pink lemonade-thyme cocktail

One of my secrets to getting through NYFW in one piece is that I hardly drink at all -- a few sips here and there, but that's about it. Most of the time, I barely (or just don't) have time to eat while I'm running from show to show, and adding alcohol onto that is basically a recipe for trouble.

I always say that I'd rather skip an afterparty and make it to my 9 a.m. show the next morning -- and since getting to a 9 a.m. show at Lincoln Center basically means getting up around 7 a.m., I generally try to get to bed as early as possible every night.

But now that I'm done with Fashion Week, and a few short days (if that) away from a cross-country move, there might be room for a cocktail.

I've said before, I'm not into overly sweet cocktails -- in fact, I rarely order them in restaurants because they're almost always too sweet for me. But -- like most recipes -- when I'm making my own and I know what goes into it, I actually like them. You could do a thyme-infused syrup for this by boiling sugar, water, and the thyme sprig for a few minutes, or you could just make the recipe the way I do and rely on the thyme as a fragrant garnish.

Pink Lemonade-Thyme Cocktail

INGREDIENTS

3 ounces pink lemonade

3 ounces sparkling wine

1 tbsp Aperol (a sweet, bitter orange liqueur)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 thyme sprig

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together in a champagne glass, garnish with the thyme sprig. Serve!