Why my daughter cannot be a bartender

My daughter is a creative art project in motion. She loves to create things in the kitchen - candy, hot sauce, cookies, new variations on every dish I have ever made. Like me, she is addicted to the Food Network and loves nothing more than watching Emeril or the Iron Chef's create something beautiful out of nothing.

She has the same passion about makeup - this is the child who had 21 lip balms of assorted flavors, colors and glitter contents in her purse at the Coca-Cola museum. She loves the color and texture of the whole thing - and has loved makeup and hair color ever since I can remember. Being a real blonde, she can get away with a lot.

She has taken art at school for the past two years. One of her projects, a tie die piece that has a fancier name than I can remember - hangs at my desk - the azure, pinks and purples dancing a waltz at the center of the piece. Even her room bears the distinct marks of an artist in process.

For the past two years - and actually the two years we were in Arizona, there was little to no alcohol in the house. Being a good Irish Catholic, I immediately bought bourbon and wine when I moved into my own place. Over the last four months, I have added other items to the liquor cabinet. She likes to experiment - so I have had mango margaritas - wouldn't recommend those - some seriously beautiful regular Cuervo Margaritas, a couple of drinks that resemble a White Russian - but have the added Buttershots, and a lot of cold beers.

Her most recent concoction is the reason she cannot become a bartender. I bought a bottle of Sambuca - she decided it would make an interesting martini - so off she went. The Sambuca and vodka was just a bit harsh for me - so she mixed it. Little did I know that the cream was also mixed with more Butter shots - the licorice in the Sambuca covered the flavor. It was not a big glass, but the cream and the ice made it more like dessert than a drink. So 5 shots of alcohol later - I was surprised at how easily the drink went down. Yea, that's dangerous. In the morning I concluded that my child may never become a bartender because I haven't been plagued by a hangover since my 20's - and the one after the Sambuca concoction really hurt. Creativity is lovely - adding more sugar or a little more vanilla is great in baking, but adding 3 more shots of alcohol is the difference between relaxed and drunk with a hangover on the way!