Cocktails & Contemplation

Author & Creative Maggie Giles joins us this episode! Maggie is a Canadian author who's debut novel "The Things We Lost" is being release April 19th, 2022! This novel took about 6 years for Maggie to craft, complete, and then finally get published! In honour of the novel, we enjoyed a special cocktail that is actually featured in the book - a Coconut Martini!! Many thanks to Fitch and Leedes for bringing this martini to life for us, it's a hectic one to say the least. Maggie talks all about her road to publication, how the heroine of her story came to life, and what's to come following this debut. Thank you Maggie for coming on the show, it was a treat!! INSTAGRAM: @maggiegiles_ WEBSITE: MaggieGiles.com

Happy first episode of 2022! To start things off this year we are joined by the fabulous singer/songwriter Devan Glover! Devan is 1/3 of the indie folk band Wild Rivers, and started releasing her of EP's in 2021. She talks about pink noise, pink shades, and of course her pink HAIR. We also touch on memorable tour stories, writing songs with the band, dream collaborations, and what to expect on the new album from Wild Rivers dropping on Feb 4th. And make sure you've got your gin handy for this week's feature THE BEES KNEES! Prohibition Era cocktail that tastes ah-mazing. For the full recipe details check out my instagram @cocktailsncontemplation Devan: IG: @devan IG: @wildriversmusic website: wildriversmusic.com

Welcome to episode 17 of Cocktails and Contemplation with special guest Roee Dunkelman! Heads up: we say words "cock" and "dick" a lot in this episode. Roee is the CEO and Founder of Cockuterie Boards (https://cockuterieboards.com/). He started this company amid the height of the pandemic and runs us through his journey of building this Cockuterie Empire. Prepare your self for some A+ banter, a throw back reference to the Rainforest Cafe, a very bloody gin and tonic, and plenty of cock talk. Don't forget to check out the cocktail recipe at FitchLeedes.com Instagram: @cockuterieboards Website: https://cockuterieboards.com/

Welcome Back ! Mostly to me, after a short lived summery break the podcast is back in full swing baby! This week, we are blessed to have film and media critic Sydney Urbanek! Syd has been writing and review film and music videos for basically her whole career, she wrote a masters thesis on Madonna, how fkn cool is that. This week, we chat all about the world of music videos, and album films, and how she landed herself in this beautiful niche. Syd and I drank TASTY mojitos and she told me to add mint to avocado toast, so you know we are trying that soon. Please enjoy the ep, and always remember to drink and contemplate responsibly ! xx TWITTER: @sydneyurbanek INSTAGRAM: @sydneyurbanek NEWSLETTER: sydurbanek.ghost.io

WELCOME BACK KITTENS AND CATS ALIKE This week on the podcast I am joined by two lovely talented musicians, the modern day indie folk duo of your dreams, Robinson Kirby. Known as Maddy Kirby and Luke Robinson. These two kids love tequila. So we decided to get SMASHED with a tequila smash. The full recipe can be found at FitchLeedes.Com. Robinson Kirby rebranded and started releasing music in February 2021 and just put out their latest release "Summer of Love" in July. The two are a couple who met at Berklee and have been making stellar tunes ever since. This episode we talked a lot about one of my very favourite topics, SONGWRITING. These two are super cute, funny, hardworking, and such lovely humans. Thank you for joining me this week!! Can't wait for some new music to drive on back roads too in 2022 :)

Author Kathleen Barber joins the podcast this week! We chat all about her admirable career over a DELICIOUS lavender gin sour!! You can head over to my instagram @cocktailsncontemplation for the full recipe :) Kathleen is a writer based out of Washington DC, she is the author of two novels, Truth be told which was formally known as Are you Sleeping, which you may know from his Apple TV series counter part staring names like Octavia Spencer, Lizzy Caplan, and Aaron Paul. Or, from her sophomore novel that was published in 2020 called Follow me. Kathleen told me all about the role of the author when their work is adapted for the big screen, talking to her producer AKA REESE WITHERSPOON on a conference call(!!!), our mutual love for Lizzy Caplan and the cult-esque film Bachelorette (seriously watch it if you’ve never seen) and how Isla Fischer inspired the protagonist in her second novel.

Another Wednesday, another episode! This week the podcast is joined by model and entrepreneur, Taylor Ross! Tay helped me name my newest cocktail invention, a grapefruit spritz! Now known solely as, The Shelby. Taylor and her sister just launched a brand new elevated beauty and wellness business called Tobin (@shoptobin). Although, you may recognize her from her viral CoverGirl modelling shoot, OR maybe when Justin Bieber started posting photos of her in 2016. Taylor is a previous nanny to the Bieber family, and we chat all about how that image has followed her around for a number of years, and how it has be hard to move away from it into her professional career. Check out her instagram, business, the cocktail recipe, and more in this episode and scoot on over to Instagram for more details. @cocktailsncontemplation Taylor Ross: @taylorsrross @shoptobin shoptobin.ca

Happppppy Wednesday! This week on the podcast I am joined by two long time buddies and rockstars, Cam Wyatt and Boris Baker! They are two out of four members of the Kingston based Rock Band, Kasador. I originally met these lads after they played a show at my university and immediately decided I wanted to be their friends and six years later, here we are lol. On this episode, I take Boris' paloma and podcast virginity as we drink a tequila based drink featuring the Fitch and Leedes Grapefruit Tonic. It was so good!! I don't even love tequila and I loved it. The boys share some wild stories from their tours, talk about how they put together their debut album Brood & Bloom, how song writing comes together in a band of four, and so much more. Check out their music here anywhere you stream your stuff! Instagram: @KasadorBand

Welcome back, to a new episode of Cocktails & Contemplation! WARNING: This episode has a LOT of honesty. and it's awesome. This week Pina Crispo, aka @chic_mamma joins the contemplating over a classic Tom Collins, cause she LOVES GIN. Pina is an accomplished Mamma, a best selling author of the "Mama's Gotta..." series which included Mama's Gotta Work, soon to be followed by Mama's Gotta Grow. Pina also used to work with my Dad! LOL. Back when I was basically a child, and they ruled the radio world at 102.1 The Edge. She also met Dave Grohl and has a picture of him holding her daughter at 3 months old. This is just the tip of the ice berg, listen to the episode for full details on this Chic Mamma's life and turbulence! Instagram: Chic_Mamma Blog:https://chicmamma.ca/

Welcome back to another episode of Cocktails and Contemplation! We went colourful & fruity this week with another feature of my very favourite tonic!! Think yellow gin, orange juice, pink tonic, and red pomegranate seeds. So SO good. This week, Riley Allison joins us! She is a co-founder and Executive Director of Carley's Angels, an organization dedicated to the legacy of her younger sister's battled with an extremely rare cancer. You may be familiar with Carley’s story from her blog, or @kissandcrymovie - the feature film based on Carley’s story, or maybe even the book written in Carley’s honour called Always Smile: Carley Allison’s Secrets for Laughing, Loving, and Living. We talk all about Riley's journey with taking over this organization after Carley's passing in 2015. We talk about real life vs movie details from Kiss & Cry, how strange it was to watch Riley's actor doppelgänger play her on screen, how Carley's Angels mission has developed over the years (and how they were accidentally doing illegal stuff in the beginning lol), and how although challenging it may be, working on Car's legacy is ultimately healing for her. She's an awesome chick and hearing her story was beautiful. I hope you enjoy! Wanna support Carley's Angels? @carleyangels @ririallison carleysangels.com