Jazzed for June
Little luxuries to get you through summer...
Hello!
Today felt like a great day for spreading the gospel of our favorite board games, classic cocktails, and ways to spend a hot summer night (spoiler alert: it’s indoors). Let’s jump in!
Stephanie has been learning the ancient game of mahjong, and it’s been love at first tile. (Seriously, she has two sets and set up a corner of her home for game night.)
Mahjong is a rummy-style game that originated in China over a century ago. Traditionally played with 4 players and 144 beautiful tiles, it’s a game of luck, logic, and plenty of oohs and ahhhs.
Stephanie suggests finding a group of four willing to commit an hour per game (or more if you prefer to chat), and plan for about three games per session.
If you want to get started, Oh My Mahjong and Etsy have an amazing selection of tiles and accessories. Warning: this can be an addictive habit!
You can learn to play by watching various YouTube videos, the Mahjong subreddit, different instagram accounts or joining a club in your community.
Do you play? Let us know! We’re always looking for new recruits.
What a month for movies!
We both are members at our local arthouse cinema, The Moxie (and you should be too, even if you don’t live in Springfield!), and spent a few weeks in a row attending some great films.
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life - Tres charmant! If you need a sweet, romantic, fairly stress-free film to escape in, we highly recommend!
The Color of Pomegranates - an influential 1969 surrealist film about the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. This is a surreally bizarre, trance-like journey that has fingerprints in so much modern cinema including…
The Phoenician Scheme - Wes Anderson’s latest! We had the joy of seeing a sneak preview with glasses of sparkling wine and mini desserts. Wes Anderson never disappoints, and it was fun seeing the direct homage to The Color of Pomegranates (or as Stephanie keeps misremembering, The Smell of Apricots…or is it The Sound of Coconuts).
The Phoenician Scheme also inspired our cocktail of the month…
Champagne cocktails!
In The Phoenician Scheme, characters enjoy champagne with cherries and sugar. So guess what we made?
Place a sugar cube in a fancy coupe.
Add a dash of bitters (we chose Orange bitters)
Add a splash of brandy or cognac
Top with sparkling wine and a cherry
Enjoy!
This is a festivity in a glass. The cherries really make it a treat!
And with that, we hope you have a sweet month with moments and people that fill your cup!
See you next month!
Stephanie & Nicole