Five Shots for Friday

(source) 

·       Giant gumball machine that dispenses Baked by Melissa cupcakes? I need a quarter STAT.

·       One of the many things on my weekend to do list? Cook with APPLES!

·       Thinking of renting a kid from this website – Children with Swag

·       Speaking of swag, the newest up and coming white rapper is from…Morgantown, WV? Check out Huey Mack (He maybe should have picked a different name to avoid the comparisons to Mac Miller). Huey also fulfilled my dream of making it into the Urban Dictionary and NYT Style Section. Speaking of WVU and the NYT Story…this is about right.  

·       Finally, I told you earlier that I couldn’t put my finger on what I felt was wrong with Fashion Week from my little apartment in Pittsburgh, but I think this Refinery 29 article sums it up – it just isn’t what it used to be. That sense of it being an exclusive event is no more thanks to bloggers and the internet. Yeah, I'm guilty of showing looks from Fashion Week, but that's because I like pretty things (and there are a lot of pretty dresses!). It's the point of the shows no longer being filled with industry exes and now bloggers....maybe more on that later. 

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Mi Stima Aruba

Bon Dia!

On Monday I returned to real life (aka Pittsburgh) after spending several days on the island of Aruba to celebrate the nuptials of one of my besties – Reader Dana.

When people asked me how Aruba was, I said, “Beautiful weather, beautiful hotel, beautiful wedding, beautiful bride (and couple!)”

What else was beautiful? The alcohol.

So readers, this may be a bit off season, but let me share with you a list of libations that I consumed while in Aruba.

1.     Miami Vice: Yes, this is odd to drink when you are closer to South America than America, but if you’ve never had one of these it’s basically a Strawberry Daiquiri mixed with a Pina Coloda. Garnish with Don Johnson.

2.     Raspberry Rickey: I had to look this one up. Bon Appetit tells me that it’s a Gin Rickey with muddled raspberries. When ordering, use a long, tounge roll for the R in Rickey (Raspberry RRRrrrrrickey)  

3.     Pinto Gigio: Enough said.

4.     Raspberry Mojitos: A mojito with raspberry (are we seeing a trend here?)

5.     Balashi Beer: The local beer of Aruba, Balashi. Some fun facts about this beer courtesy of the Balashi website:

·       The brewery was built on the island in 1998 – tours are available

·       The malt is imported from Scotland, while the hops hop in from Germany

·       It’s made with Aruban water – which everyone tells me is the second best drinking water in the planet (I’m not a water connoisseur, so I can’t confirm or deny this)

·       The name Balashi originated from the words Bala Bala and Balana, which are Aruac (Indian) and mean “near the sea.” Additionally, the name was selected the winner of a contest among Arubans!

I’m sure I consumed many additional beverages, I don’t want you to send me to rehab just yet, so I think five should hold you over until we talk booze next week (or tonight).

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The Great Pumpkin Beer Tasting

“Dear Great Pumpkin, I am looking forward to your arrival on Halloween night.

 I hope you will bring me lots of presents.” - Linus

Just like the Peanuts characters waited up all night for the Great Pumpkin, I wait all year until pumpkin-flavored season falls upon us. Not only does that fall-flavor lure me into drinking coffee, but this is the one time of year when I actually enjoy some beer.

Over the course of the last two weeks, the hubs and I have tasted some pumpkin brews, so it got me thinking – why not invite my readers to join me on a journey to find the greatest pumpkin beer!?

Below I compiled a list of potential pumpkin beers for you to print and carry with you to the bar (or pull up on your mobile device while consuming beers at the bar). Once you sample one, report back to me your thoughts and your rating – one pumpkin sucks and five pumpkins is awesome. And if you spot one that I didn’t record, let me know and I’ll revise the list.

(Sources: Charlie Brown Image, Orange Glitter, Pumpkin Image)

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GratiTuesday

Of course you know that I love reading blogs. Do you know what I love even more than that? Reading blogs that my friends write! I even have a section in my Googler Reader for “Friends” blogs.

My dear friend Reader Lissa just started a blog that has an amazing concept – Gratitude or in this case, GratiTuesday! Lissa encourages people to celebrate little things that they are grateful for.

I get it – it’s hard to be happy every day.

We wake up every day and don’t want to get out of bed, don’t want to wash our hair, don’t want to iron our clothes, don’t want to commute to work, don’t want to wait in line at Starbucks, don’t want to go to our job that we likely hate, don’t want to stay at said horrible job super late, don’t want to cook dinner, don’t want to do extra work at home and don’t want to clean….and then the cycle all starts again the next day.

Why not wake up every day and be glad that your bed is so cozy that you don’t want to leave it, be thankful that you still have hair, be super excited about the awesome outfit that you picked out that you have to iron, get excited about the old school jam that you rocked out to while stuck in traffic, jump up and down because pumpkin is back at Starbucks, be thankful that you have a job, offer to stay late at work so your hard working team members can go home in time to see their young kids, be thrilled that you found a new recipe on Pinterest that you are dying to cook for dinner and says screw it to cleaning because no one is coming over to see your mess until the weekend!

I encourage you to try this positive thinking ONE day of every week. Jump on Lissa’s movement. Wake up each Tuesday and say “Tuesday – you are going to be AWESOME, because you aren’t Monday and I’m going to rock this day out because I’ve got so many things to be grateful for.”

Sometimes being grateful for the little things makes daily life so much more exciting!  

Oh and today, I’m grateful for my friend Lissa (as seen below playing the role of famous XO Vanna White) for coming up with this idea! Thanks, Lis!! 

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