Are you ready for New Years Eve? Champagne and Sparkling Wine 101

Last year, at 6 months pregnant, I had to celebrate New Years Eve with a glass of “sparkling grape juice.” HARDLY the same as a glass of “bubbly.” You better bet this year I will be toasting with a glass of champagne! Below are a few to share. You may also be wondering the difference between Champagne and sparkling wine…so I will elaborate on that too!

Here is the low down to help you sound über knowledgeable and have everyone commending you on your fine bottle of bubbly at your New Years Eve celebrations. In trying to impress a larger crowd…know that champagnes and sparkling wines are classified by how dry they are. The most popular is “brut.” Which also happens to be my favorite.

My favorites…

I am sure these are not the best out there….just the best in my experience. I am including the label pictures to help.

The difference between Champagne and Sparkling Wine

The difference is simple. Champagne is from the Champagne region of France. Any other bottle from the US, Italy, whatever…are all “sparkling wines.” Enough said.

How to best serve

The best temperture to serve is 45 degrees. Easy enough. Place it in the fridge for about 3 hours before serving.

What causes the bubbles in your bubbly?

As part of the fermentation process the winemaker adds yeast and sugar….they combine to create carbon dioxide…which makes the bubbles and a lot of pressure when trapped in a small space!

Enjoy your New Years Eve celebrations! Happy 2013 to all!

Sunshine in a Jar

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pinned beautiful food photos on Pinterest in hopes that my own dish would turn out as photogenic. Hell, half of the time I look at all of those recipes on Pinterest and just wish I could make half of them. Well this time I am happy to report on recipe that worked out! It’s Preserved Lemons from MyBissim. Read More

Put a Bird On It

A couple weeks ago, I stumbled across this video from the series, “Portlandia”. I don’t know if we’re just bored, but my co-workers and I are thoroughly amused by it. In fact, we’ve even “put a bird” on several items throughout the office. After all, everything is better with a bird on it. Even a boring office door. Or Justin Bieber. Read More

Taking Color Coding to the Max

I’ve noticed many photos on Pinterest recently of people color coding their bookshelves. Some look amazing, with collections spanning one or more walls.

I can only dream of having a room filled with wall-to-wall books one day. But for now, I just have one little bookshelf to work with. But just because I don’t have a huge collection, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try tackling this color coding challenge. Read More

Dry Shampoo: Friend or Foe?

I was lucky enough to inherit my father’s oil-ridden scalp – something I should be thanking him for every day. I mean, who doesn’t love the feeling of greasy hair a mere 24 hours after your last shampoo? Oh yeah, that’s right, NO ONE.

Because of this, I shampoo my hair every day. If there’s a day I don’t/can’t, my hair is inevitably slicked back into a ponytail (no product needed…ha!).

So when dry shampoos started popping up in the past year, I was curious yet skeptical. Are you really telling me that by spraying something on my hair, the “gloss” will just disappear? Read More

Become a Contributor to a Website

When I started this adventure in February, another website/blog was just getting on its feet as well: OrlandoInformer.com. We both started following each other’s content, and that site has seen fantastic growth in the last 5 months – particularly among visitors to the Orlando area.

OrlandoInformer.com’s content focuses mostly on the major theme parks: Universal Orlando, Disney World and SeaWorld. But the editor was looking to add a local angle to the mix. So who did he call? Well duh. Me! Who else? Read More

Feature Photos on Another Blog

This might seem like a strange one, but allowing my photos to be viewed by strangers is an adventure to me. I know I’m not the world’s best photographer. I was fortunate to encounter fantastic landscapes, and there’s only so much skill required to capture beauty like that.

So, allowing my amateur photos to be viewed (and possibly scrutinized) by others is big to me. But when my friend Christie asked if she could use some for her new blog, Shore Bliss, I couldn’t deny her (or myself, really). Read More

New House! (Just not mine)

I wish it was mine. And no, I’m not bitter at all. Not one bit.

My sister and her husband purchased their first home last week, so driving down to Miami to help out was never a question (even though I dread the 4 hour drive through seemingly nowhere). Read More

Discovering Pinterest

Thanks to my lovely co-worker LT, I’m absolutely obsessed with a little website called Pinterest.

I constantly surf the Internet (pretty much part of my job) and always wish I had bookmarked or printed various things I find. Now, with the help of the fine creators of Pinterest, I can “pin” photos from interesting articles, recipes, etc. that I find online to my personal account – from which I can always find them again. Such a brilliant concept! Read More

Adding a “Pop of Chic” to My Wardrobe

Check it out! I’ve added another piece of jewelry to my tiny collection. This time, I was lucky enough to win this stylish piece from one of my favorite blogs, Work Your Closet. Read More