Drinking someone else's liquor cabinet: Golden Margarita

 

For my 30th birthday party, I was given the ends of a liquor cabinet. Luckily, no Baileys, so I don't think that anything will go off.* However: I have no idea how to go about drinking cocktails and there is a LOT of booze in my house. 

In an effort to not buy wine and cider and beer, and to clear some space in my pantry, I have started educating myself in The Way of the Cocktail (that is, I am trying to save money by drinking some of this booze). Let's not get too excited with the concept of "mixology" however: as I now have blue curacao and mango liqueur (amongst other things) so it's doubtful that all of these cocktails will be classy. I see a lot of 90s trashy cocktails in my future (Blue Lagoon party!).

Hey, also, I have no cocktail glasses. So my glass choices are either the pink vintage glasses, the blue vintage glasses, wine glasses, mugs, or champagne bowls. Champagne bowls! ♥♥♥♥

Tonight I made myself a "Golden Margarita", which is

11/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz Cointreau
salt
lime (or lemon, because that's all I had).

Rim the glass using the salt and "lime", shake up the tequila and Cointreau with ice, pour into glass. Garnish with a lemon and some bread crumbs that you've inadvertently picked up because you were too lazy to find a clean chopping board to cut your lemons on.

Have great difficulty making bed. 

This cocktail tastes mostly like tequila and salt, also my tongue is now numb. 

*Not "luckily because I hate Baileys", however. Baileys is my secret shame. Will accept all contributions of Baileys at any time. Nom.

Just some chattiness with a glass of cider

Hello my darlings, have I told you today how wonderful you're all looking? I love to see your little shining faces staring up at me. "Ginger", you ask, "Ginger - what wisdom do you have to share with us all today?"

WELL let me tell YOU - the wisdom I have to share is merely the wisdom brought upon one by a lovely glass (read: bottle) of French cider, of the kind that tastes a little bit like feet. So it's mostly wisdom like: CHEESE IS GOOD! YOU LOOK PRETTY WITH LIPSTICK ON, YOU SHOULD WEAR IT MORE OFTEN! And also - THE BEST WAY TO COOK KAMOKAMO IS WITH BUTTER! Meaningful stuff, you know?

My big excitement of this evening is rediscovering all my Gillian Welch albums. She's like, totes a genius y'know. I'm crazy about her. Also, I quite like Neko Case, but she doesn't compete with GW, noways. GW is deliciously old-timey, and THATS what does it for me. Nostalgia for a time and culture that's like - MILES - away from my own. Yep.

SIX ITEMS OR LESS: Colour me Over It. Yes, I thought (a bit) about clothes and consumption and stretched myself a bit in terms of accessorising and won't give up before the end date (next Monday), but I went through my love of uniform/Zen stage and I've come out the other side, itching to wear bright colours. Lately I've thought a lot about the way I dress and if nothing else I guess that the SIOL has given me space to re-assess how I'm going to approach the whole "dressing" thing for the next wee-while. As in: I need to accept the fact that high waisted pants don't really look that good on me, but on the other hand lots of 50s and 60s style stuff looks amazing. Also, I feel better with a big pop of colour and pale colours don't always cut it. Also, I love playing dress ups! I get so bored dressing one specific way for any length of time. I'm Madonna! I'm a Chameleon! I'm drinking out of an empty glass now so I'm going to go off and do something about that!

Incidentally, I DO think you're looking wonderful today. I love that thing that you've done with your hair. xxxxxx

Heeey - do you know what I haven't done lately?

I haven't blogged ridiculously late at night after drinking. Because I'm not like drunk or anything. Just that sleepiness that you get super late at night after half a bottle of wine, a rather nice meal, a super delicious ice cream, and meeting a lot of strangers and making small talk.

Ah. Small talk. Tastes - small.

Today (now yesterday?) I did lots of stuff and I got up at half six. My lots of stuff included crafting a small cake and a donut after felt in order to wear them on my head as fascinators/interesting headdresses/decoration.

Also I did quite a lot of laundry and went to Spotlight and bought screeds and screeds of tulle to make a tutu for my Roller Derby/Brutal Pageant skating outfit. Sewing it together in a recognisable tutu shape may be somewhat of an experiment. But I'm sure I'll either have a Good Time or some other kind of a time.

Did  I mention how ridiculously tired I am. I. Am. Tired. Goodnight!

Today: nothing to see here

This is my bedroom. The wind is blowing something dreadful, feel as though I might get blown out to sea... delicious feeling you know. The week is hurtling towards Elections, Dumpling '08 and other Decisions. I won the Melbourne Cup Sweepstake at work, and am now heavily laden with $20 in change.

Looks like: my first peony of 2008. Einfach fabelhaft. Das gefaelt mir ja gut.

Smells like: I've drunk too much cheap bubbly.

Sounds like: the wind wants to be inside my bedroom.

Monday night too much Scotch.

But it's very nice scotch, which makes it ok, non?

I'm sitting in the Boy's lounge and listening to one of Henry's later Temptations album. Very nice dinner from Boy with pumpkin and fetta and pine nuts and penne and then I drank a lot. Did I mention? But a girls gotta get her kicks where she can.

I'm also pro-transeasonal clothes wearage at present, I especially like the concept of wearing leather jackets with summer dresses. Thus, today=summer dress, brown cowboy boots and leather jacket. I made an inventory of my outfit (ie location of op shop from where bought) and it included Whangarei, Kaitaia, Yarraville, Wairoa, and possibly Austin, TX. 

Tonight is Monday! Yeah! Yeah!

I'm watching Bella cook dinner, listening to the Crystals creep me out with "He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss), and drinking g&t. Bella is leaping round the kitchen because she has had a negative waxing experience: an allergic reaction and now hives that cover the entire waxing area - not good when the wax was full leg and then bikini line. She's dancing furiously in order to stop herself itching her ENTIRELY HIVE COVERED LEGS. Having a goodbye dinner for Jude - he's heading to the Czech Republic and we're being evicted en masse by the first of December. Right now he's reading us Baudelaire's the Vampire a la teen angst, after playing us the Courtney Love version which is like, hell angst. Fireworks later. Fucking fabulous.

Tongan Police Brass Band

Oh Yes It Is. So, today I'm down with my deliciously dorky self, Historically Researching.... blogging at the Boy's house because I've not yet got a connection at mine... it's a new house. Too much celebratory sun and wine for me.

Who Is the Biggest Fat Sucker in Austin, Texas?

According to New Weekly, it's Dr. Robert Ersek. I'm hanging at Bex's and eating her dirty dirty cream cheese dip and reading trashy women's mags in voices and drinking cheap red wine. Life is looking up.

My mother

made me drink with her until 3 o'clock in the morning. There was certainly "peer" pressure involved. Right now there are chicken salt flavoured chips involved. xxx Me

To the Is-Land!

Aaah, secret middle-of-the-night-post-drinking indulgence. My blog... I went to these goodbye drinks for Henry at the Matterhorn: someone I barely know, but who is basically a nice boy (talks a lot though). Maybe less a farewell, than a sorry that we didn't really have the opportunity to get to know one another better type of a thing. At any rate I didn't actually talk to Henry except in passing the whole evening, when he came to collect the simultaneous kiss on the cheek from me and Bex (the same kiss later collected by Emil... as though we two were joined at the hip). I spent most of the evening talking to Bex about her fabulous new career as gallery dealer extrodinaire, and also making getting-to-know you small talk with her ex-Levy Street flatmate Abbey, a Canadian girl from the birthplace of... Anne of Green Gables, love it. I think this is the first time I've ever known for sure that Prince Edward Island actually existed outside of the imagination of L.M Montgomery. When I was a small child, all I wanted to do was be Anne of Green Gables, have red hair, puffed sleeves and freckles (and not even in that order... as a rule, the freckles came first). Apparently there is a musical that I can join up to and I could actually BE Anne of Green Gables for an entire summer season. Its the longest running musical in Canada... can't wait to tell Farhana. She'll be stoked. So, conversation with Bex very nice but as per usual made me feel a little crap about my own lack of life-focus or anything resembling passion. I missed the whole of the Billy Apple show that Tina curated at the Adam but there is a show opening next week that looks like the kind of thing I could dissemble on indefinitely. Going to miss the opening of course, which is kind of crap. Maybe I could swap shifts with Emma? I'll ask her tomorrow. Got to start getting back into those kind of things, maybe doing some writing to be published. Bex suggested that I contact Katy Corner, and she's right. I feel really bad about everything about career stuff at the moment, I want to be the BEST, such an abstract desire, and yet it rules my life almost entirely. Nothing makes me more jealous and angry than hearing other (ex-hons) girls talking about Abby in glowing terms. I think "Oh, I'm just as good as she is.." and then "but maybe, I'm not. I'm totally substandard. I'll never succeed. I want to be better than her!" This is actually ruining my life, this tragic obsession. Better that I concentrate on what I'm good at (whatever that may be... I'm not even sure that I'm a nice person most of the time.) Must go to bed now. Leave neuroses alone! Oh god neuroses, go to sleep.

Bemoaning my fate as "The Old Girl"

I am writing post good bye drinks at work: I am now officially the person who has worked at that crappy store the longest. Sitting in Te Valley and drinking a Nice Cup of Camomile Tea. Too much feijoa bubbly and thus (!) the requisite vegetarian kebab on the way home. This earns me a high five from Tom at the cafe. Information gleaned:? None, as far as I am aware. That is: either the reader of myself... (I flatter myself with a readership) or of another. No gossip around any workmate. I suspect that no one shares gossip with me.... I tend to pass things on, indiscriminantly. Relationship almost disgracefully peaceful given that I'm updating a diary. The dirtiest my dirty dreams get is ... me holding hands with a romantic boy. Strangely sad that I fantasise about romance and relationship honeymoon periods. I could be the most chronic serial monogamist if I gave it the chance. Unfortunately (or rather, better for me given my tragic luck in the flirtation front) I am completely and utterly Attached, like a big ole baby by the umbilical chord. Must drink tea, check email, and NOT watch BBC World until I fall asleep.