June 2013 – awkward vodka

Favorite Summer Drink: The Michael Phelps

The Michael Phelps: Weed & Water

Named after our favorite rebellious Olympian, the Weed & Water is a combination of Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Vodka and water with a slice of lemon if you’re feeling fancy.

Other similar drinks to try this summer:

The John Daly – Combination of lemonade, iced tea and bourbon or lemonade and sweet tea vodka
Beer-Tini – Citrus vodka mixed with beer, lemonade and a splash of pineapple juice
Strip & Go Naked – Mix 6 cans of beer with 12 oz. of vodka and 12 oz. of lemonade concentrate. It may sound weird, but it’s really good – a great party drink!

What’s your favorite summer drink?

Sarah’s Favorite Things: Part 3

1. Snapchat – I tried really hard not to like this app because I knew it was created so teens could send inappropriate photos to each other, but it gets addicting. I send at least a couple photos of myself making dumb faces or stupid, annoying videos every day. The worst is when I’ve been drinking. Sorry friends, but I’m obsessed.

2. Drinking outside – GUYS! It’s finally summer, which means all I want to do is drink and eat on a roof, balcony, terrace or by the pool. My fave drink to have outside: Jeremiah weed, lemonade and water. It’s delicious and summery.

3. Cold Press – Perfect for the warm, muggy weather we’ve had in the past couple weeks, nothing starts my morning off right like a delicious cold press. My fave is the one from Jackson’s in Uptown Minneapolis, but, if you’re not in the Minneapolis area, try Caribou Coffee.

4. How I Met Your Mother – Ray borrowed me season 2 of How I Met Your Mother, and I was hooked immediately. I’ve already binge watched season 2 and most of season 1 (yup – started with season 2 – heard it was better than season 1).

5. McCoy’s Public House – Everything there is awesome. I would pay $100 for a soft pretzel, turkey sandwich, margarita pizza or spinach salad from McCoy’s right now. Did I mention they have half-priced bottles of wine on Wednesdays?

Fun 21st Birthday Gift!

Last week Thursday, my little sister finally turned the big 2-1. This is the day that she has been not-so-patiently waiting for since the majority of her friends have been frequenting bars for months (…or years).

After frantically booking a party bus, coordinating sleeping arrangements for the 800 people coming into town to celebrate the big day, making dinner/brunch reservations and attempting to clean my apartment, I realized I hadn’t even gotten her a birthday gift. As always, Pinterest saved the day. Searching “Gifts for a 21st Birthday” resulted in a number of fantastic ideas, my favorite being the Booze Bouquet (see below).

Even the most artistically-challenged person can quickly put together the Booze Bouquet following these quick & easy steps:

Purchase 10-20 mini bottles of booze. It’s fun to pick a variety because – in theory – the person just turning 21 doesn’t have a lot of experience trying out different types of alcohol.
Then go to your local craft store – I went to Michael’s – and purchase a flower pot, green Styrofoam, tissue paper and wooden sticks (I found them in the kids’ craft section).
Put tissue paper in the flower pot and place the green Styrofoam on top of it so the tissue paper sticks out.
Tape the mini bottles to the sticks. Use clear tape and wrap all the way around the mini-bottles if they won’t stay.
Stick the mini bottles into the green foam and you’re done!

If I wouldn’t have thought of this at the very last minute, I probably would have taken the time to write out “Happy 21st Birthday!” on the pot, added green tissue paper to cover up the styrofoam, put a couple shot glasses in the bottom of the pot and maybe add some other fun goodies on sticks like a couple chocolate bars.

There you have it. A quick & easy 21st Birthday gift the birthday girl – or guy – is sure to love. Moll sure did…

The Perfect Summer Bar: Replacing Slims

It’s June 13th, and I finally feel like it’s the first week of summer… except for the fact that I’m wearing tights and may or may not be contemplating turning on the heater under my desk…

Besides the shitty weather, the other reason why it doesn’t feel like summer is that there’s no Cowboy Slims patio to sit at while chugging down vodka diets and chowing on tots and queso dip.

So it’s time to finally get over Cowboy Slims and move on to a new bar. Only problem is we haven’t been able to find a perfect replacement.

Here are our strict criteria:

Happy Hour – needs to be reasonably priced and delicious
Delicious Food – Tater tots, queso, pulled pork sandwiches, cheese curds and/or fish tacos
Outdoor Seating – A rooftop or patio to sit on while enjoying summer weather is a must.
Good Crowd – Need a great crowd on weeknights and Sundays. We enjoy drinking outside of your typical Friday/Saturday night window.
Eccentric, Friendly Waitstaff – This includes refilling drinks when empty and not bringing the check after an hour of eating and drinking.
Delicious Brunch – Need to have a place that you can stay at until 2 a.m. and then show up again at 9 a.m. the next morning for delicious hash browns and some reminiscing.
Relaxed Dresscode – Everything from sweatpants to dresses should be accepted without judgement.
Good Music – I want top 40, dirty rap, twangy country and tween pop.
Hours – Needs to be open during the day. None of this only open after 4:00 p.m. BS.

We are going to be dedicating a series of posts to finding the perfect summer bar. Any suggestions we should be trying in the Minneapolis area?

Best Guest Spots on Will & Grace

Will & Grace is the best when it comes to the show’s celebrity guest star appearances. During its eight seasons there were countless times when famous people would show up and play hilarious one-time characters, or even better yet, themselves. Don’t believe me? Check out this enormous list on Wikipedia.

Since there’s nothing I love more than a good cameo, I picked out the top 8 Will & Grace guest spots. What are some of your favorites?

1. Matt Damon: Owen, Jack’s heterosexual rival, pretending to be gay to get a spot in the Manhattan Gay Men’s Chorus.

2. Kevin Bacon: Himself

3. Luke Perry: Aaron, a “hot gay nerd” bird-watcher on whom Jack develops a crush.

4. Britney Spears: Amber Louise, a conservative Christian and a “hardcore lesbian” as she describes herself, and a co-host to Jack on his talk show.