Surprisingly perfect

{Kenilworth Castle ruins, Warwickshire, England, UK}

Hope you had a great weekend! Although work events foiled my plans to visit a lovely area of England (above), all was not lost.

I got to enjoy pseudo sangría...just to lubricate the brain cells. :) (My quick-and-dirty recipe* would make an afficionado cringe, forgive me)...

{I wouldn't mind these Giuseppe Zanotti's}

Dressy heels imparted a snazzier home office vibe (beats working in a robe, no?)

Soaked-up the incomparable Nina Simone (good for brain waves :)

Even savored pseudo, 35-minute paella with the pseudo sangría.*

{That's amore! Julia's pizza pie, Da Michele, Napoli, Italia}

Once the crunch ended, a friend dragged me to "Eat Pray Love" -- in all, it was a surprisingly perfect weekend.

~ Wishing you a surprisingly perfect week! ~

*PSEUDO SANGRÍA
1 bottle (750 ml) chilled red wine, a few strips orange zest and lemon zest, ~7-10 optional ice cubes (if you don't have time to chill the wine), 2 tbsp (30 ml) sugar, juice of 4 oranges, juice of 2 lemons, 3 cups (750 ml) sparkling water (a little less if using ice cubes), and optional apple and/or peach wedges. In large pitcher, mix wine, orange & lemon zest, and ice cubes. In small bowl, stir orange juice and sugar until dissolved, then add to wine. Add lemon juice, sparkling water, and apple/peach wedges to wine. Stir and muddle things up a bit to get fruit juices flowing, garnish with mint, lemon & orange slices, if you like, and ENJOY!

(Images from Jason Twist via Pictures of England, food network, fashion magazine, Amazon, Stockmann and EOnline.)