Island Nights

Summer is hanging on here and it was the perfect night on Monday for an island inspired rooftop courtesy of Bacardi.

band setting up

the Bacardi girls spreading some liquid cheer

DJ getting the groove on

Brown Eyed Bourbon Girl - Encore

Was invited by Heaven Hill Distilleries and their distributor Southern Wine & Spirits to their 4-course Bourbon/Dinner pairing. Can we say bourbon heaven...

Bourbon marinated smoked bacon blue cheese salad

 

 

Southwest crabcakes with butternut squash & bbq mustard remoulade

 

 

Prime sirloin tri tip with Elijah Craig Bbq sauce & twice baked potatoes

Bernheim Bourbon peach pie

The perfect nightcap.

Brown Eyed Bourbon Girl

Do what you love. In my case, I love the brown spirits and my profession affords me the luxury to sample really good bourbons all the time.

Heaven Hill Distilleries came in with some Bernheim, Evan Williams, Elijah Craig and Rittenhouse.

Very smooth aged Rittenhouse. The 21, 23 and 25 years side by side. (Incidentally, you won't be able to get the Rittenhouse 25 year for another 25 years. I snagged some and its available @ Rack & Rye )

Do what you love, and the universe will find a way to reward you, for example, invite you to an aged bourbon & food pairing tonight!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

Photographer: Guy Aroch

Photographer: Arthur Elgort

Photographer: Neil Stewart

Photographer: Sarah Maingot

Photographer: Enrique Badulescu

White Party

My fab gal pal Sarah and I hosted an End of Summer White Party last Sunday.

Sarah works for Moet Hennesy, so naturally it was bubbly all the way

The menu

Chilled Cream of Corn Soup

Donut Cake Trifle with Coconut Cream

Mustard Chicken with Creamy Grits

Some of the guests all dressed up.

All pictures by Laura Murray Photography

This is Cool

Rack & Rye Gastropub was voted one of three 2010 Best New Gastropubs by Draft Magazine along with Haven Gastropub in Orange County. The crew from Haven is in town for the Great American Beer Festival and dropped in to Rack & Rye.

the crew from Haven in Rack & Rye

Haven Gastropub

This is cool, us gastropubs have to stick together.

Love, love, love

the seventies inspired high-waisted, tailored vibe paired with sheer tops from the Spring 2011 Collections from New York Fashion Week.

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1 & 2 Badgley Mischka, 3 Monique Lhuillier, 4 Derek Lam, 5 Jason Wu. All images from Style.com

Denver Food & Wine Classic 2010

Impressive showing at this year's Denver Food and Wine with over 30 restaurants and 600 wine and spirits. Thank you Southern Wine & Spirits for the invite and personal tour, southern hospitality at its best!

 

how cute is this retro styling

 

perfect end to a great day.

Sneak Peek: The Morning After

Sneak peek into some of the decor elements from last night's White Picnic.

and the best part about the morning after... leftovers

Donut Cake Trifle with Coconut Cream for breakfast, yum!

Cocktail Hour: Sneak Peek White Picnic

Friday cocktail and a sneak peek of my upcoming End of Summer White Picnic this Sunday.

Hosted by yours truly and my fab gal pal Sarah of Moet Hennessy. 

Its an all white party and of course the Moet will be flowing.

Cocktail is an adaptation of The Gilded Lily, a signature cocktail from Rack and Rye Gastropub

Recipe: 

1 can lychee in syrup

Juice from 1 fresh lime

1/4 bottle of Belvedere vodka

1 bottle of champagne, preferably Moet Chandon Nectar

Addicted to:

I've always loved scrabble,

image from Chris Craymer

but now Apple has an app called 'Words With Friends' that you can play online, anytime, with anyone, (well, anyone with access to the apple app.)

Its fun, free and good for your brain cells (& trust me, my brain cells need it.) I'm completely addicted.

R.I.P: Sex on the Beach

On July 25th in New Orleans, Sex on the Beach was laid to rest. The tongue-in-cheek "tradition began in 2008 with a farewell to the Appletini and was followed by the burial of the saltily named, Jägermeister-laced cocktail, the Red Headed Slut in 2009," according to this article 

.

Ironically, the shot making the rounds, at least in local Denver bars is the Lindsay Lohan, which is a riff on the Red Headed Slut, with a splash of coke. (get it?)

The Inspired Life: Cole Haan's Fall Ad Campaign

Am loving Cole Haan's 'The Inspired Life,' which features real life "individuals who are driven by passion, vision and curiosity. They make their mark in the world with creativity, imagination and style."

I could conquer the world in this yummy outfit.

Bravo Cole Haan, for the inspiration. For more of the campaign here

Cocktail Hour

I love my job. This is what I do. 

Try new products like Choco Vine, a Dutch chocolate & red wine liqueur (reminiscent of Bailey's) and play mixologist. Add 6 parts Choco Vine + 2 parts Belvedere Black Raspberry vodka.

Combine with 1 part raspberry puree. Shake it up and there you go, Cheers!

a chocolate raspberry martini, tastes just like a raspberry truffle. Cheers!