Thirty Thursday from my Mixology Hat Mango Sinsation

I love a summer evening with friends.  Calm or rowdy, it's all good with me.

Last summer my friends and I spent a great deal of time hanging out on my back porch just enjoying the cool summer eveings, good friends, a few laughs and a couple of drinks.  We started experimenting with various drink combinations just for fun and I think we hit on a couple of winners.  Please keep in mind that these combinations are designed for people who are 21 and over, have a sense of adventure and good taste.

Missy and my favorite combination we have dubbed "The Mango Sinsation".  This is a pretty straight forward drink but it can pack a bit of a punch so beware.

1 shot mango rum
1 shot lime vodka
2 oz mango soda
2 oz limeade
ice
mint
frozen peach slice or frozen mango bit


Crush a fresh mint leaf in the bottom of a tumbler. 

Combine the rum, vodka and limeade over ice and shake. 

Pour into a tumbler, add mango soda. 

Garnish with a slice of frozen peach or a piece of frozen mango.

Add a fun straw and enjoy.

If you want to crank it up a notch, add some alcohol infused vanilla whipped cream.  Yummy!!

Advice to a Daughter - from my Mom Hat

"Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be." - Clementine Paddleford

Oh my daughter, how many times have I heard you start a sentence with the words, "I wish..."
I wish I was pretty.
I wish I had a boyfriend.
I wish I didn't have to go to school anymore.
I wish I had more money.
I wish we lived in a bigger house.
I wish I had a laptop.
I wish I had an Ipod.
I wish I had 200 hoodies.
I wish I was older.
I wish I could make my own rules.
I wish you would leave me alone.
I wish
I wish
I wish

There are more ways to make a wish than there stars in the sky or fish in the sea. 
Blow the fluff off a dandelion
Wish on the first star of the evening
Wish on a falling star
Blow out your birthday candles
Blow an eyelash off a friend's finger
Coins is a wishing well
Blowing a ladybug off your finger
Using a wishbone

All of these are fine, wonderful ways to daydream about your future and the wonderfulness that it will hold, however, if all you ever do is wish, you will find your life full of empty dreams and unfulfilled desires.

Wishes are a great way to start along a path toward a goal, but wishing alone is not enough.  Begin with a wish but add determination and effort to fulfill these wishes.  If you wish school was over, then work harder at school so you can pass well, find success and put your knowledge to work for you forging a future you have planned out.  If you wish you were pretty, look in a mirror and find all the lovely things about you.  Then look within yourself and find all the truly beautiful things that make up you.  If you wish you could make your own rules, come and discuss rule changes with me in a mature, well thought out way and you might be surprised with the result.  If you wish we lived in a bigger house, work toward a good education in a field that pays handsomely and you'll be able to have the house of your dreams.

Now please do NOT think I am telling you to stop wishing.  I hope you never stop wishing.  Wishes are great.  Wishes are awesome.  Wishes are absolutely nexessary.  Some wishes should be whispered in the wind and dreamed about on a soft summer night.  Some wishes should be put right up front in a place of importance to hold your focus.  They should be the thought that makes you crack open a book, the motivation to go out on a snowy day to shovel sidewalks for tips, the reason you get up off the couch and go for a run.

A wish that remains a wish can be a lovely half forgotten memory of childhood innocence.  A wish that is shaped, worked, molded and owned can conquer mountains.

 

Take your wishbone and your backbone and make them one.  Strong in determination and driven toward a goal that is wholly and uniquely your own.  Climb your mountain, my daughter; I think you might be amazed with what wishes you can make come true without waiting for a fairy godmother and her magic wand.

Monday Morning Music - Appropriateness

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

Stop swearing at me!

I am starting to believe that some DJ's have a very warped sense of humor.  This is very apparent on Monday mornings as I am gulping down coffee on my drive to work.  Most Monday's is the usual, couple of songs, a bit of news, a joke that they think is funny.  They're usually not but the DJ thinks it's very clever I suppose.  Normally I listen to XM radio but in the morning I like to switch over to the local shows so I can catch at least a bit of news and the weather.  These are the warped DJ's of which I speak.  For 4 weeks straight when I switched to the local programming, I heard "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith.  Now I ask you, would that get you revved up on a Monday, or wish it was Friday and now you've got this whooooole week to get through.  Not Nice! 

Other songs not appreciated (at least by me) on a Monday morning would be:
Eric Church's "Drink in My Hand"

George Jone's "It's Finally Friday"

Alan Jackson's "Good Time".  I know it is hard to believe that any Alan Jackson song might be on any list of inappropriate and, honestly, I would still sing along and enjoy it, but it is a weekend aimed song that does make the week seem so much longer.

What other songs would you rather not hear on a Monday morning commute to work?

Monday Morning Music - Musta Had a Good Time

I am an addict.

I freely admit it.  I am addicted to XM radio.  I love the no commercials interrupting my music.  I am still looking for the perfect channel, however.  You know the one, it plays just what I want to hear right when I want to hear it without me even knowing I want to hear it.  That doesn't seem to be too much to ask, does it?  If I win the lottery (which I didn't this past weekend, darn it) maybe I'll finance that station...or not, lol. 

Until I win and make my own station, I listen mostly to The Highway on channel 39 as country music is my favorite (as I'm sure you could tell by most of my posts) and one of the tings I like about them is they go out looking for new music.  This past week I heard a new song by a new (at least to me) group that caught my attention.  It is called "Musta Had a Good Time" by Parmalee.

"Musta Had a Good Time" describes that once in a lifetime party that happened spur of the moment and leaves you with lots of questions and vague memories but also the feeling that you are a party god to have pulled off such a feat.  Give it a listen and tell me what you think.  And if you're planning a party like this, give me a call.