meet IZ’s newest guest blogger: the lovely dr. christina grant!

Just when I think there isn’t anything new going on, I get to awaken to a fresh perspective. I recently spent a weekend with a group of 80-somethings. Well, not the entire weekend, but a good portion of it. My mother-in-law, Sue, a gentle-but-mysterious Scorpio (who has never had to color her long dark hair) is now 80. We surprised her one moon-lit Friday night with a party attended by a group of about 50 people. “Amazing an 80-year-old has so many friends!” I heard someone quip. Most of the attendees were indeed her friends, the others were family and her sons’ friends who she knew since they were in grade school.
photo credit
I got to meet many of Sue’s friends, a couple of whom had difficulty navigating the few stairs leading up to the party venue, but all of whom were as mentally spry and fun-loving as teenagers. Dollie, a direct and sassy Aries, is one of Sue’s Stanford friends that lives, not surprisingly, on her own in San Francisco. Just like a ram, she still hikes Bay Area trails. Hip, fashionable, and smart, she wasted no time starting up conversation. “You know what I did last April when I turned 80 to avoid a surprise event like this?” she asked me. “I ran off to Egypt.” Egypt? At 80? Later, I told a friend, “I wasn’t aware of the prejudice I’ve had. I bought into the assumption that we all get decrepit and senile, presumably around age 75.”

But Sue, Dollie, and the others taught me otherwise. Wise and loving, sparkling eyes standing out in wrinkled, knowing skin, I learned some things from my elders this weekend. I learned that life can be fun and interesting and engaging well beyond middle age. Maybe more fun than it is right now. That friendships can last forever. I learned that it isn’t unusual for an 80-year-old woman to be beautiful, stylish, engaging, smart, interesting, funny, and in-the-know. And I had been concerned about entering my mid-40s.

The following night we hosted a smaller dinner party at our house in Sue’s honor. Guests included her 84-year-old sister Claire, here from Geneva nimbly traveling the States visiting friends and family, and 80-year-old Trudy, another one of Sue’s best friends. Nothing about these women was any different than the rest of us except they are calm, patient, and wise. Nothing got past them, either. There is something reassuring about being with these capable, aged women. If they haven’t seen it all, they’ve at least heard about it. As the evening wound down, I was sad to see them go, Claire promising we’d meet again soon.

Many times I’ve considered writing about honoring our elders, because it is something our society doesn’t do. Instead, we ignore them, toss them aside; they are the invisible ones in our worship-the-youth culture. Is this practice we have of valuing youth over wisdom enlightened? We need our elders to teach us, to fill the great void of depth and meaning our culture faces, to be our stability just as they are in indigenous cultures. When will we let them?

I had the great good fortune that weekend of spending time with folks who grew up during the Great Depression, lived through World War II, educated themselves, then experienced decades of interesting events and change while keeping hopeful and engaged in life. If only I could see them on a regular basis, perhaps I’d never think that there isn’t anything different going on in life. No, Dollie would have Egyptian adventures to tell while knowing the best plays and museum exhibits in the city, Sue would know why Stanford beat Cal and why Obama had to send a few more troops to Afghanistan, Claire would demonstrate how at 84 one can keep her mind as spry as a college student, and Trudy would exemplify how to remain calm through anything while preparing crab (“do you have a hammer?”) for a friend’s birthday dinner.

in honor of the gin in this cocktail… how sick is this necklace? buy it! in celebration of women’s golden years, let’s toast with the MERRY WIDOW…cheers to ageless living!

MERRY WIDOW NO.1
0.5 tsp Benedictine
1.0 dash Orange Bitters
1.25 oz. Gin
1.0 each Peel Twist Lemon
0.5 tsp Sambuca
1.25 oz. Dry Vermouth

Stir all ingredients (except lemon peel) with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add the twist of lemon peel and serve.

Dr. Christina Grant is a holistic healer and spiritual counselor who uses astrology in her work to help people better understand their purpose and life circumstances. She works in person and by phone. She has helped hundreds of people attain physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being through personal transformation. Her writing is published nationwide. To learn more, see WWW.CHRISTINAGRANT.COM

reusable ice cubes made the old fashioned way–from stone. i betcha the cavemen used cubes similar to these! first the wheel, then cubes… next–well the future is a blank canvas. so next time you enjoy a good stiff drink, be sure to get your rocks off-or in-with some good ‘ole WHISKEY STONES. it’s even possible the stones will enjoy their tipple submersion… after all, did you know that rocks have a consciousness?

Set of 9 Whisky Stones: $20 teroforma.com
Ideal for chilling your favorite spirit without diluting its flavor
Milled in Vermont by the oldest soapstone workshop in the US. Add three chilled stones to your next dram, let stand for 5 minutes and enjoy. Set of 9 stones + muslin storage bag. Not for use with larger volume drinks.

via the O magazine

what a way to kick off the new year… cheers to american salon magazine for featuring intoxicated zodiac shot candles in the january issue. they also plugged us online, check out their “new & notable” column here.

IZ Shot Candles were made for Valentine’s Day… Perfect for the lascivious lover on your list. Hot, sexy, dripping, wet wax… what more could we want on V-day?! Make the recipe at home and do cocktail body shots at the same time for twice the fun. Just call me Dr. Ruth.

Email Info@IntoxicatedZodiac.com for wholesale info. Available for viewing or buying online here.

The fact that Intoxicated Zodiac’s Candles are made with a 100% natural vegetal wax is often overlooked. But our Cocktail Candles are actually greener than kermit! Thanks to VEG NEWS for noticing, and mentioning us in an extremely informative article below.

I’d like to also mention that Intoxicated Zodiac donates an annual portion of its sales to animal-related charities. Last year we contributed to THE NATIONAL ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY (navs.org). This year we’ll support NY CLASS (ny-class.org). This group supports carriage horses.

we’re thrilled to boast that intoxicated zodiac’s shot glass candles are in the press! check out GIFTS AND DECORATIVE ACCESSORIES “Product Wire” Zine here:

there is still time to get the shot glass candle for christmas!!! perfect for stocking stuffers and chaunaka gifts this holiday, and perfect for birthday all year round… view them here:

remember, a portion of all proceeds will be donated to animal related charity. intoxicated zodiac employs environmentally friendly materials and techniques whenever possible. to give and receive… start the abundance cycle in your life… think about what you buy. IZ is an artist-owned business. thanks for your support—cheers!

this past spring i stopped to grab a drink downtown with my… errr… friend. the cocktail menu sucked so i perused the tap handles in desperation. if they let me down plan C was to inspect the wine list. i saw the usual suspects… sam adams was the only micro brew in the bank, and i almost asked for it until i saw something new. a well designed logo — clean, easy to read, and dark. perfect i thought, no need for wine, i’ve found a beer i’ve never heard of. oh, bartender i beckoned, i’ll take an AMERICAN ALE. the words rolled off my tongue in an off handed, confident way. i felt kinda cool saying it even. relieved i had made the right choice i turned to look at my friend, whose gaze was waiting for mine. he was kind of smirking in that bemused way he has of almost patronizing you but not really. something was up, and i wasn’t looking forward to finding out what. i was silent as i waited for him to speak… he said, you do know that’s budweiser don’t you, with a very serious face. wow, i had just committed a severe infraction in our world of educated coolness. i was a sucka. embarrassed, i wanted to crawl under the bar. sheepishly i said, it is? my friend said yeh without even a smirk this time. his eyes were saying: you’re an idiot but maybe we can still hang out. then he cracked that smile finally and said, you thought you were all cool ordering it too, didn’t you? i admitted that i had and we both chuckled, knowing that he’d called my bluff. it was then that i wanted to crawl under the bar and take a keg handle to gouge my eyes out with, or, just the hearts of every anheuser-busch employee alive for tricking me. but so goes another day at the office for corporate america. i was just one more innocent citizen who’d been deceived. for christ’s sake america, anheuser-busch is a BRASILIAN and BELGIAN owned company. budweiser’s AMERICAN ALE isn’t even american anymore!

the movie BEER WARS quite literally documents a war about beer, and small business in america, and how both are under attack from huge, multinational, government influenced, greedy corporations. this movie had me entertained, informed and inspired from the beginning. it spoke to me on a very personal level as i myself am an entrepreneur fighting the same battle on a different field.

“Beer Wars is a true “David and Goliath story” – small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers as they challenge the corporate brewery behemoths. The story follows two of these intrepid entrepreneurs – Sam Calagione and Rhonda Kallman – battling the might and tactics of corporate America. Witness their struggle to achieve their American Dream in an industry dominated by powerful corporations unwilling to cede an inch.”

i’ve always shunned flavorless pale lager, but after seeing BEER WARS i’d rather drink piss than drink anything from the spouts of the big three: miller/coors/anheuser-busch. so peeps… support human-owned business and stop buying those fucking imposter micro brews from anheuser-busch — or green valley brewing — as they like to refer to themselves on their fake micro brew label. spend the extra few bucks and buy the real micro brew. watch BEER WARS here.

jet setter extraordinaire, anne fritz, of the JET SET GIRLS took a peek inside my carry on bag recently. i’m flattered to be featured on such a chic lifestyle blog! here i am with my latest thrift shop find (that cost me only $1 if you can believe it?). i’m asked what’s in the bag–that i just can’t live without–during my flight. and you know what they say: you can tell a lot about a woman from the contents of her purse (or in this case, flight bag). so are you like totally DYING from curiosity or what? don’t torture yourself, check out my bag’s innards here…

VIA SHE GOT STYLE

here’s the bar booth that my friend annie designed and built. let me know if you’d like to hire her to help with your booth…

the “celestial is not a plastic body” totes grabbed a lot of attention, as they were hanging up high where they were easy to see.

below is a close up shot of the celestial cocktail candles, the shot glass travel candles, the rocks glasses and the shot glasses. (the rocks glasses are actually the candle votives sold separately. they’re not on the website yet, so if want ‘em just email me)

our new wedding line consists of a totally new concept called marriage sign astrology. it was a hit! look for us to be featured in a bunch of magazines soon…

my loyal assistant, JP, the ultimate sales dude. he hates when i call him dude ; )

launched at this show, astrology wine glasses!

remember that a portion of all intoxicated zodiac sales goes to animal-related charity! so cheers to philanthropy, and cheers to another successful show at the javitz center. but, most of all, cheers to all the new and existing stores that carry our lines and support intoxicated zodiac!

Intoxicated Zodiac’s Print Press: