Call me a whine-o

So, I recently learned that how you take your coffee (cream, sugar, black) can predict wines that you’ll like.

As you know I received a package of wine from Bright Cellars last week before I went on vacation to Mexico. What I really find to be different about this monthly wine company is the matching they do – each wine that is sent to you is based on preferences you choose in the initial quiz – they are really good wines that you don’t see at the corner store.

I finally got to taste the wines that were sent to me last night! I must disclose I am no wine connoisseur and nor do I aspire to be, ill never be a wine snob and I don’t think ill ever like the super expensive labels – I just love to drink it….a lot!

Being a red wine LOVER and lets just say not a fan of white wine – I opted for “mostly reds but surprise me with a white” because I wanted to be open, maybe its just the wrong white wine I have been trying.

No surprise, my favorite was the Lost City Malbec, it reminded me of a red blend which I love – it was bold and had a bit of spice to it.

You can take the quiz and subscribe to for 50% off as one of my readers with this link.

xx

-F

This entry was posted in Home.

say cheeeeese

As my love for subscription boxes continues to grow so do the number of options – in an effort to tame my squirellness I have been trying to choose brands I can actually put to use. What is more useful than food!?!

Meet The Tasting Board, the delicious compliment and sister brand to Bright Cellars (check out my post here), a wine subscription company founded by two MIT grads. The Tasting Board uses an algorithm and a super short quiz based on your taste preferences to suggest amazing cheeses you likely have never tasted.

I’ll be the first to admit, while I LOVE me some cheese, I am by no means knowledgeable on the topic – maybe even less so than I was with wine – but they make it so easy and fun, I knew I had to test it out!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: 

  • Begin by taking their super short online taste assessment by answering a few questions based on taste preference.
  • Next, view your matches (and get PUMPED) for the curated selection of cheeses you will be receiving! They even offer a “surprise gift” option at check out – which can range anywhere from a cheese knife to add a fun element to your cheese board to a yummy compliment to the cheese matches, like a chocolate or a jam, etc.
  • Before you know it your uniquely packaged cheese (including 4 different varieties) arrives at your door!
  • The best part, after you eat them, you can rate each cheese (sort of like Pandora) and next month the selections sent take into account your preferences!

My package arrived just in time for dinner with a few friends. Naturally I brought the box along with me and it was a hit!! Legit – it ended up being the theme of the night! Each cheese comes with a card telling you where it’s from, what it tastes like and what it goes well with.  The Gouda Truffle was hands down the crowd favorite. I mean, who doesn’t love a good truffle. In second place was the cheese furthest from my comfort zone (and exactly why I love services like this), the Red Rock Roelli, a cheddar blue cheese!

I even attempted my first pass at homemade mac and cheese! Which was a great success – I know this because my Fiancé considers himself to be a mac & cheese connoisseur and there were no leftovers to speak of!

I obviously liked this box for the delicious selection of cheeses, but I was equally as impressed (and surprised) at just how much fun it was – the tasting board is my new go to when heading to a friend’s house!

HOW YOU CAN GET IN ON THIS? 

You can take the quiz yourself – its super quick and easy, it asks things like what is your fav dessert and snack preferences!

They are even offering my readers 50% off the first month with this link  so head on over to their site and take the quiz and enjoy your first shipment!! Your taste buds will thank you! 🙂

enjoy!

-F

weekend recap: zac brown band!

Friday night we hopped into the car and headed to CT for the Zac Brown Band Concert on Saturday night. We spent the weekend with Natalie family, which felt like some type of hotel resort for the weekend.

 

how gorgeous is her dads garden!

The Zac Brown Band concert was THE BEST EVER. I know I say that after every concert, which is natural since I am SO obsessed with live music but this really was amazing. It was at the Xfinity Center in CT for their Jekyll and Hyde Tour. Most of the concerts I have been to in college and since have been at this venue which I LOVE!!

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They opened with “home grown” which got the crowd going.  Then they did SIX covers of OUTSTANDING classics.

He ended the night with Chicken Fried, the song that made me fall in love with them in the first place! It was hands down the BEST concert.

What is your favorite concert ever?

-F

New year new goals

Every January I always have big plans and a few months later my resolve begins to lessen. I mean lets face it, I didn’t even take the time to make this post happen in January (better late than never right?).

I have been really into goal setting and bettering myself for the last few years sometimes I spend so much time on the goals, I don’t put any thought into the action it takes to achieve them. I love the idea of setting a big hairy scary goal for the year and breaking it down into what I need to do each month. The more I think about it the more I KNOW I enjoy that process more than the actions later on.

1. Blog more often: It makes me happy, it takes time, but I feel so good when I am doing it. So make time.

2. Be present: focus on work at work, focus on my friends when I am with them and with my man friend when I am with him. I too often find myself multi tasking resulting in 1/2 ass work (which I am never proud of).

3. Hit the gym: well isn’t this one on everyones list. I have to say last year around this time when Bona Clara closed, I found myself with quite a bit of free time and I put that to good use. I started going to yoga 3x a week and made sure to do something to sweat each and every day. I felt SO good. I don’t think I was actually that thin, but I felt so much better. Since starting this job I have put fitness on a back burner… the WAYY back burner. Last week I joined a Barre Studio near my office and they have different classes like this surfset class I can’t wait to try.

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4. Simplify: Purge. Cleanse. Minimize.  I have a tendency to keep things, to save perfume for a special occasion, which really just leads to products spilling out of shelves, clothes that don’t fit, and me constantly searching for something I can’t find. I think if I eliminate some of the physical clutter I can eliminate the clutter in my brain. Last week I was en

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5. Work on brand cheerleader for small clients: I want to do this, badly, I want to work with small businesses and take them to the next step, introduce them to practices they can implement to drive traffic to their stores or websites and increase profits. It takes work and focus and dedication and time blocking. All things I need to focus on 1st. I think if I can get those things in order I can then take steps in taking on a few small clients.

6. Learn Photoshop, Indesign and Video Editing: They say writing your goals and sharing them make you more likely to keep them. So here it is. Stay tuned for posts on the follow through.

xo

-F

 

Bright Cellars

You probably remember a while back my post about the Boston based subscription company called Bright Cellars, a wine subscription company, my favorite of all of the monthly subscription boxes I receive. They sent me a complimentary box to review for the blog which I loved & we decided to partner up again (no brainer, I know)!  I will be the first to admit, I LOVE (red) wine but know very little about it – besides red/white and a little about the stereotypes of each kind (from my bar-tending career).

This is where Bright Cellars comes in, it’s a company launched by two MIT graduates whose goal was to introduce “hidden gems” (non mainstream wines) to you each month, they know you will love them because they created a “quiz” which matches your taste preferences using a bright points algorithm GENIUS I know… I tell you these MIT kids think of everything!

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Once you get your score they suggest wines you would like (and have never heard of) – it even tells you what specifically you may like about the wines! The best part is each month you get DIFFERENT wines to try – so you are constantly being exposed to new wines. You can rate and customize the experience, just like songs on Pandora, you love a wine, you can let them know and “request more like this” or if you don’t like it – you can do the opposite – just like when you are listening to a station on Pandora!

Members have access to a wine concierge who can help you with anything you need
the rest is fine (managing your account, asking questions, keeping you updated on deals, helping you with gift cards.)

You can take the quiz yourself – its super quick and easy, it asks things like what is your fav juice in the morning (i picked does coffee count as a juice) and candy preferences!

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I like anything with the one for you, one for me type of motto, Bright Cellars has a rewards program where you can refer a friend and share on social media to earn bonus wines to your subscription – sometimes even wildcards that are still aligned with your preferences but maybe a little outside of your comfort zone!

They are even offering my readers 50% off their first month with this link so head on over to their site and take the quiz and enjoy your first shipment!! Your taste buds will thank you! 🙂

enjoy!

-F

screw the chocolate + flowers

Call me the killer of romance but flowers and chocolate do nothing for me on Valentines day (and every other day for that matter). It feels like a waste of money, so for what it would cost to get dinner, flowers delivered and chocolate, I have a few suggestions:

spa time: a massage, facial, mani/pedi, anything to just  relax and take care of myself. This is SO much better than any kind of chocolate or flowers (to me).

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personalized jewelry: I am obviously partial to stella and dot, not just because I am a stylist, but because I honestly think they are killing it in this area!

 

monthly wine subscription from bright cellars: the gift that keeps on giving, I like this idea because each month you are set up for a date night in to taste the wines etc. You select options through a quiz based on your taste preferences, then algorithm developed by two MIT grads determines what wines to send you + it gets better each month as you rate the wines you get. Its the pandora of wine, you can select that you want more like this or skip to the next song/bottle.

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 what says “i love you” to you?

-F

Holiday Gift-A-Day Week from Stella + Dot

I have to share my beloved stella + dot’s gift ideas this week! If you are looking for gift inspiration?

Stella & Dot is bringing you a gift-a-day this week, perfect combos for everyone on your list.

Day 1: Our Ikat Pouf and Janice Studs are a cheerful green. Bundle the studs in the pouf for a gifting surprise. $48.

Shop this gift idea here! 

These adorable studs (which I can personally say I get more compliments on these than any other single stella piece), come in coral/gold posts and blue/sliver posts!

 

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