F-Word Fridays: Why Don't We Get Drunk and...

I'd like to start this week's F-Word Friday by issuing an apology. Back in late March, in a blatant and transparent attempt to diversify and expand wedding blog readership, I wrote a post that touched on vampires, sex, rock 'n roll, more sex, basketball, and still more sex. And it worked.... we quadrupled regular male readership from 3 to 12, and even got a couple of them to comment. And how did I say thank you? With consecutive F-Word Fridays about men wearing skirts, shoes, and...that other topic that I can't really tell you about, cuz it's still a total secret. I don't know what to say other than "Gentlemen, I'm sorry."

So this week, in the second-to-last F-Word Friday, we're making amends. We're giving back. We're talking beer.

Our "rehearsal dinner" Saturday night is a barbeque cookout in the yard of a big beachside house overlooking the ocean. Pulled pork, boiled shrimp, coleslaw, cornbread. Checkered tablecloths. Footballs, frisbees, and volleyballs flying all over the place. With any luck, it will look like something out of a beer commercial. Which means one thing: we actually need beer. But not just any beer. I mean sure, we could probably throw a couple of cheap brand-name domestic kegs at this crowd and still get the desired response, but Maggie and I (but especially Maggie) have a hint of beer snob in us. So I spoke to a friend who happens to work for a brewer in Montreal, laid out the scene for him, and asked for some help.

Visionary that he is, my budding brewmaster buddy came back with a truly inspired idea.... he showed us a list of six microbrews he could personally vouch for, three of which are from Connecticut (my home state), and three from NC, and thought we should pick one from each state to throw even more local fare into the mix. What's more, he found a local liquor store on the Outer Banks willing to order en masse for us. From these suggestions, we chose the Duck Rabbit Amber to represent the Tar Heel state, and an IPA called Sea Hag from New England Brewing in Woodbridge, CT (we passed on the Thomas Hooker IPA in spite of the obvious temptation to supply ourselves with an unending littany of "Hooker at a wedding" jokes). But our friend wasn't done. Knowing as all good brewmen do that a large cadre of rehearsal attendees will steer clear of the fancy microbrew, he even suggested we provide Lone Star to placate the Coors Light crowd, and allow us to run up the tiniest of Texas flags in spite of ourselves. (And before any of you locals say "wait, how can you pick Lone Star over Shiner?!", try to remember that Shiner sucks....too many Texans blindly love Shiner just because it's from Texas. It's the Dallas Cowboys of regional pseudo microbrew. Lone Star may be no better, and might even be worse, but I simply refuse to perpetuate the Shiner myth any longer. Not only that, but Lone Star is an infinitely better beerpong beer than Shiner. And there will be beerpong.)

So we're set to place the orders tomorrow. Cases and cases. Maybe even kegs. Hopefully enough to last for a few late nights and even into the following week, since Maggie and I are sticking around after everyone else heads home. Gotta have something to drink with your toes in the sand.

Mmmm....Beer.

Iron Drinkers: Battle Bubbly

Last night after an evening of deliciousness with some of my favorite ladies, we went back to Casa M & T for a beverage taste-off. Not just a random excuse to drink, though (because that would never do). This was a scientific process to help choose our bar selections for the wedding. Due to the exorbitant markups on food and drinks from our venue, let's just say that we'll be drinking brands that are quite a step down from our normal libations. Case in point: our venue prices our go-to "cheap" house white wine at $54 a bottle. Sigh... But rather than get depressed, I'm considering our alcohol challenge to be an adventure in value-drinking. Last night's taste-off, then? Battle Bubbly: Inexpensive Champagne v. Prosecco.

Now I'm a big prosecco fan, but the F-Word is a more traditional champagne drinker. We decided that calling in some fellow bubbly lovers to help us make the decision was in order. While we spicy crab-encrusted sea bass'd our way through dinner, T was at home chilling the contenders. When we got there, the scene looked like this:

(Ooh, breaking in our new Dorset flutes!)

In my mind, it doesn't get any worse than bad champagne. I think of cheap champagne and I imagine the worst headache possible the next day. Not fun at all. But prosecco, on the other hand, is almost always pleasing. Looking at the bar list, we skipped over the first few cheapest champagnes immediately; it would be cruel to do that to ourselves and our guests. T selected a champagne that he thought could be the most drinkable value champagne to purchase, and we were able to find it easily in a local store. We couldn't find the exact prosecco on the bar list, but bought the closest one for the taste-off.

The result? I was surprised - the champagne won! Both were pretty good. Prosecco is always sweeter, so it's perhaps more of a crowd-pleaser for non-champagne palettes. But for only $2 more, the champagne was traditional and also really yummy. It received a unanimous vote.

So champagne it is! And, you know, at the wedding it'll be only $20 more per bottle than we bought it at the local liquor store yesterday. GRRRRRRR. But at this point? I'm just loving making decisions and moving on. Seriously.

Week in Photos

Although it hasn't been a banner blogging week for me, the week has actually been full of lots of little decisions and events. Take a look:




I haven't been wearing my engagement ring. Instead, I'm sporting a beloved family ring on my left hand while the magic ring elves make me a matching wedding band. Tick tock, tick tock...
















We've selected two finalist menus for the reception, and based on some questions I need to get answered next week during my OBX planning trip, I'll be able to make a decision then. Also OBX planning trip-related: rearranged all the appointments (again).
















Received my very own invitation in the mail to the lovely Kate's wedding in Austin later this month... woo hoo!

















We received our first round of supplies to make the goodies for our Welcome Bags: 1 oz spray bottles for bug spray (OBX skeeters know how to attack, trust me) and 2 oz bottles for sunscreen. Send tips on economical gallon containers of both on over!













Made a decision on bridesmaid gifts, and the creative process has begun! (Enlarge for mysterious hints about what we're talking about... the gals read this blog so I can't spoil the surprise!)











We did the final proof of our invitation suite! I can't believe we're ready to go to print... aaaahhhhh!!!! I love them, and can't wait to show off all the little details in full. Also invitation-related: I started formatting our invitation list for the outer envelope and inner labels. We've eschewed "Mr. and Mrs." to honor our event's mellowness and the fact that about half of all couples attending don't have the same last name. You'll see very very soon.... :-)














Massive J.Press order arrived (pleasing the F-Word's preppiness and town of matriculation), so we now have navy linen ties for everyone, some belt ideas, and are trying out a red and white gingham pocket square in lieu of polka dots.

















Here's the seersucker paired with gingham. Pretty fun, huh? Turns out a red and white polka dot pocket square in cotton or linen is nearly impossible to find, so we're trying out this look while we continue our search. Thoughts?
















Our Fox and Prince parasol arrived! It's absolutely gorgeous. (Me, in workout finery, not so much.)
















Got a loooong overdue pedicure, and after some classic Dallas weather twists this week (40-degree temperature swings, per usual), was greeted with a balmy 80 degrees for champagne night with the girls last night. My toes were so excited to be free again on the patio. (My shoe collection is probably 80% open toe... I'm in trouble if we move north.) I neglected to take a photo of the fun night out, which is probably a sign we were having too much fun to bother, wouldn't you say?











An impulsive post-champagne rendezvous with the F-Word found the two of us at one of our favorite neighborhood haunts, Victor Tango, where I indulged in two of my favorite things: the Pepper Smash and some Ahi Tuna Nachos. YUM.

















Late-night frivolity = being late for work this morning and realizing I forgot to fill up on gas. Oops.

Signature cocktails

I love the idea of offering signature cocktails at a wedding. But I also think if you go there, you should really go there. Vodka sodas can't be your signature cocktail, for example. It should be something fun and unique and, well, signature. Which brings me to my current favorite drink in Dallas...

The Pepper Smash at Victor Tango's. Now this is a signature drink.

Ingredients: Red bell pepper, local mint, Aviation New Western-Style Dry Gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, House-made clover honey syrup.

YUM. Now granted, I love gin, but two of my girlfriends who aren't gin fans tried this drink and loved it, too. It's a drink that would be talked about, certainly. And it has a great splash of red!

My other favorite drink in Dallas is a safer gin choice, and absolutely delicious on a summer day. Right across the street at The Porch, I always order the Tangerine Rickey. For an orange and green wedding (I love that color palette), how fresh would this drink be?

Ingredients: Tanqueray Rangpur Gin, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur, Orange bitters, Halved tangerines, and soda.

What if there were his and hers signature cocktails? In our case, hers is a gin cocktail, of course. His? If vodka sodas are out (and they are - way too boring), the next choice would probably be something Scotch or whiskey-related. A classic Old-Fashioned, maybe? Victor Tango's also has a fantastic whiskey cocktail using the same house-made clover honey syrup as the Pepper Smash (note to VT's: no website? REALLY?).

More fun:














First: You all know how I feel about mint juleps. Second: Tropical loveliness via Elizabeth Anne Designs. Third: I don't know what these are, but I want one. Via Style Me Pretty. Fourth: A twist on a classic: the green tea mint julep. Via The Bride's Cafe.

Now that I think about it, you know which cocktail would match our wedding the best? Anything featuring berries.

• Champagne with floating berries?
  
  
• Berry martinis?
  
  
• Some kind of berry/gin deliciousness?