Today marks my 23rd day in Quarantine, and I've gone through some things. There was the stage where all I did was watch the news and get severely depressed seeing the death counts continuously increase. There were the days I developed an unhealthy crush on Governor Cuomo...okay, that still exists. I worked in my yard for about a week. I watered my plants an unhealthy amount. I stared aimlessly out the window. 

So since the only thing left is to clean out my closets, and I hate that, I've been looking for something to DO. My third Friday night at home came and went this past weekend, and I looked at Brandon amidst our Ozark binge-watch and told him, "That's it. I've had enough. We are going bar hopping tomorrow night."

The next night, we would each get a couple of rooms to create our own bars in and at 7pm we'd get dressed for our night on the town. Saturday morning came, and I had sort of forgot about it since Ozark got pretty crazy, but Brandon was up and ready to get to Total Wine (the most essential store on the planet right now) and start working on our bars.

We decided I would get the master bedroom, the patio, and the studio. Brandon wanted the corral (Mr. Moo's own fenced in little space in a weird nook in our living room) and the dining room. Yeah I realize I got sort of ripped off having to create 3, but it worked out. 

I took my first shower in 3 (maybe 4) days, straightened my hair for the first time in 48 days, and put on my first pair of heels since, I don't know, half a year ago back when things were normal. It was GO TIME. 

We didn't tell each other our themes, and we were only equipped with a 10 pack of Crayola markers and some tape. The rest of our "props" we would have to find around our house. Luckily, our themes didn't overlap, but some of them were day time bars and the others needed to be visited at night to experience their true potential. 

This is how it went. 

Much like a pre-dinner drink would go, the first stop on our bar hopping experience was an Art Gallery opening entitled, "Love in the time of Covid." 

Featuring works of art inspired by the current Pandemic, the art gallery opening was the perfect way to begin the evening. Light piano music filled the air as our first guest was told to "Sign in" and then enjoy the pieces of art adorning the walls. 

The signature cocktail for The Art Gallery was called The Magic Elixir since we are all waiting for some sort of magic cure for the Corona. We enjoyed looking at the art, including the 3d pieces, and Brandon got to purchase his favorite piece entitled, "Isolation."

"Essential Wreckage"

Because we had already had our cultural experience of the evening, it was time to really get to bar hopping. Next up, was Brandon's first bar downstairs. As he called me into the bar, I could hear the tunes of Westworld amping up. I turned the corner to Mr. Moo's corral and saw this...

He used our old TV cardboard box to create an actual bar, and honestly it was the most normal I've felt in a long time. Sitting at the bar, having an amazing cocktail --it was the best one of the night for sure-- made me feel like the world isn't actually ending outside. 

The small mason jar drinks with the rustic decor -- cream soda and our BB gun -- really brought the theme to life for me. And I love Westworld, so that soundtrack made it even better. This little nook is also outside of our guest bathroom, which naturally Brandon made into an Outhouse complete with a fire-lantern bulb we have.

And the bartender was cute and tried really hard to make this happen. He was also a little creepy, hitting on every single person that came into the bar.

I could have stayed at the Mariposa all night long, and almost did, but we had more bars to attend to. The cocktail was on point though. My favorite of the night.

Next up, I saw a very odd ambient light coming from the dining room, Brandon's second bar of the evening. There was a lot of beeping and noise behind this white plastic tarp blocking the room from view. After creating his drink, he called me into this. 

My giggling turned the camera off before he was done, but you get the picture. I was thrust into an alien science lab complete with an actual alien head, alien blood, and too many lights and tv screens. 

The drink was really good. Melon syrup made me want to actually eat an alien. I'm surprised Brandon didn't cook one. Just when I believed the bright flashing lights were about to actually give me a seizure, I told Brandon the sun was finally setting so we should go to our next bar since we would be staying there until nightfall. I created my concoction then took him to the elevator. 

After we waited a couple of minutes, the elevator finally dinged -- someone should really look into that -- and we were met with a chic bar called The Rooftop.

The cocktail was naturally called The Elevation, and we enjoyed our drinks while standing at our Reserved high top table overlooking the city. Brandon even got to sneak into the VIP area. 

The real magic happened, however, when the sun set and night came. Because that's when The Rooftop turned into a full nightclub experience. The view was honestly breathtaking overlooking the city lights, and we were lucky to have a clear night with plenty of stars visible. 

There you have it. This was Brandon's favorite bar. He loves to dance, so I'm glad I could provide that for him. We actually went to a rooftop bar in DC for his 30th birthday a few years ago, so that's why I create this one. I loved that bar, and this actually made me really sad wondering when/if we will ever be able to actually go out again. But we had a good time at The Rooftop Bar before going to our late night spot. 

We made a pit stop by the kitchen on the way, so I could play bartender and get our final signature cocktails ready for the last bar. I even got a tip! $8 whole dollars. Maybe I'll start bartending full time. 

After I made our drinks, I told Brandon we had one more final spot. He knew this was legit when he was asked to show his ID at the door. 

Luckily, he passed the test and was granted entry to Voodoo! Our favorite late night tiki spot in Charleston. We enjoyed a pineapple tiki drink and the best 90s music. 

After Voodoo, it was pretty late, so we decided to make our go-to late night meal of grilled cheese, put on our Quarantine comfy sweats, and go to bed. But we definitely felt like we had a night on the town, which was what both of us miss the most from this Pandemic -- friends and actually going places. It's rough, but I hope this brought a smile to your face and maybe an idea or two of how you can "go out" while actually not going anywhere. It definitely did us some good to get dressed up and turn off the news. 

Now, back to Netflix.