Summer Birthdays

Birthdays are an interesting creature. Mine is in November, which means it's cold, probably raining, but not cold enough to snow - when fun can be had outside. I used to envy all those late spring/summer birthdays because they had nice weather, could have poolside birthday parties, and always got the day off from school. Unfortunately, Veteran's Day is not celebrated as a holiday in all states.

Then I found this: A Raspberry and Lemon-Lime Birthday: Raspberry Lemon Lime Sparkling Punch and Layer Cake



from Desserts for Breakfast. And it made me wonder, could I turn my cold, drizzly birthday into a summer flashback? Here is Steph's recipe for the Raspberry Lemon Lime Punch that inspired this scrumptious cake:

Raspberry and Lemon-Lime Sparkling Punch

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup thawed frozen raspberries (or fresh)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2-4 cups sparkling water
lime slices, for garnish
lemon slices, for garnish
fresh raspberries, for garnish

1. In a small saucepan over medium high heat, cook the sugar and water together until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. In a food processor or blender, puree the raspberries.
3. Combine in a pitcher the cooked sugar syrup, raspberry puree, and lemon and lime juices. Mix together.
4. Add the sparkling water, adding less for a stronger mix and more for a lighter mix. Garnish with ice, lime slices, lemon slices, and fresh raspberries.

So now the question is, aside from decorating my apartment in lemon yellow and fuscia, are there any summer-themed board games I can pull out at my next birthday party?

Cheers, Kate

Lola Summer Survival Kit Giveaway:

I love finding giveaways I can repost for you all. I'd love for one of you to win!

The guys over at NVPerricone are offering one reader of Her Name Was Lola their Summer Survival Kit complete with Citrus Facial Wash, High Potency Amine Complex Face Lift, and the truly remarkable Perricone MD No Foundation. 

HOW do you enter? Become a follower of the blog and leave a comment on the giveaway post sharing why you want/need/must-have your very own Summer Survival Kit ($180 value) by Friday, July 16th @ noon EST (U.S. and Canada only). A winner will be chosen at random.

This is also a great blog to keep tabs on, I love her spread on vintage Diane von Furstenburg. Including this chic blue floral dress:



It's photos like this that make me wish I was A. a brunette, and B. living pre-1970. See more photos of the great DVF here.

Keep me posted on your giveaway entries! Cheers, Kate.

Photos source.

Hot Colors, Cool Nails

InStyle Magazine  posted up a gallery of the top 15 nail colors this summer. I took a browse through them, and while I'm always astonished that nail polish can get so expensive, I did find a couple new shades I'd love to try. Here are my top four. Click on the picture to go get more information about that polish.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="399" caption="American Apparel in Summer Peach $6"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Nails Inc. in Eden Grove $19"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Blow $14"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="TopShop in Parma Violet $10"][/caption]

 

 

Those Summer Nights

Last night was the first warm night in Paihia. Jake says it's due to a Northwesterly, but I think it's the Maori ancestors saying summer is finally coming. There was also a fantastic moon rising up over the bay.

On Friday I went out sailing on the Gungha, which means strength in Indian. Mike the skipper was a fantastic guide out to the fringes of the bay. We set the anchor in a bay off Waewatoma Island. One side had perfect white sandy beaches while the other was goupy volcanic sand and crunchy rock. We also had a great view out to the ocean and of Tukituki, an island 9 miles from the bay that is the last piece of New Zealand you see while sailing north to Fiji and the islands.

Being out on the water was definitely the push I needed to stay in Paihia. I'm starting sailing lessons on Sunday before Adam gets in Monday. The whole ride home I found myself wishing I had the boat all to myself. I even got to drive for a bit, steering on the wooleys through the white channel, well, attempting to anyway. It was fantastic.

Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes night, so hopefully I'll run into my friend Bronson when I get off at the restaurant and we can go find some fireworks. It's interesting that we don't celebrate Guy Fawkes night in the US, considering it can be viewed as a celebration of democracy. Since Guy Fawkes was unsuccessful at destroying the British Parliament building in the early 1600s, democracy thrived and the monarchy lost further power. I suppose when you rebel against outside rulers the first thing you do is cease to celebrate their holidays.

Hopefully aside from my sailing class, it will be a quiet weekend. I'll be starting a trial once Adam leaves with MagicMemories, the company who does all of the photography for Fuller's AwesomeNZ Bay of Islands cruises. I am very excited. Then hopefully I can move into a flat in Rimu Park and be sorted enough to write a small review of downtown Paihia. Stay tuned, more exciting adventures to come from next week's camper van road trip!