— CiaoCatherine

So there are these two boxes

“And then my mother found it and said, ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’”

Last night, after my third rose & lychee martini, my friend Andrew and I were discussing death.  He’s traveling soon to a very exciting, peaceful city, while a coworker is leaving soon for an exciting city that’s also a hot spot for civil unrest.  As a result, he decided to draft his will before departure.  This got us on the subject of those commercials starring elderly celebrities (like Andy Rooney), urging viewers to get their affairs in order so funeral costs won’t be a burden when they are older.

So my pal Andrew, being the responsible, forward-thinking individual he is now even at the age of ten, decided to start rationing part of his allowance into a box labeled “Funeral Fund.”  Another portion continued to go into a second box, labeled “Vacation Fund.”  His mother found both boxes, and asked him, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

This story nearly had me in tears with laughter, but I think it’s a great reminder that we need to invest less mental energy in our “funeral funds” and more in our “vacation funds.”  Less time and energy wasted on where we will inevitably be one day, and more spent putting us where we want to be tomorrow, next month, next year.

By the way, rose & lychee martinis might be my new favorite cocktail.  I prefer savory/smoky cocktails like dirty martinis or straight whiskey, neat, but this was wonderful.  I found this one on DrinkBoston, from official Hendrick’s Gin mixologist Charlotte Voisey.  I’ve had egg whites in cocktails before, and wasn’t sure if they were in this one at first, but it makes sense–there was a frothiness that would be hard to achieve otherwise (and an adorable dried rosebud floating on the top).  I’d like to try this at home soon:

one and a half ounces (Hendrick’s) gin

half ounce rose syrup

one and a half ounces lychee juice

quarter ounce fresh lemon juice

dash of egg whites

dash of Angostura bitters

Shake very well and strain up into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with an edible flower.