INFUSED M A G A Z I N E T he
High Tea NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION? WE’VE GOT AN APP FOR YOU
Find an app to help you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions
Party
A GORGEOUS EXCUSE TO CATCH UP WITH THE GIRLS
DINNER PARTY HACKS
Genius dinner party hacks that will have you actually enjoying the party
SENSATIONAL SUMMER SALADS
FINE CHINA
GLASSWARE
TEA
WOW Announcement! Last month we introduced The “WOW” award, signifying a Woman (or women) of Worth, a way for us to help you acknowledge the wonderful women in your lives. We received an outpouring of amazing stories. We heard stories of so much love, perseverance, and what support! Support for each other as best friends, sisters, mothers/daughters, even neighbours, it was simply heartwarming and humbling. Sending big congratulations to our WOW recipient for December, the lovely Chelsea Vella, who actually nominated three of her amazing friends who are helping her through a battle that requires so much support. We couldn’t choose just one of her lovely nominees, so we are sending the goodie care package to Chelsea to share with her three besties. Also, we wanted to do something extra special for Chelsea and her friends, so we will be providing tickets to the 2019 High Tea Party nearest to them!
We are once again taking nominations for the WOW of the month! All you need to do to nominate the special woman in your life is email us at admin@thepeppermintgroup.com.au and tell us what makes this woman so special and why she deserves to win. Nominations close on the 3rd Sunday of every month. We’ll contact you for further details if your nomination is successful. *gift package shown is a true reflection of products that can be included in a WOW award. Products used can vary. Packaging may differ.
12/
16/
HEALTH & WE L L BEING
TRAVE L
6/
FAS H I O N
JAN/2019 6/ FASHION
10/ FOOD & BEVERAGE
A Stylish Resolution. New Year’s Styling Tips with the High Tea Party’s personal stylist, Kirsty Milligan.
Sensational Summer Salads.
8/ LIFESTLYE
Apps that will help you stick with your New Year’s Resolutions.
Genius dinner party hacks that will have you actually enjoying the party.
12/ HEALTH & WELLBEING
14/ ENTERTAINMENT Summer book reviews. Find your next great read!
16/ TRAVEL The best and worst of travelling with the family.
Happy New Year! Dear Reader, I hope you have had a lovely summer break, or are looking forward to your annual summer holiday with family or friends (I know I am). Welcome to the second issue of Infused. Thank you everyone who nominated a special person for our Woman of Worth Award. I hope that Chelsea Vella enjoys her pamper pack. See page 3 for details on why Chelsea is receiving our gorgeous monthly prize. If you’d like to nominate someone for next month, see the details on page 3. This month we have guest writer: personal stylist Kirsty Milligan gives us top tips for a fresh, new year’s style. She’s got some great advice about mixing fabrics, looking to the catwalks and seeing your own wardrobe with new eyes. Kristy helps hundreds of people feel good in their own skin and dress for success and we’re lucky to have her share some of her secrets with us at Infused. This issue we’ll also give you my mum’s secret for making delicious summer salads, some dinner party hacks to try out if you’re entertaining this summer, tips for making your family holiday more restful than stressful and we share some great summer reads. As always, we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to see something in our e-magazine or if you have something you’d like to share, so get in touch at admin@thepeppermintgroup.com.au. Best wishes, Sarah
Want to say hello, have a question or feedback? Drop us an email at admin@thepeppermintgroup.com.au
FASHION
A STYLISH RESOLUTION
New Year's styling tips with the High Tea Party's personal stylist, Kirsty Milligan
New years are so refreshing. They’re full of optimism and joyous thoughts of stylish times ahead. Take a deep breath in and exhale your old ideas of fashion. Jump into something different this year. Your wardrobe is the best place to ‘strip off’ the year that was and ‘dress up’ the year ahead.
Embrace Colour The recent runways have been a kaleidoscope of colour and pattern clashing. Ditch the black and don something bright. You’ll see lashings of marigold and mango this season. Don’t be afraid to pick up something you’ve never worn before.
Be your own styl
experiment with
already have. R
accessories, pull ou
re-think how you p
separates togethe
a few key pieces an
current wardro Make a Wish List There’s a sense of satisfaction in coordinating your style choices. Make a wish list of garments missing from your dream wardrobe and celebrate seeking them out. Ensure they go with at least three other items and wear them incessantly.
new 2019 style mi
cheaper than
Play With Texture Street stylers have been doing it for years. Mixing silk and faux fur, or denim and wool, perhaps even metallics and frills. These seemingly unlikely fashion hookups scream style and individuality. You can go edgy or romantic or anything in between. This is where your style can be decadent.
list this year and
h the pieces you
Rediscover your
ut your scarves and
put your favourite
er. By adding just
nd re-styling your
Try Jumpsuits Oh, I love a jumpsuit. For work or play. Throw on sneakers and a backpack for shopping trips or heels and a briefcase to knock over the boardroom. Jumpsuits are my staple. I love a feature neckline and a wide leg. This gives me so many styling options. This is my must have piece for 2019.
obe, your brand
ight be closer and
n you think.
Go Ethical & Sustainable If you’re a woman who believes in the global sisterhood then fast fashion will already be off your shopping list. As the ethical and sustainable fashion conversation becomes mainstream we all want to make conscious choices. Planning your purchases is a great start. Checking out the labels you love for sustainable and ethical practices will ensure you’re making values-based shopping decisions that not only look good but are good – for everyone.
LIFESTYLE
Dinner Party Hacks Love hosting dinner parties but not the hassle? Here are some genius dinner party hacks that will have you relaxed, enjoying your friends’ conversation and not running around like a crazy person when you should be kicking back with a glass of sparkling and some witty repartee. 1. The cheese platter is your friend. It’s hard to stuff this up. Get a variety of cheeses and some crunchy circles to put them on (pro tip: get rice crackers for your gluten-free friends but make sure you have wheat-based biccies as well for the purists). Add a dip or two. There’s no cooking involved. There’s no artistry involved. Seriously, people. Cheese on a plate. Everyone loves it. 2. Provide plenty of wine but also keep sparkling water with ice and lemon on the table. That way you’ll cater for your non-drinking friends but also allow people to slow down or sip on something non-alcoholic in between glasses to keep themselves rational or able to drive. 3. I love a party bag. How fun would it be to send your guests home with lolly bags or cute bonbons? It’s a nice way to set the table, too.
4. Cooking - sure, you could impress everyone with your ninja culinary skills, and maybe that’s the whole point of having a dinner party for you. Some people might just want a chance to catch up with friends, have a few laughs, not have a breakdown over the soufflé. If that’s the case for you, keep it simple. A roast is a good way of doing this because you can put everything in the one dish and let it all cook. Alternatively, a curry or slow-cook meal with rice. 5. Dessert - This is where the retail supermarkets have really made it easy for everyone. Coles, for example, now sells lovely packaged tarts/cheese cakes which I always buy and team up with some posh icecream. It’s a winner!
6. What can I bring? When your guests ask you this, you can decide if you want to make this a regular thing or a super-special one-off. If your guests all bring, say, the wine, that makes the night much cheaper for you and therefore easier to do more frequently. Or if they are close friends you could get each person to bring one dish, making the preparation far easier. I’ve done this many times and it’s lots of fun. 7. Pro-tip: always commence your dinner party with an empty dishwasher.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
SENSATIONAL SUMMER SALADS Delicious salads to enjoy for dinner or to bring to your next barbecue. My mum is not the best cook. She’s okay. But she doesn’t love it. Dad is the cook in our family. But Mum makes a mean salad. And she’s got two great tips: 1. Add some fruit. 2. Try caramelised balsamic vinegar. Fruit makes salads wonderful. Orange cuts through the bitterness of many vegetables, fig tastes amazing when paired with a sliver of parmesan and a some crispy lettuce, and sometimes cranberries or raisins can make all the difference to a boring salad. As for caramelised balsamic vinegar, it is insanely delicious. It’s sort of like adding chocolate sauce to your salad but in a sensible, grown-up way. You need to get your hands on some as soon as you can. With those hot tips in mind, here are some other beautiful salad recipes from around the internet that are easy and sure to be a hit at the next BBQ that you’ve promised to “bring something” to. Cucumber and Tomato Salad - no fruit in this one but it’s healthy, delicious and filling - you don’t feel like you’re eating leaves as you have the cucumber and tomato chunks to bite into. And nice and summery, too. Fig, Pear and Goat’s Cheese Salad - the next best thing to fruit in a salad is cheese. This is very delicious. Potato Salad - if you’re going to have the most calorie-laden salad there is, you might as well add in bacon and eggs. This one is a good version of the old favourite. I particularly like the addition of peas to add some sweetness. Beetroot, Spinach and Goat’s Cheese Salad - another beautiful salad with goat’s cheese. This one with the delicious bitter crunch of walnuts added in.
HEALTH & WELLBEING
apps that will help you stick to your
s n o i t u l o s e R s ’ r a e New Y
Sometimes January is a good time to think about how we want to make our lives better - to make better choices, to be better people, or just to do something simple like learning a new skill. Here are some common New Year’s Resolutions and the best apps to help you achieve them. 1. QUIT SMOKING - What? You’re still smoking?! If you are, the single biggest thing you can do to improve your health is to quit. There’s a great free app created by the Australian Government called My QuitBuddy which provides lots of ongoing motivation, like telling you how much money you’re saving by not buying cigarettes and all the health benefits you’re getting each day you stay a non-smoker. Also, there is a plethora of free and paid apps you might want to explore, some of them involve self-hypnosis or community help. Maybe the app is what you need to stick to your best-laid plans.
2. READ MORE BOOKS - A worthy resolution and an easy and enjoyable one too. My best tip is not to be too pious. Just read anything. Once you get started, even with a few potboilers or romances (which I happen to love!) you’ll find yourself pacing the house looking for more books to read. Keep track of your reading and compare great reads or duds with friends via the GoodReads website and app. Another option is to get the Kindle or iBooks app on your smartphone. Have a book with you wherever you are or read late into the night while your partner is asleep.
3. GET TO A HEALTHY WEIGHT - Ugh. The boring one. But I’m not above trying out a cleansing diet or an Atkins diet or the 5:2 diet or any other novel way to keep in a healthy weight range, especially if there’s a special event coming up or if we happen to be in January and I’ve just put on a bit of Christmas pudding (ahem). But there’s one tried and true method of shedding kilos, and that’s to count and monitor the calories you consume each day. My favourite app for this is by SparkPeople. It is pretty easy to use – you just enter the food you eat and it calculates the calories for you, letting you know where you need to improve and helping you stay motivated along the way. However, there are lots of calorie counter apps out there (and lots of them are free) so you could just google and see what works for you. 4. LEARN AN INSTRUMENT - I’d really like to learn guitar this year (again), so I’ve already investigated some of the guitar tutorial apps. The iOS app Garage Band has built-in lessons for piano or guitar. YouTube has thousands of videos with tutorials and there are countless apps to help you tune your instrument, learn chords and even provide feedback by “listening” to what you play. What’s stopping you? 5. LIKE YOURSELF MORE - Yeah ... that’s right. Maybe you’re not overweight. Maybe you don’t have to pick up a new skill to make you a worthy citizen of the world. Maybe you don’t smoke. Maybe you just need to be a little more ... chilled about who you are. Find out more about self-compassion here. And maybe try some guided mindfulness apps to help you think about yourself differently.
ENTERTAINMENT
summer book
REVIEWS If you're taking time off over summer and are looking for a good read or even if you're just looking for a good read, here are my tips for great books to take with you.
Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty I’m not going to lie. I loved this book. Even the ill-advised section in the middle which detailed the drug-induced hallucinations of some of the characters. I just really, really like the way Liane Moriarty writes (if her sales are anything to go by, I’m not alone). I like the way she gets into her characters’ lives, their worries, their quirks, all the things that makes them relatable and human. I would probably read her shopping lists. This one, for me, was not as clever as Big Little Lies but still a thoroughly enjoyable story about people, relationships, grief and trying to get better.
The Women in Black – Madeleine St John This classic by Madeleine St John was made into a Bruce Beresford movie and released last year, so it is having a bit of a resurgence. It’s a really lovely story about a young woman learning how to be an adult for the first time in Sydney in the 1950s. It’s also got romance, humour, pathos … and an exquisite dress. A lovely, quick read that paints a vivid picture of Sydney in another time.
Labor Day – Joyce Maynard This was a book I accidentally read. It was published almost ten years ago, and didn’t appear on my radar, but my husband spotted it in an op shop and noticed that the cover endorsements were all from authors I admire, so he bought it for me. It was a real gem! An odd sort of story about a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, his fragile mother and the relationship they both have with an escaped criminal. This book does not go where you expect. It’s a terrific read and would make a good book club pick because of all the moral dilemmas the characters face. The Wych Elm - Tana French I always get excited about a new Tana French. This one didn't disappoint. It is a long, twisty-and-turny story about the grizzly discovery of a human skeleton in someone's backyard and the complicated and mysterious way in which it got there. I have chosen this for my book club and I can't wait to talk to the others about it, because there's more to this than just a murder mystery. There are questions about memory, privilege, #metoo, lots of moral dilemmas. I have to admit that the first 100 pages or so are a little slow, but French's beautiful writing will get you through. Then you just sail through the story, gripped, as it unfolds for you in all its macabre detail. Teacher - Gabbie Stroud This was a Christmas present to me and I idly started reading it Christmas night, then found I just couldn't stop, and read it well into the night and the next day. It is so beautifully written, and such a personal story of why this woman became a teacher. For anyone who is interested in teaching or who has any involvement with teachers (like, if you're a parent of a child in a school, for example,) this book will be of interest. I didn't always agree with Stroud's answers but I love that she is asking the questions. And they are really difficult questions, about how our children should be taught what our teachers should be doing with their time, that I think we all need to think about.
TRAVEL
Fun or Frantic? The best and worst of family holidays. One of my favourite lines from the television sitcom The Modern Family is when Phil tries to make his family holiday romantic and his wife Clare cuts him off abruptly, saying, “Sweetpea, I’m a mom, travelling with my kids. For me this is not a vacation: it’s a business trip.” I often felt that way on family holidays, especially when the kids were small. So many things to remember, so much work to do! But then, as they grew older and I didn’t have to remember nappies, change mats, nappy-rash cream, spare dummies, baby food, soft spoon, high-chair, stroller, nap time, the stress of getting home from dinner in time to put the kids to bed, etc etc etc ... Well, our holidays grew much more enjoyable. Nowadays, my children can actually play board games with us. We can swim together and I don’t even have to get in the pool if I don’t feel like it. We can stay out a little later. They can entertain themselves, to a certain degree. Sure, we all miss the chubbiness and cuddles as our children grow older. But there’s a lot to be said for the age when your children become less dependent and more companionable.
Still. I’m an organised sort of lass. I like lists. And since I love lists so much, here are my tips for an organised family holiday: List - write down everything each person needs, that way your children can do their own packing but you can check that they have remembered pyjamas. (Tip: Check the list when you get home again and alter anything that didn’t work or you think you’ll need to remember for next year). Car packs - I pack a small bag for each traveller with the following: a bottle of water, a packet of tissues, several lollypops to quell ear popping or nausea, a pair of sunnies and a hat for excursions. Shoes - each person needs three pairs: sneakers for walks, thongs for beach and nice shoes/sandals for dinner at the club. No more than this. Rainy days - it’s not just rainy days you have to worry about on an Australian summer holiday. It’s every day between, say, 11am and 3pm. When it’s too hot to go to the beach or pool for fear of sunburn. For these occasions I like to make sure we pack enough craft, DVDs, books and toys so that the kids are entertained while I read under the fan. For the car - if you keep spare sunscreen, hats, towels and swimmers in the car you’ll always be ready for a last-minute trip to the beach, or a beach you didn’t know you would come across when you’re out exploring. I also keep tissues, water, Aeroguard and Wet-ones in the car at all times.
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