T he
High Tea Party
INFUSED A GORGEOUS EXCUSE TO CATCH UP WITH THE GIRLS
M A G A Z I N E
DRESSES GALORE Summer has arrived and so have the dresses!
SUMMER RELEASES
New movies coming to a theatre near you.
WEEKEND AWAY WITH THE GIRLS!
Great tips for making your next weekend away a great one.
Cheers to great wines this summer! Get an extra $50 off when you spend $120^ or more at Cellarmasters ENTER PROMO CODE AT CHECKOUT:
$50
SUMMER
^PROMO CODE TERMS AND CONDITIONS valid until 31st December 2018 for use on wines valued at $120 or more in one new transaction unless otherwise specified. Voucher can only be used on wine case purchases (excludes single bottles, twin packs, 6-packs, Buy 2 Get 1 Free and Click Frenzy offers) and cannot be redeemed on beer, cider or spirits. One voucher may be redeemed per person, valid for single use only, not transferable for cash, cannot be used with any other offer. Vouchers are strictly for personal use and cannot be resold. Unique code must be entered at the time of order. At checkout, enter your unique code in the ‘Voucher or Promotional Code’ field (not the ‘Gift Card’ field). FULL TERMS For full Terms and Conditions, including our Money Back Guarantee, please see cellarmasters.com.au/terms
Introducing our monthly WOW award! The “WOW” award signifies a Woman of Worth, a way to celebrate and acknowledge the wonderful women in your lives. We’d love you to nominate someone who is inspirational, courageous or selfless. We want to hear stories of women who have gone above and beyond to do something remarkable. It could be a family member, friend, colleague or neighbour. Every month we’ll reward a woman in your life who deserves a gorgeous excuse to pamper herself. Each month, one person will be chosen by our High Tea Party team and named “WOW” of the month. We’ll send her a gorgeous High Tea Party pack filled with lovely treats to say “thank you for being you”. 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.
*Image used as example only. Prize content and packaging will vary.
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HEALTH & WE L L BEING
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FASH ION & BEAUTY
16/
T RAV EL
DEC/2018 8/ BEAUTY
14/ ENTERTAINMENT
Five real women tell us their beauty secrets
Find great recommendations for upcoming summer releases
10/ FOOD & BEVERAGE
16/ TRAVEL
Looking for some cocktail inspiration or want a refresher on some old favourites? We’ve got some great suggestions.
GIRLS’ WEEKEND AWAY! Tips for making your girls weekend away a fabulous one!
Exciting times! Dear Reader,
Welcome to the first edition of Infused. It’s lovely to connect with High Tea Party guests and friends with this e-magazine. I’m really looking forward to sharing some great stories, ideas, inspo and trends with you along the way. In this issue, you’ll see the unveiling of our new logo. Hope you love it as much as we do!
We are so excited to introduce the “W.O.W.” award! Nominate an amazing woman in your life who deserves a “thank you for being you” gift pack sent directly to her door. See page 3 for more details. In this issue I’ll also share some beauty secrets given to me by five girlfriends(some are tried and tested by yours truly), beautiful summer dresses to get you inspired for Christmas parties or balmy summer evenings at the local wine bar, tips for the perfect girls’ weekend away and six retro cocktail ideas. We’ll be coming to you regularly and future issues will be full of more beauty, fashion, home and life hacks plus competitions and, of course, information on our wonderful upcoming High Tea Parties. If there’s something you’d like to see in our e-magazine why not email me on admin@thepeppermintgroup.com.au. I’d love to hear from you. Merry Christmas, Sarah
Want to say hello, have a question or feedback? Drop us an email at admin@thepeppermintgroup.com.au
FASHION
Summer Breeze...
We just love summer because of the excuse to wear all the beautiful, feminine floral dresses! We stopped by the Birdsnest website and chose some of our favourites.
From left to right: Endless Summer Dress Cocoon Midi Dress Linen Drop Waist Dress For the Frill Dress La Dolce Vita Maxi Dress Florence Maxi Dress Lula Soul Celebrate Dress See Saw Ruffle Dress
& BEAUTY Five real women tell us their beauty secrets What’s your favourite beauty item or product? I love getting intel on good products – when I started using a kabuki brush (thanks, Kate! See below) everything fell into place for me. And I remember talking to my cousin Leanne about this sort of thing and she said, “I never know about these little hacks.” So I thought I’d ask five of my girlfriends each for their favourite beauty product and share them with you. Kate (39): “My Kabuki brush. It gives a lovely even coverage with translucent powder so sometimes all I put on my face is an SPF moisturiser and dust over the powder. It gives a nice, natural look but still makes my face look even-toned.” Carla (24): “Cotton tips. I load up my eyelashes at night before I go out and I don’t even worry about getting mascara all over my face. I just dab a cotton tip in a little micellar water and spot off the offending marks. When I realised I could make mistakes and fix it later without taking all my other make-up off – what a relief.”
Ling (42): “I let my kids wear nail polish but they have to remember to take it off before school. I’m not spending Sunday nights worrying about things like that. So I bought each of them one of those little containers with individual pads of nail-polish remover in them. It means I’m not stressed about acetone bleaching my carpet anymore! You can get them at Kmart for about a dollar and I always stock up.” Mik (39): “I am really fussy about concealer because I have dark circles under my eyes and I hate when people ask me if I’m tired all the time. So I’m always looking for a good concealer that doesn’t look obvious but covers the darkness. My favourite at the moment is Maybelline Age Rewind. I hope they never discontinue it.” Lisa (29): “You know how your hair always looks best the day after you wash it? Well I told my hairdresser, and she said I should start using a sea-salt spray after washing it to take away that softness that’s so hard to control and make it look good. So I did, and I love this stuff so much. Especially if you have hair that is a bit curly, it really looks good but not stiff, like I’ve put in product.”
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Cocktails Retro Style to Enjoy This Summer
Summer in Australia means Christmas parties, New Years’ parties, end-of-year celebrations and many other gatherings with family and friends. Here are some ideas for six simple, retro cocktails to refresh and relax your guests. And we’ve included one mocktail for an alcohol free option, too – for brunch, non-drinking guests or a bit of fun for the kids. GIN FIZZ
MARGARITA
Gatsby it up with this fizzy, tangy but refreshing cocktail that was popular in New Orleans in the first half of last century. Plus, it’s very easy to make.
Spanish for “daisy” probably because it’s a tequila-inspired version of the brandy-based daisy cocktail, the margarita is enjoying a resurgence at trendy urban South American restaurants right now.
Ingredients 45mL gin 30mL fresh lemon juice 10mL sugar syrup 80mL soda water Method Put all ingredients with ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Pour into glass (preferably an Old Fashioned) and top with soda water. PIMMS This one makes me think of my parents’ generation. It’s a lovely, simple pre-mixed drink to enjoy with lemonade, fruit, mint and ice, in a highball glass. Ingredients 50mL Pimms No. 1 150mL lemonade Mint, orange, strawberries Ice. Method Combine and enjoy.
Ingredients 35mL tequila 20mL Cointreau 15mL lime juice Method Pour all ingredients into shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass rimmed with salt.
COSMOPOLITAN Flash back to the 90s and Carrie Bradshaw and friends who downed the Cosmos when they were out on the town. This classic is whipped up in no time. Ingredients 40mL vodka 15mL Cointreau 15mL fresh lime juice 30mL cranberry juice Method Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass. Garnish with lime slice.
PIĂ‘A COLADA This one is retro if only for the fact that it brings the cheesy 1979 song Escape by Rupert Holmes to mind (popularised recently by the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack). A good excuse to dust off the blender for summer. Ingredients 30 mL white rum 30mL coconut cream 40mL pineapple juice Method Mix with crushed ice in blender until smooth. Pour into chilled glass, garnish and serve. PUNCH For a sweet and refreshing treat for the nondrinkers, get yourself a 70s punch bowl with ladels and hanging cups (I know you remember them from your childhood), fill with 2 bottles of OJ, a bottle of ginger ale, a can of fruit and plenty of ice. Garnish with mint leaves and slices of orange. * all cocktail recipes are courtesy of Wikipedia.
HEALTH & WELLBEING Quick Ways to Relax My daughter recently had her yearly exams. She’s not doing her HSC yet (not by a long shot) but she still feels the nerves. So we came up with a list of quick ways to calm down so we can get the brain working properly before a big test. Some of these you could do at school or work and some are more general quick fixes to do at home. Breathe – there’s a great app created by the Australian mental health team at ReachOut called “Breathe”. It works by taking your pulse, getting you to breathe very slowly for a minute, then taking your pulse again to show you how it has worked. It’s called “bio-feedback” and can be very helpful in getting people to see how the things they can control (like breath rate) can affect the things we don’t think we can control (like pulse). Alternatively, you can just take four slow breaths in and out, to the count of five on the intake and the count of eight on the out. Externalise – have a fidget cube, a stone or a stress ball in your pocket. When you touch your stress object, note how it feels and concentrate on the texture of it. This takes your mind off your current worry and gives you an alternative thing to put in your brain. Five things – list five thing you hear, five things you can see, five things you can smell. You might have to slow down and concentrate, which is the point. It’s a good instant relaxer. Move your body – a quick walk around the block can help burn off nervous energy, but if you don’t have that luxury, you could do ten star jumps or stretch your arms and legs. My husband swears by Sleepy-time tea to help him relax before bed. Any warm, non-caffeinated drink would probably be just as good. Got an animal? Studies have shown that patting your cat or dog brings down blood pressure and helps with mindfulness.
ENTERTAINMENT Movies to look out for this summer WIDOWS This November release looks great. The screenplay was written by Gillian Flynn (author of the novel Gone Girl) and Steve McQueen. It’s about four women (widows of criminals) who get together to pull off a heist of their own. It’s had rave reviews and the acting is supposed to be great.
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE Another November release, this is hard to put into a genre. It’s described as a Horror/Musical, or Sean of the Dead meets La La Land. Get your head around that. It actually looks like it’s going to be great fun (if a little bit gory!). Also getting great reviews. And if you were a lover of the famous Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal vine, you’ll be pleased to know that this movie was cowritten by its late creator, Ryan McHenry.
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME I can’t wait to see Melissa McCarthy’s next movie. This biopic is about famous American writer Lea Israel, who fell on hard times when her style of writing went out of fashion. Her solution was to fake letters from famous authors, claim to find them in library stacks and sell them to avid collectors for good money. What a story.
SECOND ACT I’m thinking this might be a good “mums night out” movie that you won’t want to take too seriously, but looks like it could be fun. Jennifer Lopez has her online profile “enhanced” by a well-meaning teenager and lands the job of her dreams. Misunderstandings, meet-cutes, embarrassments and triumphs follow.
COLETTE Keira Knightley and Dominic West star in this biopic of the French novelist and actor Colette (Knightley). It’s a story that seems particularly apt just at this point in time, as Colette struggled for recognition for her writing and the liberation to follow her passions. And the set and costumes look simply gorgeous.
COLD WAR This won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival and looks to be a moody, romantic epic that would make a good “date night” film. Two musicians, passionately in love, find themselves on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain in post-war Europe. The music, sumptuous black-and-white setting and distinctly European passion look to make this movie a classic. And to top it all off, it’s inspired by the true story of the director’s own parents. Romantic.
TRAVEL Tips to Make Sure Your Girls’ Weekend Away is Fabulous When I was growing up my mum would regularly fly to Adelaide to spend an extended weekend with her best friend. At least, I thought of it as regular. It probably happened once a year or less. My brothers and I would whinge. “Why are you leaving us?” we’d cry. “Because it’s good for me and it’s good for you,” Mum would say, firmly. She always believed that any member of the family taking a break was good for the unit as a whole. When that person came back from their break, they were refreshed and the rest of the family were ready to see them again. But now I know that, in addition to the family benefits, mums simply need time off every now and again! So now that I’ve convinced you to go away with your besties, here are some tips to make it a fabulous trip! 1. I have found that using a chat app like WhatsApp or Messenger good for this. It’s more immediate than email and better than texts because everyone can instantly see what everyone else has written, regardless of what brand of phone you all have. 2. Agree on a budget – be aware that it is easy to assume that people are on a similar budget to you but they might not be! The best idea is to ask how much your girlfriends want to or are able to spend.
3. It can be really difficult to get halfa-dozen women to agree on a date to go away. Be patient but firm. You guys can do this, especially if you plan well in advance. 4. After you book a place, plan – but not too much. It’s a good idea to have a sense of the area you are visiting. Find out what restaurants are nearby and book if you need to. But don’t over-plan your weekend because part of the fun is simply not having too much scheduled crap to worry about. 5. Take a good attitude. If you go along just knowing that if things go wrong you will laugh about it or try something else, you’ll have a much better time than if you worry about what you will or won’t achieve. 6. If there are a few of you, take advantage of the fact that some will like to get up and hit the beach and some will like to sleep in. Some will want to shop and some will want to sit in front of the fire and read. Don’t feel bad that everyone isn’t doing the same thing all the time – just enjoy that you can do what you want and meet up for afternoon drinks! 7. Don’t worry too much about what’s going on at home. The kids will be fine without you for a couple of days. Enjoy yourself!
2019 is almost here!
Join us next year for an amazing new high tea experience and a gorgeous excuse to catch up with the girls!
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