Lavender Soju Lemonade

Happy Thirsty Thursday, everyone! I'm delighted to share with you not only a new cocktail recipe, but my very first food & cooking video, made by yours truly! I literally did everything by myself! Just a quick mention: I know a lot of you have asked me in the past who does my photos, who edits them, etc.; when many have assumed they were strictly done by my husband (who, yes, is a pretty well-known and very talented photographer) but besides the editorial fashion shoots we try and do once a week, everything else is my own content! And when it comes to video editing, that's all done by me too. Interesting fact? I learned how to cut & edit music, plus video, from my childhood figure skating days! And with photos of myself, if it is not mentioned that it's a self-portrait photograph, the pictures of me are done by my love. :)

Now back to the lecture at hand... ha ha! I've been in a creative rut lately, feeling like my recent work has been flat. Something didn't fit quite right. Yes, I'm a perfectionist and am completely guilty of being hard on myself (too much at times). But as they say, 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!' I've never worked with lavender in terms of culinary use, and when the idea of a refreshing yet soothing cocktail came up on a 'last days of summer' drinks story, I knew these little enchanting flowers were the perfect choice! Plus, having the excuse to buy extra lavender is always a good one. My whole apartment smells inviting yet calming. 

My favorite part was removing the flowers from its stems. The aroma is intoxicating, I couldn't get enough of it! You can steep it for less or more than the 10 minutes I did. For a lighter scent, I'd recommend 5 minutes. If you really want to kick it up a notch, I'd go for a little bit longer than the 10. Observe the coloring, as the more it steeps, the darker the color. I also really enjoyed watching the colors combine with each other. The dark purple with the bright, vibrant yellow from the lemon juice. You can also use a juicer if you're not a fan of squeezing 'em by hand. 

Lavender Soju Lemonade

Cocktail recipe + photos by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1c. lavender flowers
2c. boiling water
2c. cold water
1c. lemon juice
1c. sugar
5fl. oz. soju
1 tray ice cubes

Directions:

Place freshly cut lavender flowers in a pitcher; pour the boiling water over lavender; cover with plastic wrap and allow to steep 10 minutes; strain and discard the lavender from the water and return the water to the pitcher. Add cold water, lemon juice, and sugar to the pitcher and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in soju, mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with a stem of lavender. Enjoy!

I also used pure organic cane sugar to be on the healthy side. (Even though I'm a sugar addict) And then the most important ingredient! I always use Charm Soju when it comes to this Korean liquor. It's my favorite and the quality is high. The secret is to add it last. You'll want the sugar to completely dissolve before mixing in the soju. I kept it light and simple when it came to serving the drinks. Over several ice cubes and a stem of lavender, I kept the garnishing straight-forward. But the idea of also turning these cocktails into a slushies did come to mind. Or perhaps Korean shaved-iced? Now that would be a fun cocktail to do! (Hint, hint!) 

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out the latest cocktail recipe I created! Be sure to check out the how-to video I also made down below! (Full steps included.) We hope you enjoyed the lavender Korean-fusion inspired lemonade we shared with you today and that you are soaking up as much fun in the sun before summer ends. Coming up on the blog, a brand spanking new travel diary (so excited to go!) and lots of NYFW coverage. It's gonna be a crazy, hectic next couple of weeks so brace yourselves! ;) Stay tuned... 

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Videography + photography, styling + editing by: Suzanne Spiegoski 

Hey everyone! I got into a bit of a creative funk the past few days, so instead of whining about it I did this! It's my first food & cooking video! Better yet, it's how to make lavender soju lemonade! Cheers!

LOVE & XX'S,

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OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Everyday Makeup Tutorial

Photos © Suzanne Spiegoski, 2016.

Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! I'm back with another post, weekly video included, and I'm focusing on my everyday makeup! I wanted to show you guys that I do NOT wake up looking like this and it does take a little bit of 'grooming' before I head out the door (unless it's a rollerblade sesh with MaQ).

To be honest, I was hesitant, at first, to show my face to the world without any makeup on, but the reason why I did this is to, one, step out of my comfort zone, and two, to show you a different part of my everyday lifestyle. I'm all about 'sharing the wealth' and 'tricks of the trade.' Nothing is more off-putting than a woman who isn't about this. Prime example? When you complement a woman on something she's wearing and you ask her where she got it from; her answer? 'Uh, gee, I don't really know. It was a gift.' Nice talkin' to ya. Buh-bye.

So today I'm sharing my everyday makeup look and some tips/tricks along the way! Lately, before applying any makeup on, I wash my face with coconut oil. I'll have to do a post on the wonders of coconut oil because it's not only used as a butter substitute but more especially as a beauty regiment! After thoroughly cleansing my face, I apply an ultra moisturizing cream from Kiehl's and then a primer from Hourglass.

Once that sets in after about a minute, I begin with color correcting and foundation. I know a lot of women start with eye makeup, but I do that later, especially with everyday wear. With a Beauty Blender, I apply a BB cream from the Body Shop to even out my skin tone. It's got a really great light coverage with a sheer tint to it. I don't normally use heavier liquid foundation for everyday makeup because my skin is super sensitive and a combination of oily and dry, so I try to keep the coverage to a minimum to let my skin breathe. I use a green color corrector from the Sephora Collection to cover breakouts and acne scars. I continue by buffing in the green with the Beauty Blender, only then using a more high-coverage kind of concealer from Anastasia Beverly Hills. Right now, I'm using a warmer tan-colored concealer in 1.5 because being out and about so much now that the weather's been better, my skin color is starting to change. I again put the concealer over where I put the green corrector on my face, including a little bit under my eyes. Goodbye, dark circles! I then like to use a brightener from Benefit under my eyes down to my dimples, forming a triangular shape. This continues to help with any color correcting.

The next step is contouring. I use L'Oréal Infallible Pro Contour Palette in Medium. The brush that comes with the palette is amazing and really efficient in getting all the contouring in the right place! With my bareMinerals face brush, I complete the contouring with a little bit of blush. I use a coral/peach color from Cargo in Laguna. My last two steps to finish applying face makeup is a creamier highlighter from Benefit called Watt's Up. It's the best highlighter. EVER. Lastly, to set everything in, I use a perfecting powder from New York Color with a No. 2 face brush from Hourglass.

To complete my everyday look, I fill in my brows with an eyebrow palette from the Sephora Collection. I've had it for years and it's the only brow product I use with it comes to perfecting my eyebrows. Sadly, they no longer carry it, hence the no-link. :( I also use a little bit of liquid eyeliner to open up my eyes a bit with L'Oréal's Infallible Never Fail Eyeliner in Carbon Black 591. To brighten the lower lids of my eyes, I use the Naked 2 from Urban Decay in the color 'Verve', which is a wonderful silvery-metallic tone. I never use black eyeliner around the entire eye because it makes your eyes look smaller! BIG no-no! Try using a white color base for the bottom of your eyes to give it that extra pop. For my mascara, I use the Lash Domination by bareMinerals. It's small and compact, and great for travel use. I always curl my lashes with my trusty eyelash curler from Sally Hansen. And last but not least, my lipstick from Almay. Its color is, 'teaberry', but I've had this for so many years, they no longer make it. I love the color so much because it's kind of nude but kind of peachy. It's a great color for my lips as I like to keep my everyday lipstick pretty neutral.

You can watch the full tutorial on my YouTube Channel. (Click down below to start watching!) And please feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you thought about this tutorial! Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to see more weekly videos! Thanks for stopping by. We hope you have a killer weekend!

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videography, director, editing, styling, hair + makeup by Suzanne Spiegoski

Today's video is my very first makeup tutorial focusing on everyday wear. Check down below for shopping links to products. I hope you enjoy this makeup tutorial! xo.

LOVE & XX'S

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