We hope everyone is doing well during this quarantine! In efforts to bring some happy smiles and laughs to all of your faces, we have decided to start doing “Handley’s Happy Hour” every Tuesday. In talking to my industry friends throughout this time, the common theme has been “oh when this is all over, we’ll go get a drink and talk about it!” So I figured, why not have a virtual drink with my friends once a week and maybe you all will get a few laughs out of it along the way. I have never pigeonholed myself to be strictly wedding focused, so you’ll see that my guests over the next few weeks come from various parts of the creative and hospitality industry as a whole.
Our inaugural guest was none other than my friend and amazing photographer Alisha Crossley. Any time Alisha and I go for drinks she is always telling me of a new trendy bar that she has been to and a fancy drink she has tried. I asked her to show me and all of you how to make her current favorite cocktail, and she did not disappoint! Alisha’s cocktail of choice is the Blackberry Bourbon Smash. I am not personally a big bourbon drinker, but it had just enough fruitiness to satisfy even the most sensitive palette!
As we sipped our cocktails we caught up on our daily goings on these days and how we have had to restructure our businesses to adapt during these crazy times. One thing that is important to both of us is that we in no way want to diminish the great impact (in a negative way) COVID19 has had on our businesses, the industry, and the world. What we are trying to do through this happy hour and our posts in general is to bring light to such a dark time.
At the end of our chat we played a game of “this or that” which has become one of my favorites as it is a fast game. The game graphic is below so you can play for yourself! Of course Alisha and I agreed that Schitt’s Creek takes the win over Dawson’s Creek…because well, we shouldn’t even have to explain ourselves! If you know you know. When it came to beach vs. mountains, Alisha clearly picked the beach. She has sentimental reasons - it is one of her first vacation memories and she’s spent a lot of time with her family on 30A. I on the other hand have a struggle to pick! I am so 50/50!
Unfortunately I forgot to hit “save” at the end of our live video and my attempt to screen record the video after the fact failed..SO you’ll just have to tune in on our instagram before 6pm today to catch it. In the coming weeks I promise I will be better!
I had so much fun catching up with Alisha and I hope all of you that tuned in enjoyed it as well! Tune in next Tuesday at 5pm for my Happy Hour with my friend Zack Redes, chef de cuisine at Highlands Bar & Grill. I’m interested to hear what he has been cooking up at home and if he has any new recipes I should try!
See below for the recipe of Alisha’s favorite cocktail!