Coffee, Wine, and Martinis

Aside from the new Restless Leg Syndrome that has recently begun stealing whatever poor sleep I was getting, this pregnancy has been a breeze. At my last Dr.'s appt. I told him that I felt funny because I didn't have any questions, he laughed and said that means everything is good!

There is one thing that I'm missing these days. I miss the routine of a hot cup of strong coffee in the morning and a nice glass of wine with dinner. And with all of this amazing weather, I miss the easy joy of an afternoon martini with friends while sitting at an 

outside table with my dogs tied to the leg of my chair.

For coffee, there is decaf to enjoy. Or, my reigning favorite the half-caf cup of coffee with cream and splenda that I can pick up at any of the 163 local coffee shops found within a 3 block radius of my house.

But as for wine and martinis the pregnant women is out of luck....or so I thought!

This is Julie.

 She is my sister-in-law and my go to gal for all my pregnancy concerns- rational and irrational. Julie has been with my brother for about a decade now and together they have three awesomely exuberant and effusive children ages 5, 2, and 6 months. She is also the proud mother of the one baby girl in the family!

Julie, knowing all about what you miss while baking your baby in your belly, gave me a fabulous book called Pregatinis, Mixology for the Mom-to-be. Its so fun with all sorts of fancy drinks that you serve in martini glasses or other fancy glass wear such as the  Anticipation, the MoMjito, and the Salty Puppy. The drinks make you feel like you can participate in the festivities rather than taking yourself out of the game and ordering yet another Shirley Temple. There is even a recipe for a Forth of July Watermelon Cooler served with ice in a wine goblet for the upcoming holiday.

To make this week even better, I now have a solution for my missing Wine cravings as well.  Our local grocery store has a small section of "Alcohol Removed" Wine! I have a bottle of non-alcoholic Merlot just waiting for the right dinner pairing... which for all I know could come at lunch time today!

As if this pregnancy could get much easier, now I have solutions to all three of my biggest cravings. Coffee, Wine, and Martinis....Ahhh.