Imagine this set of circumstances:

1.  You had had one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days (like Alexander)

2.  You have a fully stocked bar

3.  You can read a recipe

4.  You are not age-restricted (like Alexander)

Guess what?  You came to the right place.

As I was recalling the quaint little story I planned to tell you about one of MY terrible, awful, no good very bad days, something  really crappy happened to me, and that old story faded into the background.  I found out that I missed the “priority” deadline for filing for financial aid at my daughter’s college.  The deadline was March 1^st and I had thought it was March 31^st.  And when did I make this realization?  On March 2^nd– ONE DAY AFTER THE DEADLINE.  For those of you with kids in college, you know that missing this kind of cutoff can cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars.  For our family, if we don’t get financial aid, our kids don’t go to college.

I called the Financial Aid office at the university and after an interminable wait on hold, the woman I spoke to told me that they MAY be extending their deadline for applying, but  “strongly suggested” I get my FAFSA application in AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Since that conversation was not exactly comforting, I took her advice and left my office early to get cracking.

I got home, and with my husband’s help, we were able to get all our paperwork submitted.  A day late.  Does a day matter?  At this point we have no idea.  Will it help if I worry, complain, or stew over it?  Not at all.  But will a strong cocktail take the edge off the situation?  Absolutely!! (Am I glamorizing drinking?  I would have to say yes).

I call this drink the French Connection because of the Chambord, which you know after my Oscar Post is one of my favorite liqueurs.  It’s similar to a Long Island Iced Tea but instead of gin, it contains this sweet infusion of red and black raspberries.  And no Coke topper, I use club soda for some bubbles.

French Connection

1½ oz vodka

1½ oz rum

1-1½ oz Chambord

½ oz triple sec

2 oz sour mix (use the Jose Cuervo Light sour mix I used here)

club soda or Sprite

Place all ingredients except for soda into a tall glass with ice.  Top with the soda (or Sprite if you like a sweeter drink), then squeeze a wedge of lemon into the drink.

You really don’t need to have a string of bad things happen to you to make it a “bad day”- just one monster event like missing a deadline can do it.  But when you get some distance from the crisis, whatever it is, many times it will seem like just a bump in the road, or actually kind of funny.  Maybe not a  full on belly-laughing funny, maybe just amusing.   In any event, you roll up your sleeves and work through it.  What is the alternative?

So put your feet up and enjoy your French Connection- it’s been a rough day!