my new favorite wine (aka: everybody make fun of my terrible taste in adult beverages).

last month i worked really, really hard at refreshing my blog content so that it could better reflect my long-term vision for what poverty luxe should be. i got rid of a lot of "filler" posts that nobody was reading (and i didn't like writing them anyway) and spent more time sharing the things that i actually wanted to share, like projects, outfits, and rants about how much i hate being gluten free. i got SO excited about all the new content changes that februarys editorial calendar got filled up almost instantaneously and it was awesome. 

but, as i was looking at it earlier this week to figure out when i was writing what and what photos needed taken/edited etc. i noticed i forgot something. 

i forgot me. 

meaning, i forgot to include any posts about me and all my weird habits or funny stories or important life lessons or any of the kind of stuff that helps us get to know each other and become best internet friends. 

you know, the kind of stuff that makes this blog a lifestyle blog and not just a mismatched collection of posts that nobody reads because i talked about my personal life and now I'm all likable and relatable and now you'll read my posts about obsessing over groceries and coupons and lists even though you really don't care about either of those things yourself. 

at least, thats how i think blogging is supposed to work. 

so, naturally i spent the past couple days moving things around so that the month is a little more balanced. and then i decided that from now on personal posts are definitely a priority (and in a way I'm glad this happened because at least my overzealous content overhaul made me realize that sharing more about myself on this blog was more important than i thought it was before). 

now how shall we get started?

how about a nice embarrassing confession? those are always fun. 

so here we go:

i have terrible, terrible taste in alcohol. 

and i mean objectively terrible. like, don't ever go to a bar with me if you don't want to be embarrassed because I'm GOING to enthusiastically order something stupid with a name like "blue otter pop" thats made with uv flavored vodka (which, by the way, i actually like). 

like, it makes me legitimately sad that ill never get to have another passionfruit smirnoff ice ever again (malt drinks are a no go for celiacs) because i love that stuff. seriously. i could drink like nine of those (ok, more like one and a half because i have the metabolism of a squirrel, but you know what i mean). 

and "real drinks" like beer and red wine? nope. i had red wine once while wine tasting. it made me barf. I'm not kidding. I'm a terrible presbyterian. 

at home, i usually drink wyders raspberry cider. thats my favorite. its basically soda. its also kind of expensive, and we've been extra broke lately. cheap chardonnay is a close second though. thats basically the only other thing ill drink. 

and sprouts must have read my mind because this:

has been on sale, three bottles for $10 (normally $10 EACH) for like two months now. and i can't get enough. 

its bubbly chardonnay. bubbly. chardonnay. and its $3. did i mention its $3. 

basically a trifecta of all my favorite things. you know how we live in a one bedroom apartment and i don't stockpile anything? well I've been buying three bottles of this every week whether we drink three bottles or not because I'm going to cry when it goes back to regular price and we can't afford it anymore. 

i know its terribly undignified. its got a tacky label and doesn't even have a vintage. but you know what? its delicious and i. don't. care. 

now i want to know, whats your embarrassing guilty pleasure? i promise i won't judge (i mean, IM the one hoarding three dollar soda-wine). 

pumpkin pie milkshakes.

this weekend is a busy one for us (alices friend had her birthday party today, and not only is tomorrow fathers day, but alice is also getting baptized), so i made the executive decision to move our weekly special dessert over to friday. ive been wanting to try this, since, i dont know, i first read about it almost two years ago, and yesterday, we just so happened to have ice cream AND we still had a couple slices of last weeks  pumpkin pie left! i was SO excited to finally get to try these out (for some reason im never able to have both ice cream and pie at the same time), and they did not disappoint:

i did change the proportions a bit from the recipe on a beautiful mess, just cause im not a big fan of super thick milkshakes and i wanted it to have a bit more pie. so heres what i did:

pumpkin pie milkshakes

ingredients (for each):
1 large slice pumpkin pie
1 cup vanilla ice cream (around the same volume as the pie)
1/2 cup milk
nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice for garnish

combine first three ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. pour into glass and garnish with spices if desired (this is another time where i really wish we had some whipped cream, but oh well). and thats it!

i can NOT stress how delicious these are, i was actually kind of sad when i finished mine. i really hope it doesnt take another two years to make this happen again though...

adult chocolate milk. a cocktail recipe.

last time we went to target (which thanks to my newfound organizational skills have become less and less frequent and expensive), they had a whole bunch of liquor on clearance. im not talking about a few bottles of stuff nobody wants, there was an ENTIRE ENDCAP of  parton, bacardi, flavored vodkas and decent looking wines. but as ive mentioned before several times, were extra broke right now, and no matter how much i wanted to stock up (i mean, for $50 we could have a fully stocked bar for the next year or so), i had to be responsible and say no. 

but the last time we had any actual liquor was so long ago i dont even remember when it was (i vaguely remember buying some rum last summer?). and while what i can eat is severely restricted, i can drink anything i want (as long as its not beer, malt liquor, or something that has watermelon in it). also, i had just returned some eyeshadows that i bought but didnt use immediately so i figured i didnt need them, and thus had almost eight whole dollars burning a hole in my pocket. 

the least expensive thing was cake vodka:

never mind that ive never had cake vodka before and had no idea what i could even do with it, it was cheap and ive always been intrigued by it, so cake vodka it was. 

i quickly learned that cake and vodka are not flavors that actually go together and its not so good for shots or drinking on the rocks. i also quickly learned that all cocktail recipes that use it are for super fussy lady drinks with 300 ingredients. 

so i tried to figure something out that only used ingredients we already had in our pantry, and i came up with this:

adult chocolate milk

ingredients (for each):
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
1-2 ounces of cake vodka (depending on how much of an adult you feel like being)
sprinkles and/or whipped cream for garnish

mix all of the ingredients (except garnish) either in a cocktail shaker or just in a glass if youre lazy like me and dont feel like washing the shaker (this would be a really good time to use one of those little chocolate milk whipper things from ikea, but we dont have one). garnish with sprinkles and/or whipped cream (this recipe REALLY called for some whipped cream, but again, we didnt have any). then drink it. 

i know it looks all frothy and lumpy and weird, but i assure you, this is literally the best drink i have ever made at home. 

this clearance cake vodka was quite possibly the best decision ive made in a long time.