Cheers to 26

I apologize for the blogging silence recently! I had a final paper and exam in my grad school class (just found out I got an A!), and working for a university means that all hands are on deck for graduation day. In the meantime, I  turned 26! Twenty-five was a pretty big year: we bought our first home, I started MBA grad school and made it through three classes and we took a bunch of trips—St. Louis, Birmingham, San Francisco and Nashville, to name a few.

I feel as though 25 was a challenging year (anything that involves me and finance is challenging), in a good way that included learning a lot of new things.

So, I thought I'd toast the arrival of 26 with a mint julep—in the new monogrammed mint julep cups Andrew ordered for my birthday! Mint juleps are a classic southern drink, and the most simple ones have just four ingredients.

Classic Mint Julep

7 fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon simple syrup
2 oz. bourbon
Crushed ice

1.) Combine mint leaves, syrup and bourbon in a mint julep cup and crush, using a muddler, the end of a wooden spoon or some other object.

2.) Fill cup with crushed ice.

3.) Stir gently to combine.

4.) That's it! Enjoy!

Cheers to 26. This year, I hope to run a half marathon, continue my MBA work, improve my public speaking skills, study for my APR (accreditation in public relations) and, of course do fun things like travel! We are off to the beach next week for the first of two summer trips, so traveling will be off to a good start.

How do you ring in a new year? Do you have any great drink recipes we should try?