Happy-Hour – awkward vodka

#ICYMI: Pre-Friday Happy Hour

Usually I’m the first one to know all of the week’s top stories, but I was on vacation Sunday – Thursday this week so I’m a bit behind. If you’re like me, you might need a quick refresher on some of the news from the week before meeting your besties for happy hour. Here’s a quick recap…

Lea Michele Makes First Public Appearance at Teen Choice Awards
Lea took the stage at the Teen Choice Awards and dedicated her Choice TV Actress in a Comedy prize to her late boyfriend and Glee co-star, Cory Monteith. It was really touching! Definitely made us tear up… Watch the video here.

Gia – from Bachelor and Bachelor Pad – Passed Away
Earlier this week TMZ reported that Gia was taken to the hospital because of a “serious emergency medical event.” Later in the week we found out that the cause of death was suicide. So sad! She was definitely a fan fave.

Absolut Vodka Launches Redesign of Flavor Labels
One of our favorite Vodka brands announced a redesign of their flavored vodka labels. According to AdAge, the Absolut vodka redesign doesn’t use fruit to signify a fruit flavor, instead “plays up symbolism and myths for each flavor’s essence.” We like it!

Pedal Pub Roll-Over Accident
If you read our blog regularly, you know we love Pedal Pubs. Unfortunately, one tipped over in Minneapolis yesterday, injuring two. We hope that everyone is alright!

A Post-Baby Kim K. Pic was Finally Snapped by a Papparazi
It’s really not that great of a photo, but calmed our Post-Baby Kim Kardashian photo craving. Of course TMZ snapped the photo. Anyone else love Kim’s denim top? Big fan.

Luke Bryan on the TODAY Show
My boyfriend Luke Bryan was on the TODAY show this morning and looked fantastic – as always. He performed some of his best songs including “Crash My Party,” “That’s My Kind of Night,” “Drunk on You” and “Country Girl.” Check out his awesome performances here.

Vicki Gunvalson’s Vodka Lawsuit is Back On
Real Housewives Star Vicki Gunvalson has had a multi-million fraud and breach of contract lawsuit filed against her by former partner Robert Williamson III. The lawsuit alleges Vicki breached contract, failed to live up to good faith dealings, misrepresented herself and conspired with her ex-boyfriend to unjustly enrich themselves. Ek. Bad news for Vicki!

Any headlines we missed?

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?

Happy Hour: Houlihan’s

Last week I was lucky enough to go to happy hour with three of my favorite gals at Houlihan’s in Richfield. I love going to Happy Hour in Uptown/Downtown, but a.placebetween.us led me to the suburbs…

Side note: Have you ever used the website a.placebetween.us? Use it! It’s fun and super helpful.

Houlihan’s was awesome – I was pleasantly surprised. Before going, I checked out the menu online. I was super excited to see that Houlihan’s offers martini flights for under $10! They looked delicious. Two of us ordered the flights so we were able to try six different types of martinis including a cosmo, key lime pie, chocolate, Adam & Eve Apple, Lemon Drop and a fruity pink one with sugar around the rim. All of them were delicious! My faves were the Lemon Drop and Cosmo.

Best part? They were out of flight glasses, so we got 3 regularly-sized martinis for only $9.25. Other specials included 2-for-1s on wine, beer and rails.

Worst part? I was the only one sitting at the table when they 6 martinis were dropped off so I got a couple laughs and funny looks from the people sitting around me who assumed I ordered 6 martinis for myself! Not saying that would never happen…

That’s a lot of liquor so we also ordered some yummy apps. We ordered spinach dip, nachos and a quesadilla. All were amazing – although this was after 6 glasses of pure liquor 😉

All of us girls agreed the drinks were delicious and the food was good so I definitely suggest heading over to Houlihans for Happy Hour.

CHEERS!

App Review: Thrifty Hipster

In the Twin Cities, there are hundreds of options for happy hour. If you’re anything like us, you’ve had to answer the tough question: Where do you want to go to happy hour?

Easy answer: Check on thrifty hipster. The awesome website, turned iPhone app, uses your location and the time to give you a list of potential happy hour locations with the best deals.

Based on my location today, I’m given a list of great bars and restaurants nearby that have happy hour deals going on. All these bars – Wakame Sushi, Burger Jones, Toby Keith’s and Cooper’s – are great, and I’m sure I – and my wallet – would be happy going to any of them.

In addition, there is a tab for Taxis & Rides so, when you drink too much at happy hour, you have a handy list of available rides home so you’re not stranded or – more importantly – don’t be a dumb ass and drink and drive.

Note: don’t leave your wallet or purse in the cab. It’s a pain to get a new license, cancel credit cards, get new credits cards and get your pride back.

So download this app today! You won’t regret it.