a month ago... 

wait. how are we already a month into summer?!? and why is that winter drags on for eons and summer blinks by?! ugh. 

ok, so back to it. a month ago, i hosted a styled cocktail & charcuterie class with my friend lish and betsy, the owner of b. toffee. and if you haven't tried b. toffee, get some. they sell it in west coast whole foods & soon to be williams sonoma all over the usa. my mother who proudly proclaims that she doesn't care for toffee GOBBLES this stuff up. 

anywho. we hosted a styling class focused on some light summer cocktails and building the perfect meat & cheese board for your summer gathering. we had a BLAST and at the end of the night we were buzzing. not because of the booze, but because it was intoxicating getting together with other talented and creative women to laugh, drink and celebrate the season. below are some snaps from the amazing ashley paige who captured the evening. the stunning flowers were provided by french buckets and the cute drink menu cards were made by killer paper goods artist (and former coworker from my roxy days) darla marie designs. most importantly, below is the recipe strawberry + rosé spritz we sipped and styled. 

strawberry + rosé spritz

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 2 minutes

active time: 1 minute

total time: 3 minutes

ingredients: 3 oz rosé. 2 oz aperol. 2 oz club soda. 1 oz fresh lime juice. 2 strawberries, hulled and sliced. 1 cup ice. glass for serving. lime wedge for garnish. 

fill your serving glass with ice. add in all but one of your strawberry slices.pour in the rosé and aperol.

add in the lime juice.

top off the drink with club soda. give everything a quick stir to combine.

garish with lime wedge and the last strawberry slice.

serve and enjoy. 

xo, a

strawberry + rosé spritz

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 2 minutes

active time: 1 minute

total time: 3 minutes

ingredients: 3 oz rosé. 2 oz aperol. 2 oz club soda. 1 oz fresh lime juice. 2 strawberries, hulled and sliced. 1 cup ice. glass for serving. lime wedge for garnish. 

fill your serving glass with ice. add in all but one of your strawberry slices. pour in the rosé and aperol. add in the lime juice. top off the drink with club soda. give everything a quick stir to combine. garish with lime wedge and the last strawberry slice. serve and enjoy. 

hallelujah. 

we made it. to say i'm happy it is friyay would be the understatement of the year. now that i've got a beverage in my belly and some time in the ocean under my belt, i'm finally starting to RELAX. 

in the last two weeks i've taught two dozen spin and yoga classes, a dozen swim lessons, made a dozen cakes and catered for a dozen girls. and i capped it all off this morning, teaching yoga to a class that include my studios founder. i can't lie, i was heavily feeling the nerves. but it is over, it went great, and i survived the marathon of dozens. 

after the madness, it was drink time. my girlfriend nicole is in town from colorado and she is loving shirley temples these days, so we made a twist on the classic lemon lime soda + grenadine drink. 

dirty shirley
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 12 minutes ingredients: 5 oz lemon lime soda (sprite or 7up). 2 oz vodka. .5 oz campari. .5 oz grenadine. 5 bing cherries. basil sprig for garnish. cup of ice. 

start by breaking up 3 of your cherries and soaking them in the vodka, letting the vodka infuse with the cherry flavor. you could soak these for ten minutes, up to overnight if you like. after the cherries soaked, strain out the cherry chunks. 

in a glass with all your ice, pour in the grenadine and campari. 

pour in the cherry infused vodka.

top off with lemon-lime soda. 

garnish with basil and the remaining cherries and enjoy. 

xo, a

dirty shirley serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 12 minutes ingredients: 5 oz lemon lime soda (sprite or 7up). 2 oz vodka. .5 oz campari. .5 oz grenadine. 5 bing cherries. basil sprig for garnish. cup of ice. start by breaking up 3 of your cherries and soaking them in the vodka, letting the vodka infuse with the cherry flavor. you could soak these for ten minutes, up to overnight if you like. after the cherries soaked, strain out the cherry chunks. in a glass with all your ice, pour in the grenadine and campari. pour in the cherry infused vodka. top off with lemon-lime soda. garnish with basil and the remaining cherries and enjoy.