things i love: summer cocktails

One of the best things about sunny summer days and warm summer nights is sitting around with friends sipping cool, fruity cocktails. Here are some of the concoctions I've enjoyed this summer (in addition to my go-to Cape Cod, of course ;) :

Elephant Bar's Skinny Mango-Fusion Mojito, which claims to be less than 165 calories. I say claims because, while this drink was very good and refreshing, I didn't taste any of the mango that is allegedly in it. And if it weren't for the floating mint I'd say this was a margarita. In fact, that's what I accused the waiter of mistakenly bringing me when he first set it down. Oops.

Seasons 52 Mandarin Orange Cosmopolitan. That silver shaker next to it holds 2-3 more cosmos depending on how full you can fill your martini glass without spilling it all over yourself as you sip from it. (Not that *I* did that. Nope.) This drink definitely wins the 'best value for your money' award so far this summer!

Benihana's Strawberry Cucumber Spritz with Tito's Handmade Vodka from Texas, which I drank in Encino :)  This was de-li-cious! Very refreshing, which is great when you're sitting in front of a giant metal grill. 

 

Spark Woodfire Grill's Pink Grapefruit Martini, also made with Tito's Homemade Vodka, which I have a bottle of in my wine fridge (which is where I keep my vodka since I don't have a lot of white wine). This was also yummy and refreshing. And it looks really cute and girly in a frosted martini glass ;) 

A classic mojito from El Torito Grill, where I've found myself a lot this summer due to its proximity to the Arclight Sherman Oaks. I have also started making some of these at home now that my mint plant has exploded in the recent humidity. But drinks are more fun to drink when you don't have to do any of the work to make them ;)

a new, succulent view

I'm not a big Pinterest person. I just don't get the obsession some people have with looking at photo after photo after photo taken by strangers and then sharing those strangers' photos with others. But I have been on there three or four times in the year since I first created an account and have some boards, mostly filled with images of cool ideas for my house and garden. 

One of those ideas was this cute wall garden I "pinned" to my "loveliness" board of pretty garden stuff about a year ago. 

I originally thought I might use this idea to decorate the gray stucco walls of my back patio. But then, at some point a few months ago, someone mentioned (sarcastically) what a lovely view I had outside of the window above my kitchen sink. (The view is of the half cinderblock, half wood wall giving my neighbors and I some privacy from each other.) 

That side of my house is a barren wasteland... the ground is a cemented-in a brick path allowing access to the one working electrical plug I have outside, and my tankless water heater mounted on the side of the house. To improve the kitchen window view, I first thought maybe I could grow jasmine or bougainvillea out of a big pot and have it crawl up and cover the wall. But both of those plants love sun and need lots of water... and watering in the barren wasteland will be a chore. 

Then I remembered that cute wall garden and realized there are some plants that don't need a lot of water :) 

Via the blog of the photo's original "pinner," I found out you can buy latches to hold terra cotta pots on a wall, so I ordered some from Vat 19, "Purveyors of Curiously Awesome Products." Then I wandered into the Burbank DoIt Center to kill time while friends were shopping in second-hand stores nearby and found cute green and blue painted pots on sale to use with my latches. 

These things sat in my garage for about a month until yesterday when I finally had time to go to Home Depot, where I bought six small catci and succulents. I put them all together and now this is the view from my kitchen window!

I'm hoping these plants will be able to survive mostly on rain and early morning mist because, like I said, getting water to that barren wasteland will be a pain. And sadly, my "brilliant" idea of watering them by squirting water out the kitchen window from the faucet's hose isn't going to work. Couldn't make the angles and squirting distance mesh at the same time. I did make a faboo mess all over the window sill and counter though. Live and learn ;)