Arsenic Lace

Sunday Love

Sunday Kind of Love

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Happy Sunday everyone! What a crazy week it’s been and I’m so glad for my favorite day to finally be here. I do have a little work to do today, even though I said Sunday was off limits. The best thing about work? I get to drink frośe afterwards, so I guess it could be worse!

  • I hit 10K on Instagram this week!!! I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate everyones support. It’s been a wild ride building my blog over the last 14 months and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. The community over on Instagram and the whole blog world overall is just so supportive, and I’m so thankful for everyone I’ve met and gotten to work with. Thanks to all my readers that take the time to like, comment, read one of my posts, or send an encouraging word my way. You all make this possible and I promise to keep building this and creating content and cocktails that you love. I’m relaunching the website soon, I have a lot of fun things in the works, PLUS I have a very big announcement to make this week, so stay tuned!

  • My Hamilton Park Swizzle was on Imbibe this week. This was a cocktail I developed for the menu when I worked at Lani Kai back in 2010. It has mango tea infused applejack, palo cortada sherry, pineapple syrup, lime juice, and falernum in it. It was one of my first cocktails that got published and the first that got press. It was the centerfold in Imbibe Magazine for the Summer of Tiki issue in July/August 2011. It’s named after a park where I’m from in Jersey City and my first variation on a Queens Park Swizzle. Since then I’ve done a Van Vorst Park Swizzle, a Lincoln Park Swizzle and an Arlington Park Swizzle. I’m trying to cover all the parks here because if you haven’t noticed I’m very Jersey City, NJ PROUD!

  • I got some floating shelves installed in the bathroom this week and I’m in love! The bathroom is so small, and the sad part is it’s larger than my last one, lol. The upsides are the skylight, which means I never have to turn on a light (unless it’s night) and it’s perfect for putting on makeup, and the clawfoot tub. Theres a pedestal sink, which is pretty, but theres absolutely no storage and no medicine cabinet. I have some baskets under the tub, a little shelving unit under the sink and these shelves will act as my open medicine cabinet. It’s fun to display all my pretty skincare. AND since there’s light, I can have a plant. 😉

  • CB2 came out with this table and I’m dying. I don’t have a coffee table in the livingroom because it’s a little narrow. I keep bargaining with myself, asking if I move the couch a few inches backwards can there be enough room for this table? I kind of can’t live without it. How can a Palm Springs inspired livingroom exist without a gold pineapple table? Maybe I should buy it to just “see how it feels” in the room. What do you think? Please say YES!

  • Amara Living named my first Sunday Kind of Love post one of the top 25 interior design posts of July because of my bedroom progress (and the wallpaper isn’t even up). I know I’m a drinks focused blog sharing the occassional home photo, but can I expand into lifestyle and interior? I would love to! I did go to school for interior and exhibition design afterall. We shall see. Maybe just more photos of me drinking in my home.

  • Did you see my Dark ‘n Stormy popsicles go up on A Beautiful Mess? They are my favorite poptails I have EVER made. Super citrusy, bright, spicy, boozy and refreshing. Perfect for the summer. I think I like them even better than the original drink. I’m not sorry.

Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend. What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Thanks again for all your support. Love you! xo

Sunday Kind of Love

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Happy Sunday! Hope you all had a good week. I had sort of a stressful week, but I took it easy yesterday and enjoyed a much needed day off. I also unplugged and stayed off the internet. It was easier than you think, I promise!

  • Not sure how many of you have dogs, but I have a special pup that you are probably familiar with from me posting photos of him here, on IG, or in my stories. He’s a Chinese Crested named David Bowie and he is my whole heart. To make a long story short we tried to eliminate the crate this past week in hopes of having a cage-free pup and it went as bad as one can imagine. It included puke on the pink couch and many days of me trying to get the stain out of the cushion. A few anxiety attacks later, lots of blotting and stain remover and the couch is back to new. Phew!

  • It was National Tequila Day on Monday so I hope you got to enjoy one of the drinks I posted! 

  • I got a chrome manicure finally. My nail salon just got the powders in and I was super excited to try it out. Aren’t they pretty? It reminds me of rose gold.

  • I found this AWESOME wall hanging at Home Goods. I couldn’t believe it! I needed something to brighten up the staircase. I’m thinking of sprucing up the hallway/staircase this fall. Maybe some wallpaper, a landing area to hang coats, a bench for shoes/purses, a mirror, and I really want to paint the stairs. They get dirty pretty easily and I’d like to paint them in a higher gloss so that they’re easier to clean. Can’t decide if I want to paint the whole staircase, do ombre, the tops of each stair or wallpaper each step. Also painting a “runner” could look really cool. I started a Pinterest board that you can check out here. I’m really digging the idea of doing teal. It’s bright enough to be colorful but dark enough to hide dirt. What are your thoughts?

  • I think I decided on a kitchen table. After measuring and being very realistic with myself (I think I’m growing up) I think it’s best to go with the Modern Expandable Table from West Elm. The table is only 30″ deep and expands from 39″ to 55″ which isn’t obtrusive into the surrounding areas. I really wanted a round table but I think going with a rectangle is a better choice for the shape of the room. I can always have a round table in my breakfast nook in the next house. One day I will have a proper dining room! This gives me the ability to have a small table for everyday use and a long table for when I have company.

I’m thinking about starting another column about bartending technique (shaking, stirring, building rounds, batching, ice, dilution). The more I share about how it’s done behind the bar and what I’ve learned over the years, the more informed you will be while you’re making drinks at home. Thoughts or anything you’d like me to include?

Lots of recipes coming soon and some home projects this week. I will have lots to post next Sunday! Are you doing anything fun today? I’m heading to Sussex County again for my Mom’s birthday. I think we might thrift on the way. One can only hope! Cheers everyone. xo

 

Sunday Kind of Love

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Photo shot by Kyle Smith Born | ARSENIC-LACE.COM

Photo shot by Kyle Smith Born | ARSENIC-LACE.COM

It’s my favorite day again and I hope you all had a good week. I’m spending the day with my Mom in Sussex County, NJ. It’s really nice to get out of the city, breathe the fresh air and maybe do a little thrifting. I still haven’t decided on a kitchen table so before I purchase something new, I’m going to try my luck at thrift stores and on Craigslist for a few more weeks. I have some time before the holidays arrive when I will be inviting more company over. It’s way too hot in here right now to have people over anyway.

Speaking of how warm it is, I am newly addicted to smoothie bowls. I went out and bought my weight in fresh fruit and froze it to have a weeks worth of ice cold, smoothie goodness. Here are a few I made this week. I was thinking, should I post the recipes? Is non-boozy frozen breakfast treats something my readers are interested in? We all need breakfast, right?

  • This is the Matcha Green Smoothie Bowl I made with matcha, kale, bananas, pineapple, almond butter, and coconut milk. Topped with almonds, coconut, raspberries, and chia seeds.

  • This is the Blackberry Banana Smoothie Bowl with maca, banana, blueberries, blackberries, almond butter, chia seeds, and almond milk. Topped with kiwi, buckwheat, bee pollen, and coconut.

  • I think I’m only consuming cold, frozen things until the summer is over. Which brings me to these Dark & Stormy Popsicles I photographed yesterday for a post going up on A Beautiful Mess. Stay tuned for the recipe to those!

  • I really want this print from Kailo Chic because all signs DO point to cocktails. At least in my life they do. Don’t you love it?

  • All signs point to this Coconut Guava Daiquiri that I made a few weeks back. Wednesday was National Daiquiri Day and that’s reason enough to celebrate for me.

  • Also in this household we celebrate Sangria Saturdays. I’d like to start linking to posts I contribute to on other sites more frequently, that way you can follow my recipes no matter where they are. Sometimes I fall behind on updating my own site because I’m creating content for others. Don’t fret because there are plenty of drinks to go around! This is my Sparkling Hibiscus Sangria on A Beautiful Mess.

Cheers everyone! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Heads up: It’s National Tequila Day tomorrow! 😉

xo Natalie

Sunday Kind of Love

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I decided that besides my weekly cocktail posts, I’d like to start a weekly column where I share what I’ve been up to. I’ve always loved reading my favorite bloggers Sunday posts, like Elsie Larsons’ 10 Things I Love Sunday or Joy Wilsons’ Let it be Sunday. It also gives me a chance to just write my thoughts down and hopefully get to know some of my readers a little bit more. You are all of course the reason why I do this in the first place!

Sunday is my favorite day, I’m not sure why, maybe because it’s like my Saturday (Ethan hates when I say that). My schedule has always been a little off because I’m a bartender, which means keeping unconventional hours and having opposite days off than the rest of the world. Sunday is the only thing I have in common with the ‘normal’ world. It is also the only day I have off with Ethan so we usually spend it together. Sometimes we go out, or we stay home and cook, watch scary movies, and go out for walks with Bowie. It’s definitely our family day!

  • Today Ethan is making pork tacos with kiwi salsa. YUM! I had a bunch of watermelon left over from a post this week so I froze it and I’m making this watermelon gazpacho recipe. I’m also taking the extra jalapenos from that recipe and kiwi from the salsa and making kiwi jalapeno margaritas. It wouldn’t be Sunday without a cocktail! Be on the lookout on Instagram for pics.

  • I have finally made some progress in the bedroom. I got my Claudia Chloe print in the mail earlier this week. I spotted some of her photography prints in a shop in Asbury Park, NJ two years ago and have basically been IG stalking her ever since. I’m glad I finally had a space in my new home for one of her photos.

  • I found these vintage nightstands on Craigslist and loved the color so much I almost re-thought my whole bedroom design. In the end I thought I should stick to my design plan and I repainted them Caribbean Cool by Benjamin Moore in a super high gloss finish. When they were finished I was really happy I stuck with my original choice because this color palette is totally more “me” and I absolutely adore them. I saw similiar vintage nightstands on Chairish for $1,980. This look plus the paint came in at under $200 for the pair. I say this was a DIY win!

  • I took an old frame, spray painted it, and ordered cork foam board off Amazon and made myself a bulletin board for my office. Super happy with how it came out. I can’t wait to get some of my prints framed to hang next to it. That cactus print on my bulletin board is printable art from Sugar & Cloth.

Okay I think that’s it for my first Sunday Kind of Love! Till next week. Happy Sunday!

xo Natalie