i am pouring my drink extra tall and extra stiff today my friends. what a crazy day. 

this week was pretty much planned downed to the second due to a full week of teaching at two different studios, three different pools and my new class at volcom. to cap it off, i had seven cakes on order for the weekend. starting off strong with three on friday. 

last night, i was up into the wee hours of the morning getting lemon, chocolate and carrot cakes baked off to fill todays orders. i woke up around seven-thirty this morning to get all my frosting, decor and chilling done before my cakes were off for a three pm pick up and a seven-thirty pm drop off. or so i thought. 

until i got THE call. i was enjoying my morning coffee, setting up my cake, station when an unknown number called. i had a gut feeling to answer even though i usually let unknown calls (they are way to commonly solicitors) go to voicemail. it was my seven-thirty client. calling to ask me where i was. because the delivery was actually for seven-thirty in the MORNING. as in, about forty minutes ago. 

luckily, she was amazingly understanding and we chuckled at the miscommunication. i was able to bust the cake out and get it to her by their lunchtime celebration, but it sent my whole day into a downward spiral of rushing, stress and flying frosting. 

but i made it to the finish line. and so did you. so let's celebrate with a drink that tastes good, requires little effort and will get you buzzed. we earned it. 

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.

start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. 

place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass.

press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. 

top the drink off with club soda. 

garnish with the lime wheel and serve. 

xo, a

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.
start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass. place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. top the drink off with club soda. garnish with the lime wheel and serve. 

there may be a hurricane brewing over texas, but here in socal, we are headed into a heat wave. costa mesa is heading into our hottest time of the year and with no air conditioning and cake orders that require the OVEN, i'm looking for anything cooling these days. 

my friyay cocktail is no exception. cucumber makes this floral gin + st. germain combination very soothing for a sweltering summer day. bonus points if you serve it in a chilled glass. 

lemon + cucumber gin fizzle
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz fresh lemon juice. 10 thin slices of cucumber. .5 oz st. germain. 3-5 oz club soda. edible flowers for garnish (i used borage). shaker. muddler. strainer. 2 cups ice. 

in the bottom of your shaker, combine 8 of the cucumber slices, lemon juice and st. germain. 

muddle together until the cucumber is completely crushed. about 2 minutes. 

pour in half the ice and the gin and shake well till combined. about 30 seconds. 

fill your serving glass with the rest of the ice and the remaining cucumber slices. strain your cocktail over the ice. 

top off the drink with club soda to taste. 

garnish with edible flowers. 

enjoy! 

xo, a

lemon + cucumber gin fizzle
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz fresh lemon juice. 10 thin slices of cucumber. .5 oz st. germain. 3-5 oz club soda. edible flowers for garnish (i used borage). shaker. muddler. strainer. 2 cups ice.
in the bottom of your shaker, combine 8 of the cucumber slices, lemon juice and st. germain.
muddle together until the cucumber is completely crushed. about 2 minutes.
pour in half the ice and the gin and shake well till combined. about 30 seconds.
fill your serving glass with the rest of the ice and the remaining cucumber slices. strain your cocktail over the ice.
top off the drink with club soda to taste.
garnish with edible flowers.
enjoy!