Recipe: Funfetti Blondies

This morning's post is a delicious one! I wanted to share a recipe I stumbled upon and made this past Monday. Since I have recently decided to do my weekly food prepping on Monday nights, I wanted to make something sweet to have around for when I have a sweet tooth...which let's be honest is pretty much every day. I turned to good old Pinterest for some inspiration and came across....FUNFETTI BLONDIES.

Funfetti is my go-to birthday cake. My birthday is in October so my mom asked me what kind of cake I would like and of course I said funfetti (triple layer too!). Needless to say, I couldn't wait until October to have some funfetti so I decided to make these blondies.

There aren't too many ingredients you need which makes these super easy! You'll need:

* 1 box of funfetti cake mix
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1 egg beaten
* 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (plus a little more to top the blondies before putting in the oven)
* 1/2 of an 11.5-oz bag of white chocolate chips

(Pictured in the background but not necessarily needed: wine. Baking & drinking wine is so much fun though!)

1. Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and greasing a 9 x 13" pan.
2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, 1/2 cup of sprinkles, oil, and egg.
3. Stir those to combine.
4. Work in the heavy cream and white chocolate chips until you get a thick batter as shown below:

5. Place the batter into the pan and top with sprinkles 

6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or edges are brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

7. Eat one (or two) when slightly cooled (or not)....TRUST ME ;) this is my added on direction. They are delicious which is why I wanted to share this recipe with the world....or the people who read my blog ;)

Let me know if you decide to make these too! You won't regret it!

What is the Traveling Vineyard?

Hi friends! Starting off the week on the blog with a post sharing a little information about the Traveling Vineyard and what it's like to be a wine guide.

I became a wine guide last November. I simply was looking up in-home side businesses to join to make some extra cash. I thought I would have to do a Mary Kay or Avon type of thing. When I came across the Traveling Vineyard I thought to myself "I would get to do in-home wine tastings, AND get paid for it? Sign me up!". Of course it wasn't as spur of the moment as it sounds. I was still a little hesitant doing a direct sales type of thing and feared I would have to be too pushy in order to get bookings and sales. Turns out, there are no quotas to meet and it's as flexible as I want to make it. After doing my research and speaking with my upper wine guide, I was sold!

The Traveling Vineyard allows for people to be able to try wines before buying it as well as introduce them to wines they may not normally try. It also incorporates sommology which is wine and food pairing (my favorite!). Once I received my starter kit which had my first two tasting sets of wine (10 bottles), tasting glasses, sommology cards and more I was good to go and start my business.

Anyone who hosts a tasting gets to invite all their wine loving friends over to their home and I bring 5 bottles of wine to taste. Based on the wines I bring, I recommend food pairings for each wine that the host will pick and provide. Tastings are a chance for me as a wine guide to educate others about our wines which are exclusive to the Traveling Vineyard. You won't find Fissata at a liquor store that's for sure! Also as a host, based on tasting totals they are eligible for host discounts and have the ability to earn free wine!

As you probably know it's no surprise that I am a huge wine-o. When I tell people about this side business, most of them have never heard of it but are intrigued and have hosted tastings through me. In addition to doing tastings, there is opportunity to grow within the company. I am now a one-star leader which is a step above a wine guide. You can build a team if you want or just do your own thing and focus on tastings.

The things I love most about being a part of the Traveling Vineyard are:

1. Flexibility - I took the summer off due to being busy and being at our cottage most weekends. I didn't have to meet any quotas or stress about making a minimum sale. Now that fall is approaching, I'm ready to dive back into tastings!

2. Financial Benefits - Yes, I do get paid for each tasting I do based on the sales. Let me tell you, when I joined and did my first few tastings in early December I was very happy to get an extra check to have for holiday shopping!

3. Product - As I mentioned the wines for the Traveling Vineyard are exclusive to the company. I'm able to learn about each wine and what pairs best with it. I definitely have my few favorites that I get for myself every now and then.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about joining the Traveling Vineyard or hosting a tasting, feel free to contact me! 

http://www.travelingvineyard.com/guide/25028/

What I'm Loving This Week

Good morning and happy Friday to all! This week has flown by and I could not be more excited that the weekend is HERE!

Since we all look forward to Friday, I thought I would do a theme post every Friday or so on things I'm loving lately! A couple of my favorite bloggers do this and I look forward to reading them every week so I can learn about new products, food, places, and everything in between. Now let's get into what I'm loving!

1.) Chardonnay and Cheez-Its. Yes, this sounds like a cheap happy hour but the combination is so good! It give you the cheese and wine feel without having to go to the store to get an expensive cheese.

2.) My two favorite bloggers: Carrots 'N' Cake, and Simply Taralynn. They are health and lifestyle bloggers and I've been reading both of them for a couple years and they are also what inspired me to write my own. 

3.) Cold brew coffee from Dunkin Donuts. It definitely gives me a better caffeine boost in the morning than the regular iced coffee. I think I've become immune to those! Only negative thing about the cold brew...it's $1 more which means it's costing me about $3.30 total JUST for that iced coffee...it's a love hate relationship.

4.) Loreal Pro-Glow foundation. I bought this about two months ago and it has been my go-to summer foundation. It applies so easily and gives me a nice dewy glow. Since fall is coming up I will probably go back to a matte foundation soon but this whole summer I have been loving the pro-glow!

5.) Bachelor in Paradise....yes.....I have to admit I have fallen for the guilty pleasure of watching this. I never use to be a Bachelor/Bachelorette fan but I started watching Ben's season and have been keeping up ever since. Am I the only one who is heart broken about Izzy and Vinny!? 

6.) Meal planning. My previous post was about my food prep night on Monday and I am so happy I did all that work for the week ahead. Eggplant parm, deviled eggs, and ready to go breakfast sandwiches are a definite favorite for Benson and I this week!

7.) Social media! Thanks to friends who read my blog, I was contacted by one of them (Hi, Kayla!) who offered to sell me her used Canon camera. I am so excited to soon to be able to take high quality pictures for this blog! Stick around to see how great (or not so great) of a photographer I'll be! 

8.) Ciate paint pot in "Spinning Teacup". I received this in my August Ipsy glam bag and have gotten so many compliments on this color. The thing I love about this nail polish is its long lasting wear. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE nail polish and change my nails like I change my clothes. This color has been on my nails for a couple weeks now so that should definitely tell you something ;)

That's it for today! I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend and enjoys themselves!

What are your favorites for the week??

Eggs-cellent Meal Prep

GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS!? Remember that commercial?? It's HUMP DAY! I hope your week has been great so far!

As you probably know by now this blog is a lifestyle blog. It allows me to post about whatever goes on in my life. Today I thought I would share a little bit of my Monday night cooking sesh. I don't normally "meal prep" per say like I read about others who take time on Sunday to cook for the week. I'm a huge procrastinator so I tend to just whip something up when I get home from work for our dinner for that night.

I'm not quite sure what came over me to go grocery shopping and spend until 9:30 cooking for the week but I'm so happy I did! Allow me to share what is on our menu for the week:

The title of today's post is the theme of everything I made. And no, I did not do that on purpose. Everything I was craving and decided to make just happened to have egg in it!

First on the menu I chose to make eggplant parmesan. Funny thing is, I'm pretty sure I have only had eggplant parmesan maybe twice in my life?? I don't know what made me crave it but I did so that's what I made. Problem solved! Since it was homemade, it took a little while to prep and cook. The most time consuming part of it all was taking each piece of eggplant and dipping it in the flour, egg, then breadcrumb and cheese mixture. My kitchen was a mess to say the least by the time I was done dipping everything. Once the eggplant was breaded, I baked those for about 20 minutes (flipping them over half way through), and then assembled the layers for the whole thing to bake again.

Our apartment smelled SO GOOD. Since this was my first time making eggplant parmesan, I was a little nervous at how it would turn out. Spoiler alert: IT WAS AMAZING! Once I took it out of the oven we dug right in and both Benson and I devoured it. The good thing about making this is that now we pretty much have dinner for the next few days because it made so much. I gave myself a pat on the back after eating this since I was so proud at how it turned out. I felt like a Food Network genius!

Here is the link for the recipe that I used! http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_parmesan/

Next on the menu: Deviled Eggs. Again, I don't usually crave these but I thought they would be good snacks throughout the week. My mom always makes deviled eggs when we go to a family event. As a kid I remember just looking at them and being grossed out. Who actually likes those!? As I got older though tastes change and now I'm making them myself. I forgot how easy they are to make. All it took was the cooked egg yolks, yellow mustard, mayo, salt and pepper, and paprika. The recipe I looked at called for sweet relish but I despise relish so I left that out :) 

Last menu item for the week: Ready to go breakfast sandwiches. Why oh why have I waited until now to make these!? They are so perfect for the work week when you're running out the door. Also, you can customize these however you want which is awesome. I started out by whisking four eggs in a bowl with about a tablespoon of water. I then made two egg "crepes" and added salt and pepper as they cooked. Once they were done, I cut them in half so I had four egg crepes. 

Now for the fun part which was assembling them. I toasted four whole wheat English muffins and added ham, cheddar cheese, and the egg crepe. That's it!! I packaged them up and put them in the fridge and the next morning on the way to work I microwaved mine for 30 seconds and BAM! A healthy and delicious on-the-go breakfast sandwich! On Monday morning I went to my beloved Dunkin and got a breakfast sandwich and iced coffee for $7.00....say whaaaat!? For $7.00 I now have breakfast for the week AND not to toot my own horn or anything but I thought mine tasted better too. (toot toot!)

After writing this post, it's safe to say that I am now hungry again! Maybe I should do this whole meal prep thing more often. I definitely enjoy not having to worry about what to make for breakfast and dinner during the week! What about you? Feel free to share your favorite make ahead recipes too! 

Weekend Recap

Another weekend has come and gone. I know I'm not the only one who struggles to get the motivation to come to work ready to go and jumping for joy for the week ahead (at least I hope!). This morning definitely called for an iced cold brew coffee from you guessed it...DD ;)

Now for the weekend recap via Snapchat and iPhone pictures!

Saturday I had friends over to the cottage for the day/night. It was SO HOT that day so it was the perfect lake day. I couldn't wait to get to cottage and into the lake because my makeup was basically melting off my face....literally. 

No surprise, Benson was already at the lake by about 7am to fish. I however chose to sleep in a little longer. I then headed to Wegmans, packed up the car and Riley and we were on our way. 

Once everyone started getting to the lake in the early afternoon we then headed for.......Deer Run! We even brought Riley thinking we would have Benson sit with him outside so he wouldn't bark while we were gone. The employees who were working saw him outside and asked whose dog it was. I said he belonged to us and they excitedly told us to bring him on in for them to see. It was Riley's first wine tour! He even met a cute little girl who was with her mom. I think Riley helped distract her so her mom could shop around for some "water" as she told her daughter ;)

Girls who wine taste

After the wine tasting, we quickly headed back to then relax on the water for the rest of the afternoon. It was perfect weather. Water, wine, sun, friends...what more could you need!?

Once we got hungry, we decided to head up to the grocery store to get a couple more things for dinner....and s'mores stuff. You can't have a bonfire without s'mores! 

On our way back to the cottage after picking up groceries we thought it would be fun to squeeze in a quick go-kart session. Our competitive sides were starting to show before we even took off! I however was lucky and got the fastest go-kart (Haha, Josh!) Although I technically came in second to last place.....I want a re-match!

When we got back we immediately started cooking dinner which consisted of burgers, zweigles, grilled corn, watermelon, and pasta salad (thanks, Camille!). I had never grilled corn before but oh my goodness it was good! I think from now on I will start grilling my corn instead of boiling it. 

Benson was our grill master. We joked saying he looked like my dad. Beer (or Knob Creek in my dad's case) in hand, and a frisbee to fan away the smoke! While he was grilling, the girls and I relaxed on the deck drinking: you guessed it...wine!

The rest of the night was pretty chill. We just hung out and made a fire and s'mores later in the night. Oh, and PSA: My friend Camille suggested we try making s'mores with the Keeblers fudge cookies instead of graham crackers. I was a little skeptical because I like my OG s'mores. However, these totally worked and tasted amazing! You don't even need to buy chocolate because the cookies are covered in fudge on side. Don't knock it till you try it!

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend as well and hope you enjoyed my little recap of what I did! Just think...only 4 more days until it's the weekend again! 

Happy Hour Is My Favorite Hour!

Happy Thursday! AKA: ALMOST FRI-YAY!

I wanted to recap my lovely experience last night at Flight Wine Bar in Corn Hill since you know...I love wine.

I have been to Flight many times before. It's one of my favorite spots in Rochester because of the cozy feel and copious selections of wines. Hidden in the heart of Corn Hill it really is a hidden gem!

If you're not very familiar with wines, the staff is very good at helping you choose which wine is more up your alley as well as describing them for you. The flight menu goes from dry to sweet and on the right hand side of reds from lightest to darkest. I chose the Bubbly flight perfect for a beautiful summer night.

Now you can't have some wine without cheese can you? After we received our drinks I took a look at the food menu. They have lots of options ranging from cheese to chocolates. I highly recommend getting yourself the Irish Porter cheese (pictured below). It comes with baguettes and honey to top it all off. The cheese has a melt in your mouth feel and is the perfect accompaniment to the wine.

Flight is the perfect place to come for date night, girls night, or just stopping by for a drink before going out to dinner. They also have a nice selection of imported and craft beers for those who aren't a big fan of wine...although I highly suggest trying at least one glass ;) 

Now which wine bar to go to next!? 

Wine Not

Here it is! The very first post of my blog. I figured I'd kick this off with a few facts about myself. Now I have to warn you, I am by no means a blogging expert. But if you enjoy reading posts about my daily life (which yes, includes coffee and wine) then grab a glass of either one and enjoy!

1.) I've always wanted to start a blog. I read my favorite bloggers everyday and that's what inspired me to write my own.

2.) I am married to my high school sweet heart (just celebrated two years last month!) and we have two fur babies, Riley a rat terrier and Dylan our 16 pound cat. They keep us pretty busy to say the least.

3.) I work full-time in human resources and recently received my master's degree in human resources last December. My bachelors degree is in psychology so I like to say human resources is sort of like the psychologist's of the workplace ;)

4.) My blog name was inspired by the saying "work hard, play harder". Coffee for work, wine for fun. Get it? :)

5.) I just got my first tattoo this past weekend. Yes, I was terrified but you can bet I felt like such a badass walking out of that tattoo shop afterwards! I got the coordinates to my favorite place on earth which is my family's cottage on the back of my shoulder.

6.) I am an only child and a big family oriented person. I consider my cousins my siblings and love living close to my parents and in-laws.

7.) My go-to coffee order is usually from Dunkin Donuts. Medium iced coffee with one cream and one sugar.

8.) My go-to wine: ANYTHING. Just kidding....kind of. I love all and every wine except rose's (bear with me. I'm not sure how to do the accent mark yet over the "e"..oops!). I also don't go for overly sweet wines like moscato. However, if you asked me in college what my favorite wine was, chances are you'd hear me say Barefoot Moscato, or Red Cat. That's how I got into wine! Today, I'll usually order chardonnay or cabernet. I also love prosecco!

9.) Wine tasting is basically my hobby. There's a winery by our cottage that does FREE, yes FREE wine tastings. They pretty much know me by name. I give them good business though to make up for all the free wine tasting's I've done.

10.) Lastly, I'll leave my last fact about me as a random but funny one. In high school I worked at Red Robin as the bird. Picture a giant red bird body with bright yellow spandex, clown shoes, and a big bird head that I could barely see out of the mouth to walk around in. And to top it off because I was the youngest employee (which is why I was the bird) they told me I got paid extra when I worked as "the bird".....I didn't.

There you go, folks! My first post and a chance for you to learn a little about me. Here's to a fun blog with more posts and snippets about my life. Cheers!

Pictured below: Wine from Deer Run Winery aka FREE wine tasting winery. Although we paid for these glasses ;)