Hey all!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  And, if you participated in Bay to Breakers, I hope your hangover has subsided by now.

In honor of B2B, this weekend I decided to have a daytime happy hour.  Because there’s nothing like a mid-day drunk to get you through a Saturday…

Anyway, on Friday KC got off work early and we decided to walk around Lake Merritt.  Um, can you tell it’s spring yet??

Hmm maybe just a little?

Our walk was very nice.  We enjoyed the sunshine and all the lake wildlife.  I did have to make a detour to Whole Foods mid-way through our walk to grab a snack…  I get hungry, I can’t help it!

After our walk, KC and I headed to Alexis and Carey’s apartment since they live right by the lake.  We decided to head to happy hour at Adesso over on Piedmont.  There aren’t any drink specials for happy hour (I don’t think…), but they do have a buffet of free snacks set up.  Score!  I’m all about free.

The snacks were delicious with our drinks; so we hung out for awhile, and then headed home for the night.

Yesterday I threw together the mid-day happy hour and invited Alexis and Carey over to partake.

I figured I’d go with a classic brunch drink and appetizer for my pre-five o’clock boozing.  I made mimosas with fresh-squeezed orange juice and bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

If you’re ever looking for an easy brunch spread, look no further than this.  This is quite possibly the easiest thing to throw together in 5 minutes or less, and completely delicious.

Alright, the appetizer.  Everything was store-bought for this.  I know, I know, I didn’t make anything myself; but sometimes it’s nice to rely on what’s ready and available.

I bought mini bagels and Trader Joes and just cut them into fourths.  I served these with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and some red onion.

If I were making this for a party, I’d probably make a dip out of the cream cheese to make it seem more homemade, and to make assembling the bagels easier.  Making the dip for this is really easy and delicious.  You mix cream cheese with some diced red onion, some fresh dill, and capers.  Serve that alongside the bagels and the smoked salmon and voila, everyone at the party is your new best friend and wants your dip recipe.  All the fame with none of the effort.

Let’s get down to business, then.  Drinks.

Mimosas are quite possibly the easiest cocktail ever invented.  Well aside from shots, I suppose.  Everything you need for mimosas is in that picture: champagne and orange juice.  Basically, combine those into a glass to taste and you’re good to go.  Couldn’t be simpler.

Watch out when you add the orange juice, as the champagne tends to want to fizz over — so add it slowly!  My tablecloth is in need of a wash because I was a little hasty in pouring the orange juice in.  Woops.

I like mimosas because a. they have bubbles, and b. you can purchase cheaper champagne than if you were drinking it straight (at least, that’s my philosophy…).

If you want to make things even easier on yourself, you can obviously use store-bought orange juice, rather than squeezing your own.  I just think fresh-squeezed is far superior to any store brand, so it’s worth the effort in my book.

If you’d like to dress up your cocktail, consider adding a slice of orange as a garnish, or even a splash of grenadine.  If you’re throwing a big brunch, consider having a champagne cocktail table where your guests can pour their own mimosas.  That’s always a fun way to liven up a party.

Alright well it’s late so I’d better be getting to bed!  As a treat, I’ll leave you with a picture of Seuss.  Clearly she hasn’t been listening to me and continues to do whatever the heck she wants…

Night!