TIS THE SEASON FOR HOLIDAY~ICIOUS COCKTAILS
Wishing you happy holidays and a healthy new year!
May 2012 bring you days filled with love and laughter!
We are in full swing of the holiday’s and what better to talk about than what you will be serving your guests at the bar! So who’s coming over – family, friends, co-workers or a blending of your worlds? No fear – the best way to get a party started is with interesting, creative (seasonal) and beautiful looking drinks. Now I’m no cocktail guru (I’ll leave that up to the experts like my friends at Dress The Drink or Pour Masters Bartending)
but I do know a thing or two about creating Sensational Events.
I’ve also include a mocktail for the DD (designated driver and pregnant friends).
Here’s some amazing recipes I’ve discovered and others have shared with me. Now granted I haven’t had the chance to try them all so you will have to experiment and let me know which was your favorite! I’ve also included the “Pecan Pie Martini” in the Guilty Pleasures section on the sidebar plus a link to all the other Guilty Pleasure recipes. It’s the season of sharing so post your favorite holiday cocktail as a comment so everybody can enjoy!
1st row left to right: Merry Cranberry Margaritas, Jingle Juice and Key Lime Pie Martini
2nd row left to right: Maple Mocktail, Candy Cane Martini and Butterscotch Coffee
3rd row left to right: Sugar Cookie Martini, Colombian Connection and Eggnog Martini.
Holiday Inspired Cocktails
Merry Cranberry Margaritas
by My Recipes
1 1/4 cups cranberry juice cocktail, divided
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
3/4 cup tequila
1/2 cup orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau
3 cups coarsely crushed ice
Pour 1/4 cup cranberry juice into a shallow bowl. Pour 3 tbsp. sugar onto a plate. Dip rims of 4 to 6 wide mouthed glasses (6 to 8 oz., suitable for margaritas) into juice, then sugar. Set glasses aside.
Reserve 12 cranberries. In a blender, whirl the remaining cranberries, cranberry juice, and sugar, the lime juice, tequila, orange liqueur, and ice until smooth and slushy. If necessary, blend in 2 batches, then mix together. Divide among glasses and garnish with reserved berries, skewered on toothpicks. Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Jingle Juice
by My Recipes
5 cups orange juice
1 cup vodka
1/3 cup orange liqueur
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
Garnishes: fruit-flavored candy cane sticks, cherries with stems, orange and lemon slices
Stir together orange juice and next 4 ingredients; serve over ice. Garnish, if desired.
Spritzer: Omit vodka and orange liqueur. Add 2 cups chilled lemon-lime soft drink. Proceed as directed. Note: If you don’t have orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec, substitute an equal amount of orange juice.
Key Lime Pie Martini
by Emeril Lagasse
Graham cracker crumbs, for rimming the glass
2 lime wedges
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) vanilla flavored vodka
1/4 cup (2 ounces) key lime liqueur (recommended: KeKe Beach Key Lime Liqueur)
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Ice cubes
Chill the glass for 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Combine the vanilla vodka, key lime liqueur, pineapple juice, and cream in a shaker. Fill the shaker half full with ice and shake until well blended. Pour into prepared martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge and serve immediately. Pour the graham cracker crumbs in a shallow dish. Rub a lime wedge around the edge of a martini glass and roll the edge in the graham cracker crumbs.
Maple Mocktail
(non alcoholic drink)
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup apple juice
1 cup sparkling water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
maple sugar (to garnish)
8 cinnamon sticks (to garnish)
Mix the 5 first ingredients. Dim rim of each tall glasses in the maple sugar. Pour the drinks in the glasses. Garnish with cinnamon sticks.
Candy Cane Martini
1 1/4 ounces vanilla vodka
1 1/4 ounces white crème de cacao
3/4 ounce peppermint schnapps
Garnish: peppermint candy
Combine vanilla vodka, white creme de cacao, and peppermint schnapps in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with peppermint candy.
Butterscotch Coffee
1 ounce butterscotch schnapps
1 ounce Irish cream
Hot Coffee
Whipped cream
Nutmeg
Pour the liqueurs into a coffee cup. Fill the cup the rest of the way with hot coffee.
Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Sugar Cookie Martini
2 oz. Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
2 oz. Bailey Irish Cream
2 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps
2 oz. Whipping Cream
2 oz. Milk
Sugar cookies to crumble for rimming
Combine ingredients in a martini shaker with ice. To be a bit more decadent, dip the edges of your martini glass in chocolate or Carmel syrup then rim with the sugar cookie crumble. Shake martini and pour. YUM
Colombian Connection
By The Mint, a handcrafted cocktail – voted BEST Cocktails by AZ Foothills
Ingredients
1oz Patron XO
1oz Absolut Vanilla
1oz Baileys Irish Cream
1oz Half & Half
Drizzle chocolate syrup across the bulb from side to side until desired look is achieved.
Mix & shake and strain into a chocolate drizzle martini glass.
Eggnog Martini
1 1/2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce spiced rum
1/2 ounce vanilla vodka
3 ounces store bought eggnog
1/4 ounce simple syrup
Garnish: Crushed graham crackers and cinnamon stick
Dip the rim of a martini glass in water and then into the crushed graham crackers.
Combine dark rum, spiced rum, vodka with eggnog and simple syrup in an ice-filled martini shaker. Shake well, strain and pour into a prepared glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick. Serves 1.
Sensational Events is a distinct full-service event planning and production company that creates one-of-a-kind experiences for discerning individuals and companies. Based in sunny Arizona, our event planning team serves Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson and surrounding areas. Since 2001, Sensational Events has been a leader in the industry by focusing on experience and innovation, not formula and routine.
Our event planning team provides turn-key personalized coordination in all its divisions;
parties, mitzvahs, corporate, weddings and destination events.
We invite you to contact us today to see how we can turn your event into a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE!
Call 602-696-4646 or email us at events@sensationalevents.com.
Profile in Sports Event Planning: AZ Urban Race Dominates!
Innovative Ideas Made First-Ever Race a Great Success
Mountainside Fitness had a HUGE 2011 – they celebrated their 20th Anniversary in May and brought a new and exciting twist to a race/obstacle course – AZ Urban Race in early November. Sensational Events is proud to have been the event producer on both events for this growing, Arizona-based fitness company.
Photos courtesy of Zazoosh Event Photography
On Saturday, November 5th Mountainside Fitness was the presenting sponsor at the AZ Urban Race, a 3-mile, 10-obstacle challenge course at Salt River Fields (SRF) to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona. This first year event was tremendously successful with more than 2,500 adult participants and 460 Phoenix Children’s Hospital – Kohl’s Kids Rock Stars taking part in the Kids Urban Race.
An event like this just doesn’t happen – it takes the right team and a serious amount of detail planning to make it successful. Working directly with the Race Director, Mario Arce, we gathered the best in the business to make the race team including Race Place Events and Zazoosh Event Photography. Mario was a former competitive runner and he new the in’s and out’s of how a race should function so the logistics of the race itself was fairly uncomplicated to him. The set up for the festival at the registration/finish line was a piece of cake for me since dealing with registration, sponsors, vendors, bands, food concessionaires, etc are all a part of my world. From the website to the race day program, every detail was carefully crafted. Even the precautions that were taken during a windy and raining set up were a part of our “what if” scenarios.
Photos courtesy of Zazoosh Event Photography; Bottom Left photo courtesy of Brandon Boetto, Blue Media
Now that we’ve got the details covered but what about the budget. A race like this costs money to produce, but most importantly, the purpose of this event was to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation of AZ, so a plan had to be put in place from the start to capture funds. Based on my experience with coordinating charity events I designed the AZ Urban Race sponsorship program that outlined the sponsorship levels and their benefits. This marketing piece is the key ingredient to any fund-raising event and helped the race sales team land major sponsors such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Blue Media, Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Clif Bar. The current relationships that Mountainside Fitness has with these companies played a major role in their trust of this event and eventually their participation in the race. It was also very important to invite the Salt River Pima Indian Tribal Council (since it was on their land) and the Mayor of Scottsdale, Mayor Lane, to join in the festivities because of its impact on Scottsdale.
All in all it was a great day and the participants loved the course, had a chance to visit all the sponsors and vendors at the festival, listen to the great music of The Chadwick’s and go home feeling rewarded.
Top Left: Mayor of Scottsdale Jim and Joanne Lane; Top Left: The event team: Mario Arce, Race Director; Bottom Left: Zazoosh Event Photogaphy; Race Place Events
Looking forward to creating the 2nd Annual AZ Urban Race and working with wonderful clients such as Mountainside Fitness!
Sensational Events is a distinct full-service event planning and production company that creates one-of-a-kind experiences for discerning individuals and companies. Based in sunny Arizona, our event planning team serves Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson and surrounding areas. Since 2001, Sensational Events has been a leader in the industry by focusing on experience and innovation, not formula and routine. Our event planning team provides turn-key personalized coordination in all its divisions; parties, mitzvahs, corporate, weddings and destination events.
We invite you to contact us today to see how we can turn your event into a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE! Call 602-696-4646 or email us at events@sensationalevents.com.
Patriot Day Celebration Reminds Us To…NEVER FORGET 9-11
PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!
I never really understood how strong of a statement this really is until I started working on the Patriot Day Celebration two years ago. It is much more powerful and impactful than one really knows. It comes from the heart, deep down in the soul. Now when I hear this statement I feel deeply connected because I know what these men and women are doing on our behalf to make all of us live the good life. I don’t take it for granted and I hope you will look at the images and videos below and reach out to our military and service men and women and say THANK YOU because they need to know how much we love what they do on our behalf and our country.
Thank you to Harley Bonham Photography for your creativity and beautiful images.
On Saturday, September 10, 2011 Phoenix hosted two of the largest events in honor of the memory of those lives lost and in support of those lives affected by September 11, 2001:
9-11 Honor Ride and 3rd Annual Patriot Day Celebration.
The day started bright and early at Sanderson Ford, who graciously offered to host the kick off of the 9-11 Honor Ride. The Patriot Guard Riders helped stage and coordinate more than 450 bikers and their parade of flags. After everyone got decked out in 9-11 Honor Ride t-shirts and ride pins they rode to Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson for a raffle prize stop! Thanks to the many businesses that provided these gifts. The last leg of their ride was an escorted ride to the event site, Paseo Highlands Park. What an awesome site that was to see!
A very special thank you to my 9-11 Honor Ride key partners – and I mean PARTNERS because this event would not have been as successful or fun to work on without their support and energy (and our entertaining meetings)! Sanderson Ford, Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson, Patriot Guard Riders, KNIX, FOX NEWS 550 KFYI, Mike Broomhead, Law Tigers and The Logo Man! And finally, to the ASU students of the Special Event Planners Association who volunteered their time and talents – you rock!
9-11 HONOR RIDE
Slideshow by Harley Bonham Photography
3RD ANNUAL PATRIOT DAY CELEBRATION
HONORS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9-11
Sensational Events and David Haddad, Fumar Cigars (Friends of Freedom), started working on this event in early November setting the stage for what ended up being the LARGEST 9-11 MEMORIAL CELEBRATION IN THE SOUTHWEST! More than 6,500 attended the day-long event and had the opportunity to experience many exciting things such as exploring four military helicopters and seeing them take off at the end of the day, Tony Orlando in concert (what a tremendous performer he is!), Governor Brewer, who ended up watched the entire Tony Orlando concert, and much more!
And, if you missed the Skype call with Ladder 3 it was a great YouTube moment. But seriously, thank you to Ladder 3 in NYC for spending time with our event on the 10th Anniversary so that we can show them how much we appreciate them and the sacrifices they made for us.
Thank you to Josh Chilton, events manager at KFYI and KNIX COUNTRY, for capturing the days events.
An event of this magnitude is only as strong as its partners (sponsors), so thank you to the Major Sponsors of the 3rd Annual Patriot Day Celebration: Sanderson Ford, American Airlines, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, Tee It Up For The Troops, ArmedZilla, Fidelity National Title, Preferred Packaging, RV Rental, Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson, Ortiz Brothers Patio Furniture, H2O Concepts, Best Buy, Fender, Miller High Life, Four Peaks Brewery, Alliance Beverage, Pour Masters Bartending Services, FOX News 550 KFYI, KNIX Country, Cox Communications, The Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, Arizona Color, Sensational Events and Fumar Cigars.
Personal thank you to the following for their involvement and commitment to the cause: Michael Venezia, Corinne Chapman, Phil Vandel, Jeff Senour, George Weisz, Leesa Morrison, Tom Hale and Jim Palmersheim, American Airlines Veterans Initiatives Director; and Bonnie Bauman.
If you look back at my most recent blog from April 15 Click Here you can read all the event highlights.
Thank you to Annie Cooper Photography who covered the entire day from the 9-11 Honor Ride to the Patriot Day Celebration. And, thank you to Jeff Wesby for creating this beautiful slide show.
Sensational Events is a distinct full-service event planning and production company that creates one-of-a-kind experiences for discerning individuals and companies. Based in sunny Arizona, our event planning team serves Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson and surrounding areas. Since 2001, Sensational Events has been a leader in the industry by focusing on experience and innovation, not formula and routine. Our event planning team provides turn-key personalized coordination in all its divisions; parties, mitzvahs, corporate, weddings and destination events.
We invite you to contact us today to see how we can turn your event into a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE! Call 602-696-4646 or email us at events@sensationalevents.com.
PATRIOT DAY CELEBRATION HONORS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9-11
LARGEST 9-11 MEMORIAL CELEBRATION IN THE SOUTHWEST
SEPTEMBER 10th EVENT PAYS TRIBUTE TO
10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9-11
Let’s join together and honor of the 10th anniversary of 9-11 and our heroes, military and first responders at the 3rd Annual Patriot Day Celebration on Saturday, September 10, 2011 (9-10-11) at Paseo Highlands Park, 35th Ave and Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix, from 2 pm to 9 pm. This community-wide celebration is the Largest 9-11 memorial celebration in the Southwest and features a benefit concert by Award-Winning and Grammy Nominated Singer Joe Nichols with a special guest appearance by Tony Orlando.
Sensational Events is proud to be the event producer for the past two years on this event and hopes you will support it and join us as we “say thank you” to all branches of our Arizona military and those serving to protect our state. Of course, we could not have produced such an amazing event without the financial support and trust by all our sponsors. Please visit patriotdayaz.org and patronize these community-minded businesses that care enough to get involved.
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! patriotdayaz.org Admission is free for military personnel with government ID or in uniform. General admission is only $9.11 for advance online sales. Day of event admission is $10. Sponsorships and limited vendor exhibit space are still available.
The Patriot Day Celebration commemorates those brave civilians and first responders who heroically sacrificed their lives for our freedom on 9-11. This event draws attention that we should “never forget” the service men, women and veterans that are and have been courageously putting their lives on the line for the United States of America. We also recognize the families of service personnel who bravely stand by; we support their dedication.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
Times: 2 PM – 9 PM
Location: Paseo Highlands Park, 3435 W. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix
Admission Price: $9.11 (plus surcharge) for advance online sales. Day of event admission is $10.
Website: patriotdayaz.org
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Award-Winning and Grammy Nominated Singer Joe Nichols
Special Guest Appearance by Tony Orlando
Featuring Nashville Recording Artists Corinne Chapman and Phil Vandel
Arizona’s own CTS Music (Consider The Source)
Aerial show by Deer Valley War Birds featuring 4 Vietnam Era Warplanes (Yaks)
Dramatic Parachute Demonstration Jump
Best Buy Skype and Gaming Zone -talk with soldiers overseas
Regimental Grog – In military tradition, a signature drink will be made on site to toast and honor our country, troops, community and pay tribute to our fallen soldiers. Through a dramatic and emotional narration, symbols in the form of ingredients will be added to the Regimental Grog in our commitment to “Never Forget.”
MILITARY DISPLAYS
From the Arizona Army National Guard: Apache Longbow, Black Hawk Helicopter
From the Marine Corps: Cobra Attack Helicopter and V-22 Osprey VTOL
Armed Vehicles, Humvees and Mobile Recruiting Office
Rock Climbing Walls and much more!
BIKERS FROM ACROSS ARIZONA JOIN 9-11 HONOR RIDE
PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS LEAD THE WAY!
The 9-11 HONOR RIDE kicks off our Patriot Day Celebration on Saturday, September 10th with a ceremonial ride, led by the Patriot Guard Riders, at 11 am at Sanderson Ford’s Starliner Diner, 5111 W. Maryland Ave., Glendale. The ride then stops for raffle prizes at Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson and ends with an escorted ride into the 3rd Annual Patriot Day Celebration. Come watch as 500 bikers will cruise into the event at 2:30 PM! Join the ride!
EVENT DETAILS
Date: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
Times: 11 Kick Stands Up (Registrations starts at 8 am)
Location: SANDERSON FORD, “Starliner Diner”
5111 W. Maryland Ave. | Glendale, AZ 85301
9-11 Honor Ride Includes Entry into Patriot Day Event Registration Fee: $9.11(plus surcharge) for advance online sales. Day of event admission is $15. *First 300 registered get a free Honor Ride T-shirt or Tank.
Website: patriotdayaz.org
Sensational Events is a distinct full-service event planning and production company that creates one-of-a-kind experiences for discerning individuals and companies. Based in sunny Arizona, our event planning team serves Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson and surrounding areas. Since 2001, Sensational Events has been a leader in the industry by focusing on experience and innovation, not formula and routine. Our event planning team provides turn-key personalized coordination in all its divisions; parties, mitzvahs, corporate, weddings and destination events.
We invite you to contact us today to see how we can turn your event into a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE! Call 602-696-4646or email us at events@sensationalevents.com.
SPICE UP YOUR BLOG WITH A PERSONALIZED GRAVATAR
FROM HUM DRUM TO HUBBA HUBBA!
GRAVATAR ADDS PERSONALITY TO YOUR BLOG
From time to time I actually take a few minutes to step away from planning and just think about business possibilities and opportunities. Usually this gets me into trouble but I think I’m safe with this idea! 
Last November I launched this new website and am thoroughly enjoying the blog platform. I wanted to spice up my comment section so I looked at various ways to make it appealing and have “personality.” I found the use of Avatars on the internet to be pretty fun and interesting. So what is it you ask? It’s a small image sharing a glimpse of who the “author” is on a certain blog, forum, or community website. If you post regularly on sites it can be such a hassle to have to upload a picture each and every time you make a comment so…. That’s where Gravatar’s come in. Gravatar’s are Globally Recognized Avatars and the idea is that you link a picture to your email address in one place and that avatar can be pulled into a variety of other websites.
Avatars are animated graphics where Gravatar’s are static images just like the one you use for
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other social mediums we all use.
Sound simple – it is! Here’s where you can get your own Gravatar (www.Gravatar.com). Just enter your email address, confirm it when you get the welcome email, and upload a photo! It will then begin appearing when you enter your email address (usually required anyways) on a Gravatar-enabled website. Choose your Gravatar very carefully. Don’t pick just any picture. Make sure you use an image that lends itself to your blog’s identity.
Avatars were created by Tom Preston-Werner.
Gravatar the company, is now owned by Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress.
Gravatar – A How To Video:
Here’s some Gravatar’s that are featured on the Sensational Events blog.
Now let’s get creative….Why not use it for an event! What better way to market your event on the web but by having the event logo as the signature image. Just attach it to the main email and VOILÀ you are done! Here’s a note from my client, Mario Arce, race director of the AZ Urbanathlon.
Now go and give it a try and sign up for your own personalized Gravatar!
I love finding cool ideas so if you’ve come across something unique I hope you will share it.
Sensational Events is a distinct full-service event planning and production company that creates one-of-a-kind experiences for discerning individuals and companies. Based in sunny Arizona, our event planning team serves Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson and surrounding areas. Since 2001, Sensational Events has been a leader in the industry by focusing on experience and innovation, not formula and routine. Our event planning team provides turn-key personalized coordination in all its divisions; parties, mitzvahs, corporate, weddings and destination events.
We invite you to contact us today to see how we can turn your event into a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE! Call 602-696-4646or email us at events@sensationalevents.com.
by Amy
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