In-home dance party

I finished my puzzle!!! 4000 pieces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

FYI, the last day I worked on it, I spent the whole time singing whatever snippets I could remember of this oldie but greatie. Omg get ready to FEEL!

Wine withdrawal

NO!

I'm doing a 10-day cleanse, so no new wines this week. The lack of wine means "Mistresses" is about 80% less compelling than I once thought, but otherwise I haven't noticed much of a difference. Also "Mistresses" is still amazing. Everyone watch "Mistresses." There are ghosts.

Wine withdrawal isn't as bad as I thought it would be. That could be because I'm only two and a half days in, or because there are so many worse parts of this cleanse (no sugar including most fruits, no refined flour, no caffeine) all of which I'd rather use a cheat on (and have).

What I miss most about wine is the sensory engagement. The taking a break from my day to truly relish something, as opposed to guiltily procrastinating. The being drunk.

But all these things actually make it easier for me to go without wine (or any other booze, and I've just started getting good at cocktails) than carbs, sugar and caffeine. I don't appreciate those things. I don't take advantage. Instead, I take them for granted, which makes missing them all the harder. I wasn't prepared! I wish I'd created a blog all about plums before I was without them and it was too late. Don't it always seem to go... And I only have to give this stuff up for ten days. Being old means having to give up delicious things for like, ever.

So here's my challenge to you for today: enjoy something you take for granted. If you dig your mid-afternoon oatmeal, write it a poem. If you enjoy your nightly dose of reality TV, laugh and cry and feel just a little bit harder. If you are a boy in a relationship, tell your girlfriend she is beautiful in a cool and specific way. Seriously, I don't get why guys don't do that more? Every girl likes to hear it. No matter who she is or how long you've been together, give her compliments. This is crucial. Also, guys, flowers. Come on. So easy. Trader Joe's has them for like 4 bucks. Your girlfriend will appreciate it so hard. I'd make such a good dude.

Ooh, I am so going to buy flowers for my next bottle of wine. It's so pretty.

Love this!

A fantastic little cheat sheet!

In-home dance party

One of my jobs is in music, and I get the privilege of working with awesome new artists. Check out a great remix of Cody Longo's "She Said" here!

Celebrity wines

Ok, I get that I can't have a celebrity body, in any interpretation of that phrase. I get that I can't have a celebrity lifestyle. But when they make a wine? Well, the Coppolas have made it clear I can at least have that.

But oh no. Brad and Angie have to win this one. You can imagine my excitement when I saw this in my inbox:

Followed by my utter disappointment when I clicked the link and this popped up:

I mean fuck you! I know it sold out back in March, but I thought this was my chance! Then I found out that wine distributors like Shelby Ledgerwood were buying it all up. When asked if she'd tried it, Shelby said she didn't have to. Everyone wanted it, even without her opinion, so she just sold it off. Why waste a bottle? 

I think it's kind of unfair that celebrities get to have wine we can't have on top of everything else. Which means there's only one thing to do: saturate the market for celebrity wine. Below are some suggestions I have for some new celebrity wines:

Heidi Montag California 2009 Red Blend

This full bodied wine is a mish-mash of all your favorite reds. Heady aromas of strawberry and petrol entice you to take a sip, at which point you don't like it but you can't quite articulate why. It should be great, but it's a petty, ugly little wine.

Carrot Top 2011 Rose

Brilliant pink color with slight petillance. Bright and acidic with angular, precise aromas of tangerine and meth. A fine, drinkable rose perfect for wasting an entire afternoon.

Dame Judy Dench Grand Cuvee

This dusty but magnificent sparkling wine goes with everything. Stern and delightfully fungal with notes of gooseberry and flint. A treasure.

Carson Daly 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon

A star vintage that declined in the early 2000s and is now picking up an extraordinary bottle bouquet of perfume and peppy rose petal aromatics. The wine that just won't quit.

Champagne tutorial

Opening champagne can be hard. Or it can be adorable, as evidenced by the ultra-charming Sarah Streicher. Watch below and learn! And for more of Sarah, click this link right HERE.

The best sangria that can be

White sangria is the dreamiest of summer drinks. Try this one at a movie picnic like we did and let all your dreams come true!

Step 1 of this sangria is to get a portable jug from Target and then never trust that it is closed. Seriously, this thing will pee from all sides all over your life. But it's really useful if you stay hyper vigilant.

White sangria kills it when you use bright, tart, fruits like green apple and especially peaches, nectarines and apricots, which will impart their juices on the wine. You'll be drunkenly reaching into the top to snack on the fruit even before the wine is finished! Even before it's started!

Ok, so you take your jug and pour in your booze. First off, Triple Sec is crucial for white sangria. 1/3 cup for every bottle of wine is good. So 2/3 of a cup to go with my two bottles of bright, grapefruit-y Sauvignon Blanc...

But no Triple Sec is needed to balance the 3 glasses (1 cube) worth of this sweetie sweet, fab floral little Moscato from Target...

Then chop up your fruit in pretty little slices, drop it on in, and let it soak overnight!

To recap:

Plenty of tart fruits (green apple, nectarine, apricot was used here. Also try cherries, raspberries, peaches and even a little candied ginger)

1/3 cup of Triple Sec for every 750ml bottle of dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio are best here, but a dry Riesling or fruity Gewurztraminer would be a darling experiment)

Sweet wine (such as this Moscato from Target) to taste (optional)

Soak overnight

Final step: have a beautiful friend hold up the jug for the world to see!