I'm going to start this Spicy Moscow Mule recipe post by explaining why I don't own an authentic Moscow Mule mug. Well, you see, I'm still waiting to find one for less than $8. I understand that the cost of copper is simply quite expensive, but I'm not ready to give up on the hunt. I've set a goal for myself and gosh darn it, I still think I'm going to find one for $8 or less.
..... and when I do..... jokes on y'all! Muahahahahahhahahahahaah.
Ok, glad we've cleared that up. Instead, I have the most appropriate, adorable little cups that my long-time bestie (and college roomie!) Magen sent me for Christmas. Seeing as a Moscow Mule's primary ingredient is Vodka, I can't think of a better cup to use!
Well, that is until I find a Moscow Mule mug for $8 or less.
A couple of weekends ago, CB, my girlfriends and I had a Saturday Funday. We started at one of my favorite Saturday afternoon activities, The Deep Ellum Brewery Tour. For $15 you get three (very strong) beers and three solid hours of good convo and fun with your friends. After the brewery, we hit up a few different bars. At each place we stopped, my girlfriends both asked if the bartender could make them a spicy Moscow Mule. Most everyone's reaction was to offer them a Mexican Mule, which is made with tequila instead of vodka.
My brain of course ding ding ding-ed and promised them that if they came over one day the following week, I'd find out how to make a real Spicy Moscow Mule for them. Hence, the inspiration for today's drink!
The Spicy Moscow Mule
|| Ingredients ||
2oz Vodka
1 Jalapeño, sliced into wheels
(you can also use a Habanero if you're braver than I am)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Ginger beer
|| Directions ||
Muddle two (one if you don't want a ton of heat) jalapeño wheels in the bottom of your cocktail glass-- or in your Moscow Mule mug if you've sprung for the real thing. Fill your glass with crushed ice, then add your vodka and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a single jalapeño and lime wheel.
In other news, if you're reading this then I'm officially Colorado bound!
Follow my journey to becoming the next Lindsey Vonn on Snapchat and Instagram!
I am an emotional person. I mean, very emotional. Often times my emotions are out of control, and range from "will I ever laugh again?" to "ohhh shiny red ball, wait what was I just crying about?" Is this me being dramatic? The very last thing I would ever label myself is a drama queen, but when I put it that way it sure sounds like it.
I just feel feelingsso much... if that makes any sense at all. I'm kinda like the chick from Mean Girls....
I get so excited over silly weekend plans, that I can hardly wipe a smile off my face. I get so sad over car commercials where the dad sends his daughter off to college that I think I'll put Kleenex on a company wide backorder. I get so worked up worrying if someone is mad at me or if I've hurt someone's feelings that I'll send myself into full on panic. My emotions are all over the place, lord help us all if I ever have children. I get angry, jealous, sad, happy, elated, irate... all in the blink of an eye.
I can't tell you how many times I've felt that I deserved something that I didn't get, and then gotten ridiculously worked up over the whole thing. The number of times that I felt angry or jealous that someone else was given an opportunity that I thought I was way more deserving of. My first instinct is just to quit, throw my hands up in the air, cry woe is me and say screw this. Sheesh, maybe I am a drama queen!
It's ok to be emotional over a let down, but the key is to not focus on the negative. When I actually take step back and think about the bigger picture, I find an explanation. Did I really work hard enough to deserve what was given to that other person?
One thing my Dad always used to tell me was that I needed to work on was having thicker skin. This was solid advice for literally everything in life. As bloggers, we should also heed this advice. If something doesn't go your way, don't just sit there and pout in a jealous rage. Find out what you can work harder on, or how you can be more creative next time.
If someone says something mean about you, maybe what they're saying is actually relevant and should be taken into consideration. When we let our emotions get the best of us, we can end up regretting how we handle the situation, I know I do. There have been many times I've been criticized, and instead of actually considering that that person has a highly valid point, I just want to label them as a bitch.
Think about it, I bet most of us are not brave enough to give criticism to someone in a constructive way. I know I'm not. Instead, I'd rather just stay silent. There are a lot of people in my life who might have benefited if I had told them exactly what I thought, having nothing but good intentions to help them to be a better person or to get an opportunity they were working toward.
We all ask for feedback, but then if the feedback isn't what we wanted to hear we get pissed off and defensive. If you can really take constructive criticism, you open the doors to being the best possible version of yourself. Two minds are better than one, right?
My point here is that it's ok to be overly emotional, but don't let that initial emotional, knee-jerk reaction be how you ultimately handle the situation. Give yourself a minute, take a deep breath and really think if your reaction is warranted.
And whatever you do, don't forget to take a moment to stop and smell the roses at the end of the day. Regardless of what someone else has, or what what someone else says to you... never forget or neglect the positives in your life. They won't stick around if you don't stop to appreciate them from time to time.
These are my two goals for 2016: Don't let my emotions rule every reaction + stop and smell the roses.
It was only just recently that I realized I have anxiety over seemingly everything. I've always described myself as this laid back, chill girl that can just go with the flow. It has now occurred to me that by "laid back" and "chill" I was predominately referring to my absence of care regarding which bar we'd be going to that night. For some reason, this whole time I've equated my laid back personality with the never needing or even wanting a specific plan.
Last night though, as CB was insisting that I watch YouTube videos on "Skiing 101," my anxiety over the whole thing was shooting through the roof. I was being negative nancy, and sheer panic coursed through my veins.
"Laid back" and "chill" Sarah would've been like, "Yeahhhh, man. Gnarly. Sweet. This will be cool, dawg."
BUT... the only phrase actual Sarah could spit out was, "How many people have you seen get carried off in an ambulance? Like, what's the over/under on me breaking a limb?"
Perhaps it has something to do with being 29, rather than 21. Or perhaps I have always been anxiety prone, I was just in denial. Either way, I thought I'd compile a list of things that send me into an immediate panic. If I've said it once I've said it 100 times, admitting you have a problem is the first step.
1. When someone yells, "Partner Up!" yet I'm there alone Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
2. When my friends are late meeting me at a party, and I don't know anyone else there. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 3. When someone's dog sniffs my crotch Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 4. Not knowing whether or not you're going to hug someone you've just met at the end of the night. We started with a handshake, barely talked all night but everyone else is hugging. Do we hug now like besties? I'm going to make this awkward. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
5. The first kiss Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
6. When the airplane dips in altitude suddenly Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 7. A man coming up to ask me for my spare change at the gas station (or anywhere) Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 8. My yearly performance review Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. (Last time I broke out into hives, even though it was a good review) 9. Coming home and seeing the gate open when I know the dogs are outside Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 10. Wearing a bathing suit in front of a group of peers Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 11. When someone (other than my mom) calls my cellphone just to chat. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 12. Forcing myself to re-watching my snapchats after a night of drinking Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 13. A knock on the front door It's 2016!!! Who could possibly be at our front door. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 14. Dropping my cellphone on concrete Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 15. My Email Inbox on Monday Morning Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
16. Sunday Night
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
17. Week 4 of C25K (which I start tonight)
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 18. "Networking" Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. 19. Right when I wake up from a dream where CB breaks up with me Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. (Oh, whewww. Just a dream! Yells at CB: "YOU JERK, how COULD YOU??") 20. Ski Trips Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
So it's all set now, we've got our Super Bowl 50 teams! Carolina will face my boy Peyton and the Denver Broncos in San Fran in just two short weeks. I'm not going to say I'm torn on who to root for, because my loyalty will always lie with Peyton -- and Malik Jackson and Britton Colquitt, who are all Vols who all play on the Denver Broncos. I will say though that I am a big Cam fan, and if he wins then I'll be ok with that too.
I'm actually tickled to death that Denver won, because CB and I are headed with a group of friends to Denver on Thursday to go skiing. I cannot wait to feel the Super Bowl fever in Denver, it will be a vibe I've never had the privilege of experiencing first hand.
Now skiing on the other hand, woof.
CB, bless his heart, is so excited. He literally set a reminder alarm yesterday to check the mountain's web cam to see what kind of line there was for the lift. Me though? Well, I'm having a hard time getting on his level of giddy. I've never been skiing before, but I have been snowboarding one time -- if you would call what I was doing "snowboarding" -- and I was nothing short of convinced that I was going to plummet to my death via the Bunny Trail. The newspaper headlines would read, "First Woman to Ever Plummet to Death on Bunny Trail" and everyone would giggle.
In general, I consider myself athletic. I pick up most sports pretty easily. Those sports that I cannot easily pick up, frustrate me to no end and I avoid them like the plague... like soccer and/or anything that involves your feet as your primary weapon. Seeing as skiing is not played with the hands, I'm very pessimistic about the whole thing. Plus, this weekend I tried on the snow bib that I bought and I looked like Willy's palest oompa loompa.
I'm just very nervous about the whole thing, and all jokes aside, I'm worried that I'm going to hold CB back from having fun doing his thing on the mountain. I'm aware I'm going into this with a very poor attitude, so I'm hoping acknowledging that I'm being negative will help. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE I'LL BE THE NEXT....... Wait, who is a famous skier? Isn't Tiger's girlfriend a skier?! Ok yeah, according to Google, I'll be the next Lindsey Vonn! Sweet!
If anyone has any tips you want to give me, I'm all ears. Preferably tips on how I can get in skiing shape in 3 days, or how to relieve sore muscles within seconds. At the very least, I'll take recs on the best booze to sip in front of a cozy fire.
On a positive note, at least I'll have this bomb hat that I got in Toronto to keep me warm.
On an even more positive note, I won $100 on Draft Kings yesterday and I've since broken my arm patting myself on the back.
Whoa. Look what this is.... can it really be? A new Saturday Sessions post!!!! OH. EMM. GEEEEE. I won't bore you all with small talk, let's get right to it. The topic today is how to add a "back to top" button to your blogger blog. Sarahrequested a tutorial on this about a million years ago, so I hope this is better late than never! This is super quick, looks fantastic and makes life easier on your reader. I first installed a back to top button on Helene's blog, and I'll show you how I did that today!
Help a sistah out and either pin this post, or "like" it via bloglovin!
In your blogger dashboard, click the "template" tab, then click "edit html"
Find the <head> tag, it will be located close to the top of the page. You can also search for it, by clicking inside the box and hitting control + F.
Go to the "layout" tab, then click "add a gadget". It doesn't matter where you place your gadget, it will automatically display in the bottom right of your screen when you scroll down. I recommend adding it to the bottom of your sidebar or to your footer so it is out of the way.
Choose html/Java Script
Paste the following code: **Below, where it says Your_Image_URL_Here in red, be sure to replace that with the link to your image.
And that's it! You're all done. If you have any questions at all, please leave me a comment and let me know. I do my best to respond to all questions, but make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger so I can easily get back to you! To request a Saturday Sessions tutorial, click here. For more blogging tutorials, click here.
We made it to FRIDAY! I don't know about you but I'm ready for a little R&R this weekend! Knowing us though, I'm sure that won't happen. Anytime we plan to have a relaxing weekend, we end up with plans for every single minute of the weekend. One thing is for certain though, you can find me posted up on the couch Sunday watching what I think will be two phenomenal conference championship games.
I've got some really good stories for you today. Some I heard on the radio, some I read online, all are really good though! So good, that I've had to include 6 stories instead of the normal 5! I spiffied up the "5 Things You Need to Know" graphic. I thought the old one finally needed to be retired. I've been working hard to try and get all of my Fan Friday posts labeled and sorted by sport, which can be found by clicking sports in the Navigation bar above!
CB told me about this first topic on Monday, and even though it's a gigantic story, it still hasn't popped up on any of my social media feeds. BBC, in collaboration with Buzzfeed News, announced an investigation they had been working on, which reveals a massive allegation of match-fixing in tennis. Their study reveals evidence that a core group of 16 players, players they claim you've certainly heard of, are suspected of having thrown matches over the past decade. They didn't name any specific names, but they did say more than half of those 16 players are entered into the Australian Open, which is currently underway.
At a press conference on Monday, world number 1 Novak Djokovic said that in 2007 he was offered 200k to throw a match, but that although it was a problem then, he didn't think it was a problem now.
What's my take? Well, at this very moment it seems like they've published what appears to be a giant waste of our time. With no specific names listed, you've really got nothing of substance in this story. It's just that at this point, a story. Come talk to me when you have a name.
In the most GENIUS marketing strategy I've seen in a long time, Butterfinger is trying to bring back the epic touchdown celebrations of yesteryear --is that a word or did I just make that up? -- by encouraging players to "excessively celebrate" and paying any fine incurred, up to $50,000. Joining Butterfinger is the man who helped make the NFL touchdown celebration illegal, Terrell Owens.
Let's take a step back and think how brilliant this move was by Butterfinger. Say two players take Butterfinger up on their offer, and doing an insane, and "highly excessive" in the NFL's eyes, touchdown celebration. The announcers will most definitely bring it up that Butterfinger will be paying for this, the players will acknowledge Butterfinger in their press conference, radio hosts will discuss the epic celebration that happened during the super bowl... all costing Butterfinger a mere $100k should two players (my money is on Cam) go to town in the end zone.
Meanwhile, a 30 second commercial during Super Bowl 50 costs $5 million.
You've probably heard by now that the Buffalo Bills have hired the NFL's very first full-time female coach, Kathryn Smith. Her actual title is, "Special Teams Quality Control Coordinator." What does that mean, you ask? I have no idea, but according to Bill's HC Rex Ryan it means, "Doing all the computer stuff, doing all the drawings, all that type of stuff."
Oh, ok. (????)
Any who, what you might not have heard yet is the rant this radio host DOUCHE NOZZLE (yes, douche nozzle) from Cleveland went on, blasting the Bills on hiring a female coach.
He went on to say that the person who hired her is an idiot. How about you wake up, moron. I'm willing to bet Kathryn has forgotten more about the reference points of football than you'll ever know. I've seen Rex Ryan coach football, idiot he is not.
If you listen to a lot of sports radio, all they have been talking about this week is how easy it'll be for the New England Patriots to win AT Denver. I certainly see where they're coming from, not only is NE obviously very good at football, but Brady has dominated my boy Peyton over the years. The two have matched up a total of 16 times, with Brady winning 11.
Peyton is certainly not the superstar he's been in the past, but he's still PEYTON FREAKING MANNING, and they're the home team! The announcers are acting like Denver is going to put a squad of cuddly puppies on the field that will just roll over on command.
My take? Peyton FTW.
As much as I hate the NFL trying to make high fashion happen, these footballs, designed by members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, that are going up for auction are pretty sweet. The proceeds will benefit the NFL foundation, and how could I possibly hate on a good deed?
Just a heads up, the vast majority of these don't have a single bid on them yet, and start at just $500. Might be a good investment, think about all the instagram likes you'd get. Just don't forget to tag #gamedayvibes.
This story about Jordy Nelson, Green Bay WR who missed this season due to a torn ACL, is going to give you all the feels. He spent the season as a substitute teacher for his 5 year old son's classroom. Why? Because his son's teacher needed to go in for cancer treatments.
Like I said, all of the feels. This story needed to be included, thus leading to the sixth thing you need to know before you go. Read the whole story on Yahoo!.
