I love a good cocktail, hell, LOVE a good cocktail, but I rarely drink on my own. Aside from a glass of win e now and then, I have to say Im a true neophyte in the art of spirits. Cocktails are an American tradition, they really are. From the founding fathers there has always been some sort of mixture of the spirits into a delicious an d complex beverage that is simply delicious.
I have found that expressed no better than in the city of San Francisco. Sure, there are bars on ever corner where you can drink to get drunk, but there are places I have been where the art of the cocktail is alive and well in a new generation of young bartenders.
Moving from that atmosphere to where I am now (Los Angeles), I find people seem so afraid to drink. Weather its because people have to drive everywhere here, or they just dont know a watered down cocktail at a high falootin' bar from a really good cocktail remains to be seen to me. But imagine how happy I was to find sole other SF transplants and their mission to bring sophisticated drinking to the LA area.
Last Saturday I went to church, the Church of Frank Sinatra. No its not a cult. Its a group of cocktail enthusiasts who gather once a month and dawning appropriate vintage cocktail attire, we enjoy each others company over a nice mixed drink. A very welcoming crowd. Ive been to a few and I always have way more fun than I should.
Being curious about apple spirits, I decided to invest in a bottle of
Laird's Apple Jack. I asked the host if this was an okay spirit to bring, he just said he already had two bottles, one from their 1976 batch and a new batch, so just bring myself. Well okay, I can do that!
But this time, I didn't know what I was going to wear. I dont have many after five dresses, and I didn't feel like making anything new. So I revisited a war time dress that I made and I liked, but I never wore.
There was nothing wrong with this dress, sans the hem. I felt the design was a bit out of my comfort zone. I dont know why, but I just didnt think it worked on me. Maybe it was my initial pictures, or, the hem. Im convinced. a bad hem can ruin your take on a dress. So I got out my hem-o-matic and did a chalk marking of the hem again. Hand tacked it, gave the brick wool crape (squeeeee!) a good steam pressing, and I was good to go!
Below is a picture of my lovely friend Jen and me at the cocktail party.
So I guess the lesson learned here is when you drink cocktails make sure your hem is good so you can enjoy them in the presence of good company.
The End.
.