Malbec World Day with Speak Wines

Happy Friday and Happy Malbec World Day! Speak Wines, a local Orange County company bottles 2012 Malbec, a red wine that the company has produced in La Consulta, located in Mendoza, Argentina wine country. Aside from the delicious red wine, the bottles are dressed in the darn cutest labels! Speak Wines founders and friends Stephanie and Kerry curated a collection of quotes and phrases that inspire them and hopefully will inspire others.
They debuted Speak Wines with Collection 1, which includes a series of playful, happy, and quirky labels which reflect the emotions Stephanie and Kerry experienced during the development process of Speak Wines. I want to collect them all, drink the wine, and save the bottles!
I'm looking forward to seeing (and drinking) upcoming Speak Wines collections, and like the fashion industry, the company will release seasonal collections with labels that are influenced by trends and that are meant to speak to you. Get your own bottle ($25 each), or multiple bottles (don't blame you if you want the entire collection) here or if you're located in Orange County, stop by the Wine Gallery in Corona Del Mar.

Calivino Wine Pub in Anaheim

Wine, Bites, and Trivia

When blogger babe Donna invited me to come wine and dine with her and other blogger babe Kimberly, how could I refuse? Good company, food, and wine? I'm so there! We met at the Calivino Wine Pub in Anaheim located near Angel Stadium for some much needed catch up on each others' lives and to share support and love. I liked the almost rustic meets modern feel of the wine pub, and it was packed, we were situated in this nice corner in the back with plush seating! Come to find out that it was trivia night at Calivino and the participants were very enthusiastic about it, the girls and I didn't fully partake in the trivia game but we followed along. We started off with, naturally, a glass of wine, and appetizers which included Bacon Dates (with goat cheese and honey), Brussels Sprouts (honey roasted and served with pork belly bits), and the Cheese Platter (three cheeses and assorted additions such as nuts, cranberries, olives, and crostinis).  For the main course we split the Lamb Burger (with mint, garlic, onion jam, and gremolata yogurt), and for dessert, the Chocolate Lava Cake (and the best I've ever had too). Our waiter and the manager Daniel made sure that our wine and meal was to our linking; and I loved the atmosphere and energy of the place. Calivino also has a happy hour menu and check out their site for other events and happenings.

Calivino Wine Pub
2410 East Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92806
714-939-7735

HOURS
Mon- Thur: 11am to 10pm
Friday: 11am to 12am
Saturday: 5pm to 12am
Sunday: 3pm to 8pm

Book your table here!

Costa Mesa Nekter Juice Bar now Re-Opened!

Nekter Juice Bar's much anticipated Costa Mesa location's grand re-opening was a hit during it's Black & White themed party. Guests enjoyed the launch of Nekter Food, an exciting addition to their menu, a silhouette artist and photo booth, Blue Ice Vodka cocktails and One Hope Wine Champagne infused with Nekter juice, and live entertainment. This location is the first store out of 44 locations; and has been completely re-imagined and doubled in size, with new artwork and refreshing face lift. Can't wait to go back for more juice, smoothies, bowls, and bites!

Nekter Juice Bar - Costa Mesa
474 E. 17th Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(800) 385-1650


Hours:
Mon-Fri: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sat-Sun: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Come to the Stax Cookie Bar Grand Opening on 10/18, Irvine

Stax Cookie Bar in Irvine, California soft opened this past week and is celebrating their Grand Opening tomorrow, Saturday October 18th from 10am-Midnight! Come in a get yourself a fresh baked cookie, ice cream, ice cream sandwich or other signature desserts! 20% of sales will go to the Irvine Public School Foundation! Read more on my experience with my Destination Irvine write up! If you want to know what I tasted, I had a 'Sweet Stax' Ice Cream Sandwich with Maple Bacon Cookies and Espresso Coffee Ice Cream as well as a Affogato; which is ice cream (I picked vanilla) with espresso poured all over it!

Stax Cookie Bar
4187 Campus Drive, M174
Irvine, CA 
949-861-2055
info@staxcookiebar.com

in University Center across from UCI
near Cha for Tea & Eureka! Restaurant
Parking Lot

The Milk Shop, Los Angeles

While in LA with blogger babe Kimberly for Chagoury Couture's 'Get Chic with Chagoury' event, we decided to make a pit stop in at The Milk Shop to enjoy amazing treats before heading back to OC. I didn't want to go overboard with the sweets (was trying not to spoil my appetite before dinner), so I settled for a Red Velvet Ice Cream bar and Kimberly the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream bar; along with the ice cream bars, The Milk Shop is known for their macaron ice cream sandwiches and blue velvet, yes, blue velvet cake (which Kimberly took home with her) to name a few, but they also have a well rounded menu of sandwiches, salads, and soups. Of course, Kimberly and I had to try each others' ice cream bars, we enjoyed the Red Velvet ice cream bar the most!

MILK
7290 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-939-MILK
info@themilkshop.com

HOURS
Sunday through Thursday: 10am to 10pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am to 11 pm

Parking is available all day in the lot located at 7369 Beverly Blvd.