Being a bartender is hard work (i.e. getting drunk is a tough job!)

Last weekend we hosted Mitzi and Danny's wedding shower. Despite concerns of weather, it turned out to be a very beautiful event. It was also a good time with family and friends. I'm so glad we could celebrate their upcoming nupitals!

photo by Ashley ZumBrunnen :)

The beautiful setting for the shower.

The bridesmaids and the bride!

Being Fun Bobby, Shellie put me in charge of drinks. No surprise there. I instantly felt a fiduciary duty to bring them the best bar lineup in town for their special night. One thing I wanted to do was create them a specialty drink for the shower, like they do in all the fancy parties on tv.

While in NYC, a bartender had made me a shot that was probably the most amazing shot I have ever taken. It had fresh crushed strawberries in it and tasted just like a pink starburst! I was determined to recreate this drink using my own vast knowledge of alcohol since he would not divulge his secrets to me.


After hours of Googling I realized that I really was going to have to create this drink on my own since there were no recipes that matched the vision I had. I knew this was going to involve a lot of trial and error, and I only had a week left to come up with my masterpiece. So I headed straight to the liquor store to get started. This was really hard work.


Every night that week after work I tested and tested variations of different ingredients. There was a lot of testing. After a little too many test sips, it would get confusing because my taste buds would stop working since my tongue would get numb. But, every night I diligently came home from work to keep on perfecting my recipe. I did all that drinking for Mitzi and Danny.


The day of the shower, I still wasn't satifsifed with my concoction. I knew it was missing something, and I needed to figure it out. I even had the perfect name ready for the drink: Dolce Hajime which meant Sweet Beginning. The sweet was in Spanish and the beginning was in Japanese since Mitzi is hispanic and Danny is part asian. That day I decided to look up some more recipes online. One of the ingredients that I kept seeing on several different websites caught my eye. It was a gamble because it was hours before the party, and this was my last shot to get it right. I headed to the liquor store once again and then prayed that this would be the perfect final touch.


I got home, mixed a small drink, and then tasted the perfect drink! The secret ingredient, watermelon schnapps, made all of my acholic dreams come true. I hoped that it would make Mitzi and Danny's come true as well!


The party turned out to be a hit, the food was delicious, and the drink was fabulous! In case you are wondering the secret recipe for Mitzi and Danny's drink, here it is:



photo by Ashley ZumBrunnen


Dulce Hajime

1 can frozen lemonade
vanilla vodka
watermelon schnapps


Make lemonade per the instructions, but instead of adding the 3 cans of water add 1.5 cans of water, 1 can of vanilla vodka, and .5 half can of watermelon schnapps. Mix all together and enjoy!

I'm glad the drink and the shower was a hit! At the end Mitzi gave us umbrellas as gifts for "the next time we found ourselves caught in a shower" So cute! We took this photo posing as if we had no clothes on behind the umbrella, which was inspired by Kiki lol.