Hosting a party ? looking for the perfect menu?

It´s Christmas time and we all love to get together with our closest family and friends to enjoy a delicious dinner, drink a good wine and enjoy time together!

I love hosting parties and it is really more simple than it sounds! The secret is not to stress out by trying to do a very complicated recipe and rather allow you to enjoy the party!

I would love to share with you 3 menu party ideas you could host and I guarantee your friends will be delighted!

1. Small Plate Tasting Party.- I hosted this party on Thursday night. We had some friends over and I made some appetizers and little cupcakes for dessert. The best part was that for the main course my hubby was the Chef! he prepared a cooking class lesson with one of his top 5 star recipes hahaha an awesome Peruvian sauce called "Salsa a la Huancaína" that you can put on almost everything and it tastes incredibly good! I prepared small plates that accompanied this sauce  and I printed small personalized handouts with all the cooking instructions and gave them as souvenirs to our guests <3.

2. Cheese n´ wine.- Simple and you can have your guests be part of the logistics by asking the boys to bring wine and the girls different kinds of cheese. Beforehand google cheese and wine pairings... http://www.winemag.com/wine-and-cheese/ and you can decide which kind of wine/cheese they need to bring. Prepare also a nice fruit/nuts platter, you could use some kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, almonds and halzenuts! And do not forget to have a freshly baked baguette on a side of the cheese platter... mmm delicious, enjoy!

3. Chocolate lovers.- You can host a pretty sweet party! Prepare simple appetizers to start with, such as creative canapes, play with prosciutto, basil, red peppers, olives, cream cheese... and save the best part for the end... prepare and amazing home style hot cocoa,  you can combine it with nice decorated vanilla-chocolate cupcakes!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homestyle-Hot-Cocoa/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/31637/vanilla-and-chocolate-cupcakes.aspx

Inspired?? If so... I can now say mission accomplished! Good luck with your next home party!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!

KISS ( Keep It Super Simple) your CHRISTMAS!!!

Hi there!

Are you already feeling that wonderful Christmas spirit wherever you go? Are you bringing it home? Well as this post tittle suggests.... why not Keeping It Super Simple...?? enjoy these picture collages I did for you of really simple Christmas ornaments projects... It just took me a morning to finish them:

 1st. Buy the supplies
2nd. Get started putting all the pieces together.

Our colors and "star ingredients" : Red, Gold, Silver, white feathers, white lights and of course... CANDLES!!!

Is our first Christmas married!!! and we are very excited about it!! when my husband got home from work and saw all the decorations he was flattered :) and during dinner he kept playing Christmas songs in his mind and couldn't help it  mumbling them for a while hahaha  it was sooooo cute!

This song is one of my favorite ones this year.... listen to it is pretty catchy!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!! 

The perfect excuse for CUDDLING!!!

Let's all go back to " Relationship 101 "..... PRIVATE COUPLE TIME, this is essential and  excluding all the fun and romantic date night-out ideas (which, by the way, I will write an entire post on  shortly :)

So,  you definitely need to think about taking time to just enjoy each other at HOME. Having a MOVIE NIGHT for example can do wonders for your relationship and is the perfect excuse for CUDDLING! something you do in a movie theater.... "lovin' seats" are not the same as your  comfy coach!

This post is about:

 1. Sharing with you a list of movies for those CUDDLING NIGHTS (once a week is great!). I assure you all this movies are awesome... we watched already most of them and they are a mix of genres: action, romance, adventure, drama, comedy.... 100% recommended! If you have others  please feel free to share on the comment section at the end of the post!

 2.  Giving  you a couple tips to make that night more special.

1.THE LIST

- Trainning Day (2001)... One of the best of Denzel Washington.

- Flowers of War (2011)... Christian Bale acting as a priest in China.

- Revolutionary Road (2008)... after Titanic the cutest couple: Leonardo and Kate, now in a drama movie.

- American History X (1998)....Edward Norton and his best performance!

-  The Shawshank Redemption (1994)... Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins... simply a master piece!

- My Blueberry Nights (2007)

- Manhattan Murder History (1993): one of the best movies with Woody Allen.

- Les Miserables (1998)... this is the best version with Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman.

- Rachel Getting Married (2006) with the beautiful Anne Hathaway

- Collateral (2004)...Tom Cruise ;)

- Intocable (2011)... very good french movie.

- Carlito's Way (1993) Al Pacino?? Mafia?? this is the one!

- Both Hunger Games movies.... I started reading the last book of this trilogy.... it is just GOOOOOOD!

2.TIPS

- Set the Mood

Get some cozy blankets and pillows, turn off the lights and light up some scented candles, unplug your brain from the outside world by putting away your cellphones, iPads, laptops, etc... Your focus should be in your movie night date ;)

- Homemade / Easy  to get Movie Treats

Popcorn is a must! sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top, get something sweet as well like your favorite chocolate bar and enjoy piece by piece sharing it during the movie! Thirsty?? what about some flavored sparkling water or a couple of you favorite wine coolers???

There you go... easy and affordable!! now it just time to say....ENJOY!!!

Candles, Camara and Action!!!!

I am not a GENIOUS I didn't discover this, but I used it and it WORKS!!

So... today I want to share with you two amazing health tips I tried this week, and they not only work for my initial need but I also experimented other cool benefits...

And the award for natural remedies goes to......  2 in 1....Ginger and Peppermint!!

Ginger

It is amazing the results you can get when you have nasal or chest congestion, just buy boiling to cups of water and 1 piece (the size of your index finger)of a peeled ginger, add some honey... and enjoy a delicious cup of it!

Why did I say  2 in 1?

Get creative and use this delicious ingredient to impress your beloved ones with at breakfast or why not at a cocktail party!!!

Follow this recipe!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Watermelon-Ginger-Agua-Fresca-239061









Peppermint

Headaches?? Migraines?? Ugggg  I tend to have one of those either when I am about to have my period ("Andrés el que llega cada mes" jajajaja) or when I had a really tough day. Try this!Rubbing some peppermint  oil into your temples, it has some analgesic properties that really works!!

Why did I say  2 in 1?

Don´t you love even more when your home has a fresh and delicious scent? So go ahead and use it for aromatherapy purposes if you have a vaporizer put 2-3 drops of it into the water and plug it as usual. If you don't have a vaporizer then boil some water in low temperature and leave it boiling for a while ;)

When "YES" sometimes becomes a problem

Hi ladies! sorry I took a LONG break before getting back to you... I know :( I will give you and overused excuse... I HAVE BEEN TOO BUSY, and of course this is not something I am precisely proud of. In fact this is the main reason why I want to post today some useful advice I know some of you (if not all) that have been in my shoes, will definitely enjoy...

When "YES" sometimes becomes a problem

-  Sometimes is good to think twice before you say YES to things people (co workers, family, friends, random people) ask you to do.I know sometimes we hate to sound "bitchy", instead to be pleasant we agree to do that "small favor" grrrrrr, guess what??!! we get overwhelmed with all the to do list we have now. Well... surprise!y I have now the perfect words you can say so you don't commit and you also leave the scene as the nice person the know you as :) :)just say "Let me think about it" you are not saying "NO" right away but eventually you will come up with the reasons that doesn't let you do that small favor they ask you... you have a lot of other extra miles to go by your own...

- In other situation we become our own "super friend" who overdose our day and push to hard on us to be perfect. YES I know it can be hard to pretend we are perfect but lets get real we are not!

 "YES,  I'll have a delicious dinner ready by 6" .....so I better not start cooking at 5:55...., lets be realistic if we are running on time lets cook something appetizing and FAST, I am sure there will be plenty other evenings where you can light up candles and have an amazing dinner at home ;)

10 books every women should read!!!

Free time? We all do have some free time where we can choose either to do some work out or relax and "eat" a good book, this is an article I found useful, hope you enjoy and get hungry to read one ;)

Pd1. Just be very cautious  about reading romance novels, sometimes they picture romance too unrealistic ;)

Pd2. Try the audiobooks apps for smartphones you can go jogging while you continue the story...



http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/19/books-every-woman-should-read_n_3623480.html

Is your boy a picky eater when it comes to vegetables???

Mmmm let me tell you...if you are looking for a delicious recipe where you can "hide" some vegetables for your picky eater at home... check out these 2 great and easy to prepare smoothies!!! Perfect to start the day with energy and feeling HEALTHY!. Better yet, it takes less than 5 minutes to make! give it a try!



#1

 Ingredients

• Half banana
• 1 Cup of coconut water
• Fresh baby spinach (Pack in as much as you want! I use 1 handful)
• 1/2 Cup of sliced strawberries.

#2

• 1 cup of orange juice
• Fresh baby spinach (Pack in as much as you want! I use 1 handful)
• 8 baby carrots
• 1 Cup of sliced pineapple

Instructions for both:

Just put it all in the blender with a couple ice cubes and taste it mmm… SO delicious!!

In love? Newly engaged? Newlywed? This blog is just for you!!!

Hi there ladies! So.... to be completely honest with you all, it took me exactly 4 months in order to "warm up the engines" and start blogging about some cool/ gripping/ funny /astonishing/ emotional/ inspiring/silly, etc etc ideas, I am discovering every day since I got married and now I want to start sharing them with you all in a regular basis...

The challenge: GET your attention, SHARE with you and LEARN from you too ;) 

Certainly this  is a completely new chapter in my life, not just because after a 4 year long distance relationship we got married, but also because  right after the wedding we moved at the third largest city in a new country, where the wind blows like CRAZY but which I prefer to refer as where " Love is in the air "(so it actually doesn't feel THAT COLD)...Oooook! I am sorry if sometimes I will get too sickly sweet!. That is part of my recipe in life: a mix of sweet <3, hot.... Ooh yeah ;).....and sour :( spices which makes life an interesting journey...

This is a blog where I will be posting different kind of stuff that I know you will find useful and entertaining... This is a blog for ladies at all level of " in love stages".  Pre-Post relationship/ engagement/ wedding ....and is not just posts about love... Is all about whatever comes to our minds while we discover new trends (fashion, recipes, useful tips, hobbies, news, ideas, ideas and more ideas.

Now two inspiring quotes I want you always to keep in mind!

"A Bird Sitting On A Tree Is Not Afraid Of The Branch Breaking Because His Trust Is Not On The Branch But On Its Wings "

“Happily ever after is not a fairy tale. It’s a choice.”

Thank you all for starting this journey with me!!!I can't wait to see what the future brings <3

Marce ~