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. 

i arrived home from teaching and taking yoga at eleven this morning ready to get busy in the kitchen. it's friyay, so duh, i had to make and enjoy a cocktail with wes. and then it was time toprep, prep, prep for the baby shower we are catering for my good friend lish tomorrow morning. 

but as soon as i started fiddling around at the bar, wes told me HE wanted to make our cocktail. 

you got it buddy! i'll happily enjoy the fruits of your labor and spend a couple minutes relaxing on the couch before the madness. so he got to creating. 

after we shot the cocktail, we headed out to our garden to enjoy it and some last moments of calm. as i edited the photos, i couldn't help but laugh. that sweet man has spent so much time watching me style photos, there was the perfect amount of props and garnish. too bad he didn't use most of them. so don't mind the muddler, long spoon or that rogue pineapple wheel in the corner of the ingredients shot/the background of many of these shots. they are pretty, but not required. 

while his styling might need work, his bartender skills are well honed. try this orange blossom for a fresh, easy drinking, summer cocktail. 

orange blossoms
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz hibiscus syrup (you can purchase it HERE). lime wheel for garnish. orange peel for garnish. 1 cup ice. boston shaker. ice for serving. 

fill your boston shaker with 1 cup of ice. 

pour in your vodka, orange juice, st. germain and hibiscus syrup. shake well. 

pour the liquid over ice. 

garnish with lime wheel and orange peel and enjoy. 

xo, a

orange blossoms serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz hibiscus syrup (you can purchase it HERE). lime wheel for garnish. orange peel for garnish. 1 cup ice. boston shaker. ice for serving.
fill your boston shaker with 1 cup of ice. pour in your vodka, orange juice, st. germain and hibiscus syrup. shake well. pour the liquid over ice. garnish with lime wheel and orange peel and enjoy.