Quick and Easy Summer Sangria

When your borrowed camera runs out of battery,
borrow an iPhone!

I had plans for tonight. Big plans. I was fully intent on coming home, cleaning my room, showering, doing my fake spray tan thingie (no melanoma for this lady, I get my tan from a bottle I order on HSN), doing my nails, and going to bed.

It's about two hours before I actually am supposed to get sleepy. But tonight I had the fortune of going to Northampton Restaurant Week with my mom and now I'm in a food coma. I am so incredibly lazy, you have no idea. There is a pile of clothes I put on my bed last night before heading to Boyfriend's house, and they are still there, waiting to be put away. I even pushed them to the side of my bed so I could sit on it. I've been sitting for two hours.

MY LAZINESS KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

I'm hoping to squeeze one or two more trips to downtown to partake in Restaurant Week, and I'll probably be throwing a post together reviewing it. I'm no food critic by any means, most of the time I won't even say if I dislike something.

Anyways, the abundance of lazy is probably the product of a busy week. Work, Play Practice, Sleep. I was very grateful for the night off from practice tonight, but aside from stuffing my face I've really accomplished nothing. I feel bad I haven't been posting, or doing my usual blog commenting. I'm just plain pooped. I even had a handful of recipes all ready to go, waiting to be posted, and I couldn't even find the time to hit "publish"! I feel bad that my room looks like a war zone...

Boyfriend and his friend decided to help me with the photography.

Saturday I'm in NYC for the day... anybody have any suggestions on where I should get lunch? I can count the number of times I've been to the city on one hand, so I'm really not familiar with it...

Oh, right, recipe: Sangria. I love it. It's the ultimate party punch--cheap, yet classy, and absolutely delish. All you need is some cheeeeap red wine (extra points for Charles Shaw kind, he wins. Always.), a random fruity liquor, a random fruity soda and a bunch of fruit. I'm known for my white Sangria, but for some reason I was craving a red this time. Next time I'll make my Peach and Raspberry White Sangria that my friends have been begging me to divulge the secrets of for years, but for now here's a simple red.

Red Party Sangria
(all measurements are estimated--play around and find your ideal combo!)

• 1-2 bottles sweet red wine (using "red table wine" here, but I do honestly believe Charles Shaw Cab Sauv is the ideal wine for just about anything, Sangria in particular)
• 1/4 cup fruity liquor (I used blackberry brandy here, which is a lot more traditional for Sangria than the flavored Smirnoff I usually opt for)
• 1 orange, halved and one half sliced into wheels
• 2 limes, one sliced into wheels
• 1 green apple, cut into cubes
• 5 large ripe strawberries, sliced
• 2 cups fruit juice (I used pineapple juice)
• Citrus soda (I used Diet Polar Dry Orange, but you could use Orangina or even Sprite)

-Pour wine into a pitcher. Squeeze juice of non-wheeled fruit halves into pitcher. Stir well, then add sliced fruit and liquor. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Serve with ice, topped with citrus soda and fruit wheels for garnish.