Fly Virgin...don't drink like one

Ok lushes...so i have been AWOL lost in a world of lushy self-indugence but i am back to share with you the ultimate in the Lush Life: Virgin Atlantic/America Clubhouse.
5000 SQ FT of pure awesomeness. Pool table, lounge, restaurant, full bar, full amenities and fully free. ($75 FEE for domestic first class travellers)

The "virgin rose" in an amazing meld of tea infused gin, rose, pims and magic. At first like it should be in my bath not my glass but after second sip you realize it is the best palate cleanser ever....just like the clubhouse is a palate cleanser for your sometimes hard or mundane life.

Just in time for Easter: Drinks with your PEEPS

Yes, that is meant to mean drinks that you ave with your peeps/friends but also the candy we love to hate/hate to love: marshmallow Peeps!

The Easter Bunny always brings a bunch of sugar-crusted Peeps, but since rarely do people want to eat them all, we need to come up with something better to do with  aside from letting them get stale or blowing them up in the microwave.

BEHOLD!! A wonderful site called PeepDrinks.com gives you a number of boozy, candy-tasting ways to enjoy Peeps like an adult. If nothing else this site also provides some laughable and awesome drink names. I really wish I could roll up to a bar a truly order a Long Island Iced Peep!!

They have Peep-a-ritas, Peep-tinis, and even shots like The Peep Eraser, that calls for :

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz Kahlúa
• 1 oz club soda
• 1 reckless peep

The Peep Eraser

SO this Sunday, get drunk on Peeps with your own reckless peeps...just don't become a peeper after getting tipsy!!

Life in the Fab Lane. How did I get here?

Accompanying my friend around NYC for his birthday I got a peek into a day in the life of a far better connected New Yorker. Hanging around his famous boss after Nobu, then drinks with a celeb author at The Carlyle then I get swept up on in the rest of his plans that included sashaying about town from one cocktail to the next. 

Somewhere in my bleary evening haze, as we dashed off to find one of his designer friends (really?!) I came across the best drinks I have had in AGES! 

Sort of like an Arnold Palmer for adults, Hudson Clearwater's "Duchess" drink is phenomenal and refreshing! You can not taste the gin and instead you are intoxicated by the Earl Grey Tea, sugar and Lemon. 

If I wasn't already spinning by this bizarre Page Six alternate universe I was in, as I knocked back another Duchess, The Queen Of Hostesses strolls in. What up Martha?! 

Beer me. 

Adventures in Williamsburg: We found more than just Hipsters

Hello lushes. I know what you may be thinking...Billyburg? "I don't need a list of places to drink PBR and whine about how Foster the People got too mainstream for you. Take your ironic Cosby sweater and shove it LushLife". BUT WAIT!  The area has a lot to offer that is not over-run with the cool kids who cramp your ability to enjoy your poison.

Here is a list of LushLife's favorite finds. Black-frame glasses and Cosby sweaters not required.

1. Nitehawk Cinema: I recently went on a date here. A midnight Jackie Chan movie with an attractive man in the seat next to me is usually enough to make an awesome night, but add in a dinner-theater setting, cocktails and a full menu, and it is quickly my new favorite place. They don't come by often to check on you once they give you an order, so you may want to double up on the beverage, or tie a few on at the sultry bar downstairs.

2. Rosemary's Greenpoint Tavern: Jukebox. Christmas lights all year round. Massive 32 oz Styrofoam cups of Bud Light for $4. What else needs to be said?

3. The Lovin' Cup Cafe , We were really excited when we thought this was the first "Extreme Brunch" in the BK to make the blog, but when we sat down we were told that the "unlimited drinks" sign outside was false. It's actually 3 drinks and an entree for $15 which is a great deal, but still, not extreme. The bloody marys are spicy and thick and the cream cheese stuffed french toast is killer! Also, if you check in on Foursquare they bring you a free plate of tater tots! So -2 points for false advertising and +1 for the tots.

4. The Levee on Berry and N. 3rd:  Jagerbombs, cheap drinks, pinball and tons of free cheesy poofs. This is a great dive especially for when you need to clean your palate from all the locally-made/socially conscience/organic/cool/obscure fare. Sometimes we just want to drink some booze and most of that time we don't want that booze to have a social agenda. 

5. Directly across the street from Levee is Radegast Hall & Biergarten. For NYC, this place is downright gigantic. Big expansive spaces, big tables, big steins of craft beer and big sausages. Size matters at this place for sure.

Hangover 2012: survival tips from LushLife and Gwyneth Paltrow

So we all know what we are gonna get up to this Saturday night. Booze, disposable hats, sparkly dresses, more booze, making out at midnight, drunk dials and inevitable bad decisions. Yep, it's New Year's Eve already. Shocking isn't it?
Well we here at Lush Life hope you have a better New Year's Eve than that awful movie New Year's Eve, and an even better New Year's Day.

January 1st should be named National Hangover Day, because no matter how responsible we try to be, we all are guilty have having one (or 3) too many glasses of Cristalino! Oh yeah, so classy that we pop the Cris(talino).

Enter the hangover:

My hangover cure is usually a smoothie from Jamba Juice, gatorade, water with Emergen-C, Advil, a Law & Order marathon, and eventually some pizza when I think my stomach is ready for it.

But I came across Gwyneth Paltrow's Hangover Remedies on Goop.com which include doctor explanations and a few cool other suggestions than just your regular aspirin and hide-under-the-covers method.  SWEET! A vitamin drink called Mercy sounds like it works miracles and Gwennie seems to be a big fan of Alka-Seltzer. Check out the link above for the whole low-down how Mrs Coldplay possibly plans to cure her hangover. :)

Happy 2012!! Drink responisbly and clean up after yourself if you puke.

much love,
from Lush Life

Extreme...Dinner?

Now if you read this blog you are well aware of the concept of "Extreme brunch" - all you can drink, bottomless drinks.

Well, LushLife just found out about something that trumps that: Extreme DINNER. Mercadito (in West and East Village NYC) as an open bar package per person for dinner starting at only $30!!

Bottomless drinks with some of the most delicious, upscale tacos in town?

Si, ahora!!

Even the Carolinas have Lushes

Sorry for the long hiatus fellow lushes, but I have been out and about drinking-in all that the world has to offer, and I have stumbled across some serious gems in the most unexpected places.  Introducing The Umstead Hotel and Spa.

Sit down in the art-gallery-style lighting, cozy up to the corporate locals and drink down a martini or 5. The Cucumber Lime and Basil Honey martinis are so refreshing and perfectly balanced, that before you know it, 5 or 6 have slipped down your throat and that random guy in the button down is starting to look really good.  So you stumble on out past the Murano glass sculptures and modern furnishings to the front door, assuming that with such luxe surroundings you must be at the hottest downtown hotel bar.

"TAXI!!" 
But wait, bleary-eyed from that 7th beverage, you look around and realize that all you see are trees not cabs and lights. Crickets not honking horns and drunken party-goers. With all this city-hopping, bar-crawling and smack-talking, it is incredibly easy to get confused and forget where you are.

"What? Where am I? Holy shit! I am in Cary, North Carolina?! How did I end up here?" 
Well, Lush, you ask yourself that way too often. Maybe you should cut back on the booze, but until then, it doesn't matter how you got there, just that it was a great place to be.

So if you find yourself in the Raleigh-Durham area and in need of a seriously amazing cocktail and some big city luxury, get your ass over to Herons at the The Umstead. Just remember, get a designated driver or limo since you can't stumble home (unless you booked a hotel room there. Just sayin'....)