lately, i'm feeling pretty lucky. 

now, nothing is perfect. wes and i are still grinding away, trying to get our heads above water after starting our careers over. we've had ups and downs and setbacks and successes. 

but i used to fear uncertainty and financial insecurity. and now that i've gone through it, i feel stronger than ever. we still wake up every day, do what we love and spend more time together than we have ever been able to. i have amazing friends and family all over the globe and a healthy body that enables me to do what i love doing. 

all things considered, i'm lucky as hell. 

and i'm not telling you all this to brag. quite the contrary. no matter what you have going on, i hope you can take some time to think about what makes you lucky. i bet the list is longer than you think. 

i'm celebrating our good luck this st. patty's day with an interesting cocktail combination. and some clovers of course (yes, clovers are edible). 

lucky clover

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 1 minute

active time: 2 minutes

total time: 3 minutes

ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz st. germain. .5 lime juice. 3 oz sparkling lime soda (depending on how sweet you like it you could do a sweetened or unsweetened soda, but i used unsweetened since the st. germain is sweet). handful of arugula leaves (yes, you read that right, just trust). clover (likely you will not be able to find these in a store, but out in nature) and lime wheel for garnish. muddler. 2 cups ice. shaker. 

start by combining the arugula, gin, lime juice and st. germain to the bottom of your shaker.

use the muddler to crush the arugula till it is very smashed. the liquid should start to turn green. add in half the ice cubes, cover the shaker and shake well till everything is combined. add the rest of your ice to your serving glass.

place your lime wedge on the glass.

pour the contents of the shaker over ice.

top with the soda.

garnish with clovers and serve. 

xo, a

lucky clover

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 1 minute

active time: 2 minutes

total time: 3 minutes

ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz st. germain. .5 lime juice. 3 oz sparkling lime soda (depending on how sweet you like it you could do a sweetened or unsweetened soda, but i used unsweetened since the st. germain is sweet). handful of arugula leaves (yes, you read that right, just trust). clover (likely you will not be able to find these in a store, but out in nature) and lime wheel for garnish. muddler. 2 cups ice. shaker. 

start by combining the arugula, gin, lime juice and st. germain to the bottom of your shaker. use the muddler to crush the arugula till it is very smashed. the liquid should start to turn green. add in half the ice cubes, cover the shaker and shake well till everything is combined. add the rest of your ice to your serving glass. place your lime wedge on the glass. pour the contents of the shaker over ice. top with the soda. garnish with clovers and serve. 

well, i'm one week into my three weeks away from wes, and he has already come home twice. ha. 

he just can't stay away from me and junior. i guess that is the great part about him only being a little over an hour away. 

but, the time i've had alone has actually been really nice. not going to lie, i do not mind spreading out over the whole bed. and doing my work in bed instead of at my desk is basically heaven. pretty much i've reverted to my college ways of doing literally everything in my bed. ten years later, same me.

even in the drinking category. i still prefer a vodka soda over any other cocktail. and i still LOVE a drink with mango puree. so i pretty much just combined the two. and it didn't disappoint. 

honey + ginger mangotini

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 4 minutes

active time: 1 minute

total time: 5 minutes

ingredients: 2 oz vodka. .5 cup chopped mango. 1 oz lemon juice. 1 tsp honey. 1 tsp grated fresh ginger. blender or food processor. shaker. candied violas for garnish. mango wedge for garnish. 

start by combining the mango, lemon juice, honey and ginger in the blender or food processor.

blend until smooth.

add most of the ice to the shaker and reserve two ore three cubes for your serving glass.pour the mango puree into the shaker. add in the vodka. shake well to combine. add your mango wedge to the edge of your glass.

pour the contents of your shaker into your serving glass.

garnish with dried flowers and serve. 

xo, a

honey + ginger mangotini

serves: 1 cocktail

prep time: 4 minutes

active time: 1 minute

total time: 5 minutes

ingredients: 2 oz vodka. .5 cup chopped mango. 1 oz lemon juice. 1 tsp honey. 1 tsp grated fresh ginger. blender or food processor. shaker. candied violas for garnish. mango wedge for garnish. 

start by combining the mango, lemon juice, honey and ginger in the blender or food processor. blend until smooth. add most of the ice to the shaker and reserve two ore three cubes for your serving glass. pour the mango puree into the shaker. add in the vodka. shake well to combine. add your mango wedge to the edge of your glass. pour the contents of your shaker into your serving glass. garnish with dried flowers and serve.