Drink of the Moment: Jameson in June

Look at this - TWO posts in the same week!  It's a flippin miracle, and it's been waaay too long since my last 'Drink of the Moment'.  Last weekend being Jay's birthday weekend, I mixed up a lovely little sumthin sumthin with his favorite joy juice, Jameson.  So, on that note, I bring you the very special treat of what I'm calling 'Jameson in June'.


Now I am  not typically a huge Jameson fan unless I'm in the throws of a severe winter cold (when it does wonders mixed with warm lemon juice and honey), but I know a LOT of Jameson fans who don't need a reason or a mixer to enjoy a nip every now and then.  This little concoction is by no means a replacement for the slow sipping of a whiskey on the rocks or the late night shot (or two), but it is a surprisingly refreshing and tasty alternative for those who were already fans looking to mix it up a little, AND those of us who were just waiting for a reason to become a fan.  To top if off, it's super easy to make.

Jameson in June

                                                                                  

2 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey

4 oz Apple Juice (I used Simply Apple)                  

Splash of St Germaine (or elderflower cordial)

Splash of lemon juice

Pour all ingredients into glass, stir, and serve over ice.  Garnish with mint sprig.

The best part about this little gem, is that it's already gotten me thinking about what I'm going to do with it for a winter version.  Jameson in January anyone?  Until then, what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and get your new June juice on!

Revlon All Access Summer Imaginarium, Why Not?

Ahhh ... summer is finally here, and what to do?  One of the great things about summer is feeling like you have time to sit back, relax a little, and get away.  Well, unless you're me ... but I digress.  Part of the whole appeal of loosening up and taking a break is really not so much in where you go or what you do, but how you yourself are changed and impacted by whatever it is that's different for you; and hopefully this is a good thing.  Think about it, part of the reason you come back from a vacation feeling refreshed is because you've been able to get a different perspective that you can take back and apply in your every day life - you have a slice of time where you can be someone slightly (or not-so-slightly) different from your norm.  Instead of rhetorically asking 'Why?', you instead ask 'Why Not?'.


Well, if you're looking to break from your routine without dropping a wad of cash to go sweat it out with all of the other families vacationing with their kids while on summer break; or if you're on a quest to find that mysterious, sultry, diva 'alter ego' to cut loose while you are vacationing in a place where no one knows your name, then look no further.  The folks at Revlon have come up with an iPhone app that gives you that daily spark of beauty and fashion inspiration to challenge yourself to go above and beyond what might be your daily norm.

Revlon All Access brings you exclusive, daily beauty and fashion insights directly from Revlon All Access experts Gucci Westman, June Ambrose, Polly Blitzer, and Annabel Tollman.  Much like a summer holiday, it almost dares you to try new things and come away feeling like you've explored something new.  Some of the daily tips may be a little extravagant for your typical Tuesday or Wednesday, but isn't that kind of the point?  So just allow yourself to ask 'Why Not?' and give it a try. It may just be the thing that helps you make every day a mini getaway ... or at least gives you a different enough perspective to imagine yourself into feeling like it is. 

This is where today's tip took me!

Poolside Posh: big turquoise earrings (by Amrita Singh), check; slicked back low bun, check; strong lip, check; dramatic silhouette, double check.

If you don't think I have absolutely lost my mind at this point, then you can download the app for free here, and see where it might take you.  Happy summer holiday!

Time Out

After several attempts at starting to write, and then stopping abruptly because of outside influences, I figure I should just cut to the chase and get this going.  As I mentioned in my last post, you know that things have been a little shaken up around these parts, so after a few less than relaxing days this weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered.


Thanks to some wonderful friends who just bought a new boat, Jay and I were lucky enough, and extremely grateful to spend a large part of Saturday cruising the James River.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to be on the water.  Starting from just below the City of Richmond we got to take in a lot of sites, including the estate of Jimmy Dean (as in the country music star and more importantly the king of sausage - not the rebel without a cause), and the recreations of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, on the way to our Jamestown destination to have some lunch then head back to Richmond.  

The late, great Jimmy Dean's estate.  

View down the James.

Jay couldn't wait to break out the brownie bites - his favorite.

The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry.

Look close (or enlarge the shot) and you'll see replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

All smiles.

I can't think of a more fabulous way to kick off the summer and forget about all of the daily noise for a second.  Thank goodness for friends who are there to help us take a 'time-out' in life when we most need it ... especially the ones with boats!  ;)  

Holidays in Cambodia

"It's a holiday in Cambodia

It's tough kid, but it's a life

It's a holiday in Cambodia

Don't forget to pack a wife"
-The Dead Kennedys-

Thanks to a pretty severe mess upheaval catastrophe snafu of monstrous proportions change in my work environment paired with the busiest season of the year, you might have noticed that I've been pretty absent on here for the past few weeks or so.  While I won't bore you with the details now, I don't see this work thing clearing up any time soon so I might actually explode become institutionalized literally break into tiny pieces find myself in some situations which could provide for a pretty good read if things keep up.  


While I might feel a bit like I'm having a figurative holiday in Cambodia in the worst sense, one of my cousins, Aliesje, is once again off on a world adventure to the real Cambodia, and has decided to share her experiences in a new blog.  Some of you may remember hearing about her trek through the wilds of Africa in Malawi, where she scared little children with her pallid complexion yet unending need to help (thus scaring them more).  Now she is off again to strike further fear in the hearts of unsuspecting bystanders (apparently from this first post through her softball sized feet and unfortunate dry shampooed hair).  Though she refers to it as helping with women's law, juvenile justice, and assisting victims of the Khmer Rouge, I know she's really just secretly trying to take over the world.  So, if you're looking for some interesting summer reading about traveling to exotic places while you yourself are sitting in your back yard with your feet in a wading pool and your hand around a beer can with a cocktail umbrella and soggy piece of fruit perched on the edge; or if you're stuck in a crap shoot like me and just need some serious perspective then maybe you can consider giving her a visit here, at: Le Cambodge Summer!  I guarantee your slums won't have quite as much soul.  :)

Summer Sound Sampler

Clockwise from top left: Austra, Theophilus London, Marissa Nadler and Alex Winston
Photo: Courtesy of Austra, Jonathan Mannion, Marissa Nadler and Alex Winston

Who doesn't love a new tune ... and just in time for the Memorial Day Weekend?  If you're looking for a new summer playlist, or at least a few fresh sounds to slip into your favorite rotation of oldies but goodies, Vogue has come through again with some pretty nifty tunes that scream summer.  Tracks from The Givers, Fleet Foxes, and The Black Keys start off the mix and it just keeps on going.  Check it out with the link below, and let me know what your favorite is.  Happy listening!

Sharing from Vogue.com

Drink of the Moment: Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur

I had been eyeing the Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur in the isle now for quite some time.  Sitting there with it's chic iced glass bottle with curves like bamboo and dramatic black label contrasted against the warm amber color of the liquid, I was sure it would taste as elegant and sophisticated as it looked.  Every time up until now though I had always walked out of the store with a different bottle of inspiration. I knew I was missing out on something, and in this case, good things do come to those who wait.  I am glad to say that I am no longer missing out.

Not that waiting really had anything to do with it at all, but this stuff is amazing.  The color, the scent, and most importantly the flavor is absolutely alluring.  I usually try to taste things in their purest form prior to mixing them in a drink if I can.  Sometimes, that rule of thumb leads to a bit of regret that later becomes way more pleasant when mixed properly, but this dear friends can be enjoyed all by its lonesome - maybe with a little ice if you like.  Of course, not being one to champion lack of experimentation I had to do a little mixing to find a yummy concoction that would highlight my fabulous new find.

After some trial and error, this emerged as my favorite Domaine de Canton cocktail so far.

THE CANTON COOLER

1/2 PART DOMAINE DE CANTON
1/2 PART DARK RUM
1 1/2 PARTS FRESH LIME JUICE
1/2 PART SIMPLE SYRUP

RASPBERRIES (to taste)

FRESH ROSEMARY (to taste)

Muddle raspberries and rosemary with simple syrup. Build in all other ingredients. Shake and strain.  Garnish with a sprig of rosemary or lime zest. 

Not a huge fan of super sweet drinks, I was a little hesitant at first, but this little cocktail wrapped a whole bunch of flavors into one little glass.  The bright ginger, lime, and raspberry flavors are wonderfully complimented by the almost smokey sweet flavor of the dark rum, and the savory flavor of the rosemary.  Also nice is the idea that you can sweeten it with a little more syrup if you do prefer a more sugary beverage.  I would imagine you could also top with some prosecco or champagne if you want to add some fun fizz.

If the rum doesn't set that well with your tastes, you might also try some Absolut Wild Tea in it's place.  This takes away some of the depth of flavor that the rum adds, and instead keeps it altogether light with a hint of elderflower.  Both are yummy in my opinion, and ask to be sipped on more than once!

Making it to the End Game

I don't know why, but even if I have a good idea that something will turn out alright, I typically have a problem outwardly living that reality on a day-to-day basis.  I know this is due to a total disconnect between my flucuating emotional microscope, and the reality of it all, but that really doesn't make things any easier to grapple with.  Sometimes I feel like a heavy rollercoaster that tries to make it over that last big hill in order to get the momentum to spin through the fun loop-de-loops, but instead of a steady and positive movement forward, I seem to stall out somewhere in-between, and those loops seem so much farther away than they really are.

The other day, while feeling like I was in the middle of a pretty big 'life stall', I was searching for an image to accommodate last week's PhotoHunt (which had a topic of 'Digital' - not sure what I was supposed to do with that one), and instead found this.  

This shot was taken almost exactly two years ago today, and is the only photo that exists from that time period as far as I know.  It was taken while on a frantic quest for a 2nd home/apartment in the DC area to accommodate a job shift ... and then what turned out to be two job shifts, a move, a financial crisis, and a total personal meltdown.  In that one frozen instant above though, you would have never known that anything was even amiss.  I look happy, relaxed, and optimistic.  Though I remember feeling the overwhelming stress anyone would feel from any type of sudden life change, I also remember being kind of excited about it.  Things were moving so fast, and held so much possibility (even in the face of a challenge) that I had no way of knowing that I was standing at the starting line of a difficult long distance marathon instead of a short sprint.  I was nowhere even close to even seeing the end game. 


Initially, this mental stroll down memory lane churned up a lot of ugly memories, but the funny & more unexpected thing that it did was to inspire me to remember where it was that I thought I was headed at that time.  Seeing that image of myself, I can recall the ways in which I had been looking at the bigger picture, and trying to put the pieces together in the best way possible to get through to the end game. Though the costs of getting there were sorely underestimated at that time (financial, physical, and emotional), it was exciting, surprising, frantic, and everything that goes with that.  It was also necessary I suppose.


It's actually taken me a lot to rebound from the past two years, and I still feel like I'm cleaning up some loose ends from the fallout.  If someone had told me a year ago that things wouldn't be 'better' by this point I think I may have actually imploded.  Now though, I'm fortunately still in one piece, and coping with everything as it comes along - trying not to let the big things overwhelm (thank you Xanax), and taking time out to enjoy the little things.  At this point, I can actually take a look back at that photo above and begin to see the bigger picture again.  I can feel a little bit of what I was feeling there two years ago - anticipation for the next step, and excitement for the final outcome of this long journey.  I now know that the 'next step' might be more uncomfortable than I would like, and that there may be more hurdles before the final outcome.  I also know more about myself and in that, am (fingers crossed) better equipped to respond to whatever may come my way.  

I think sometimes in order to keep going forward without stalling out, you sometimes have to look back to see where you've been and how you got to where you are now.  In my case, an unexpected look back to two years ago has helped me to remember just where it was I was originally headed, and why I was (and should still be) excited about it.  For me, it seems to be exactly what I needed in order to to keep moving forward.  Given everything that has brought me to where I am now, I can only know that everything really will turn out alright.  I think I knew that in that photo two years ago, though at some point lost sight of the bigger picture in the midst of all the change.  I'm sure there will be more hills to climb and hurdles to jump regardless of time or place, and I'm sure they won't be easy or infrequent. I just hope that with practice I'll eventually continue to get better at responding to them all and keep up the momentum needed to make it to the end game.