Drink Whisky
I always considered myself a light-beer-and-cosmos kind of drinker. But then along comes Outlander (and Sam Heughan), making single malt scotch look sooooo daaaaamn sexy. So I tried it. Actually, I tried it AND made of all of my friends try it with me. We started the Wee Dram Whisky Tasting Society of Classiness in order to pool our money and buy top shelf. And guess what?
Source
Best I’ve ever had? The Macallan 15. Biggest surprise favorite? The Islay malts. There’s something about that smoky, burning mud, sea-soaked peat, permanent marker kind of taste that just embodies the wildness of the Scottish isles. Current Obsession? Tomatin’s Cù Bòcan whisky. I say obsession because I tried it at the Tomatin distillery recently and loved it, but convinced myself to wait and buy it at home. Imagine my horror when I discovered that it is not sold anywhere in the state of Idaho! Now it’s all I can think about. It haunts me. Which is fitting, because the Cù Bòcan was a mythical hellhound that haunted the village of Tomatin centuries ago. If anyone ever finds it at their local liquor store, reap some massive karma and hook a girl up, mmmmkay?
Go to Scotland
Full disclosure, I’d actually been to Scotland before reading the books. My mother’s side is Scottish and I went when I was 19 to see the land of my people. But you want to know how much Scotland a broke 19 year old girl traveling by herself (before smartphones, and GPS, and Airbnb) sees in 3 days? Not much. So in 2014 my sister-in-law (a fellow fan) and I decided to make a trip after seeing the stunning locations from Season 1. We rented a car, put 700 miles on the odometer, and officially fell in love with Scotland. This past June I went AGAIN, dragging the husband along. I can now say with absolute conviction that Scotland is home, and one day I will run a B&B in the highlands. The husband can come along if he wants.
In my happy place
Speak in Scottish Brogue
Not in public. Not in every sentence. But when I’m at home and the only one listening is my husband or my toddlers, quite a few “dinna’s”, “canna’s” and “ayes” make their way into the conversation. That’s normal.
Cook Scottish Cuisine
This was admittedly a short lived phase. While I make a mean Scotch Egg, I was never much of a cook to begin with and traditional Scottish recipes take soooo muuuuch tiiiime (I’m looking at you, Scotch pie). And oatcakes take a GREAT DEAL of Nutella to be rendered palatable. Add picky toddlers to the mix and it’s become mostly a pipe dream now. I hope that eventually my days might be filled with baking strawberry scones and rolling out homemade pie crust for steak bridies, but until then it’s chicken nuggets and tater tots as usual.
Things Outlander Didn’t Make Me Do
Learn to Knit-As bitchin’ as all that knitwear Claire rocks in Season 1 is, I really hate crafting and can’t be bothered to learn. So instead I enlisted my yarn-savvy friends to make some cowls and finger-less gloves for me. Win!
Join My Peak Challenge-I’m all for supporting charities and achieving personal goals. But not even the hope of a shout out from @samheughan is enough to get me off my lazy ass and up the side of a mountain. Exercise is literally the worst.
Give up Lavender-I know Jamie will be forever haunted by the smell of Lavender, but sorry bro, Lavender essential oil is my jam. Every time I smell it I think of snuggling with Edward in the meadow.
I know those flowers aren’t lavender. But they are in my fantasy. Source
So thank you, Outlander, for making my life so much richer, but yet somehow poorer, because top shelf Scotch and multiple trips to Scotland are not cheap. With Season 3 soon upon us, what will it make me do next? Begin looking up Turtle Soup recipes on Pinterest? Avoid Creme de Menthe for all time? I might start looking up ticket prices to Jamaica. Just in case.
