Alcohol Power Rankings

With warmer weather in our sights (at least for the next 6 hours), little Buffalonians slowly creep out of their hobbit holes and cautiously poke their noses out into the open air. Could it be….spring? No, probably not, but with the hope of warmer days ahead your friendly bloggers are only looking forward to one thing: Cold drinks.

Our “drinking habits” started to get a little bit questionable around the holidays (but really, whose didn’t?) so we’ve slowed down and settled into mid-winter hibernation mode, enjoying only the occasional romantic bottle of wine (or 3) while sitting on the couch with Don.

It’s time for that to change! Monday is St. Patrick’s Day and you’d better believe these two Irish girlz will think of the holiday as the official kickoff of the next drinking season.

wut to order?!

For us, the most important question preceding a night of debauchery (like last week when we ripped Mardi Gras decorations from the walls at an undisclosed number of Allentown bars) is WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DRINK?

As we are sure that most of you frequently encounter this same dilemma, we have created this handy alcohol-rating system for your convenience.

Margaritas (and tequila in general)
Rating (out of 10): 9.5

Really, a good Margarita is the perfect drink. I’m not talking about those shitty, gag inducing excuses for margs that come out of the machine (I’m looking at you DON TEQUILA), I’m talking about a freshly shaken, delicious slice of heaven that is not made with sour mix. Not too sweet (especially if you get the Spicy Margarita from Cantina Loco), and enough tequila to have you feeling good after just one (ok maybe that’s just me)…what could be better??? Plus, when you are drinking margaritas, chances are high that Mexican food is not far from your clutches. Enough said.

Wine (and Prosecco…and champagne)
Rating: 9

My go-to. The perfect thing to drink in front of the TV when you want just enough to make you sleepy on those nights spent alone on the couch. The perfect thing to get you “happy drunk” if you’re feeling adventurous and embark on multiple bottles of Prosecco before a trip to the bowling alley (…again…just me?). The perfect accessory to create the illusion of classiness. The perfect thing to drink with your parents. Red? White? Bubbly? So many varieties. The mimosa rivals the margarita for best drink ever award. Take us to brunch so we know it’s real. The possibilities are endless. The only reason it didn’t receive a 10 on our scale is that the wine hangover sucks. a LOT. But really, it’s worth it, I promise.

Vodka

Rating: 8.75

Vodka Lemonade: Official drink of the summer. Don’t ask Tricia to make it for you (actually, do ask Tricia to make it for you) unless you don’t want to remember your night. For those of you watching your figures (#bye) it doesn’t get more low-calorie than a vodka soda. Just plz don’t drink flavored Smirnoff…memories of sophomore year of college come flooding back….

Beer
Rating: 8

The problem with beer is that it’s so filling. It tends to fill me up before I’m ready to stop. Which can lead to serious problems such as me having to unbutton my pants or even worse: having to stop drinking. Other than that, you can’t really go wrong with beer (Keystone being excluded from that statement). The perfect thing to drink when sitting around watching sportz, when you can’t decide what to order, when you’re too drunk to drink anything else but still want to be holding something in your hand, and to sip…or chug…on a hot summer’s day at the beach (whaddup corona and lime).

Whiskey
Rating: 7

I am not the biggest fan of whiskey, but when the right mood hits, I will happily down it. A more “manly selection” (probably why Emily has become a self proclaimed whiskey sipper), you can instantly appear more bold if you are sipping straight whiskey. I have tried this once and will be steering clear of repeating it for the foreseeable future. A jack and coke isn’t bad, though. Whiskey shots are what happen late at night when I will down anything someone hands me at a bar…but otherwise, no thank you.

Rum
Rating: 6

I really dislike rum unless it is masked well. Mojitos and dark and stormys are some of the most delicious drinks out there. While in the Bahamas Tricia and I sipped on some rum punch that I will be able to taste forever….yum… Otherwise EW and if you drink rum and cokes HAHAHA what is wrong with you.

Gin
Rating: 4.5

A good gin and tonic is good and oh so refreshing. A bad gin and tonic (like the one Tricia CHUGGED last month when she ordered a “gin and tonic, hold the tonic”) triggers my gag reflex like no other. The taste of gin is way too overpowering for me and it’s hard to be creative with it with limited mixers. Added half a point to the rating only because Gin and juice is my favorite song.

Well, welcome back to the blog…and in case you thought we had matured since last we posted, we have not–as you can see from the subject matter of this post.

Dasvidaniya, Halloween

Unfortunately, this was not our first postgrad Halloween. Old. So old. Shit, we are old. It was, however, Frances and Tricia’s first Halloween together in more than five years (holy shit). Add Stephanie and Steph into the equation and, well, cue hangover.

Rewind to a few weeks ago when we had no plans for Halloween, no costumes, and Tricia was “boycotting” the holiday. Frances, being the genius that she is, came up with the brilliant idea of doing a group costume of matryoshka dolls, and our plans fell together relatively quickly. Because we are almost perfectly equidistant to each other in terms of height, with Frances pulling a strong lead over lil’ Stephanie and Tricia in the middle, the idea worked perfectly. We picked out the perfect fabric to make our costumes and slaved over sewing them by hand (despite the presence of a perfectly functional sewing machine SMH), bought matching dresses (on sale yabish), all with days (one day) to spare before the main event. What better place to display our handiwork than at The Witches Ball at the Hotel Lafayette? Stephanie, Becca, and Frances went to the same shindig last year and had pretty good and creepy things to say about the night, but this year was promised to be bigger and better than the first.

The rest of our costume was left in the hands of Mommy Tran the night of, who did a pretty fantastic job with our makeup. Our costumes came together quite well, despite a number of people asking what we were supposed to be………………….

 

We ventured over to the Lafayette early to have a few drinx at the new apartment of (ayyyyy) Szy, which we are all extremely jealous of.

Frances ❤ Tricia

Rare size order pic

AYYY szy

A few drinks turned into a copious amount of drinks, and the next thing we knew we were crawling out of coffins and storming the stage with monsters at the Hotel downstairs with strangers. Really though, why are there so many pictures of Tricia with strangers?

Stage life

Strangers and Tricia…

Tricia and Strangers….

We wreaked havoc on the party and made great impressions to all who we encountered. Storming the stage may have been the highlight, but camping out in the hallway outside of Szy’s apartment for almost an hour comes in at a close second.

All downhill from here…

I would love to provide you all with more details, but unfortunately those are strictly confidential and have a very unlikely chance of being revealed any time soon. What I can tell you: we walked to Chippewa (freezing cold, feet bleeding, no sense of direction) and mistook the line outside of Noir (that went out the door and down the block) for the line outside of Jim’s Steakout. Tears may or may not have been shed. Have no fear, we got our Jim’s in a speedy manner and walked back to the car where we so gracefully ate in warmth and then ran home for cover.

Happy November!

Food Truck Tuesdays

Buffalo, despite what all of you out-of-towners tend to believe, is awesome. Two weeks ago I finally went to Larkinville on a Tuesday evening for Food Truck Happy Hour, and as soon as I got there I immediately regretted not having been sooner.

I am an avid follower, both on Twitter and in real life, of Lloyd’s Taco Truck. I obsessively check twitter in hopes that a delicious chicken burrito is within a stone’s throw (let’s pretend that I didn’t follow Lloyd on twitter for 3 months before I had even tried it, creepily plotting my first bite). I’ve also seen Frank’s Gourmet Hotdog truck around Elmwood, and a couple other trucks in Allentown in the wee hours of the morning, but I was shocked when I got to Larkinville a couple weeks ago and saw just how many food trucks were there….food heaven.

Hello Larkinville!

Nestled in I-don’t-even-know-where, some oasis between Downtown and South Buffalo, the atmosphere in Larkinville is something you all need to check out. There are Adirondack chairs set out, a huge bar serving #buffalobeerzonly (Rusty Chain and Labatt Blue on tap doodz) and wine, a huge covered patio with couches and tables, and of course…food trucks.

Let me lay out some of the delicious options for you:

-Lloyd’s Taco Truck
-Franks Hot Dog (and by hot dog, I mean HOT DOG) Truck
-a Thai truck (complete with Thai iced tea whaddup)
-a Grilled Cheese truck
-a Mac and Cheese truck
-the Knight Slider truck (sliders…obviously)
-a Souvlaki truck
-a Beef-on-Weck truck
-the Black Market Food Truck (delicious food of all sorts of kinds…and they wear black gloves)
-a Coffee Truck (be still my beating heart)
-an Arepa Truck
-a truck that serves ALLIGATOR
-a Sandwich truck
-a Panini truck
-Amy’s place has a truck

…I could go on forever, and am definitely forgetting a ton of the options…but you get the picture, there’s a LOT of really good food.

Needless to say, I couldn’t stay away, so I dragged Yabish, Stephanie, and Steph (a new Buffalonian!!!!) down to Larkinville this week! After weighing our options (trust me, it’s hard), Steph (x2) and I opted for the Knight Slider truck. Tricia wasn’t hungry because she is a noob….her loss.

I got a slider with fried onions, chipotle sauce, and cheese and Truffle Fries…it was delicious. There were scallop and kimchi sliders, plain old cheeseburger sliders, goat-cheese sliders…you name it. #cheeseburgerheaven.

yum

A band serenaded us as we chowed down with Don and friends, and we went home full and hungry to our beds at 8:00…..grandma status……

GOOD NEWS per the friendly Lloyd employee: Food Truck Tuesdays is going on through late October so do yaselves a solid and get down there. Every Tuesday from 5-8 pm in Larkin Square (drive to Chef’s restaurant on Seneca street and keep going away from the arena)…I promise you it will be worth it.

#panoramapro

In other news, Yabish, Kaitlin, and myself are officially going “back to school” starting this weekend….well, not really back to school, but getting certified to teach English abroad. PLZ send prayers that our brains will still work after a year and a half of hibernation.

The Official Notorious BABs 2k13 Buffalo Fall Sports Preview

Well folks, it’s that time of year again, and the blog is back juSDT in time! What time of year, you ask? 

 

Time for sportz! 

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you will know that your friendly neighborhood bloggers are xxxtreme Buffalo sports fans. This means that we, like every other poor follower of the Bills and Sabres, get really excited every fall and trick ourselves into believing that our teams won’t suck.

So, without further ado, here is our extremely informative and well-researched season preview for the 2013 Buffalo Sports Seasons.

 

THE BILLS

Go Bills

2012-2013 Record: 6-10 (lol)

Preseason Record: 2-2

First Game: Next Sunday against the PATRIOTS

Alright y’all, I’m not going to pretend to know as much about football as I do about hockey, but I do know a little bit and I also know that the Bills usually suck. A win by the Bills around here is not usually expected; A heartbreaking loss in the last second snatching defeat from the jaws of victory IS. 

This year, the Bills are something to be excited about (or at least they were until 2 weeks ago, but I’ll get there in a minute). Ralph Wilson finally realized that he was too senile to make football decisions anymore, so that was good. We got a new coach who looks like Alec Baldwin, whaddup Doug Marrone?! EJ Manuel was looking promising AF during the first 2 preseason games, which the Bills actually won (I know, I know-it’s just preseason). People around town were getting PRETTY EXCITED!! 

yaboi Doug

Then, in typical Buffalo fashion, a bunch of bad things happened. EJ Manuel got hurt, then #2 QB Kevin Kolb suffered what might be a career ending concussion, forcing the Bills to sign MATT LEINART and name undrafted rookie QB Jeff Tuel as their starter against Tom Brady…..kewl…..seems like we’re back to square one.

IDK-when EJ Manuel comes back hopefully the Bills will win some football games, but who knows, I won’t be holding my breath. I will, however be drinking heavily at whatever games I can get to and watching Stevie Johnson’s hilarious vines:

Freddie J Dunks on Doug Marrone

 

THE SABRES

K

2012-2013 Record:21-21-6 (lol)

First Preseason Game: September 15 @ Montreal

Hey remember last Sabres season? Unfortunately, so do I. Yabish Trish and I were the unfortunate holders of season tickets and we had to drag ourselves down to First Niagara Center to watch the sorry excuse for a “hockey team” that came on the ice in Sabres Uniforms (on the plus side, we drank a lot of beers). 

If you are fortunate enough to have forgotten everything that happened last year, let me remind you (sry) of some of last year’s highlights:

-After losing like a million games in a row, Lindy Ruff got fired. He has since been hired by the Dallas Stars HAHAHA #nogoal99

SMDH

-RonRon got hired as the interim head coach….he has since been installed as the permanent head coach…we’ll see how this goes .

Y so serious?

– The Sabres missed the playoffs (obviously) by a lot.

-Steve Ott was awesome and licked Jeff Halpern’s helmet

lol

-Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek basically said they didn’t want to come back and were super annoying and everyone wanted them to get traded but of course nothing exciting happened in the offseason!!!!

it’s ok because Vanek’s good

 

So, really nothing could be worse than last year (or could it…). I’m pretty sure the Sabres are going to be pretty bad again, but who knows, maybe they’ll surprise us. Regardless, you’ll be sure to find Trish and myself booing Lil’ Milz and getting 2turnt off Bud Lite Lime tallboys in section 323. Holla atcha girlz

 

Summer 2k13 Recap

As much as it pains me to say it, summer has pretty much come to an end. Since we are no longer the vibrant, youthful college students we once were, and aren’t going back to school this year (for the SECOND year in a row? Wat?), our collective state of well-being over here at Notorious BABs is pretty SHITTY, to put it nicely.

Instead of dumping a ton of college nostalgia on all y’all, we will dump a ton of photos on all y’all. A recap of sorts from throughout the summer that explains just how exciting (and ratchet) our lives are. First summer together in Buffalo in a few years…nothing’s changed. Feel free to live vicariously through us, I know I sure as hell would if I wasn’t already #livingthedream (ha).

It all started with celebrating the birth of our beloved Frances in mid-May, when it was finally warm enough in this godforsaken city for us to bare our forearms.

theme of summer 2k13: tequila shots

An evening which concluded in eating #streetmeat of the hot dog variety on the sidewalk outside of DBGB. Photographic evidence of this does indeed exist but I will refrain from sharing those images with the World Wide Web.

We also did some heavy lifting.

Witnessed Stephanie’s bartending debut.

Took Letchworth by the horns (bunheads?).

Dear Pibble came for a visit.

so sophisticated

So we celebrated. At a Bison’s game?

#nannydiaries

And by drinking margaritas, obviously.

…and then this happened…

(no this is neither of our phones)

Too soon? Prolly.

We even went on some exotic and exciting getaways to foreign countries (country) this summer.

canadaaa

Somewhere in America Canada, Notorious BABs are still twerking.

or laughing from twerking too hard

Then our friend count quickly diminished with the departure of Emily, who left her Ibble counterparts for NYC in the middle of August.

But our grieving period was brief because these two BABs took on Syracuse with Kait for the weekend (and one night of debauchery).

One (of few) exciting part of the summer coming to a close is the BEGINNING OF AUTUMN the best season of the year. Well with Fall comes football and you bet ya girlz went to the first preseason Bills game.

buffahoes

Tailgated with new friends.

#nonewfriends

#lifemotto

AND we actually won!

And then before we knew it, it was Ya Bish Trish’s birthday, which usually marks the ceremonious end of summer. At least it used to. We got 2turnt and linked up with a bachelorette party complete with women dressed in [only] corsets and one equipped with a WHIP which they were not afraid to use.

ciroc girlz in tha buildin

#twerkteam of one

It was a great summer filled with lots of weird shit and good times. Turn down for WAT!?

Until next time, play on playaz.

The Latest

Holler.

Your two favorite and most notorious bloggers have been MIA recently (uhduh). Shocker. Sorry I guess, but we’ve been suuuuper busy being funemployed and occupying our time getting really really sunburned (ok maybe that’s just me..), being creeped on by Russian men (ok maybe that’s just frances..), listening to Bugatti on repeat, and camping out at our office (read: Starbucks) day after day after day. If you need us, you know where to find us.

Since our lives are so interesting and full of excitement, there is a lot to catch you up on. Where do I even begin!?

To start, the Sabres missed the playoffs. #BYE Ryan Miller. #BYE Jochen Hecht (but really I’m pretty sad he’s retiring). #HEY Ron Rolston. We went to the last game of the season, balled like high rollers at the bar, and Frances even caught a balloon that we refused to pop even though there was supposedly a fun prize inside.

And then before ya know it, it was Stephanie’s birthday. Why are we so old? We celebrated in the most perfect of ways, including eating an entire fruit tart in the park on a blanket and laughing harder than I think I ever have in my entire life. I wish I was joking, it was kind of embarrassing.

Then, in a nutshell, Frances lost her mind:

Shit got weird:

you’re welcome

And Stephanie tried to bribe a Jim’s Steakout employee to give me a “birthday” lap dance…with $2.

ADAM

The End.

Stay tuned in to the exciting life of the Notorious BABs: Will we ever get jobs?? Move out?? Make friends?? (Answer: #NoNewFriends) There’s no telling what sort of crazy adventures are yet to come…

 

 

Spring in Buffalo (…Where Are You?)

In case you are all living under a rock and didn’t get the announcement, I’ve made the long and tedious drive from Philly to Buffalo for an indefinite period of time. Usually my trips are short and sweet, as I usually have some sort of commitment to hurry back to – whether it’s school or work or celebrationz. Well, for the first time since…winter break 2010 (god damn), I will be settled in the motherland for more than a week consecutively. Mixed feelings about this, considering it has only been six days and I’m already jonesing for a getaway from O’Hara’s Oasis, currently feeling a tad imprisoned as my car (getaway vehicle) is in the shop nearly totaled (black ice incident in PA, my father currently calls me “Crash”), but I do have to admit it’s been nice to see the fam and friendz (or lack thereof) for more than just a day or two at a time.

it pains me to look at this #savethevibe

I arrived on Tuesday night, just in time for Becca’s birthday celebrations (more commonly referred to as the night Bibble tried to kill all of her guests via keg poisoning) which was a riot. Good to see you, too, Patrick…

Wednesday I ventured to the fucking palace Frances is house sitting at (holy shit), and the two of us were greeted with LOTS OF SNOW when leaving the house to get food (why else would we leave the house doe?). And then I proceeded to spend over 24 hours in bed dying and watched hour after hour of Netflix (latest recommendations: Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Tiny Furniture, Zero Dark Thirty (…not on Netflix), and as always, Workaholics). When I finally rose from the dead on Friday, I spent some QT with ma brotha, returning home to over a dozen buffalo police and state troopers searching my yard and the rest of the neighborhood for a fugitive that I was really hiding in my basement.

he found my stash

Thank the lord that my sister was arriving that night to save me from the wrath and constant questioning of my parents; that girl is a life saver…and then I actually (miraculously) managed to stay out past 2am. The rest of the weekend was full of boozy brunch and awkward family functions, until Easter dinner with the McGuire’s, which consisted of lots of wine and really good food and, per usual, #momhatersclub. And the Sabres blowing a 3-1 lead at home but we won’t mention that…

hi martha

Party animals that we are, we donned our Sunday (Saturday?) best (read: sweatpants and slippers) and journeyed one long block away to the bar where we so enthusiastically rang in Easter Sunday with smiles on our faces and tummies full of booze.

lookin good feelin good 2013 #babs

Easter Sunday included a five hour long brunch with my neighborhood fam, which was more realistically an intervention to get me to move home and get a real job. So fun, loved every minute of it. But I DID get an Easter basket with lots of Cadbury Eggs (my fav), drowned my sorrows in mimosas, and then won $6 on $10 worth of scratch-off lottery tix.

Unfortunately, my sister has abandoned me and now I’m alone again with my parents so I guess this is when I get my act in gear and apply for jobs and fix my resume and all that jazz. Hahahahahahahaha… If you need me I’ll be hiding under my covers watching Netflix or constantly checking my bank account for my tax refund. ON THE BRIGHT SIDE I’M GOING TO SEE MEEK MILL ON FRIDAY and in case you couldn’t tell I’m really fucking excited. If I can manage to get there, that is…

Let’s talk about the weather

Well, it’s March. This, my friends, means that spring is creeping–ever so slightly–closer, and I was mildly encouraged today when I checked the 5 day forecast on my phone and saw a high temperature in the 50’s (let’s not talk about the fact that it’ll be raining). Just when I thought I wouldn’t make it through another day of being this pale and dry-skinned and cold and dark, my girl Mother Nature decided to throw me a bone. We all know that the inevitable late-April snow surprise is coming, but for now, let’s enjoy the “heatwave” and take what we can get!

As the weather warms, ever so slightly, I awaken from my state of hibernation and the color begins to creep back into my cheeks (thank god, because I’m pretty sure a ghost is more tan than I am at this point). Puddle jumping and flower picking and runs outside are on my horizon, and for this I am ever so thankful.

So, in honor of the great thaw coming my way, I dedicate this post to the always safe conversation topic of the weather. I will now proceed to rank (from worst–fuck you, sleet–to best) a bunch of different weather scenarios. HERE WE GO!!

Frances’ Weather Rankings

IN LAST PLACE: Sleet. Last week, if you had asked me what the worst kind of weather to be outside in was, I would have immediately answered “Rain.” Fast forward two days: It was about 38 degrees and pouring and I was walking (sprinting) through a parking lot to get food with my lucky companion. “This could not get ANY worse,” I said. Well, I was VERY wrong about that. When we came back outside, the torrents of rain had turned into torrents of sleet. How could I have forgotten about this? There are only a couple of degrees where the sky can produce this slightly frozen, precipitous diarrhea, and I thank my lucky stars for that. There are no redeeming qualities to sleet. NONE. Name one, I dare you. It’s slippery, it’s WET, when it’s sleeting you’re definitely cold, and it ruins your shoes like no other.

Rain: I also hate the rain. If you tell me you like the rain, chances are I’ll want to punch you in the face. I spent 75% of my collegiate career walking to class in the rain (absolutely no exaggeration there, I promise…), much of the time sans-umbrella because in Ithaca it tends to be sunny and 75 degrees one minute, and pouring and 40 degrees the next. Nothing, I tell you, is worse than the feeling of soaking wet jeans (except for maybe wet feet), and my hatred of the rain is even deeper because I spent a great deal of time rowing in it. However, rain IS an excuse to buy rain jackets and nice rain boots, so there is a small upside to it. It’s nice to fall asleep to, as well, but it still sucks.

“February”: The next weather category is one I’m sure you are, at this point of the year, all too familiar with. It’s “February”. It’s kind of stopped snowing a lot, and when it does snow, we’re sick of it and we want it to stop. Most days are just windy and freezing cold….a lethal combination. Last week I was babysitting and two girls demanded that I take them to the park. This, of course, turned out to be a two hour excursion that mostly consisted of me chasing them through frozen puddles and helping them climb up trees. Needless to say, I forgot my hat and gloves and it was 20 degrees and windy. Great.

TOO HOT/HUMID: For those of you who are unaware, I inhabit the attic of my parent’s house. Also for those of you who don’t know, I live in a really old house without the capacity for Central Air. For those of you who don’t know, heat rises. For those of you who don’t know, my parents refused to buy me an air conditioner until last summer. Ahh, summertime. We all are yearning for it, but think of those days where it is literally too hot to move. You’re sweating through your shirt if you take one step outside, and you obviously can’t be seen in public with pit-stains because duh. It’s too hot to exercise, it’s too hot and sticky to do even the most basic things, like eat and sleep. If you’re a normal person, you crank up your A/C to full blast and take shelter in your cool room. If you’re me, up until last August, you melt, kind of like the Wicked Witch of the West. Thank god I got my air conditioner, it made hot and humid days bearable.

Snow: Now we are getting into the type of weather I don’t mind, and sometimes enjoy. Snow is great. It’s pretty and fluffy and the first few snows of every year are pretty magical. Snow boots (NOT UGGS) are fun to buy, and skiing is the best. But, especially being from Buffalo, the snow is starting to get old more and more quickly each year. Shoveling…..ugh, talk about a workout. Scraping off the car, especially really early in the morning, is one of life’s bigger nuisances, and attempting to go out and be social in a snowstorm presents its fair share of problems (mainly, WHAT COAT DO I WEAR AND WHAT DO I WEAR ON MY FEET?!). But all in all, the snow is nice, and nothing beats looking out the window in the middle of the night and seeing an unplowed winter wonderland at your doorstep.

Outside during Nemo

45-60 degrees, aka LIGHT JACKET WEATHER: Ohhhh man, do I love light jacket weather, and not just because I love light jackets (I really, really love light jackets). This is very close to being the ideal weather situation. It’s cold enough to not be uncomfortably warm and to want a jacket to keep you from catching a chill, but it’s warm enough to be outside doing things with your friends (“friends,” being imaginary in my case). In the fall, this means apple cider and looking at foliage, in the spring this means busting out the sunglasses and pretending that it’s warm enough to wear shorts and flip-flops when in actuality it is NOT….guess what I’ll be wearing in a few days when it’s 52 degrees?

Hot n’ sunny: SUNS OUT GUNS OUT, Y’ALL. Take me to July where I’m lounging at Grammy’s pool in my bathing suit and I will show you a happy Frances. This is the best. Summertime needs to get here, ASAP. When life’s biggest problem is an awkward tanline or smelling too much like sunscreen, or what beach to go to tomorrow?? But remember people, WEAR SUNSCREEN 🙂

Live from Buffalo, where it’s 36 degrees and only getting warmer, it’s Wednesday night.

A Date with James Dean

Saturday night I went to the West Side Rowing Club’s coaches dinner at the Hotel Lafayette in downtown Buffalo. Since coaching is a really important job, we obviously had to have a really important dinner to recognize all of the great things rowing coaches in Buffalo do.

We at the Rowing Club like to drink, so the main draw of this dinner (other than the promise of gazing upon Jim Neil, for at least a couple minutes) was the open bar. Stephanie (ever my plus one) and I spent the hour and a half between 7:30 and 9 sucking down as many drinks as we could (we ordered a drink at 8:59…yolo) before heading downstairs to the cocktail bar on the main floor of the hotel.

I highly recommend making an evening out of going to the Hotel Lafayette. You can eat dinner at the Pan-American Grille and get desserts at Butterwood (YUM) before heading to the cocktail bar, which is without a doubt the best part. The bar itself is really cool, and art-deco themed. There are also huge pictures of old actors in the bathroom…whaddup James Dean?

Hey 😉

The drinks, which I had trouble picking since the menu was so extensive and everything looked delicious, were amazing. I decided on a Violet Fizz, which was actually purple and had a spherical violet “fizz ball” ice cube in the bottom, and was garnished with a flower…probably the prettiest drink I’ve ever had.

Violet Fizz

Then I saw the bartender (who was the same bartender who Stephanie and I made enemies with for no apparent reason on Halloween when he REFUSED to serve us….but that’s another story for another day….luckily he didn’t seem to remember us without our troll costumes) light a drink on fire, and I decided I needed that drink, as well. So, if you go, you should try the Twinkle Toes! It was delicious.

Then Kim came downstairs to join us, and ordered us far too many shots of tequila (can’t complain, though). 

#bye

Then Szy had the wonderful idea of heading to Milkie’s (formerly known as the Elmwood lounge…on the corner of Elmwood and West Utica) to see Buffalo legend Lance Diamond perform. While I was reluctant at first, it ended up being really fun and you guys should definitely check it out, he plays every Saturday night, and he’s the man!

Szy and Lance

I woke up late on Sunday with a nasty hangover, but it was worth it.

 

Two Shows You Should Watch

Well, seeing as it’s Friday night and all, I figured “Why not finally go out and be social, for once?!” Great. I was finally going to venture out of my hibernation-station and into the real world of drinking….until I couldn’t find my wallet. So, here I am again- in bed with some Reeses, sour octopuses (changing it up from the usual sour worms), and Arizona Mucho Mango that I left my house in neon UnderArmor shorts and a Christmas sweater to buy. What am I going to do tonight? Watch Netflix, obviously. Which brings me to the main point. Before I turn my brain off, I thought I’d let you know about two shows that all of you should be watching right now.

Let me start with the one most of you have heard of and some of you definitely watch:

Girls

Somehow Lena Dunham looks pretty here

People have been recommending this show to me for what seems like ages, but as usual, I ignored them and refused to start watching that which is accepted as being intelligent and cool by the masses. Then (also, as usual) I got really bored and decided to give it a go and (still, as usual) watched all of the episodes within 72 hours. For those of you living under a rock, Girls (on Sunday nights on HBO) is written by Lena Dunham (below) who also stars as Hannah Horvath on the show. Lena Dunham is literally always naked during the show, which is kind of a con, but if you persevere you will eventually get past the shocking sight of her naked body (and her body when she wears really weird outfits that are super unflattering for her shape…smh)

Sometimes I have to look away because LD is so attractive

 

Basically, the show is about a group of 4 girlfriends who have recently graduated from college and are (like Tricia and myself) each experiencing their own little case of the post-grad blues. The show is super easy to relate to (if you’re a girl who has just graduated from college) and offers a more real picture of how much it sucks to be in your early 20’s than what we usually see on TV. If you watch girls, I can promise that you will laugh, get a girl-crush on Jessa, wish that you didn’t have to see Lena Dunham naked even half as much (even though it will make you feel better about yourself naked), and also wonder why the male cast on the show isn’t hotter…wtf. Except Hannah hooked up with one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in the last episode, which we all know isn’t possible….come on HBO. Definitely worth watching, although I’m pretty sure I could do a better job writing the show #justsaying.

Also, if you don’t know about this site yet, I’m going to let you in on a little secret (so you can go watch Girls right now): Project Free TV. There you go, pretty much every TV show and movie your heart could ever desire is now at your fingertips. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Now, on to my current Netlfix go-to, and what may possibly be my favorite show of all time:

TWIN PEAKS

Hello this is a midget

I am quite serious when I say this is the best thing I’ve watched in a long, long time. David Lynch (director of the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen: Mulholland Drive) directed this show, which is some strange, but wonderful, kind of hybrid between soap opera/murder mystery/surrealist-supernatural thriller. The show centers around the murder investigation of a girl in a small town. Watch the first episode. Don’t turn it off, like I nearly did, when you’re confused as to why all of the high school kids are walking down the hall to music, snapping their fingers. KEEP WATCHING…shit gets weird. Not convinced? Well, let me try to convince you: 
1. TREY from Sex and the City (the #1 noob of all time on that show, besides Aiden) stars as an FBI agent, and he’s the best. His “partner in crime” is the local sheriff, who is named Harry Truman (lolz) 

hottiez

2. Pretty much every character is having an affair, which keeps things interesting (what is life without scandal? Nothing, I tell you).

3. There are some really trippy dream sequences that are terrifying and awesome at the same time.

Now I’m off to watch Twin Peaks, so I bid all of thee adieu, until tomorrow when I write a post about why Andy Warhol is awesome. 

#bye