Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ode to Alcohol

I have discovered over the last ten years that I have a love/hate relationship with Alcohol. I love Friday afternoons with my girls at Leal's Mexican Cantina. We come in about 3:30, the place is empty and our precious server Amanda, a cute curly haired blonde, runs to our table with Michelob Ultras in hand. (When you drink as many as we do, you have to look after your carb intake! Thank you America for your ridiculous obsession with weight and dieting! I appreciate the fact that you have thought of us drinkers, as well.) Amanda happily serves us b/c she knows within 2 hours our moods have evolved from hate the world (a.k.a. work) to love (a.k.a. whatever) which translates to her as tip... big tip.

With each birthday that passes, I am reminded how "not young" I am anymore. My one afternoon of drinks takes me all week to recover. This is where the "hate" comes in. I hate the fact that I can't stay up all night (even if I have no desire to do that anymore), touch up the makeup, and go into work looking young and fresh and receiving compliments on how "cute" I am. I hate that one day a week of drinking requires that I go to the gym every other morning at 5:00 am to sweat my butt off so I don't have an even bigger beer belly. I hate that if I drink one glass of wine to many that I am in bed the entire next day telling myself what a loser I am.

So why do I drink you ask? Because I love the taste! (That's also when you know you're getting old.) I love ice cold bottled beer, bloody marys, twisted lime gin and tonics, martini bars, oaky Merlot and Cabernet, a glass of Chardonnay on a hot summer day, bushwackers on the beach, pina coladas for breakfast in Vegas, and introducing Yucka to friends.

Yucka (a.k.a. Yumma) is a tasty concoction introduced to me by a precious friend who knows her alcohol. This is a lovely drink that we often save for our long weekends in the mountains, but can be enjoyed anywhere. You take a can of limeade and dump it in a pitcher. Fill the limeade can with Vodka and pour into the pitcher as well. Fill the rest of the pitcher with Sprite (or Sprite Zero for dieters) and ENJOY!

Thirsty anyone? What is your drink/drinks of choice past or present?