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. 

this week was the calm before the storm. i took a little "spring break" along with all the kiddos i teach and gave myself the week off from cooking. next week is the beginning of what i'm hoping will be a very busy spring and summer season for our businesses. 

so i'm going to be hitting easter weekend with the family hard. i have to soak up every last second of freedom before i'm back in the kitchen for hours on end. it is a dream job, but still a job. 

with spring in full force and easter this weekend, i was feeling something, light, bright and fruity for cocktail time. wes and i found this delicious blood orange soda at our local produce store and i knew just what to do with it. 

sun kissed cooler
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. .5 cup citrus juice (i used a mixture of orange and blood orange). .25 cup citrus soda (or club soda if you don't like the extra sweetness). 1 tbs grenadine. 1 cup ice. start by filling your serving glass with ice. make sure you pour this drink in order and don't stir it. otherwise it will become one color before serving. 

start by combining your citrus juice and vodka. stir well to combine. 

pour your juice over the ice. 

then pour in your soda. 

finally add in your grenadine.

 garnish with an edible flower or citrus wheel and serve. 

xo, a

sun kissed cooler s
erves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time 3 minutes
ngredients: 2 oz vodka. .5 cup citrus juice (i used a mixture of orange and blood orange). .25 cup citrus soda (or club soda if you don't like the extra sweetness). 1 tbs grenadine. 1 cup ice. start by filling your serving glass with ice. make sure you pour this drink in order and don't stir it. otherwise it will become one color before serving. start by combining your citrus juice and vodka. stir well to combine. pour your juice over the ice. then pour in your soda. finally add in your grenadine. garnish with an edible flower or citrus wheel and serve.