Bachelorette Party #2

This summer I have quite a few weddings and wedding related activities (bridal showers, bachelorette parties). I have helped with the planning of a few Bachelorette Parties over the past few years, and it's a tough task.  You want the night to be fun for the bride, to be her taste, and for all the attendees to bond and have a good time as well.  I figure a lot of other ladies out there might be looking for good ideas - and maybe turn to the google for a fun itinerary.

Here's another awesome Bachelorette party I attended this summer:
Through the East Wind Inn on Long Island my friends, the bridesmaids, booked an amazing wine tasting, bachelorette party weekend for our friend!

Hotel: Our group arrived at the hotel around 10 am and was able to check in.  We were very pleasantly surprised by the rooms, pretty, spacious and nicely decorated.  The grounds which we walked around later on in the day were beautiful too!

Hotel Grounds

Macari Vineyard and me practicing some photography

Wine Tasting: Shortly after arriving at the hotel, there was a shuttle ready for us to take us to 3 wineries.  At each winery a flight of wines to taste was included in the package.  We also had picked up some cheese and crackers earlier in the morning and most of the wineries let you bring food along with you to picnic, in addition have assortments of cheese crackers and other snacks available for purchase.  They also had a pretty substantial lunch of wrap, water, chips and candy bar.  We lucked out with some beautiful weather and a great day of wine tasting.

Happy Hour:  Since we had a bit of time between getting back from the wineries and our dinner reservations, we decided to make use of the free "pitcher of mojitos" that was also included in the pacakge.  We sat on an outside patio for some relaxing time.

Dinner: Also included in the packages was a 3-course dinner in the hotel's restaurant.

Post Dinner: Even though we had been drinking all day, we knew the bride needed some nighttime out fun. Our DD drove us to an awesome lounge in Southampton.  Because it was before "the season" we got some great special attention and had a great night out followed by a good night sleep.

Breakfast/Brunch: Starting out day two, the package included a brunch buffet at the hotel.  There was enough food at this brunch to keep you full for the week!  In addition to traditional breakfast/brunch food (bagels, pastries, make your own omelet, waffles and yogurt) was a huge selection of lunch items (pasta stations, cold cuts) and a huge dessert display (mmmmm).  My only complaint was the weak coffee.

Spa: The last, but certainly not least perk of the package was that it included a $50 credit towards any spa service!  The spa was really nice, included a nice locker room with sauna and steam room as well as a nice relaxing waiting lounge.  I opted for a sea salt scrub, figured I'd try something different since I had the credit.  Everyone was very friendly and professional and the spa was a great treat!

Lunch/More Wine: We ended our North Fork weekend with one more tasting room, at Comtesse Therese before having to drive back home and face reality.  Here are some pics I snapped trying to be artsy.

Outside Comtesse Therese

Inside Comtesse Therese

All in all, a Shariously great way to spend a bachelorette party weekend!

Low-Cal Peach Bellini (Recipe Monday)

I drink a lot of Crystal Light and similar types of drink mixes, so when Crystal Light recently came out with a new line of Mocktail Mixes and there was a great sale in the grocery store I decided to buy the "Peach Bellini" flavor.  I mixed the pouch with some water and decided the new flavor was OK, a little too sweet, but had a nice taste, but thought it would be better as a real cocktail.

Recently I decided to make this mocktail, into a cocktail and here's how I did it:

Ingredients:
1 Packet Peach Bellini Crystal Light (2 Qts)
1 Quart Seltzer
5 Cups Water (the extra cup of water is lessen the sweetness when combined w/ Schnapps)
1/2 Cup Peach Schnapps
1/2 Cup Vodka (a fruity flavor like raspberry goes nice)

Directions:
Mix it all together pour over ice.

It comes out as a very yummy summer drink and since the mix is only 5 calories per serving, each serving is really only 1 shot worth of alcohol's cals + 5.  And of course if you like a stronger drink - just up the liquor.

Anyone else have "skinny" cocktail recipes that are Shariously delicious?

Royal Pains (TV Pick of the Week)

I love Royal Pains!

If you're not familiar with the show, it's about Hank (Mark Feuerstein) a former hot shot doc in NYC who got fired from his hospital for treating a young patient with a good chance of survival rather than an old rich guy who paid for the very hospital he was working in.  His younger, wacky, brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo) takes him to the Hamptons where Hank ends up saving the life of a party goer at a function they are attending.  Consequently HankMed is born; a concierge doctor company that treats the uber-rich and throws in some pro-bono work on the side.

The show is half a weekly situational where every week there is a patient or two with some mysterious sickness or disorder that has to either be figured out or emergency saved and half comedy series.  Most of the series characters are fun to watch and Hank is the McGuyver of medicine. Other than Hank and Evan some of the characters include:

Divya Katdare (Reshma Shetty) - an Indian Physician's Assistant who works with HankMed and also called off her arranged marriage because she wants to find true love.
Eddie Lawson (Henry Winkler) - Hank and Evan's formerly estranged, but now everything seems OK, father.
Jill Casey - First a love interest, then friend, then friend with benefits to Hank, has recently left the Hamptons to work in Africa.
Borris - Super rich guy who took Hank and Evan in to live in his guest house which is still bigger than most people's regular house.
Mrs. Newman - A Hamptons resident who is a reoccurring patient of HankMed and is now dating Eddie.  She's hilariuos and I particularly love the episode where she threw a giant "Bark-Mitzvah" for her dog's 13th Birthday.

Jill, Evan, Hank, Divya (L to R)
Photo Credit: epguides.com

Shariously tune in to USA Wednesday nights at 9pm.