{Friday Cocktail} Cucumber Mint Gimlet

There are a few reasons I'm featuring this yummy cocktail on the blog this week. #1. I love Gin. It is my favorite liquor. I've read a few articles lately about how gin has come back in vogue in recent years. I would like to take this opportunity to take full responsibly for that. I am clearly quite the trendsetter. Ha ha. I kid. I am sure one influential factor is the rising popularity of my favorite show Mad Men. That brings me to #2. Betty Draper Francis loves her some gimlets, and who am I to knock the fabulous Mrs. Draper's drink of choice. #3. It's horse racing season. I'm not a huge mint julep fan, if it has enough sugar sure, but I'm still working on learning to love bourbon and other whiskeys. I feel that this is a gin lovers response to the mint julep. Plus who doesn't love a cucumber mint combo.

via

Ingredients

• 2 oz Cucumber Gin 
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• .5 oz Mint Simple Syrup
• Cucumber peels, for garnish
• Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
• crushed ice 

Cucumber Gin

• Steep 2.5 cups of diced peeled cucumber in 4.5 cups of gin
• Cover and chill at least 8 hours, up to four days
• Strain and Store

Mint Simple Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• combine over medium heat until sugar dissolves
• Add 1 cup mint leaves and remove from heat
• Cover, steep for 30 minutes -1 hour, then strain and discard mint. 
• Store up to 2 months

Enjoy! I know I'm looking forward to sipping on one of these this rainy spring weekend.

There's something about a birthday

Do you love your birthday? do you dread it? Why is it that people don't seem to feel neutral about celebrating "themselves."

I am turning 24 on Tuesday. 24. Woah. When did that happen. I swear I just turned 20 like a week ago. Last year was the first time where I didn't have a great birthday. That was mostly my own doing, but it also wasn't the happiest time in my life. This year I'm trying to be more pro-active. Celebrate me! I'm having a cinco de mayo/silver and gold birthday party with my roommate (its my golden birthday and her silver anniversary of being alive) But pulling all of this together makes me realize what I don't have.

I don't have my dream job yet. In fact I'm incredibly bored with my job/career, but for some reason I still haven't gotten that kick in the ass to go do something about it.

I don't really have a lot of friends here. I have friends. Don't get me wrong. But so many of them are work friends, or friends of convenience. They are the kind of people you pour your heart out to over a glass of wine, or call 27 times a day, or gchat with non stop.

I still struggling with a broken heart, two years later.

I've been in DC for over two years now, and I know less about what I want to do with my life than when I moved here as a college senior.

But why am I wasting time worrying about all that. I have so many great things in my life, yet I continue to focus on what I don't have.

I do have some wonderful crazy friends.

BW. Roommate. Best Friend since the sixth grade. She knows everything about me.

LoPro aka Lawfully Wedded Wife. Bestie since the seventh grade.

Kat. Part Soulmate part therapist. College Bestie. I talk to her every single day. She's brilliant, tough and not afraid to tell it like it is. She balances me in every way. I love her to death.

KJ.  Roommie. We've been friends for EVER. 5th grade maybe? Became BFF in high school. and reconnected when we both moved to DC two years ago.

CC. DC bestie. She recently moved to New Zealand. She has no idea how much I miss her.

I live in an awesome city. I have a well paying, well connected, and very cushy job. I have my health. I have my family. I have a great house. I love my neigborhood. I have my wonderful blog friends. What else do I really need?

PS Have you seen this video? So funny. And true.

Travel Challenge

I've been dreaming of a vacation. A BIG vacation, but I've been at a loss of where to go, who to go with, where will I get the money, etc. I saw this challenge circulating around the blogosphere and I had to jump on the bandwagon.

1. Alamo San Antonio, Texas, USA

2. Alhambra Granada, Spain

3. Andros Island Bahamas

4. Angel Falls Venezuela

5. Angkor Wat Angkor, Cambodia

6. Atlantic City Boardwalk Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

7. Ayers Rock Australia

8. Big Ben London, England

9. Bora Bora Polynesia

10. British Museum London, England

11. Canals of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands

12. Cathedral of Seville Seville, Spain

13. Cave of Crystals Mexico

14. Christ the Redeemer Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

15. Cinque Terre National Park Italy

16. Colloseum Rome, Italy

17. Crater Lake National Park Oregon, USA

18. Dead Sea Israel/Jordan

19. Death Valley National Park California, USA

20. Devil's Tower Wyoming, USA

21. Dome of the Rock Jerusalem, Israel

22. Easter Island Statues Polynesia

23. Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh, Scotland

24. Eiffel Tower Paris, France

25. Empire State Building New York City, New York, USA

26. Forbidden City Beijing, China

27. French Quarter New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

28. Galapagos Islands Ecuador

29. Gateway Arch St. Louis, Missouri, USA

30. Gettysburg Battlefield Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

31. Glacier Bay Basin Alaska, USA

32. Glacier National Park Montana, USA

33. Glowworm Cave New Zealand

34. Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco, California, USA

35. Grand Canal Venice, Italy

36. Grand Canyon Arizona, USA

37. Grand Mosque in Mecca Saudi Arabia

38. Great Barrier Reef Queensland, Australia

39. Great Mosque of Córdoba Córdoba, Spain

40. Great Wall of China China

41. Hagia Sophia Istanbul, Turkey

42. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Hawaii, USA

43. Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, Califonia, USA

44. Iguazu Falls Argentina and Brazil

45. Kiyomizu-dera Kyoto, Japan

46. Kremlin Moscow, Russia

47. Lake Titicaca Peru

48. Las Ramblas Barcelona, Spain

49. Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas, Nevada

50. Leaning Tower of Pisa Pisa, Italy

51. Louvre Museum Paris, France

52. Macchu Picchu Peru

53. Matterhorn Switzerland

54. Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

55. Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City, New York, USA

56. Mount Everest Nepal

57. Mount Fuji Japan

58. Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania

59. Mount Rushmore Keystone, South Dakota, USA

60. Napa Valley California, USA

61. Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania

62. Niagara Falls New York, USA

63. Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France

64. Pacific Rim National Park British Columbia, Canada

65. Pebble Beaches of Nice Nice, France

66. Petra Jordan

67. Petronas Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

68. Portland Head Lighthouse Portland, Maine, USA

69. Puerta Del Sol Madrid, Spain

70. Pyramids of Giza Egypt

71. Redwood National Park California, USA

72. Rock of Gibraltar Gibraltar

73. Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

74. Ruins of Athens Athens, Greece

75. Ruins of Pompeii Pompei, Italy

76. Sagrada Famila Barcelona, Spain

77. Sears Tower Chicago, Illlinois, USA

78. Sedlec Ossuary Czech Republic

79. Sistine Chapel Vatican City, Italy

80. Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C., USA

81. Space Needle Seattle, Washington, USA

82. St. Peter's Basilica Vatican City, Italy

83. Statue of Liberty New York City, New York, USA

84. Stonehenge Wiltshire County, England

85. Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia

86. Taj Mahal Agra, India

87. Temple of the Golden Pavilion Kyoto, Japan

88. Teotihuacan Mexico

89. Tian Tan Buddha Hong Kong, China

90. Times Square New York City, New York, USA

91. Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India

92. Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

93. Wailing Wall Jerusalem, Israel

94. Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, Florida

95. Washington Monument Washington, D.C., USA

96. White Cliffs of Dover Dover, England

97. White House Washington, D.C., USA

98. Winchester Cathedral Hampshire, England

99. Yosemite National Park California, USA

100. Zion National Park Utah, USA

Woohooo! I've done 27/100. Not bad for 23 years of being alive! Where do you think I should go this August? I'd love to cross a few more off the list. Maybe Napa Valley? and it up Yosemite? and See the Red Woods? Golden Gate bridge? That would knock off quite a few. I also have an Atlantic City trip in the works. and my best friend lives in New Orleans, so there that too...

In other exciting news, I AM going on vacation in only 4 short weeks. I just found out last night (this post has been in my drafts for a few days now) but Cancun here I come!!!!

Life Lately

So, I feel really out of it lately. I haven't really blogged since Thursday. The weekend was a blur, work has been busy. I am applying to a fellowship so I've been running around getting letters of recommendation, writing essays, etc. AND I've been in full on HUNGER GAMES addiction. I read the last book yesterday. The whole thing. In one day. And I had a 10 hour work day. And I went on a 30 minute run walk. AND I went to the grocery store. Needless to say I  was up until 1:30 am. Then stayed awake for another 2 hours due to a combination of factors including my constant battle with insomnia, how FREAKING HOT it is in my house and traces of caffeine in my blood stream. I finally gave up, went downstairs and slept on the couch where it was cooler. I was out of the house by 7:15, and thank god for no traffic and my free starbucks birthday beverage (this is my last week as a 23 year old AHHH!!!).

Here are a few pictures of life lately. If you don't already follow me on Instagram @EmPri88

National's Game Saturday (we didn't make it inside the stadium because I refuse to spend $50 for a ticket to see the Nats)

I love this city

First frozen Marg of the Season. It was YUMMY.

Testing out curly hair with my new hair cut/ YAY for being Blondey blonde again!

Starbucks is a godsend.

New haircut

I just got back from the roof of my building watching the shuttle fly over the mall. It was quite a sight. Let me tell you that thing is HUGE!!!! Very cool.

Also, I seriously think I'm suffering from post-hunger game depression. I need a fix. Slash. I AM NOT HAPPY with how it all ended. UGH. I won't say enought to ruin the end for any of you who haven't read it but 1. Katniss picked the right guy, but I hated how they got there. 2. WTF happened at the end? Who was really telling the truth President Coin or President Snow? I'm so confused!!! I need the movie to come out already (movie # 3 I mean). I can't wait however many years it's going to take. UGH.

okay. rant over. Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!