White Sangria!

It's still technically spring but the temperatures have been soaring the last few days. Of course it being northern Virginia we also had a day where it rained and dropped to the 60s but now it seems the warm weather is finally here to stay and summer is only just around the corner!

I'm already excited to do all sorts of infused waters and different variations of lemonade for everyone (especially with Bears 1st birthday coming up soon!) but I wanted to also make a white sangria that would be refreshing and fun for the adults as well!

I looked online for many variations of different recipes. Holy cannoli I didn't realize there were so many different ways you could make it! After much reading I decided to make my own adaptation of several different recipes. I think the citrus base for a lot of them is one of the most refreshing combinations but we have so many "pick your own" strawberry fields just down the street I knew I wanted to infuse the juicy red berries into this sweet sangria.

Recipe

2 bottles of dry white wine (I used this Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc because it was $5 at Wegmans!)
2 naval oranges
1 lemon
1 lime
1 container of strawberries (you won't use the whole thing but you can snack on them and make things with them later)
half cup of raspberries
half cup of blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 bottle of ginger ale

Directions:

Slice the 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, 1 of the oranges and the strawberries into your preferred shape and add to the bottom of your pitcher. Add the sugar and the berries. Pour the white wine over this. With the remaining lemon, lime and orange squeeze or juice the into the mixture. Take a large spoon and stir this up so the sugar dissolves.

Place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days. Top off with ginger ale just before serving.

Now whip up a batch, invite some friends over and enjoy this gorgeous sunny day!

Before and After: Dark and Modern to Light and Bright Farmhouse Coffee Table

So I may be getting a hang of/becoming obsessed with this whole DIY chalk paint thing. I spent a solid 30 minutes after finishing the dresser just wandering the house looking for something else to tackle with chalk paint.

Funny enough a few days later I saw Shaun hauling our old chunky coffee table up the stairs from storage to stick it in the truck and donate it. There were a few reasons this wouldn't work. 1. The truck was already packed full of clothes and furniture to donate and 2. I immediately saw my next chalk-painted piece.

We had gone through about 3 coffee tables in the living room and either Shaun or I or both of us weren't happy with all of them. This was a modern coffee table we got from West Elm when we lived in the condo. Shaun actually hated this table because it had some scuffs and marks on it. No matter though, I was going to make it even more scuffed! But purposely scuffed! Which is better than accidentally scuffed (funny how that works, isn't it?)

So I went to Lowes and picked up a couple $3 cans of someones "accidental" paint color they didn't like. They were both off white and perfect for what I wanted. One was more of a grayish white and one was more cream. I picked the grayish white one for this because I knew the wax was going to make it a warmer color anyway.  I also picked up some sanding blocks so I could scuff up my project and make it look less modern and more lived in.

I have never been a fan of picking up and moving things and buying extra things I don't need so I ended up just throwing down some old towels around the table in the office while I painted it. Here is what it looked like after it was painted and I scuffed it up a little bit with the sandpaper. Since there were so many angles and varying surfaces on this table it took a bit longer to scuff and wax. Luckily I've been blessed with daily Law & Order: SVU marathons to keep me company so I end up sanding while entranced watching detectives Benson and Stabler hunt down bad guys.

I was so happy with the light scuffed up/worn look that resulted from just sanding down the edges gently with a coarse sandpaper. I also took a lighter grit and smoothed out the top since I had a few uneven surfaces from the paint being a bit too thick. Whoops!

Waxing was more of a pain in the butt than anything.  But once it was done and I was able to polish it into a nice lustery finish it was all worth it.

Not too shabby for the 2nd ever piece of experimental chalk painted furniture! I obviously learn things every time I paint a piece and this was no different.  But I am thrilled with the way it came out. I think I might start painting the bedroom furniture when Shaun is at work. Just don't tell him, ok?

You can tell Bear was pretty over me working on this table by the time I was done. Luckily I finished just in the nick of time! I can't wait to paint more pieces. I have a few small decorative things to work on that I am super excited about too! Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go snuggle this Bear and eat this charcuterie plate and enjoy my Law & Order marathons. Have a great day!