outfit look chic. They are soft leather with tiny holes in the sole, which means they breathe! Unlike plastic or rubber shoes, you never have to worry about smelly feet when you take them off. I just bought a pair on the weekend and have been wearing them with everything. They're about $140, which is obviously a lot more than the $20 something Crocs, but you can wear them year after year, whereas the Crocs will be, like, soo last year next spring.

www.geox.com