Women Rule

Felicia attended a luncheon today for Women Ties, a regional women entrepreneur networking group. Wow, is Felicia's response to the event, great big wow. What a bunch of powerhouses. Felicia absolutely loves being in a room packed with really smart women. We're talking all kinds of really smart women. A woman who started her own skin care line, a life coach, a spa owner, a therapist, a restaurant owner, a woodworker, a matchmaker, a clothing designer, a pastry chef, a graphic designer, a boutique owner, a massage therapist, a financial advisor, a realtor, a web designer and on and on. It would have been a great place to have an emotional crisis, a muscle spasm, a sugar craving and dry skin, all at the same time. The speaker today confirmed Felicia's suspicion that smart, entrepreneurial-minded women are pretty much all overachievers. What do you think of having a monthly Overachievers Cocktail Hour at Felicia's? It could be a time for women to come together to share visions, bounce ideas off each other and try to relax a little while sipping a well-deserved cocktail. But we won't relax too much, because a woman's work is never done.

Buy from women! For a list of local women-owned businesses, go to www.womenties.com.

Skinny Monday

skinny [skin-ee] noun. 1: accurate information; facts; 2: news, esp. if confidential; gossip: (Get the skinny on Felicia's Skinny Monday party on February 4th).

What is Skinny Monday? Technically, it is Fat Monday, the day before Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras, but, well, Felicia is a rebel. Though normally closed on Mondays, Felicia’s will be open on MONDAY FEBRUARY 4th from 5pm-8pm ONLY, with entertainment by local Cajun band the BAYOU ROAD KREWE (Steve Selin, Jason Zorn, Joe Damiano, Susie Mills, and the hottest triangle player in town: Ellyn Sellers-Selin). Enjoy drink specials such as the cajun bloody mary, planters punch and Felicia’s sazerac. All the Felicia staff will be in drag! If you saw Guy last year dressed as Anna Nicole Smith (god rest her soul), you will definitely want to come back this year to see if he can outdo himself. Patrons are encouraged to dress in drag, too, if they feel so inspired. At 8pm, the doors lock and we parade to Maxies to eat and keep on partying. Look: it’s a Monday night. You know you don’t have any other plans after work (unless you are planning to attend the Lundi Gras Geek Dinner in Hattisburg, Mississippi which Felicia doubts). So get the skinny at Felicia’s! No cover.

p.s. Your favorite furry lounge mascot (no, it’s Eesah, not Patrick) is blogging and posting bulletin surveys again. www.myspace.com/eesahdog

Raspberry Truffle Martini

It has been another one of those days: the car would not start, the cat pooped on the rug, the hot water heater stopped kicked the bucket, your favorite TV show failed to record and it is snowing again. You are faced with a tortuous decision: do you need chocolate or do you need a martini? Hmmm…chocolate or martini…martini or chocolate….Felicia says, why not have both? A little vodka to calm the nerves, some chocolate to invoke feelings of happiness and coffee liqueur to add a caffeine-induced sense of indestructibility. A hint of raspberry gives you a sense of indulgence, reminding you that you deserve this special treat. Obviously neither your car nor that cat poop are going anywhere, so put on your fuzzy slippers, prop your feet up and relax for a bit as you savor this scrumptious cocktail.

Raspberry Truffle Martini

¾ ounce vodka
¾ ounce coffee liqueur such as Starbucks or Kahlua
½ ounce Chambord
splash of half-and-half
chocolate syrup
whipped cream

Shake all ingredients with ice, including one hearty squirt of chocolate syrup. Strain into a chilled martini glass that you have decorated with chocolate syrup. Garnish with whipped cream and a fancy drizzle of chocolate sauce.

The Rumors Are True

Yes, OK, the gossip is true. Felicia is writing a book. At least, she would be writing a book if she were not avoiding it. Who has time to write when there are martinis that need to be drinken/drank/drunk? Many of you have asked what, pray tell, will be in this mysterious Felicia book. First and most obvious, the book will contain cocktail recipes. No, Felicia is not worried about someone stealing her secrets and making the cocktails at home. Fact is, Felicia knows you are too lazy to do that. You would much rather go out and indulge in the entire lounge experience. Who wouldn't? The book will also contain your favorite Felicia stories, including "The Mystery of the Poison Ivy", "Felicia's Ethics Quiz" and "Conversations with Satan." When will the book be finished? Oy, the pressure! Felicia can't take it. She needs another drink. Good things take time and patience is a virtue and blah blah blah. Felicia met with her fearless crew of book advisors earlier this month who enjoyed some cocktails while they ripped apart Felicia's work to date. Such are the welcome tortures of a soon-to-be best selling author. Perfection hurts, like high heels and face lifts. No, Felicia does not have a publisher yet. She is whoring herself out in case there are any interested publishing Johns reading this. Felicia love you long time. Now if Felicia could get her booty off the internet, she might just write a little something today.

Games Felicia Plays

The Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Studies and Services at San Diego State University recently published the results of some research on parties: They found that drinking games cause people to drink more. Wow. Brilliant. Who knew? Felicia does not play games (except for the occasional rousing game of TV tag); Felicia takes drinking very seriously. Not that you won’t ever find a gaggle of girls at a table in Felicia’s alley mid-summer getting deliciously toasted while playing some drinking game involving spoons. It’s just that most of Felicia’s drinks are designed to be sipped slowly. Take, for example, the Dirty Girl martini. Chugging one of those is way too reminiscent of getting tumbled about in the surf and swallowing a big choking gulp of salty seawater as you almost lose your bathing suit. Sip, my friends. Savor the flavor. And speaking of martinis to savor, here’s the latest: the Fig Manhattan. A bold infusion of figs in Woodford Reserve bourbon, shaken lightly with a touch of tawny port. Slightly sweet and simply scrumptious. The Beet It Martini has been getting all of the attention lately as evidenced by all the patrons in the bar whose top lips are stained fuchsia. Can the Fig Manhattan compete? You’ll have to taste it and see for yourself.

The Cosmonaut

Tang: It’s not just for breakfast anymore! In the 1960’s, NASA astronauts supposedly used Tang during their space flights to cover up the stale flavor of the water. Felicia’s favorite Tang drink is a retro-modern take on the cosmopolitan, aptly named the Cosmonaut. As far as Felicia knows, the astronauts did not add any vodka to their Tang (talk about dangerous drinking and driving) but YOU can simultaneously get your kicks and 100% of your daily requirement of vitamin C.

The Cosmonaut

1 ½ ounce vodka
½ ounce triple sec
½ ounce Rose’s lime juice
1 tsp Tang powder
lime wedge or orange wedge

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with lime or orange wedge.

Welcome to 2008

Gheesh, Felicia is wiped out. All that holiday cheer takes a lot out of you. Haul that decoration crap back up into the attic for another season and make Felicia a drink while she puts her feet up by the fire. If Christmas and its cheesy decor never arrived again, Felicia would not miss it (for example, Jingles, the plush singing and dancing penguin. Seriously, he wouldn't be missed. At all). Now the important question is, what is Felicia going to drink? No, not bourbon, Felicia is reserving that for her bedtime nip. How about some Grey Goose orange on the rocks? Good stuff, my friends, good stuff. Hint for wimps: add tonic and a lime.

Grey Goose Orange on the Rocks

1 1/2 ounce Grey Goose Orange

Pour Goose over rocks. Sit your *ss down and put your feet up. Sip and enjoy.