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Hi bloggy friends! So, CK Mondavi sent me some wine for a fun promotion they are doing right now titled It’s 5 O’Clock Anywhere, and as part of the promotion they asked me to come up with some fun cocktails for their CK Mondavi Moscato, CK Mondavi Blonde Five and the CK Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc. Below are the three cocktails I created. Each one was delicious and although I’m the type of gal that likes wine straight from the bottle, I know these drinks will be created and consumed again and again and again! So yummy. p.s. to please them FTC peeps – some of the links below are in fact affiliate links. By clicking them you’ll be redirected to a sales page where if you purchase the item I’ll receive a small commission. Thank you in advance for supporting this blog!

The CK Mondavi MosCosmo

For my first drink I played with the CK Mondavi Moscato. It just so happened that the day I decided to play mixologist was the Fourth of July. Perfect! It was hot as could be and I wanted something refreshing and on ice. After thinking about what went into a traditional cosmo. The original recipe calls for vodka, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice. I thought it would be interesting to swap the moscato for the triple sec and see how it tasted. Needless to say, it was a hit! Everyone loved it and the bottle was gone before I could even ask “Do you want one more?”

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup CK Mondavi Moscato
• 1 cup cranberry juice
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1 tbs Rose’s lime juice

Prep:

• Mix ingredients in a large shaker. I used a 45 oz protein shake shaker bottle.
• Pour over ice into a glass. I used three old fashioned scotch glasses

Makes approximately three drinks.

CK Mondavi Summer Sauvignon Sangria

For my next drink I thought a refreshing summer sangria would be lovely. So, that’s just what I decided to do, albeit with a slight twist from “traditional” sangria. Most sangria features a red wine and fruit. Some people add brandy, others add sprite. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups CK Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 cans of Del Monte Mixed Fruit – I used the cans that featured mixed fruit in an extra light syrup with pineapples, peaches and pears. They also happened to be 50 cals each, but you could use bigger cans or ones with heavy syrup/fruit juice if you want your sangria to be sweeter and/or have more fruit in it.
• 1/4 cup vodka – optional, but I wanted a little more kick to my adult fruit punch.

Prep:

• Pour ingredients into a large pitcher. Stir with a wooden spoon
• Refrigerate for 2-8 hours.
• Pour over ice into a glass.

Makes between two and three drinks depending on how big your glasses are.

CK Mondavi California Sunset

For my final drink I used the CK Mondavi Blonde Five and decided to do a spin on a tequila sunrise type drink. I named it California Sunset as homage to the fact that CK Mondavi is based in California. This drink out of all three I made was by far my favorite. Refreshing and delicious? YES and HELL YES!!

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle CK Mondavi Blonde
• Rose’s Grenadine Syrup
• 1 cup pineapple juice

Prep:

• Chill the wine, the pineapple juice and the grenadine – you want these ingredients as cold as possible. Not frozen, but the colder the better!
• Grab a chilled martini glass– this can be done by freezing the glass
• Fill 1/3 of the glass with the CK Mondavi Blonde.
• Fill the second 1/3 of the glass with pineapple juice
• Finally, slowly pour in the grenadine onto the side of the glass and watch as it pools into the bottom of the glass. Fill about a quarter of an inch to an inch depending on how much of the “sun” you would like to see or how sweet you would like the drink to taste
• Drink the sunset and enjoy!
• Repeat until you run out of pineapple juice and then finish the CK Mondavi Blonde by itself. Fret not, it’s refreshingly delicious by itself!

Well, there you have it, my three CK Mondavi Summer Cocktails. It’s 5 O’Clock Anywhere, so I hope you will enjoy these liquid concoctions I have created. And, when you do, please drink responsibly!

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I am doing the Ultimate Blogging Challenge for the month of July 2016, and one of the cool things about the challenge is reading the fabulous posts from other people in the challenge. One such post inspired what I’m writing here today. I found it on a site called Alphabet Salad and the post was called The 50X50 Project and featured 50 of the author’s goals that she plans to complete in 2016. To say it revved me up would be an understatement. Realizing that we’re now more than half way through 2016 I decided I’ll create my own list of my goals for the second half of this year and have named my list the 25X25 Project as my list features 25 things I want to accomplish over the next 25 weeks. Below the graphic you’ll find my list 😀

My 25 Goals for the Next 25 Weeks:

1. Publish another eBook or two under my own name
2. Drop 2 dress sizes or more by the end of the year
3. Workout three days or more per week now through the end of the year
4. Purchase 6 (i.e., one per month) items from friends with online shops.  (This one and the next one are ripped almost verbatim from the inspiration list because a lot of my friends own small businesses and I think it’s a beyond brilliant idea!)
5. Promote 6 (i.e., one per month) friends’ online shops on social media.
6. Go through every magazine I own and either use it, recycle it or donate it. This is part of a much bigger goal of being more paperless in my home.
7. Complete the updates to my writer for hire website
8. Design, complete and launch at least two niche sites
9. Finish at least the placeholder page for every domain I own and create the PBN page on each domain as well
10. Organize my living room – finished my kitchen and closet finally. Next, gotta get my living room under control. De-clutter and get rid of excess.
11. After my writer for hire site is done pitch at least 10 podcasts to try to be a guest on them
12. Meditate 10-20 minutes every day for the rest of the year
13. Successfully complete a road trip to California and back – planned for July 28-August 21 😀 Can’t wait to update this one with our progress!!!
14. Organize my dining room too. Again, de-clutter and get rid of excess
15. Become financially free from debt
16. Learn some Spanish already
17. Read 5 books – I do so much reading of blogs and articles for my day job that this is a lofty goal, but I’m starting with The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani 
18. Transfer all of the posts I want to keep from my old Famous Ashley site to this one. I know- I could have done this an easier way, but no- I chose the hard way of one at a time…
19. Organize my photographs on my computer
20. Re-size all the images on my external hard drive
21. Create and load 5 Youtube Videos per month through the end of the year
22. Do the one week no eating out challenge
23. Do the one week no spending money challenge
24. Set the plans in motion for a trip to Europe – create the timeline for saving the money, decide on a deadline for when we’re going to book the flight, perhaps even book the flight, etc… Yes, I just made a goal to make a plan. LOL
25. Make the gifts and cards I give for Christmas this year

I encourage you to consider your goals for the rest of the year too. And, if you are brave enough, share them publicly as I’m doing here. Perhaps doing so will be the public accountability you have been seeking. Happy goal setting and dream chasing!

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Reposting from the Crooked Table

I wrote this in August 2008 and it still rings true!

How bad do you want your dreams to come true?

This was a question asked of me recently and it actually freaked me out. I didn’t really know how to answer the question. It made me think about what the question really meant. Here’s what I came up with.

Because of what my dreams and goals are…

How bad do you want to be published? If you don’t want it bad enough it simply will not happen. Sitting on your ass talking about a book idea, a screenplay or even an article will get you nowhere fast! To make it happen you gotta get your butt in the chair, write it, edit it and shop it. You have to WANT to eat, breathe and sleep it to make it. Don’t want it bad enough? Then move on. Half assing anything is not worth it.

How bad do you want to be known? Once the book is written and edited you have to market the crap out of it! There is no excuse to not turn yourself into a brand that you are trying to advertise! Steven King is a brand, Danielle Steele is a brand, JK Rowling is a brand and without a successful marketing plan, they never would have gotten to be household names!

How bad do you want to retire/be financially independent? You have to decide now how much you need to retire or to be financially independent and then set all tracks towards that goal. Just like everything else though, if you don’t eat, breathe and sleep it, it’s over.

In case you haven’t figured it out 🙂 My goals are to be well known, get books published and be financially independent. If I don’t want it bad enough I know it’s not going to happen. Other people telling me to make it happen won’t help! I have to pump myself up and make it happen.

So, figure out what you want and decide if you want it bad enough to make your desires come to fruition!

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Saw this on Facebook and had the urge to fill it out… So, below the image are 26 things about me.

Twenty six things about me….
A- Age: Rude to ask
B- Biggest fear: Dying without completing everything I want to complete
C- Current time: 3:12p.m.
D- Drink you last had: Water
E- Every day starts with: A trip to the bathroom, LOL!
F- Favorite song: Too many favorites to pick one. Besides, it changes with my mood.
G- Ghosts are: Real. Boo!
H- Hometown: somewhere in Kentucky
I- In love: With life
J- Jealous of? Working on re-framing jealousy as if I want it and someone has it I can do it too because they just proved it’s possible
K- Killed someone? With kindness, sure.
L- Last time you cried? Yesterday
M- Middle name: what if it’s a secret I don’t share with just anyone? LOL
N- Number of siblings: 2
O- Something you wish for: To make $10,000 a month
Q- Question you’re always asked: Everything okay?
R- Reason to smile: I’m breathing
S- Song last sang: Can’t Keep My Hands to Myself
T- Time you woke up: The first time? 9 a.m. Actually got up? 11 a.m.
U- Underwear color: Green
V- Vacation destination: This summer LA and several states along the way. Dream destination is still a London and France combo trip
W- Worst habit: Unhealthy foods
X- X-Rays you have had: At one point or another – my entire body
Y- Your favorite food: Depends on the day, but I can pretty much eat Chipotle any time.
Z- Zodiac sign: Leo
Copy, paste and complete. Have fun!!!

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On June 11, 2016 I had the amazing opportunity to check out bd’s Mongolian Grill in Lakeland, Fla. Although they gave me and my husband a free meal, and gave me $25 to give away on my site, this did not impact my review. All opinions are my own.

I was already planning on coming to Lakeland on June 11 for the Florida Festival of Flavor & Fire at the Lakeland Center. So, when bd’s reached out and asked if I would be interested in checking out their restaurant I jumped at the chance! I invited my father-in-law and my husband and off we went to Lakeland to stuff our faces with yummy foods.

Around noon on that Saturday we stopped by bd’s and since we had a reservation we were seated right away. Speaking of which… I highly recommend a reservation if you plan on stopping by Friday or Saturday evening for dinner or for lunch on Saturday or Sunday.

After looking over the menu both my husband and I agreed that the best value would be the unlimited create your own bowls which included unlimited bowls of stir-fry and unlimited salad and unlimited soup from their homemade soup bar. This option is served with your choice of white or brown rice, flour tortillas or lettuce wraps.

I almost immediately went for green peppers, onions, white rice, steak, pork and a variety of spices.

After I chose what I wanted I walked over to the largest wok I’ve EVER seen where the fab staff cooked up my goodies and then delivered it:

As they cooked they sang funny parodies and entertained the crowd and delivered my meal to me with a smile. So fun! I took a video of the fun singing, but unfortunately, in true #bloggerfail form accidentally deleted it while I instagrammed the images of my experience…sigh…

Of course, at this point the pictures stopped while I stuffed my face just enough to leave room for a second helping.

The best part? If you’re not 100% sure what to order, there are cards at the front of the salad and meat bars that give you recipes that can help you decide what to put on your plate for the staff to cook up:

Check out the recipes, pick your favorite and order up! Then, once you have tried it, go back for round two.

You can stack your plate as high as you want as long as it won’t fall on the floor. LOL! Then, head back to the wok and have it cooked up again!

My only complaint? The room we sat in had too many tables in chairs. My group repeatedly complained about how little wiggle room there was and whether or not this was a fire code violation. Nonetheless, all of us enjoyed what we ate thoroughly!

Sadly, the weekend we went the beer and wine license had not yet been approved, so we didn’t get to try their adult beverages. Then again, this was probably for the best since it was only stop 1 of 2 for our Lakeland adventures.

Bottom line: Lunch at bd’s Mongolian is a fabulous value, and if you leave hungry you did something wrong. I highly recommend eating here. If I’m ever in Lakeland again, you can bet I’ll be eating at bd’s once more! It was so good!!!

 

 

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So, I’ve been doing the #livemorechallenge with the incredible Sarah Jenks. Today, is day 5 and she released video 2 in her free training as she gets closer to the doors opening for her program. Today’s video was about love and body and she asked two critical questions that I’m going to share below along with my answers that I gave in the challenge.

The first half of the video was about love and how you would show up more on your dates if you’re single or in your relationship if you’re wifed up.  The second half was about falling in love with your body even if it doesn’t look the way you want it to right now.  So, here’s the questions that she asked at the end of the video and my answers to them:

1. How are YOU going to show up more in your relationship? I’m going to stop simply throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I’m going to wear dresses because they make me feel sexy regardless of how I look to others. When I feel sexy my husband feels those good vibes and treats me better. I’m also going to get in my feminine flow like your example from the video- take a moment to turn off work Ashley, take a shower, light a candle and calm the hell down because calm and feminine Ashley is much more loving and enjoyable to be around.

2. What action are you going to take to start building a relationship with your body? I’m going to give her manicures and pedicures. She writes all day in her ghost writing business and her hands deserve a rest. She also deserves pedicures because she has foot problems and they would make her feel way more luxurious.

I’m putting it out into the Universe now that I hope I’m one of the winners of this challenge because I’d love to have a seat in the program. I’m all about body empowerment and am ready to stop waiting on the weight to live a life I love. I’m looking forward to participating in the rest of this challenge and then ultimately exploring all the exciting challenges that await me in the program. I’m ready to live more and weigh less!

bd’s Mongolian Grill, the popular create-your-own stir-fry restaurant, has returned to Lakeland under corporate ownership as of Monday, June 6, 2016.  The restaurant is located at 1474 Town Center Drive, in the Lakeside Village shopping mall.

To celebrate, the restaurant has sent me a $25 gift card to giveaway to one of my lucky readers! You can register to win below beginning at 12:00 EST 6/8/16.

Enter to win by 6/11/16 at 11:59 p.m. EST. A winner will be chosen on Sunday 6/12/16 and announced Monday 6/13/16! Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor 🙂
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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So, I’m doing the Live More Weigh Less Challenge with Sarah Jenks, and this time I’m trying to actually follow through on the entire 21 days.  I’ve been working on self-care a lot more these days since a health scare in March that made me decide to overhaul my entire life. I’ve been moving my body more, trying to eat healthier foods, up my water intake, see people more regularly and take better care of my mind and body. Today’s Live More Weigh Less challenge was to watch her free video and then write a comment answering the questions she asked in the video. She asked what we would do for fun today? What is our current relationship with our bodies? And, what has our journey been until now. Below is the answer I felt moved to write:

My current relationship with my body is work in progress. I’ve had the yo-yo diets and been up and down with my weight. My lowest weight was in high school and that’s the last time I was genuinely healthy. I ate better and moved more. Then, I got to college and stopped moving, and started eating crap foods. Unsurprisingly, the weight came on quickly and then was a bitch to get off. A few years ago I got fed up and tried a medical weight loss program and was thrilled to get just 10 lbs shy of my “goal weight” only to run out of money for the program and gain all the weight plus 20 lbs back.

Fast forward to today and over the past 6 months I’ve been trying to eat healthier and move my body more. I’m doing it for healthy rather than vanity now and things have improved a lot more. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m a hell of a lot closer than I was when I was yo-yo dieting, not moving my body and giving up.

For fun today I’m going to hang out with some fellow bloggers and jam on food and the joys of summer. I’m also going to have to try the eating without distractions thing and then I’ll check back in with how that goes. Very anxious to see what it will be like. I’ve heard you talk about it before, but I’ve never honestly given it the chance to work because I’ve always been convinced I need to multitask more (yet another thing I’m working on LOL).

Looking forward to actually following through with this 21 day challenge and I’m more excited about living more than I have been in a long ASH time! 😀

Fair warning, this grievance post is all about wanting what I want and if you are a Debbie Downer that leaves a comment telling me I’m wrong about how I’m feeling, I’m going to just delete it. The idea of this post is to explain what I want, and if you can’t give me an encouraging thought, then I don’t want your opinion. You’re entitled to your opinion of course, but it doesn’t mean I have to listen to it. Not anymore 🙂

Last year I was posting a LOT on Facebook about a travel goal of mine to hit the road in an RV and see the United States. I was also posting a lot about wanting to go on a cruise and wanting to see Europe, more of Asia and Australia. Then, one day I posted about how badly I wanted a house. Suddenly, one of my Facebook friends commented on the post “You can’t have both. You have been posting about travel so much Ashley, and you just can’t have both.”

Defeated was the best way to describe how I felt, and it made me so mad I deleted the house post completely and pouted. Yes, I still pout. It’s my process, leave me alone! LOL!

Since that day I’ve been thinking a lot about what that woman commented. I began seriously considering letting go of one goal in favor of the other, but couldn’t figure out which one I wanted most. It became a crazy internal debate that plagued my brain a lot. After arguing with myself for months trying to figure out which one I wanted more, I still couldn’t decide which life to go after. I was desperate for a house, but I was also desperate to sail around Europe on a cruise. I couldn’t choose between them. I couldn’t let go of the thought in the back of my mind which kept whispering “Why can’t I have both?”

Then, it hit me- I CAN HAVE BOTH! There is nothing wrong with that. It’s okay for me to want a life of travel AND a home base. Why was I letting someone tell me what I could and could not have? More importantly, why was I letting someone tell me what I should and should not want?

Will it be harder to achieve this? No, not necessarily. Will it cost more money? Sure, but if I want it bad enough isn’t that my problem to worry about? After contemplating this for a few months I’ve realized just how many times in my life I’ve allowed what other people think to influence my decisions, my thoughts, and my wants. NO MORE!

I’m done letting others dictate to me what I can and can not have. I’m done allowing others to influence my wants. I can have whatever I want and can go after my desires regardless of what others think. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting travel AND a house. So, I’m going full force after that dream because it’s mine and I want it. I have started to look at cruise deals southampton so that I can fulfil my dream of going on a cruise and seeing Europe. I have also started pricing up a trip to Australia. I won’t let anything hold me back from what I want to achieve and do now.

With that said, I’m putting my actual desire out into the Universe, regardless of what haters and naysayers may think! I want an adorable, organized home that is set up perfectly for me and I want to be able to travel the world three to six months (maybe more) every single year.

Ask and it shall be given to you. Inspired action is the secret ingredient to the Law of Attraction, and I choose to be inspired and act on my desires from here on out 😀