First things first, I received my copy of the September issue of LNM; the issue that had me pulling my hair out two weeks ago. And I’m already freaking out about October. I swear the cycle never stops. But nevertheless, I’m incredibly proud of this issue and so in love with how the cover turned out. The cover is a photo of a local mural, but our creative director was able to work Photoshop magic and edit it with our cover lines and masthead. Getting to be creative like this is why I love the arts issue.

I’m kind of proud of the random photos I took (and some that I posted) from the past week. So instead of writing a super long post about what I did last week (which was basically a ton of planning, not much in the way of interesting), here’s my week in photos.

 

This is The Punch Room. It’s the newest edition to the Ritz-Carlton in uptown Charlotte. This very small (capacity is 37) joint is swanky, and classy, and looks like it came out of an episode of Mad Men. Which I’ve never seen, so that opinion could be wrong. But I don’t think it is. I met one of my photographers there for drinks last week. The bar’s head mixologist is Bob Peters, a drink creator with no formal training—and his drinks are evident he didn’t need it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob has a rooftop garden on almost the top floor of the hotel. He culls from the garden ingredients for the specialty cocktails and punches. And the view is pretty incredible.

 

Now to the fun part. We started with the punch of the day. This particular punch featured citrus notes and bourbon.

Then I had my favorite drink of the night, a Carbonated Aviation. I’ve had the classic gin cocktail before, but this take was a bit special. The drink features Cardinal Gin (made in North Carolina), Maraschino Liqueur, Creme de Violette, and lemon. And then it was carbonated and garnished with a Brandy cherry. I think carbonating the cocktail changed my life. And I don’t like cherries, but the Brandy cherry had this great note of cinnamon. And alcohol. Eating the cherry is a must.    This is the Strange Brew. It consists of Old Scout Bourbon, house-made hazelnut milk (because who doesn’t make their own hazelnut milk, obviously), and a coffee ice cube. The drink tastes different with every sip. And it should be sipped. Carefully.

While that was not my last drink, my phone died and I could no longer take pictures of pretty cocktails. My final drink was a Pisco Sour, made with Pisco, muddled lemon and lime, and topped with house-made St. Germaine foam. All served in a cocktail glass with an unusually long stem. It was fancy and awesome.

 

And because I like to mix my booze with a splash of domesticity, I decided to make pickles this weekend. I know, odd combination.

 

And on Monday, I had one of the best iced coffees with almond milk I’ve ever had. At a little stand inside a market. In my opinion, Not Just Coffee is boss in the realm of roasted beans.