Fruit-juice cocktail

Today did not turn out how I had expected.

I was planning on heading north to Evanston for my cousin's kid's 5th birthday party, then to dinner at Taste of Peru with a friend. Instead, I'm sitting by the lake, passing time, and writing this blog post. 

And it all happened with a wrong turn. 

You see, I was trying to get onto Lake Shore Drive to head north to Evanston for this beach party. But traffic was so backed up on LSD that I (impulsively) decided to pull into the lakefront parking lot and use that as a way to get to the side streets (which I would then take up to Evanston). It's a long parking lot, close to a mile long, and I kept driving further and further south into the lot, seeing all the northbound cars trapped in bumper to bumper traffic, convinced there was another exit further south.

There wasn't. 

Which meant when I reached the end of the drive I had to turn around and drive 1 mile just to get out of the lot!!! A mile doesn't seem that long... until you realize it took you 40 min to move 150 yards. 

Worst. Turn. Ever. 

Realizing the bday party would be done before I even left the parking lot, I decided to park my car the moment I found an open spot. Luckily it happened 40 min into what would have been a multi- hour jam.

So I walked to the lake. And relaxed. And snapped this photo in an attempt to look on the bright side of this crazy day! It helped a bit, but I've never felt so trapped in my entire life. To know you're missing fun family time and you'll be stuck by yourself for hours just because you made a stupid mistake is never a good feeling.

So to help pass the time I decided to do something semi productive tonight, so I'm testing out blogging on my phone. The traffic jam is still bumper to bumper 2.5 hr later, so it looks like I made the right call. And it looks like I'll be at the lake well after sundown. Thank goodness for lakefront restaurants.

The first thing I'll do when I go home is make myself a stiff cocktail. If you're looking for a great juice-based cocktail, here's one that's perfect for those hot summer days!

Carrot juice + orange juice + ginger ale + bourbon (or whiskey) turns out to be a really refreshing combo!!!

I used the Trader Joes carrot orange juice as it's the perfect pre-made proportion!!

So the next time life gives you lemons (or oranges)- make a drink. With lots of alcohol!

Making the most of her wrong turn,

Jacqueline

Orange Carrot Cocktail, from Joy the Baker

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients 

2 oz bourbon or whiskey

1/4 cup carrot juice

1/2 cup orange juice 

Ginger ale

Lemon/lime wedge, optional

Optional: replace the juices with 3/4 cup TJs Omega Orange Carrot juice. 

Directions

In a large glass or mason jar, fill with ice. Add in bourbon, juices, and top with ginger ale until the glass is full. Squeeze with fresh lemon or lime if you'd like. Enjoy!!