Summertime Sangria

I don't know about you, but every season has specific beverages that go along with it (Apple Cider for Fall, Mulled Wine or Hot Chocolate for Winter, etc.).  Sangria is the official drink of summer, at least in my book.  Now when I am thirsty, I drink a lot.  I am also a bit of a light weight, so this sangria is not all that strong.  Feel free to adapt it to your personal taste or whatever fruit you happen to have on hand.

Summertime Sangria

1 Bottle (750 ml) of wine (I prefer Cabernet Sauvinon or White Zinfandel)
1 or 2 shots of Brandy (optional)
1 Bottle (2 Liter) Ginger Ale
16 oz Can of Pineapple in Juice
2 Lemons
2 Limes
1 Orange
1 Large pitcher

 Wash and slice up your fruits and put them in the pitcher. Add your pineapple w/juice.  Cover your fruit with wine.  Add brandy (if desired).  Let fruit/wine mixture soak a few hours.  Add ginger ale, and drink up!  My pitcher wasn't big enough to mix ginger ale and wine mix together so I mixed it half and half in each glass.

The Fam

I got this idea from Lesalina (The Adventures of Lesalina-one of my favorite blogs ever!) and realized that as much as I talk about Hubs and The Infamous Mr. S. I never actually said anything else about them.

Hubs
  Given his slightly camera shy nature (he prefers to be behind the lens rather than in front of it) I will not be posting his picture, however I will tell you a bit about him and show you some of his work.  Hubs is a 3-D developer and owner of Wonder Creation Studios.  In addition he is a photography/media enthusiast and all around awesome geek.  We'll be celebrating our 5 year anniversary later this summer!  Since I'm not sharing a picture, how about an animation he made?

Stormy
   A.K.A. The Amazing/Notorious/Famous Mr. S/The Little Guy.  Stormy is our cat, as you can probably tell from the picture below.  He is little, gray and fond of surveying his "domain" (anything outside our second floor apartment).  He also enjoys naps, making 'air biscuits,' snatching the plastic rings off the top of milk jugs and knocking spare change onto the floor.

Claire Can Craft-Comic Shoes DIY

   A while ago I saw this idea on Cut Out and Keep and knew I had to make a pair.  Of course you could use any sort of paper-sheet music, pages from old books...really anything that strikes your fancy.  While I do not read comics, I love the way they look.  The *Pows* and *KaBooooms* and awesome melodrama that accompanies them.
   These shoes are super simple.  Just cut out (or tear) scenes and words you like, then use ModPodge to attach them to your shoes.  I chose some plain flats, but you could use anything with a flat surface (wide bangle bracelet, thin wallet/clutch, etc.  Be prepared to use many, many layers of ModPodge.  I used the outdoor variety and then 3 layers of the glossy on top of that because outdoor dries somewhat tacky.  I plan on wearing them on dry days but given Indiana weather, it is probably going to be a good idea to grab some outdoor sealer and apply that as well.

This shows the shoes in progress.  First shot (top left) is shoes before the comics are applied.  The next 3 show a few different angles once the first layer of comics were modpodged to the shoes.  It works best to just cover the whole shoe with a base layer of comics and save your favorites for last.  That way you don't need to worry about empty space.

Here are the finished shoes!  I really like how they turned out.  Granted they aren't perfect but I think they went pretty good for a first try.  I hadn't done anything with ModPodge for years and now I'm kind of addicted.  I'm on the lookout for new ModPodge projects now and I'm excited to find what other things I can make.

Friday Flix-What are your favorites?

I thought I would switch things up a little bit this week...Rather than me telling you about my favorites, I thought I'd open it up to discuss what yours are.  What makes a good film to you?  Is it the plot, cast, cinematography or script?  Perhaps it is the music or special effects, or maybe a combination of many of these things.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Friday Flix - Featuring Brent from Random Dude Eats Random Food

   As you may know, for the past few months I have been kicking off the weekend with Friday Flix-a weekly blurb about a movie I think is awesome and therefore believe everyone should see.  Well, we are mixing things up a bit this week as I have my first guest blogger!  Yes, it's true!  Brent from Random Dude Eats Random Food will be providing this weeks Flix.  In addition to blogging about awesome food finds, Brent is also quite the movie buff.  As we see eye to eye on the matter of super hero films, I feel the Flix are in good hands. 

 

                                      

   I'm not the type of person that goes to a lot of movies.  Don't get me wrong.  I love a good flick, but ticket prices these days are borderline outrageous.  However, there are exceptions to every rule, and being that I am a male between the ages of 18-35 there isn't much I wouldn't endure to see an awesome superhero movie.  I got the chance last weekend with Marvel Studios' Thor. 
   Out of all the heroes in the popular Marvel Comic lineup Thor may not be one that everyone is the most familiar with.  Sure he is a member of the superhero team The Avengers, but nowhere near as well known as his counterparts such as Iron Man, Captain America or The Incredible Hulk.    Going in I knew that Thor was based on the god of thunder in Norse mythology, and I knew his weapon of choice was his magical warhammer, Mjolnir, but other than that I was somewhat clueless.  But sometimes with comic book movies not knowing the years of backstory can be a really good thing.  I was really able to let the movie present to me the origin story and characters with finding it boring or unable to live up to preconceptions.  Overall, I think the film is incredibly well done.  The material is written and acted in such a way as to bring in newcomers or those who might be weirded out by superheroes or stories involving myth and magic.  There's action, humor, and yes even a wee bit of love story.  All in all a good way to kick of the Summer movie season.  Oh and Captain America and Green Lantern are coming out later this year so if you dig guys in costumes kicking ass...get ya popcorn ready.

 

Guest Blogging at Indianapolis Amy

Thanks so much to Indianapolis Amy for the opportunity to guest blog once again!  I'm covering my favorite finds at Trader Joes.  You can find the post here.  She has an awesome blog and there is a giveaway, so be sure to hop on over!