The Twenty-One

Rule #8: Don’t Bring Your Older Brother Out With You on Your Birthday

Margaret Smith — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:05:01 +0000

December 17th, 2009.

My best best BEST friend Ariel’s 21st birthday.

No pictures from our night on the town as of yet, but it was a blast. The night started out with Mexican foods and Margaritas at Ceaser’s, drinks and dancing at Debonair – 18+ night yesterday folks, so I was in the clear and could still party, even if I wasn’t drinking – and then Berlin later. (Well that was the plan at least. Technically we never made it to Berlin.)

Anyway, dinner before we headed to the club was for girls only, and then afterwords the boys and the rest of Ariel’s friends who couldn’t make it for dinner met up with us at Debonair. And this my friends, is where rule #8 comes in:

Never invite your older brother out with you on your 21st birthday.

At least that’s what Ariel told me this morning when we were recapping last night.

Tough love I know. But if you’re looking to get wasted on your birthday, inviting your older brother isn’t just a good idea. Older sisters? I’m thinking they’re going to be a little more understanding. But protective, demanding, overbearing older brothers? Not a chance.

And Ariel’s older brother sure wasn’t last night.

It started out like any relatively normal 21st birthday celebration; Ariel was drunk, we snagged her a free bottle of Champagne and there was an open bar between 10:30-11:30. By 1 a.m., she was good and gone.

Now, I’ve been out with Ariel too many times to count, and I know how my girl gets. She can handle herself very well, even if she’s just a little bit out there. For her brother Steven, though, this was the first time he had seen his baby sister legally get drunk.

Steven: You need to go home now!

Ariel: No I don’t!

Steven: Ariel, you’re drunk. We’re getting you a cab to drive you home.

Ariel: Fine Steven, whatever. If someone told you I need to go and you’re forcing me to go fine, whatever, I’ll go home. No, fine whatever!

….and then Ariel proceeded to be mad at the rest of us for the entire night. For no reason. Geez, thanks Steven.

Celebrating with your entire family may be fun. If you’re looking to still be drunk when you wake up the next morning, though, bringing somebody along for the 21st bday ride that will make sure you don’t get too wasted probably isn’t a good idea.

Sorry bro, but you’re staying home tonight.

Drink #6: Mmmm….Margarita

Margaret Smith — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:05:57 +0000

We’ve given you a healthy option to this tropical classic, now here’s the real deal (it’s also what my friend Ariel plans on drinking tonight! Unfortunately I’m going to have to call it an early night because I have a class tomorrow, though.) Anyway, drink up courtesy of drinksmixer.com!

You will need:

1 and 1/2 oz of Tequila
1/2 oz of premium Triple Sec (preferably Cointreau)
1 oz lime juice
Salt

Rim the rim of a cocktail glass with lime juice, and dip in salt. Shake all the ingredients over ice, strain in a glass and enjoy!

“Birthday Sex”

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:48:18 +0000

More birthday songs! I’ll let this one speak for itself….

Rule #7: Make Sure You Have Something to Do for Your Underage Friends

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:41:51 +0000

Here at The Twenty-One, we’ve profiled a lot of different birthday parties here to give you some ideas on how to do it up on the big day. When you’re turning 21, though, there’s one thing that is essential for you to remember when you’re planning the party: probably not all your friends are going to be 21 when the big day rolls around. Therefore, it’s a good idea to plan at least one activity that everyone can join in.

Might I suggest a birthday dinner before you go out? That way you can invite everyone out for a yummy meal to celebrate together, and then all the legal folks and you can go out for drinks afterwards. Food, friends and drinks? It doesn’t get much better.

AND it’s what I’m doing tonight for my best friend Ariel’s 21st birthday! I’ll update you all tomorrow with stories, pictures and drinks galore.

Time to celebrate…..

Rule #6: Cake Never Gets Old

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:19:24 +0000

I don’t care how old and cool you are now that you can legally drink at the bars, a good birthday cake just never gets old.

Want proof? Check out these delectable delights.

A four-tiered birthday cake that's hot pink AND green? Fabulous.

I wonder who's idea this was...Kate's boyfriend, maybe?

Ah, themed cakes. A classic. Always nice to top off your 21st birthday beer with another frothy glass.

OK, seriously? Really?

Drink #5: Ode to Andre

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:58:15 +0000

There’s nothing like a good bottle of Champagne to start off your 21st birthday. Dom Perignon, Cristal, the list goes on and on. And in an effort to say goodbye to broke years of cheap, illegal champagne and look forward to days of expensive bottles to come, there’s a good friend I must make a small tribute to.

Andre.

It's always hard to say goodbye to good friends.

Oh Andre, you and your bubbly $7 goodness have gotten me through many a weekend night (and with this economic recession, I’m sure there are many more to come). Drinking out of your green bottle has always made me giddy and giggly instead of full of beer and, well, want to puke. You’ve served me well over the years, but now it’s time to – hopefully – move on to bigger and better bottles.

Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! You will be missed.

Rule #5: FREE DRINKS!

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:07:27 +0000

OK, on to happier thoughts! This may be another one of those self-explanatory lessons, but it’s so ultra-super-duper-I’m-broke-and-can’t-spend-lots-of-money-on-drinks fun that I can’t just leave it out!

Rule #5 to turning 21: Get as many free drinks as you can. Because honestly, there should be no scenario in which you have to spend any money on your 21st birthday.

Just ask my friend Alyse, who turned 21 on November 30 (P.S. now that we’re getting farther into the year more and more of my friends are becoming legal. I’M SO EXCITED FOR MY BIRTHDAY WHEN I CAN JOIN THEM YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!)

Anyway, Alyse’s birthday was on a Monday this year, but don’t think that means this girl was staying in! In fact, Debonair Social Club has this huge party every Monday night, so she brought her and her crew out there to celebrate.

That day ended up being her lucky day – literally. As the story goes, a friend of hers was tweeting about the big night and how they were all going to Debonair to celebrate Alyse’s 21st birthday. The party promoter who’s in charge at Debonair happened to be online at the same time, and when he found out that they were celebarting her 21st he not only reserved them the closest table to the DJ but also even ordered them a bottle of champagne on the house! Add a few more comped rounds of drinks and shots, and, well, you have one drunk birthday girl.

Oh hey, free 21st birthday champagne bottle. Did I pay for you? NOPE.

Good luck? Perhaps. But it can happen to you too! Even if you don’t have the hook-up at the club, ladies, c’mon now, I know you all know how to work it at the bar. Even a good shout-out of “It’s my 21st birthday, everybody drink!” will work for both guys and girls. Also, I will say honestly, if your friends don’t show up and buy you all the drinks you want they just aren’t good friends at all. This is the one day in your career as a legal drinker where you will leave the bar with a tab less than $20, so I suggest you take it!

Say it with me now: FREE DRINKS!

Rule #4: Be a Good Friend

Margaret Smith — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:34:44 +0000

OK, so this rule isn’t really for the birthday girl or boy. Instead, it’s a good warning for the friends they so happily decide to invite and celebrate the big day with.

And, unfortunately, it’s something that I had to learn the hard way.

You have to be a good friend to your friend on their 21st birthday.

September 26, 2009. My best friend Vicky’s 21st birthday party.

Technically, her birthday is on the 27th. Since this year that landed on a Sunday, though, Vicky’s Mom decided to put together this huge 21st birthday blowout at their house on the South Side of Chicago. It was close friends and family only, and since Vicky’s Mexican, her whole family can handle their liquor pretty well. Patron, Jose Cuervo, Andre, Grey Goose - you name it, they bought it.

Vicky was the first one of my friends to turn 21, so this was a big deal. We had been talking about it all summer and looking toward all the drunken memories that we would finally get to experience (legally, that is.)

Well, I ask off for the night from work about a month before the big day arrives. I check my schedule the week before the big day, and….Margaret Smith, Saturday, Sept. 26, 4-10:30.

I call my friend Ariel, who was one of the other 4 invitees. Ariel DelaRosa, Saturday, Sept. 26, 1-Cl.

Elsa, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2-Cl.

Jennie, Saturday, Sept. 26, 4-Cl.

We all asked for the night off, and none of us got it. Well two, actually. One girl, who’s not listed above, went. Another got the night off, but she decided to work anyways because she needed money (I’ll let you guess who it was but I swear to god it wasn’t me!)

How is it that none of us got the night off? An odd coProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

cidence? Just bad luck? Or should we all have requested monthsProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

n advance? Maybe we should have just not showed up to work at all, or even called in sick?

It’s too late to go back and point fingers, now. It’s something I will never forgive myself for, though, and I’m not sure Vicky fully has either. Oh, she still got drunk – but she kind of needed to in order to get over the fact that more than half of us didn’t come.

So be a good friend on your friends 21st birthday. Make it the best, unforgettable, drunkenly forgettable day they ever had.

Because I sure didn’t.

Rule #3: Pace Yourself

Margaret Smith — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:36:53 +0000

This one may be a little bit obvious, but it’s still important to heed the advice. If you’re drinking on your 21st birthday, you have to pace yourself.

“Pace yourself? What? You’re turning 21. I mean, isn’t there a rule about doing 21 shots in a row or something?”

Not true. Sure, if you want to black out and go to the hospital then be my guest. But if you want to celebrate your 21st birthday and enjoy it enough so that you can tell me about it and show up on this blog, then you’re going to have to know your limits.

At least that’s what my roommate told me, who just turned 21 two weeks ago. This was our conversation:

Me: OK Lincoln, tell me what to know about turning 21.

Lincoln: You have got to pace yourself Margaret.”

Me: Why? What happened? Did you drink too much?

Lincoln: Oh no, I was fine. I went shot for shot on my 21st birthday and still had a great time.

Me: Then what’s with the pacing yourself stuff?

Lincoln: C’mon Margaret, I know you. You have got to pace yourself. Remember what happened to you last year?

Me: -_-

Drink(s) #4 Continued: Blood Drip Garnishes

Margaret Smith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:48:08 +0000

In yesterday’s post, I featured some gruesome cocktails I found to help everybody get ready for the Halloween weekend ahead.

Want to make your drinks even more scarier? Every year throughout the month of October, Hostess with the Mostess (one of the best party-planning blogs on the web) get together a bunch of great tips, drink recipes and food ideas to help you plan your best Halloween party.

My personal favorite is the blood rim garnish they’ve created for martini glasses:

1 c. Sugar (c =cups)
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1/2 c. Water
Red Food Coloring
AND a candy thermometer, which you can buy at most grocery stores (after all, this recipe is similar to the ones you would use to make most hard candy)

Combine the sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to a hard crack stage – about 300 degrees F – and then add food coloring.

Turn off the heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of your glasses into the mixture for the red rim effect. You can just submerge the top of it in or even go halfway down the glass, whatever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool, and watch as the thick consistency causes it to drip on down the glass! Make sure to keep the heat on long enough if you’re going to use it for more than one glass.

Hint: Plastic glasses is not the way to go with this, otherwise they’ll melt. Try regular martini glasses, or even wine.

Still getting together your party? Check out Real Simple’s 8 Tips for Last Minute Halloween Hosts.