Poor Man's Margarita

"The Bullfrog"

This is an old family recipe.  I can remember my grandparents, great aunts and uncles, mom, dad, and the rest of the family huddled over a game of dominoes drinking round after round of Bullfrogs.  I always thought they looked so delicious, especially in the heat of summer.  I never could understand why they wouldn't let me have one.  Now I do.  Mixed right, this is one potent little beverage but you'd never know it because the limeade overpowers ANY alcohol taste. 

 If any of you are like me, you are desperately clinging to what's left of summer (even though, technically, I guess it's over).  Either way, there's still time to drown your sorrows in a glass of the soon-to-be world famous...BULLFROG!

 

 1 can frozen Minute Maid Limeade
 Vodka
 Ice

Pour Limeade into blender (you can let it sit out for a few minutes to soften if you like).  Fill empty Minute Made can with Vodka and pour on top of limeade.  Fill the remaining space in the blender with ice.  Blend.  Serve in cheesy red Solo cups.  If you want to get super fancy, you can salt the rim.  I wouldn't recommend getting too fancy though...sorta defeats the purpose.

If life gives you limes, make Margaritas!

I'm a bit late on this but to be fair, I have at least been thinking about writing this post for a while.  These guiltless margarita mixes are fantastic!  I love a good margarita every now and then but they are so so bad for you.  When my friend Brie told me about Skinny Girl margaritas, I was pretty excited to give it a try.  Unfortunately, we were deep in the summer months and the stuff was NOWHERE to be found!

I ended up picking up Scales Margarita mix at the grocery store and it was ok.  It tasted a little saccharin-y for my tastes so I probably won't buy it again unless it's the only thing around.

Next stop was the Master of Mixes Lite Margarita Mix.  I liked this one a good deal better than the Scales Mix.  It had a traditional Margarita taste so although I knew I was being good, it didn't taste like a diet margarita.

To be honest, I still haven't tried Skinny Girl BUT I did ship several bottles to our new place so that I could try it when we get there :).  I have heard lots of good things about it from girlfriends, mother/sister in laws, etc so I have faith it will be tasty. 

For a quick run down on the dunlop WON'T be getting with these drinks, you can reference the calorie count below:    DRINK UP BEEOTCHES!  (and for those of you who don't know what a "dunlop" is, you can find the definition at urban dictionary)

Skinnygirl Margarita - 100 calories per 4 ounces (Calories are higher because Skinnygirl has built in Tequila!)
Master of Mixes - 20 calories or fewer per 5 ounces
Scales Margarita Mix - 5 calories per 4 ounces

By the way, you should also note that most of these companies offer different flavors of their lighter fare.  For instance, Master of Mixes has Lite Strawberry Daiquiri and Lite Sweet and Sour Mix.  Scales has the same plus a Bloody Mary Mix.  Skinny Girl just released a line of Sangria.  All of them sound pretty darn good to me!!

Adult Swim

I am considering going to the pool tomorrow after my workout but I'm conflicted.  It has been a long week and I would very much like some nice, quiet, relaxing time poolside but that NEVER happens at our pool.  We live smack dab in the middle of suburbia and our pool is like kid frickin' central.  Sometimes it's really awful.  Take the swim classes, for instance.  OH the swim classes.  I fully support children learning to swim but why does it have to be EVERY day from 10 am to 2 pm, 6 to 8 PM, AND on the weekends?  And of course these are not your standard swim classes. No no, these instructors are truly devoted and extremely loud 13 year olds.  Go "row row" your own damn boat!  I want to read my trashy magazine without hearing you tell another 4 year old to arch his back or blow bubbles.  Bleh!

I think I am just annoyed because it feels like the pool was built for children and the parents feel entitled to let them run free but dammit, we pay for our place here too and all we get is 15 minutes every hour of kid-free swim time.  Last week, during "break time" I was hit by a frisbee twice and my book was ruined by some noodle mishap.  It really makes me understand things like the No Kids Allowed Movement.  I mean, to be honest, I would definitely pick the flight/hotel/restaurant that banned kids over the alternative.  Sorry moms and dads but it's my vacation/business trip/meal too and sometimes...just every once in a while...I'd like it to be effing QUIET!  CALM PEACEFUL!  DAMMIT...why am I yelling?!?!

"I want to lock it all up in my pocket.  It's my bar of chocolate.  Give it to me now!"

This got me thinking about the whole kid free life we've picked for ourselves.  I amazed at how many people still respond to our ambitions to NOT have children with "That's what I said when I was your age," or "You'll change your mind.  I did."  My husband is pretty upfront about our choice and by upfront, I mean blunt.  He pretty much puts it out there that he thinks people who have kids are downright crazy.  That's an exaggeration but he clearly thinks we've made the "better" decision and I agree.  At least, I think we've made the best decision for ourselves.  I also am extremely tolerant and supportive of all of our friends who've had children.  It's wonderful to see people having children that WANT to have children. 

Zach and I were lucky to have found each other.  We agree on the big things: money, sex, religion, and children.  Some aren't so lucky.  Like this guy who created a dating website to help people find other people who don't want children.  Apparently this is a real issue for single folks.  How sad.

I just finished a book all about a couple who had gotten married after making an agreement to not have children and then the husband changed his mind and decided he needed to procreate!  GASP!  The horror!!  

I do have noise blocking headphones which are a nice alternative when quiet just is not an option but sometimes it just irks me that it's necessary for me to lug my $200 headphones to the pool just to get some peace and quiet.    There are three pools in this area that homeowners can go to.  Can't we make just ONE of them kid free? Sometimes I feel bad that I get so irritable about the whole situation but then I run across sites like this: http://www.leavethembehind.com/ and I know I'm not alone.

This is Walden Pond, a "peaceful" pond beloved by Thoreau.  It looks EXACTLY like our pool on the weekends!

So to all my family and friends with children, I'm sorry if I've offended.  I love all of you and your kids...I just don't want them at my pool tomorrow unless they're 10 or over.  Having said that, if they're 10 or over, I'd still prefer it if they didn't talk.  ;-) 

And one more thing, if you can bring your kids to the pool, why can't I bring my dog?  She's certainly more well behaved than some of those rugrats and she sits on command.  I'm just sayin'.

Brown as a Berry!!

Victoria's Secret Beach Sexy Instant Self Tan Lotion with Tint

This is the best self tanner I've run across in a long time.  It's so good that I ordered several in advance of our extended desert "vacation".  Unfortunately, I can't find it on the Victoria's Secret website at the moment.  It's available on Amazon and I'm sure you can find it elsewhere but the fact that it is now missing from the V.S. site is a wee concerning.  I have a note out to the company to see if it's been discontinued.  If this is the case, please disregard my suggestion to find it elsewhere as I will have beaten you to it!

Anyway, enough about my greediness.  Back to the product.  It's easy to apply (because it has a tint) and it definitely has the immediate gratification element as you'll look sun-kissed after applying without having to wait several hours.  It will leave you with a slight self tanner odoriferousness after several hours but it's very slight and nothing compared to some other products out there.   It will also stain your clothes and bed linens so be careful after applying.  Let it dry and don't wear anything white for goodness sake!  I have applied this before going pool side but unless you don't sweat or don't care about your beach towel, I would be careful with this.  I've gotten up off a lounge to see the outline of my brown butt on my pretty little white towel.  Not charming at all!