A Wild Tonic Vintage

Inspired by the darling DailyGrace's "Sexist" series, A Wild Tonic's Favorites is a list of things that I've been loving this month.

• The number one thing on my May Favorites is planning. I mentioned a few days ago that big projects have taken over my life and I want nothing to do with day-to-day tasks anymore. It's still true. I have another big project on my hands and I can't wait to get started. Hopefully you guys will see some of it next week!

• How darn cute is my flash drive? Tiny matryoshka doll, thank you for storing my files safely.


• Cage rings. That's what I call them; I don't know what they are actually called.



• This old "Alice in Wonderland" videodisc. Not sure how to play it, not even sure if the player still exists. I might just hang this up on a wall.


• Speaking of Disney things, I've been bitten by the Diz bug again. This is mostly due to my friend Adam going last weekend and tagging me in all his photos. I would l…

Woo, what a weekend! Did you guys have a fun MDW? I sure did. On Saturday, Frank and I worked on shop plans and big dreams and all that. Sunday was a BBQ at our friend Kate's house. There was a dog and some whiskey and some sparklers. Monday was a BBQ at our friend Joe's house. There was incredible food and a different dog and lots of gin. I did cartwheels with Kate's daughter for about ten minutes and my body is still hurting. Oh, Father Time, you bastard. I also took a bunch of drunk Polaroids which I should upload and share, but then again maybe I shouldn't. Yesterday was a bit of a detox/recuperation day and now here I am at 10AM on a Wednesday, ready to start my week. Ha!

I realized that lately I'm better at working on bigger projects than smaller, everyday tasks. This is very unusual for me. I love, or rather "loved" doing what I call robot work. Menial tasks used to be my jam. Now it seems that my brain won't focus on any of my day-to-day thing…

Let's Have Some FunHave some fun this weekend, kittens. Be safe, and I'll see you back here on Tuesday. xoxo

This post was originally going to be called "How to Build a Farm Table for Less Than $50 in 24 Hours," but sadly that would be a lie. Here's the (somewhat long) story. As I've mentioned in the past, I still live at home. My bedroom is pretty small and it doubles as my office. Some days, I had difficulty staying motivated (or even becoming motivated) because my "desk" was my dresser. I had to sit with my legs to the side or crossed "pretzel style" if I wanted to work on my computer, and I work on my computer 90% of the time. I would easily get uncomfortable and my bed was five feet behind me, so obviously I would lay down and get nothing done for the rest of the day. It proved to be terrible for my productivity and consequently for my mental well-being. I decided I needed a proper desk, but I was faced with a few problems. I didn't have a lot of money to spend, I didn't want to buy something cheaply made, and I had a very specific idea in m…

These pretty things will be headed to the shop very soon. Contact me with any questions or if you want first dibs.

On March 9th, 1997, Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Known in the hip hop world as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rappers of all time, Biggie is still played on radio stations daily. His mark on the hip hop world will not likely be forgotten. This morning, Hot 97 (a "mainstream urban" (source) radio station based out of New York) was playing a series of Biggie songs in celebration of his 41st birthday, which would have been today. A song called "Ten Crack Commandments" played. As a Caucasian-American female growing up in a middle-class New Jersey suburb, I never quite related to Biggie's music, though I certainly enjoyed listening to it. The song I heard this morning, "Ten Crack Commandments" also doesn't directly relate to my life, though I couldn't help but notice something. Biggie's lyrics in the song are basically a guide for drug dealers on how to not get c…

In case you missed the announcement earlier today, I opened up a new shop specifically for my print collection called Wanderlust Print Co! To celebrate, I'm giving away 10 prints to ten lucky readers! Ten winners will be randomly chosen on 6/3/13) to win a print of their choice. Maximum two comments per entrant. The giveaway is open to all entrants worldwide. Good luck! :)

TO ENTER: Follow A Wild Tonic on Bloglovin' or GFC, and leave a Wanderlust-related comment (your favorite print in the shop, your favorite travel quotes, your dream destination, etc.)

BONUS ENTRY: Pin any one of the Wanderlust prints on Pinterest and leave a separate comment with a link, please.

Congratulations to all of the winners! I'll be contacting you shortly! :)
1 • Chelsea of Sketchy Notions
2 • Birgit of The Picture Garden
3 • Isaa of Era Uma Vez
4 • Jessi Barber
5 • Noor of Noor's Place
6 • Noor of Noor's Place
7 • Krista W.
8 • Melissa of The Canuck Bucks
9 • Jessica
10 • Sylvia

When I started making prints in March of 2011, I wasn't sure where the print shop was going to go. I wasn't even sure if anyone would like my prints. All I knew was that I really loved what I was doing and I was proud of my work. I never thought so many people would like my prints as much as I do. When I was planning the print shop, I debated whether I should open a separate shop or just list the prints alongside my vintage. I ended up listing them in A Wild Tonic, and it worked fairly well. Today is the day, however, that the print shop finally gets it's own home! Introducing Wanderlust Print Co!

Right now, the Wanderlust Print Co shop is full of brand new map prints. The older prints can still be found in the Wanderlust Print section of A Wild Tonic until they expire and I move them to the new shop. Also remember that custom quotes are always available.

Each print is completely unique as they are printed right on the map paper! I had the idea one day when my dad was clea…

My friend Rachael of The Paraders is having a huge giveaway to celebrate the new website launch. I wanted to share this great opportunity with my readers so you can enter to win! Check out the info from Rachael below and make sure to click the links at the bottom of the post to find The Paraders all over the web. Hurry up and get your entries in, the giveaway ends on May 20th! :)


As a celebration of our website launch, we’re hosting a contest to win a $150 shopping spree!

How to enter: For one entry, follow this link and enter your email: CLICK ME!
For two entries, share this unique link with your friends: CLICK ME!
Email it, blog about it, post it to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you name it! For each entry that you refer, you automatically get 2 additional entries! Since there will only be one winner, to sweeten the deal we’re offering a 20% off coupon code to everyone who enters, including your friends that you refer! After submitting your entry, you’ll receive an email with your un…

Kat, me, Katharine, Jon ♥

Photo yoinked from Kat's Instagram!




Cinco de Mayo weekend was such a blast. On Saturday, Frank and I had a long journey ahead of us. We started the day in Brooklyn, having brunch with some college friends who I love dearly. I had my first ever Bloody Mary! I wasn't too into it though. Maybe it's an acquired taste? Anyhow, after brunch we drove down to Philly for a party at my friend Kerry's apartment. (Hey, Kerry! Start a blog!) I made a pretty sweet sangria in this GIANT mason jar I found at Target. I searched for "Cinco de Mayo cocktails" and found this recipe. It's called "Easy Grapefruit Sangria" and, like the name implies, it seemed easy enough to make. I thought it might not taste that great because the ingredients didn't sound like they'd mix well. Also, it's not really a Mexican (read: appropriate for Cinco de Mayo) drink because the main ingredient is Riesling, which is German. Ha! It turned out incre…

Hope all you ladies had a lovely day. ♥