May 2013 – awkward vodka

Best Hangover Foods

Nothing cures a hangover like some delicious grub. Here’s our list of the best foods to cure a hangover:

Bagels: there really isn’t anything better than carb-loading after a night of booze-loading.

BLT and Chili (from Uptown Diner in Minneapolis): there’s nothing I crave more than a nice soup and sandwich when I’m hungover.

Cold Pizza: the happiest feeling in the world is finding pizza in the fridge when you wake up barely able to function. Microwaving is not required.

BBQ Kettle Chips: let’s be honest. I could put away a full bag of these while sober and not hungover.

Pasta: With sauce. Without sauce. Cold. Warm. Doesn’t really matter. Any type of pasta will rid you of a hangover in no time. Note: the best type of pasta is creamy mac ‘n cheese.

McDonalds Hash Browns: they could make a fortune by selling these 24 hours a day.

Subway 6 in. Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich on White Bread with Lettuce, Pickles, Salt and Pepper: I know it’s random, but try it. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Maybe add mayo if you like mayo? I don’t.

Egg Sandwiches: yum.

Crackers: when you can’t stomach any real food, chose plain crackers.

Bloody Mary: could be considered food depending on where you order it. The more extras the better.

Agree? Disagree? What do you snack on when you need to cure a hangover real fast?

Ten Commandments for Day Drinking

With Memorial Day coming up this Monday, we thought it would be appropriate to outline rules for day drinking…assuming most of our readers will be doing just that on Sunday and/or Monday.

1. Thou shalt not skip meals. You most definitely don’t want to be the first person to pass out. Eating a balanced meal before beginning to drink is key.

2. Drink water. Don’t fight it. You want to make it all day? Drink water early and often.

3. Thou shalt not visit the ATM. Set aside bar money before you start drinking. Otherwise you’ll end up regretting the unnecessary $300 withdraw the next morning.

4. Thou shalt not take shots. Unless you want to blackout, these are completely uncalled for while drinking all day.

5. Dress appropriately. Two words of advice when picking out your outfit for the day – drinking room.

6. Thou shalt not mix alcohols. If you do, it will not end well.

7. Charge thy phone. You don’t want to be stranded at the end of the night with a dead phone. Trust me.

8. Keep thy wallet/phone/money/ID on you at all times. When drinking all day, it is very easy to lose track of these items. Be sure to keep them in a clutch, purse or pocket.

9. Thou salt not take a nap. YOU WILL NEVER WAKE UP. Well at least in time to continue drinking. And if you do, you’ll be crabby and no one will want you around.

10. Thou shalt not bring additional alcohol to the bar. You will be drinking enough all day, and as much as your drunk self might disagree, it is not a good idea to go to the bathroom and take pulls from your secret stash at any point in the day.

SUMMERTIME! It’s Finally Here…

Each year I seem to have one great weekend – spent mostly outdoors – that just tells me that summer is here. This year I didn’t think it would ever happen, but it finally did!

On Saturday I was in Milwaukee to see Eric Church and Kenny Chesney in concert at Miller Park. Nothing screams summer like country music, drinking outside, tailgating and baseball (stadiums).

We arrived in Milwaukee early on Saturday morning, drank a bunch ‘o Vodka at the hotel and were on our way to Miller Park for tailgating. Lucky for the three of us on the left in this photo, the child on the right is still 20 so we had ourselves a DD all evening.

Tailgating was interesting since we didn’t have a grill, chairs, tables or any actual meal-like food. So we snacked on chips & salsa, chocolate-covered pretzels, veggies & dip and popcorn. Nom Nom. We also played the iPod Game and Ring of Fire – which helped us get nice and drunk before heading into the concert.

Before heading into Miller Park for the concert, A-squared took a quick beer bong to make sure they were sufficiently wasted… They were.

The show was AMAZE-BALLS. It was so good. It was my first time seeing Eric Church, and he did not disappoint. He sang all my faves: Smoke A Little Smoke, Guys Like Me, Creepin’ and Lotta Boot Left to Fill.

I’ve seen Kenny Chesney a few times, and he’s fantastic. He puts on an awesome show – extremely entertaining. I never realize how many great songs he has until I see him in concert and know all the words to every song. He definitely could have performed for an extra hour or two.

So – after this weekend – I am able to say that it is officially SUMMERTIME.

Now go get yourself a drink and find some place nice outside to sit…

Things I’ve Sacraficed for a Good Drink

1. My Pride: Buying a small, juice box-shaped box of wine and bringing it into Whole Foods while I eat my pay-by-weight salad bar is not above me.

2. Mascara: My eye lashes may be a bit less bold for a few days, but it’s worth it to grab a vodka drink after a long day at work.

3. Exercise: This goes without saying. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve chosen happy hour before a good workout. It’s BS when people saying they’re in better shape in the summer than winter. People who chose hitting the gym or going for a run instead of drinking outside for 5 hours after work have more will power than I do.

4. My Health: Have you ever been like almost-sick and you know that all you need it one night of good sleep and you’ll be healthy? But you totally ignore this and go drink anyways because your best friends are going to be going out without you and you don’t want to miss being in all the fun instagram pics and getting badges for checking-in together 10 times in one night…

5. Groceries: Don’t have enough money to buy groceries, but of course I have enough money to pay for five $5 Vodka Diets on a Wednesday evening.

6. Sober Plans: Sorry we had plans to go to a movie. Someone else invited me to get drinks.

7. A Savings Account: Ek – what’s more important? Planning for the future or drinking now? Mm…

8. Sleep: Even if I have to wake up to workout, go to work, drive 4 hours or go shopping with friends, I’ll still talk myself into going out for a drink or two which always turns into 8 or 10. So what if I only get a couple hours of “sleep”?

9. My Apartment: Clothes are thrown everywhere, laundry half done, dishes piled up in the sink. And it stays this way for days at a time because – now that the weather is nice – happy hour is much more appealing than going home and cleaning.

Confession time. What have you sacrificed for a delicious alcoholic beverage?

Old Loves Tumblr

Everyone likes “What Should We Call Me,” “How Do I Put This Gently” and “My Friends Are Married,” but our new favorite Tumblr is OldLoves.tumblr.com.

We’ve learned three things from Old Loves:

We will never been as cool in 2013 as people were in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s.
There are a bunch of couples from the past that we completely forgot were ever together.
Everyone looks cooler in black and white.

Remember when these people were together?

You will never look as cool as these couples…

Check out this site! It’s awesome, hilarious and makes your life feel super inadequate…

Thanks Champagne!

We love Champagne! Why? Because it’s perfect for some of our favorite celebrations: birthdays, weddings, engagement parties, promotions, bubbles, anniversaries and puttin’ on the ritz.

Here are some of our favorite champagne drinks:

Our favorite champagne drink is the brunch classic: Mimosa! Just mix your fave champagne (we’re poor so we drink Andre) and a splash of orange juice, ratio of 1:5.

A Bellini is the perfect summertime drink. Mix ripe peaches (or peach syrup) with champagne. Throw in some sugar for extra sweetness. I’m totally craving one of these right now…

An easy drink that looks fancy? Champagne Punch. Just cut up your favorite fruit – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries – and throw it in the champagne. This is perfect for a fun brunch!

This drink is based off my favorite shot – Liquid Cocaine. The champagne drink is made with 30 Ml of Vodka, 3/4 a glass of champagne and Redbull! Delicious.

And for a non-drinkable recipe: Champagne Cake. Two of my favorite things mixed in one. You can’t go wrong. All you need is a box of super moist strawberry cake mix, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 egg whites and 1 1/4 cups of champagne. Mix together and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F. Add some additional champagne to your frosting for an extra special treat.

What’s your favorite champagne recipe?

Best Summer 2013 Mix Ever

One of my favorite pastimes is making mix CDs. Yes, I know it’s totally outdated, but there is something comforting about burning a CD, writing the perfect title on it with a sharpie, putting it in the CD player and jamming out all night. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but there is a science to making a perfect mix CD, and I’ve figured it out. So I thought I’d share some of my genius with you and provide the ultimate summer 2013 mix. You will love it. Trust me.

1. “Cups” – Anna Kendrick

2. “Thinking of You” – Ke$ha

3. “Ashtrays and Heartbreaks” – Snoop Lion feat. Miley Cyrus

4. “Cruise” – Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly

5. “Anything Could Happen” – Ellie Goulding

6. “Dancing on my Own” – Robyn

7. “Crickets” – Drop City Yacht Club feat. Jeremih

8. “Other Side” – Jason Derulo

9 “Closer” – Tegan & Sara

10. “Stompa” – Serena Ryder

11. “Blurred Lines” – Robyn Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell

12. “Come and Get It” – Selena Gomez

13. “The Way” Ariana Grande feat. Mac Miller

Life Beyond Vodka

Vodka is clearly my drink of choice. However – during my recent 10 day drinking bender – I drank out of my comfort zone, enjoying beergaritas, Irish Coffees and a number of different wines. Here are some of my favorite new recipes that – gasp!! – don’t include vodka:

Beergaritas – Since I was too busy binge drinking this weekend to actually write a post leading up to Cinco De Mayo, a post-Cinco De Mayo post highlighting my favorite drink of the evening will have to suffice. To make this delicious concoction you mix:

1 can of Limeade (we found it at Target)
1 can of Sprite Zero
1 can of tequila
1 light beer

Sounds weird, but it’s super delicious. This will definitely be a must-have drink this summer

Irish Coffees – Not a huge fan of drinking coffee black or of whiskey, but the two together make a yummy drink.

Hot Coffee
1 shot of Irish Whiskey
A cube of sugar
Topped with thick whipped cream

I only wish I could drink these coffees every morning…

WINE – I love wine. I’ve gotten a new appreciation for it, although I’m still really cheap, so you have to balance taste with cost. Three of my favorites:

Dancing Bull Red Zinfandel
Yellow Tail Sweet Red
Grgich Cabernet Sauvignon

The Grgich is a little more pricey, but it was really good!

It feels wrong to even talk about another liquor besides vodka on our blog, but what’s your fave non-vodka drink?

Wine Country Vaca

If you’ve never been to northern California, plan a trip now. I was there last weekend for my cousin’s wedding in Napa, and it was a weekend full of delicious food, family time and an excessive amount of wine. Here’s my little weekend recap:

Friday

We arrived in San Fran around noon so we were able to check into our hotel and explore most of the afternoon. My mom, Aunt and I had delicious seafood at a restaurant at the Warf, while my dad and BF opted for In and Out Burger. Although I love burgers, I was naive on the first day of vaca and believed I could survive the weekend without over eating so I skipped In and Out. But don’t worry, it was eaten later in the weekend at about 1:00 a.m. after gulping down gallons of wine.

Friday Highlight: Going to The Buena Vista Cafe and drinking Irish Coffees. Irish coffees have like cream, coffee and whiskey in them – I think. Delicious! This is a must-go if you ever go to San Fran.

Saturday

In the morning, we took a long walk to my cousin’s apartment – about 2.5 miles away – through Little Italy. It was a nice walk, cool outside. Lots of hills. We had a delicious breakfast at a cafe in Little Italy – yum! Saturday afternoon we headed to Napa for the first time for wine tasting and a welcome dinner for my cousin’s wedding. It was so great checking out some fun vineyards and catching up with family I haven’t seen in years.

Saturday Highlight: We were driving through Napa, taking in the gorgeous sites and trying to decide on which vineyard we wanted to check out. We started driving past the Menage a Trois vineyard and my mom pulled a U-turn faster than I’ve ever seen anyone turn around. It’s one of her fave wines in Wisconsin, so she had to go to a wine tasting of it in Napa. Weird, right? So we paid $5 to taste a tiny sample of three wines when a bottle usually costs about $5 in Wisco…

Sunday

On Sunday we woke up full of regret after binge eating In and Out burger on Saturday night, so our walk was extra long in the morning. Once recovered from the night before, we got dolled up for my cousin’s wedding and headed back to Napa. On the way to the wedding we obviously stopped at two vineyards because, well, why not? We then made our way to Yountville for the wedding.

Sunday Highlight: Obviously my cousin’s wedding. It was gorgeous and so much fun. She looked amazing and the whole wedding was beautiful. Kristine & Mark, my cousin and her new husband, met in San Francisco so there was a lot of sentimental value in getting married at a vineyard there. The night was full of dancing, drinking, taking shots of Grey Goose – or GG 😉 – for my other cousin’s 21st birthday and playing with the fancy electronic bathrooms.

Monday

Monday was rough. We attempted to go for a walk, but ended up eating a huge breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe instead. We then spent the day biking around San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge and in Sausalito. At night we had another huge meal at the Warf and my aunt and I shared a huge, unnecessary fishbowl full of liquor.

Monday Highlight: Biking over the Golden Gate Bridge was amazing! I got a horrible sunburn, but it was totally worth it. The view is amazing. It took us about 3 hours to make the trek across the bridge to Sausalito, but it flew by. The only bad part was making it up the hills – so many hills. But we were rewarded with fish tacos and yummy Sangria in Sausalito.

The whole trip was awesome. I’m a little bit in love with northern California right now and need to go back. If you ever get a chance, go!