Fabulous February Challenge
In January everyone is searching for wellness and wanting to start the year right. Most of those people jumped on the ‘Dry January’ bandwagon -for those of you who don’t know that means no alcohol for the month of January. Now that January has come and gone what’s next? Well I didn’t jump on the Dry January bandwagons, but when someone from my running group mentioned the idea of her ‘Fabulous February Challenge‘ I had to find out more (Thanks again Shannon). Basically, every day of the month is a ‘National’ or celebration day and we celebrate it with a fabulous custom drink … because we’re so fabulous!
At first, I felt unsure if I could commit for 28 days? An entire month is a big commitment. Then I realized for my wellness I had to. You see, the government recommends 2 drinks a day for a maximum of 10 a week, right? So I had to, right?. I know, I know. They are not saying you HAVE to drink, they say if your going to drink, do it in moderation. Either way, that’s my thought process and I signed up for this February challenge! Besides, perhaps having a drink a day would prevent me from having the usual 10 glasses of wine on the weekend!
Others may not agree, but for me, I’m calling this a wellness challenge. For February, every day I take a few minutes to prepare something for myself. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just one drink to think cheers a special event. I’m really looking forward to Maple Syrup Day and Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk Day.
Getting Ready
So next step was preparing and stocking up. I had the calendar and to be honest the first drink I wasn’t sure if I had everything I needed. Honey liqueur… what is honey liqueur?? Do I have it? Did I want to buy a bottle for one drink? Most of these things you can make your own or substitute. The point is to create something for your and not create you stress. Here’s a recipe for honey liqueur. Some of the drinks like Caesar, well you can buy them by the can in most liquor stores now. In fact a lot of the ones you can buy in stores.
Should I be worried that I had to buy only a very little amount of things?
To help you get started, here is a great visual from Home Stratosphere of all the types of glassware.
Fabulous February Calendar
Here is the calendar for what your month will look like! Also, check out the list below for fun items to add to your home bar. It’s February, it’s cold, it’s a worldwide pandemic… what else do we have to do but drink and shop on amazon… although you may want to shop first and drink later, or else you’ll be getting mystery gifts you didn’t realize you bought!
| Day | National Day | Drink/ Recipe | Ingredients | Glass Type (links show examples you can buy) |
| 1 | Freedom Day | LiberTea | black tea bags, lemonade, basil, bourbon, honey liqueur (recipe to make your own honey liqueur) | Highball Glass |
| 2 | Groundhog day | Groundhog day | sweet vermouth, lemon twist | Old Fashioned Glass |
| or | Hot Toddy | whisky, bourbon or Scotch | Old Fashioned | |
| 3 | Girls & Women In Sports Day | Captain’s Cannonball | Cinnamon whisky, spiced rum, cola | Highball |
| 4 | Weatherperson’s day | Dark & Stormy | Rum, ginger beer, lime juice | Old Fashioned |
| 5 | Nutella Day | Mudslides | Nutella, half and half, frangelico, Bailey’s | Highball |
| 6 | Canadian Maple Syrup Day | Whisky sour | whisky, maple syprup, lemon juice | Old Fashioned |
| 7 | Super Bowl | Caesar | Clamato, vodka, celery salt, fixings | Highball or Hurricane Glass |
| 8 | Scott’s Birthday | The 99 | Whisky, wine, simple syrup, lime juice | Old Fashioned |
| 9 | Marriage Day | Appily Married | vodka, apple juice, grapefruit juice, honey syrup | Coupe Cocktail Glass |
| 10 | Umbrella day | Tequila Sunrise | tequila, orange juice, grenadine | Hurricane glass |
| 11 | Don’t Cry Over Spilled milk day | White Russian | vodka, Kahlua, milk/cream | Old Fashioned |
| 12 | Abraham Lincoln’s birthday | Old Fashioned | sugar, bitters, bourbon | Old Fashioned |
| 13 | Galentine’s Day | Old Gal | Rye whiskey, Campari, vermouth | Old Fashioned |
| 14 | Valentine’s Day | Love Potion | vodka, peach schnapps, grapefruit juice | Bartender’s choice |
| 15 | Gumdrop day | Gumdrop | vodka, vanilla, cream soda, flavored liqueur, sugar | Martini |
| 16 | Mardi Gras | Hurricanes | Pineapple juice, orange juice, cherries, orange slices, dark rum | Hurricane glass |
| 17 | World human spirit | Manhattan | bourbon or rye, vermouth, bitters | Old Fashioned |
| 18 | National Drink Wine day | Wine | Your choice!
If you are a white wine drinker, you may want to check out these cooling wine glasses. |
Wine Glass |
| 19 | Mint chocolate day | Bailey’s Mint Martini | Bailey’s, cream de menthe liqueur, vodka, half & half | Martini Glass |
| 20 | Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day | Fireball Cherry Apple Bomb | grenadine, Fireball, apple cidar, gingeral | Old Fashioned |
| 21 | Condom week | Liquid Panty Dropper | gin, vodka, coconut rum, triple sec, peach schnapps | Tom Collins Glass |
| 22 | Margarita day | Margarita | lime, tequila, cointreau, lime | Rocks Glass |
| 23 | National Invasive Species Week | Moscow Mule | vodka, lime, ginger beer | Copper Mug (a.k.a. Moscow Mule mug) or Highball Glass |
| 24 | Tortilla chip day | Mojito | mint leaves, lime, sugar, rum, club soda | Tom Collins Glass |
| 25 | Lets Eat Alright Day | Shark Bite | coconut Rum, pineapple juice, blue curaco, grenadine | Bartender’s choice |
| 26 | Skip The Straw Day | Lychee martini | vodka, lychee juice, lychees
(You can also try Soho Lychee liqueur) |
Martini Glass |
| 27 | Polar Bear day | Polar Bear | Creme de Cacao, peppermint schnapps | Shot Glass |
| 28 | National Science day | Newton’s Law | brown sugar, bourbon, lemon juice, apple butter, cinnamon | Rocks Glass |
If you’d like to print off a calendar check out this free PDF.
You can also join the Facebook Group for more tips and ideas.
To make it easier, there are also some hints and tips to make the month easier, including some fun things to spruce up your bar.
- Cocktail Shaker set
- The world’s BEST & EASIEST wine opener – I own 2 of these! They be expensive, but they are AWESOME!
- Giant silicon ice cube trays
- Whiskey stones
- Winecicle chiller
- Drinking buddies glass marker (or when we can one day see other people)
- Crystal whiskey glasses and coasters (4 for $25)
- Wine condoms so no good wine goes to waste.
If your disappointed and wanted something more ‘traditional’ wellness check out the 10 Hygge ideas for wellness.
Any drinks you wish were on the Fabulous February Challenge list? Let us know below.
