Pix, I'd be fuming! Whereas bon bon's NYE sounds fabulous. Now I want a gimlet.

Kat, my MiL is in Cedars. I was able to see her today for a brief visit when I went to pick up DH. She looks pretty sick to me, poor thing. I don't think she'll be out of there until Sunday or Monday.

I do have the nail polish box (thanks Dana!) I'm waiting for the chance to meet up with Burrell to go through it.

Oh yay! Next week would be good for me. The kids are in camp during the day, and work will be low key as I just need to prep for the following week.

I totally want a gimlet! And a root.

What I don't want is to be grading final exams. And yet....

Why must I procrastinate so?

That taste test sounds fun!

I once held a "hentails" party for my sober friends who get left out of lots of stuff. We all brought exotic juices, sparkling waters, garnishes, etc. and made stuff up on the spot. It was fun.

Happy New Year, those who are there and those on the way. Nice dinner with friends, and now to bed. Work tomorrow.

Happy New Year!! I posted my 101 list on lj, right at midnight.

Happy New Year, Arizona but not reservation time zone!

We did wine on the beach with a live reggae band for east coast new year's. It was very mellow.

Happy upcoming new year's, west coast! I must go to bed now. I have to catch a flight.

I can't wait to find out the results of bon's taste test.

This was a blind test -- blindfolded and anonymized by Bob. It was still easy to tell which mixer was which. Quotes here are what I said at the time. From worst to first:

• homemade lime syrup. Big yeuch. Too tart and sugary, without the smoothness of Rose's, and too bitter. (The limes were of poor quality, though, and I didn't exactly use Audrey Saunders' method. Just simple syrup + juiced limes.)

• Rangpur lime syrup. [link] Expected this to do better at $2 an ounce. Here is what I said: "I don’t smell anything (big whiff). That is very, very sweet. Almost no sourness. Kind of floral. Just tastes like straight up syrup. Maybe with this one you would want to add more vodka. [I did later, and it was a mistake.] It’s got depth of flavor, but it’s overpowered by the syrupiness of it. It doesn’t taste limey at all. It doesn’t have a sourness to it." Maybe this would work better for cooking, or margaritas, which I guess I will try next.

• Roses. "I think this is Rose’s. Sharp. Bitter. Syrupy. The sugar tastes right, but the lime itself is a little bitter and sharp."

Finally, the winner:

• Stirrings clarified lime syrup. Not as flavorful as the Rose's, more watery, but less bitter. A good choice for gimlet drinkers who want something smoother. Good lime flavor and not too sweet, and more floral than Rose's.

Still, if I go to a bar, I want Rose's (or at least to be asked what I prefer). For a dead simple drink bars almost always fuck this up when they spurn Rose's.

Anyway, happy drinking everyone and good luck for 2011! Rabbits!

bon's conclusion: Chandler was right.

Or, Chandler didn't have Stirrings.

But his basic argument was correct.