#boozeblogging

Don’t keep your feelings inside. If you feel an emotion, feel it to its fullest. Cry in the shower or in your bed or in the snow. Smile and dance til you annoy everyone around you because you’ll just remember how happy you were and how lame everyone else was being.

EAT BEFORE YOU DRINK. EAT EAT EAT. It’s okay to be late to the pregame/party/bar if you used that time to eat a full meal first, otherwise the last thing you’ll remember about turning 21 is drinking sangria and telling one of your acquaintances that she’s “cool” but not on the of the “cool hierarchy.”

Call people out on their shit. Tell them that their thinking is misguided or offensive. Don’t be afraid to tell a guy that you are over 18 and therefore he should call you a cool WOMAN and not a cool GIRL. Take no quarter.

Don’t be afraid to go after you want. Chances are, you’ll get it if it’s what you want the most. If you never try, you may never get it at all.

If you wait until you are ready or the circumstances are perfect, you’ll be waiting your whole dang life. JUST DO IT.

Don’t be a jerk. Don’t rain on other people’s happiness just because of what you think. You don’t have to support them in everything, but you don’t have to bring them down, either.

Ask questions. Learn about other people’s interests and jobs and lives and beliefs. It broadens you.

Drink a glass of water with every alcoholic drink. Your liver and hangover will thank you.

GO TO THE BATHROOM WHEN YOU NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. DON’T HOLD IT IN. (There are too many stories with this one that serve as evidence).

Trust people, but don’t be naive.

YES, you look great in your favorite lipstick/crop top/hairstyle/eyeliner/etc. You don’t need validation for being yourself.

Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show will be the best song you’ll ever hear and it’s okay that nothing will come close to it.

Find your karaoke song and sing it to your heart’s content, even if you’re up there solo.

You will survive if you get a new hairstyle/dye, and it’s okay if you hate it, too. At least you left your comfort zone.

Having a great group of friends is wonderful, but so is miserable loneliness. You learn and grow from both of those experiences, and they will only be phases in your life. Don’t be sad that you aren’t living the “perfect” life, because no one is.

Be nice to drunk girls in the bathroom. You’d want the same for you.

Your sexuality might change. Explore who you are and don’t let anyone tell you who you should be.

Once you find your favorite drink, don’t ever stop ordering it because a. you already know you like it and b. you won’t hold up a line at the bar.

Put your damn phone down. Your memory will do a helluva lot better than 20 tweets/IG posts/snapchats will.

Take pictures of things and people who matter to you. This is not contradictory to the above advice, but rather complementary. Take pictures, but don’t experience life through a camera lens.

Keep your childhood alive. We grow up too quickly and lose so much of who we are. Remember what it’s like to have eight-year-old thoughts about playtime and fourteen-year-old dreams about what your life might be.

I have had a very long week, and rewarded myself today with a trip to a specialty wine store near me as a treat.  It's my favorite place to go to try new things, as I can always get a recommendation for something inexpensive that ends up being delicious. 

And today I got an impromptu ~20 minute lecture on European white wines from someone who apparently used to teach this kind of thing professionally, and then brought home something wonderful, and I would like to share my experience with... anyone who bothers to read this.  This might become a regular thing.

I would not normally characterize myself as a Chardonnay drinker, as I am not fond of the oaked, California varieties that are so popular here in the US.  But this French one is... exquisite. 

Its label describes the wine as "layers of lemon, ripe apple and floral notes ending in a full, creamy textured finish."  I can taste all of that, though I wish I'd tried listing flavors before reading the label (I'll make sure I do that next time).  My first impression when I took a sip was "wow, this is really round and fruity."

It's got some bright acidity but a depth to it, that I guess is the source of the "creamy" descriptor on the label.  I'm drinking it with crackers, but it would be a good wine for poultry or one of the more robustly-flavored sorts of fish.  Also a very, very good wine for eating with mild-ish/subtle cheeses.