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Vodka… lemonade. Amiright??

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You know I am. So, how do we make it happen?

Well, first you have someone email you and say, “Hey blogger, we were wondering if you’d like to review one of our products…”

And you be all, “Thanks, I’m not really into reviewing stuff right now, I’m very busy and important.”

So then they say, “Oh, okay, I’ll just send this FREE BOTTLE OF CHERRY VODKA to someone else then!”

And then YOU go “ZOMG, please excuse my evil twin sister who just said that, because YES and also PLEASE.”

Then a week later this bad boy shows up on your doorstep:

And you’re all, “Heyooooo party in a glass FTW!!”

So, I let my dormant inner bartender takeover. As it’s been 928 degrees here in DC all week (give or take), I couldn’t think of anything more refreshing than some cherry (vodka) lemonade. And because I am a giver, and also because the people who sent me this lovely vodka would like me to, I’m going to share it with you.

Probably The Most Refreshing Drink Ever Recipe

Fill pint glass with ice. Add:

• 2.5 oz of Pucker Cherry Vodka
• 1 squeezed fresh lime
• 1 squeezed lemon wedge
• 2 strawberries cut into fourths or so
• 5 oz lemonade (pink or yellow – I like yellow so the sour contrasts with the sweet)

Shake well, then pour directly into face. (Also be 21. I feel like I should probably throw that in here somewhere.)

I didn’t have any on hand, but I think a couple sprigs of mint in this would be phenomenal too.

Got any other ideas for this delicious stuff? I still have half a bottle… (best one gets to drink it with me)!

P.S. I set up a fancy new profesh site over at rachaelgking.com. Would love your two cents on the design, content, all that jazz, as I’m still tweaking to make it perfect! If you’re interested in social media opines and general digital marketing info, feel free to subscribe too.

Mama said share.

Visit Value Mags for cheap magazine subscriptions with free shipping.

I am not really one for the schmoop. Generally, I prefer sarcasm and bonding over self-deprecating jokes over talking about our feeeeeeeeelings. If and when we do discuss our emotions, we better be a bottle of wine (or three) deep, ya dig?

But this time, I can’t help it. The past weekend was one of the best of my life, and I just want to scream it from a rooftop, like I was an Italian lover with a heart full of song, or John Cusack in the 80s. (Or John Cusack ever, who are we kidding.)

I spent the better part of last week in Vegas at Bloggers in Sin City (#BiSC), surrounded by 50+ of the kindest, sweetest, funniest, friendliest bloggers this side of the US border. (Yes, that includes Canada, Brandy/Simone. See what I did there?!)

Listen, I’ve been to a lot of meetups, tweetups, and other “let’s take this party offline” festivities in my day – I’ve even put on a few (dozen) of them myself. But let me invoke the power of Sinead O’Conner for a moment, and just tell you that nothing compares to this.

Everyone was just so OPEN and ready to really get to know each other. And we were at an immediate advantage with this, because we’ve all been stalking each other online for months in anticipation. As Nico so eloquently put it in his video recap, “instead of feeling people out and starting from scratch, a lot of these friendships just kind of hit the ground running.”

I didn’t walk into that first happy hour on Thursday to a crowd of strangers. I walked in and was immediately embraced, figuratively and literally, by 56 friends (and more than a few life-size cutouts of Donny Osborne. That shiz is everywhere in Vegas.) And while I am lame and old and wasn’t really drinking (since by midnight I literally felt like I had been roofied from exhaustion - DAMN YOU, EST INTERNAL CLOCK!!!!!), the party didn’t stop until the moment I left on Sunday morning.

Nicole (our amazing organizer), you are like a fairy godmother who sprinkles vodka and hair tinsel and condoms down on us all. My life is approximately 529% better for knowing you.

Chelsea, take care of that piece of my heart that you stole because I AM BROKEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT AROUND. Jenn, Doni, Katelin, my life is cold and gray without you in it. New pact to never go a year without seeing each other EVER AGAIN, cool? Cool.

Jenny, I’m so glad we got to spend serious QT together this year. Welcome to the club of “My Favorite People on Earth”. (It comes with a gold star.) Ditto Molly – your bubbliness is infectious, and I don’t do bubbly, so this is saying something.

I want to list every single person I met but A) I’m lazy, and B) we’re too busy chatting in our top secret Facebook group anyway. #nerds #loveit

Suffice to say I love each and every one of you, and will continue to stalk you on the internet now that we are apart once more. (Tear.)

And now, I will finally shut up about how great my life is, and let the pictures speak their thousands of ridiculous words.

To everyone who was there, face licks and hashtag dances and slash scoops forever. I can’t wait to see you all again next year.

Mama said share.

Oh, BlogHer. I honestly don’t even know where to start.

*dives right in*

I got on a Bolt Bus Friday morning, anxious to meet my e-friend and roommate Elizabeth for the first time. I had an Expo/Party pass from the lovely Justine of Brand About Town, and two full days in NYC with only one specific thing on my schedule: the Saturday evening 20sb Happy Hour at Johnny Utah’s, where I had vowed to ride the hell out of their mechanical bull.

The bus took off and I was officially Excited In The Pants for all the things to come… until it broke down, an hour outside of DC. Like, electricity-off-broke-down… aka no A/C. So we suffocated on the side of the road until a new bus could be brought to fetch us. Finally, we were on our way again, and the trip was relatively uneventful until we were actually approaching NYC, and the bus was making unwieldy turn after bumpy exits after terrifying tunnel… and it was that moment I very urgently needed to pee.

Against my better judgment, matter won over mind, and I unsteadily made my way into the sliver of a “bathroom” at the back. Once inside, I was faced with a grave problem: there was no way to not fall over without supporting oneself against the walls, and yet there was no way I was touching those walls. I almost wish the next two minutes were on camera, as I was flipped around that 9 square foot space, using elbows and a few 1 ply squares of TP to try to keep myself from tumbling into the cesspool of a toilet, as well as relieve myself without decorating the restroom, or worse, myself.

Let’s just say by the time I made it out of there, I was fairly certain that mechanical bull wouldn’t be a problem at all.

We arrived without further incident, and I entered the Hilton New York in Times Square to see BlogHer here, there, and everywhere. We had taken OVER the place. Everywhere you looked were women chatting, sharing, promoting, exchanging, inspiring, laughing. By the time I made it up to my room, it was obvious that BlogHer had pwned the Hilton… and it was awesome.

I spent a couple hours exploring the Expo halls with Elizabeth, where sponsors handed out swag and chatted up their new products, but more importantly, were awesome people who actually wanted to hear what WE had to say. The number one question I was asked was, “Are you a blogger??” They were EXCITED to meet us, to share with us, to impress us. *cue “A Whole New World” music*

When my arms started to hurt from the bags o’ swag, I met the beautiful Kinsey for dinner at a pub around the corner from the Hilton. We’d met before at a happy hour in Boston, but it was so great to have some one on one time and really get to talk. She’s got some exciting things in store for you, Boston- be sure to watch that girl.

After a bit, my beloved Matt met up with us for drinks.

And drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks.

Kinsey took off for a Sex and the City tour with her girlfriends, so Matt and I did what any normal people would do:

Got even more plastered and found the nearest karaoke bar.

Shitfaced at some ridiculously pretentious strangely all-white basement club, we ordered our $12 drinks and looked at the song book. This choice was not to be taken lightly.

We had two requirements: first, it had to be a duet, and second, it had to be the absolute WORST duet we could possibly think of.

Please to enjoy…

Shortly thereafter (for obvious reasons), we called it a night.

In the morning, this happened:

Followed by this:

To be continued… (and, um… Saturday? Put Friday to SHAME. That is all.)

Mama said share.

You all know this game by now. Time for another installment of “The Shiz My Boyfriend Says.” Woot!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, B dropped off our yoga mats to our (phenomenal) neighborhood bartender for their kids event this Saturday. Upon returning home…

B: So I dropped the mats off, and she came out from the bar like she was going to give me a hug, and we just stood there looking at each other. So awkward.

Me: What? Why wouldn’t you give her a hug??

B: I don’t do hugs.

Me: …….

B: You know those people who like to hug all the time? I’m basically the opposite of that. Not for me.

Me: But I hug you all the time!

B: Well, you’re different.

Me: (pause of disbelief) Um, not even joking? I bought a shirt that says “Free Hugs” today.

B: Well, here we are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We see a commercial for Saw 19 or whatever.

Me: Seriously?? (meaning, they’re actually making ANOTHER of these?)

B: I know, didn’t that guy die in the first one?

Me: I don’t know. I don’t watch that horror shit.

B: Oh, that’s right… cause you’re a goddamn coward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look up to see B feeding Axe Murderer bits of chicken on top of the bookshelf. He grabs a nearby paper towel and takes a half-hearted swipe at the mess.

Me: Um, gross. Can you at least get a WET paper towel?

B: Why, so you can EAT off there?! Sheesh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trying out our new HD Blu-Ray, an episode of Legend of the Seeker is on. I should probably mention that the main character looks like this:

You can use your Sword of Truth on me anytime, baby.

Me: Oh Richard… so shirtless.

B: What! I’m taking the Blu-Ray back!!

Me: Oh, please. There’s more than enough boobs-in-slow-mo fight scenes to make this even.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See you all tonight at the Happy Hour, lovebugs! Chinatown Vapiano’s after work, but Maxie and I will be there at 4 to squat at a table for us if you’re out early. I’ll be on the tweet if you can’t find us.

Do it!!!

(And share the button if you’re coming!)

<a href="http://www.livitluvit.com/2010/05/because-apparently-i-didnt-get-enough-to-drink-in-vegas.html"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/4641327737_8457fb1000_o.jpg" alt="DC HH June 4" width="300" height="370" /></a>

~take it, leave it, love it, spank it~

Mama said share.

I’m back, bitches!

…And more exhausted than ever.

A night of debauchery in Key West, followed by three days at a gorgeous resort helping a bestie pull off the wedding of the year…

Followed by a 32-hour expedition to get home.

It’s amazing how in just three flight delays and a night in a sterile airport hotel, you can completely forget why your skin is sunkissed. All that remains is a set of angry bowels torturing you for what you put it through over the weekend.

Nevertheless, the wedding was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect, I got my boobs into my dress somehow, and our sweet bride was a saint compared to the bridezilla horror stories I’ve heard. Both of their families were a blast to drink with get to know, and for the first time in a decade, I managed to get what any Scotch Irish person knows is a tan, and any normal person would call “no longer quite so vampire-y looking.”

Wedding pics to come, but here’s a few of my favorites from our night in Key West…

We're in Miami, bitch! (And clothing is optional...)

"Gimme an awkward morning over any lonely night"

At least he's honest.

Spring Break ot 6 relived!

This is actually a pretty standard sighting down there. ... And I think I bought the same shades the next day.

Is there a "Stuff White People DO" site? Because this belongs on it. (Yes, that is an iPad... at the beach.)*

*I should probably mention that the dude with the iPad is B. Since you’re all making fun of him. He was very careful with his new toy… Look Ma, no sand!

Mama said share.

I’m going to be a bit MIA while I rock this whole jury duty thing, but I figured I could give you a taste of how my weekend was. My dear friend cavy was in town, so I figured the only thing to do was throw her a party.

This is how that went.

Actually, this is just the tiniest TASTE of how that went. Let’s just say there will be the vlog to end all vlogs tomorrow, inspired by Tosh.0′s “surprise trust falls.”

You’ll see.

Trust me.

(Thanks to Berto and Lex for the image credit. You can split responsibility as Axe Murderer’s sponsor when she enters AA.)

Mama said share.

Because you should be… and not just because it has the best opening credits song since The Wire.

(Click here for more info.)

Listen to me. I’m a doctor.*

*of Loooooooooooooove.**

**Also, shuttup. I am recovering from a bachelorette and it may have been my first one but dayum, y’all… I am TOO OLD for this shit.

Mama said share.

I just deleted an incredibly long play-by-play account of how perfectly miserable this past Saturday’s ShamrockFest was*.

And it was, don’t get me wrong. It was raining steadily and nastily the entire time; the parking lot was a mix of mudslides and six inch puddles; my guest Flippy and I waited in line after line to get in; they sent us the wrong way (not “VIP”) and we had to walk all the way back to the front to get our “VIP” glasses twenty minutes later, at which point they did not see fit to give us the bracelets meant to go along with them; the festival opened at noon but “VIPs” were forced to wait outside of the “VIP” area until 1pm- an hour in the rain with free beer that (well, not us but other people) have PAID for is a fate worse than death; when the “VIP” crowd literally rioted to be let in at 1, the power-hungry gate attendants made them wait until 1:05 and we were scared for our lives; there were more staff than patrons there yet they openly admitted they had had no training and couldn’t give us any information about what was going on; the entire event was so poorly disorganized it was laughable; “VIPs” weren’t allowed to bring their beer outside of the “VIP” area to where the bands were playing; we admitted defeat just moments after they finally opened the “VIP” gate and we realized we needed the bracelets we hadn’t been given with our cups. The idea of walking back to the gate a second time was laughable after already having done it once and standing in the rain for an hour waiting for a free beer.

(“VIP” is in quotes because I don’t believe anyone there was not “VIP”. Sort of defeats the purpose, no?)

We watched as the crowd rushed in and decided A) the lines for the free watery beer would be ridiculous by the time we got back, and B) we were too old for this shit.

So Flippy and I, in our neon lime-green legwarmers and aqua leggings, (respectively,) laughed our ass out of that place so fast we didn’t even get to see LMFAO sing “Shots.”

We swam through the mud puddles passed the line of unfortunate souls waiting to get in- literally, my shoes are now brown- and hailed the first cab we could find to take us to a warm bar where the booze flowed (and our fingers weren’t so frozen we couldn’t even Tweet the anguish).

So, if you ask me how ShamrockFest was, I will probably laugh. And I will tell you that as long as you never step foot in the park itself… as long as you head straight to a cozy bar with a good friend and stool up to a pitcher of beer and some garlic fries and spend the next four hours laughing and bonding and planning road trips and making fun of small children…

You’ll probably have a grand old time.

I did.

*Yes, my tickets were totally courtesy of a PR company. Otherwise I never, ever, EVER would have gone. Lesson learned.

Mama said share.

(Sidebar: As long as I’m doing reviews, the apartment is sorely in need of some new and fantastic bar stools before we throw our next shindig, and this site is totally tempting me…)

So, this weekend I was lucky enough to get some free stuff. When is that ever a bad thing?

Answer: When it’s an STD.

Zing!!!!!!

Anyhoo.

First up, a lovely lady from Glasses USA asked if I’d like a free pair of eyeglasses. (They also have prescription glasses, and their prices seem pretty darn reasonable to me.)

My answer?

I went with the Michele Burgandy eyeglass frames, mostly because the name reminded me of Anchor Man but also because they are kind of awesome, no? They even inspired my new Twitter profile pic!

Yeah… so… that happened. Moving on!

(Oh, and just in case you can’t see what I’m reading…)

Yes, that is Glamourpuss, by the genius people from KittyWigs. Anytime y’all want to send me something to “review,” I am GAME, ya hear me?

Next up, another lovely lady was wondering if I’d like to try some magical new skin lotion from Skin MD. (Okay, she didn’t say magical, but it is snOMG here and I am SCOTCH-IRISH, people. Just imagine what my hands look like right about now. Any sort of lotion is magic to me at this point.)

At first touch I was skeptical, as it seemed a little runny. I tend to like the super thick, almost-impossible-to-spread cremes and lotions. But it quickly absorbed and seems to be doing its job quite nicely, thankyouverymuch. If you want to try it, their store locator can help you find some near you.

And finally… well, yesterday was Valentine’s Day! So of course I got free stuff, aka presents!

The man?

HE KNOWS ME.

That’s right, my friends. He got me a completely badass giraffe computer bag for the new Mac…

And six pounds of ketchup.

Klassy.

(The cats approved.)

Trouble, I tell ya. With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for Pussy!

Oh, is that not how it goes?

Happy Monday, chickadees.

Mama said share.

So, good news or bad news first?

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Bad? Okay, my brave little toaster.

Given the impending Snowpocalypse (AKA #snOMG), it seems that we must postpone tonight’s Happy Hour. I know, I know, don’t cry. Get yourself a bigass bottle of your favorite libation, huddle onto your couch, and watch the hell out of the new episode of Vampire Diaries you taped last night and just can’t WAIT to see.

(No? Just me? YES, it’s on the CW. Don’t judge me.)

And so, the good news! We are hereby setting the HH “Snow Date” for Friday, Feb. 19th. I’ll remind you as it gets closer, of course. But have no fear, ducklings. We shall drink together soon.

And finally, the part in which my mom cheers you up… because she sent me this yesterday and it is HILARIOUS.

Happy snOMG Weekend!!!

And don’t forget…

Mama said share.