Celebrate with Champagne

If there was ever a night to break out the bubbly, New Year's Eve is it.

Below are a few of my favorite cocktail recipes that include champagne.

Classic Champagne Cocktail

1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
Champagne
Lemon or orange twist, for garnish

 

Soak the sugar cube in Angostura bitters and drop into a champagne flute. Top with a luxury champagne or a sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon or orange twist. 

New Year's Day Brunch

Start the year off right with a leisurely brunch with family or friends. With good food and drinks, there is no reason the New Year's celebrations cannot continue.

I think buffet style is easiest on the host because so much of the food can be prepped ahead of time. 

My mother always used her dining room sideboard as a buffet table and guests could come up and serve themselves. 

This is a diagram that you can use to guide you on the best places for each menu item.

I choose to omit the napkins and flatware because I prefer to set place settings ahead of time. Guests always find it tricky to hold a plate of food, plus a cloth napkin and flatware.

Most people don't own chaffing dishes to keep hot food at the right temperature, but if you want go all out, you can always rent silver ones from a party rental company, or buy disposable aluminum ones from your local party supply store.

A great brunch menu should feature a number of hot & cold items to suit a variety of tastes. That way there is something for everyone. In terms of choice, anything goes. As long as it's tasty and can feed a crowd, go for it.

Here are some recipes to help inspire your menu.

Shrimp Cocktail

Julia Dowling Rutland, Coastal Living
April, 2011

Ingredients

 

1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning
3 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in Old Bay seasoning and shrimp. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain, but do not rinse seasoning off shrimp.

 

 Combine ketchup and remaining ingredients in a bowl. Serve with hot or chilled boiled shrimp.

New Year's Eve Beauty Inspiration

New Year's Eve is the night to pull out all the stops. Anytime you go out for a party, its always good to glam things up, but on NYE, the glam beauty regime goes into overdrive. For me, this means getting out my gold glitter, fake lashes, and my old school hot rollers (these are the best!).

New Year's Eve is a night to sparkle, not to swipe on some mascara and head out the door, so I decided to cruise Pinterest for some beauty inspiration. Below are the pictures that caught my eye.

Makeup

Classic, smoky eye

If heavy eye makeup isn't your thing, a bright lipstick is always festive

Old school glamour makeup

Smoky eye with glitter for added sparkle

New Year's Eve Outfits

Now that Christmas is over, it's time to turn our attention to the next big holiday. New Years Eve!!

I am usually really bad about planning my outfit in advance and I end up running around my house in a frenzy looking for something to wear. This year I decided to be proactive and put some outfit ideas together to get some inspiration.

Blue Cocktail Dress

I love jewel tones for the holidays, and this blue dress is perfect for a party that is a bit on the formal side.

After Christmas Sales

As a kid, my favorite thing about Christmas was presents. Now one of my favorite things about Christmas is the after Christmas sales!

Every year, on December 26, I am up at dawn to get to the mall at 7AM in order to be on of the first people in the door. It isn't that I am worried about all the good stuff getting taken. I just hate picking through everything when it is a jumbled mess. By noon, every store looks like they have been ransacked. 

I plan on checking out some specific stores, because I don't have the time or the patience to visit all of them. This is what is on my must-see list:

Lord & Taylor

Nordstrom

J. Crew

Brooks Brothers

Banana Republic

 Gap

Ann Taylor
Anthropologie

If I have time I will check out a few more if they look good. I am also going to do some online shopping at Ralph Lauren. I don't know why, but I always have great luck with their online sales.

I haven't seen any great deals in my in-box yet, but I will be posting them below as they come in.

Sales Worth Checking Out

Rue La La Warehouse Sale
Up to 50% off at the Semi-Annual Brooks Brothers Sale
An Extra 20% all Sale & Clearance Items at Lord & Taylor
An Extra 25% Off all Sale Styles Online at Ralph Lauren
An Extra 30% Off all Sale Items at Banana Republic, in Store & Online
An Extra 30% Off Sale Items at J. Crew
An Extra 30% Off all Sales Items at Gap
The End-of-Season Sale at ShopBop
Up to 60% Off at CUSP, In Store & Online
Sale and Clearance Event at Bloomingdales
An Extra 25% Off all Sale Items at Tory Burch

Happy New Year and Happy Shopping!!

Welcome

Welcome to Chic | Sparkle

Several months ago, I started a lifestyle blog as a project for a New Media class that I took during my last semester of graduate school. I loved the blog and enjoyed the project immensely, but I have decided, in the spirit of the upcoming new year and the start of a new chapter in my life, to start a new blog that focuses on the things I love most:

Fashion

Food

Entertaining