“What in the heck am I going to talk about on a regular basis?” Was the question I kept asking myself as I geared up to launch my blog.
Painting, writing, singing badly in traffic, animal rights, fashion, live music, the list goes on and on. The lifestyle part came naturally as I needed my blog and social media to reflect my everyday life. I simply couldn’t commit to living an alternate reality for the sake of “likes.” My newfound desire to explore the outdoors, travel and try new things lead me to add the adventure portion. There was something missing to differentiate me from the crowd of other really cool and established bloggers. “Ah, A How-To!” I thought. But what? I could share my marketing secrets, but then what would I do for a living? I could talk about fashion, but my style is as wide as my taste in music and holds about the same amount of reason… none, to be exact. I could share my mom’s famous recipes, but I’m almost certain she’d sue me for revealing family secrets, and the last thing anyone needs is more family drama. Reminiscing about her and her cooking got me thinking about our family dinners and eventually left me craving margaritas.
You see, I grew up having my extended family crammed into our tiny apartment for dinner every Monday night. My mom dished out delicious meals, desserts, and love to our family on her nights off from work. No one ever complained about there not being enough seats at the table and the kids gathered in my room to hold our secret cousin club meetings. As we got older, we stuck around the dining room table longer, learned to play poker*, and eventually got a sip or two of our parents’ margaritas. Having a fascination with wanting to grow up as quickly as possible lead me to share my lifelong dream of becoming a bartender with my mom. I remember her taking a deep breath before a passionate rant about how having watched Coyote Ugly one too many times had damaged my young and impressionable brain. I couldn’t disagree with her there, but Tyra looks damn good flinging bottles and dancing on top of a bar. I could have run off to tend bar, but I was not old enough and didn’t know how to make a damn drink. Instead, my mom appeased me by putting me in charge of margaritas on Monday nights.
Armed with a blender, tequila, and a frozen tube of margarita mix (yes, I am cringing at this too) I was ready to serve the night away. Well, more like until 8 pm or so cause it’s a school night. However, frozen margaritas were not a responsibility I took lightly. My margaritas were different from week to week as I played with ingredients, adding fruits, juice, and flavored liquors... funny enough there was probably not a lime in sight. Sometimes they were a hit, other times my clumpy and colorful mixtures ended up down the drain. My recipes got better, I retired the blender, and eventually I actually got behind the bar at a club downtown when I turned 18. Don’t get too excited, it was a speed bar without much need for speed and my claim to fame my first week of work was asking patrons if the drink they wanted was red or blue. It did not last long, but I did master a 3 count pour and how to make a killer jack and coke.
Fast forward a decade or so and my love for craft cocktails is as strong as ever. I now replicate drinks from places I’ve traveled, from restaurants I frequent, and bars I’ve discovered for fun nights in with my friends. I’m not sure if it was my love for tequila or simply nostalgia that lead me to choose adding cocktail recipes to my blog. Perhaps it’s the desire to have loud AF people yelling in Spanish across my dining room table while sipping frozen margaritas and playing poker. Or the need to be a rebel child and talk about alcohol, not something a well-behaved southern girl often does. Maybe it’s even my feminist middle finger to the bartender and mixologist world that is still heavily dominated my men. But the thing I am certain of is that much like good food, good drinks are meant to be shared with friends and loved ones. That’s exactly what I aim to do. Salud!
*Disclaimer: After recently going “all in” with a hand of 2❤ 3❤, I have been informed I am not allowed to claim that I know how to play poker anymore. Hey, they were suited!
***We do not support underage drinking, excessive drinking, binge drinking or any other unsafe drinking behavior. Please drink responsibly and with moderation. We do not, under any circumstances, accept responsibility for any damages that result to yourself or anyone else due to the consumption of alcoholic beverages or the use of this site and any materials located on it.
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