Cats Like Us Blog — Tiki

I have to say I am shocked to find that I haven't featured a Mai Tai on the blog! A Tiki lovin', cocktail sippin' gal like myself enjoys a good mai tai and my favorite recipe that I make at home is the Trader Vic's 1944 recipe. As Beachbum Berry writes, "A Mai Tai should not be red.  A Mai Tai should not be blue.  The Bum has been served Mai Tais in every color of the rainbow, and the time has come to put his foot down (a gesture that would have more impact were he not now lying...

On to part two of my Tiki road trip in Ohio! After leaving Columbus we made our way to Cleveland to shop at Sweet Lorain (my most favorite vintage store in the world!) and spend the evening checking out Porco Lounge and Tiki Room.   We were greeted by our bartender who was enthusiastic and was eager to help us any questions about the menu. Our drinks were delicious (I lost count after the third one) and we even made some new friends (Hi Phil!), we certainly felt like we were hanging out at a friend's lounge with such a...

At the end of March Derek and I were super excited to get-a-way for a small road trip to Columbus, Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio to visit the new Tiki bars that opened in both cities and to do some vintage shopping. It was a nice break from the crappy winter and indulge in one of our obsessions....Tiki!    Our trip started with my husband and I traveling from Buffalo to Columbus and our first stop was getting some lunch at Surly Girl Saloon. This is one of our favorite restaurant's in Columbus as not only is the food delicious, the...

Wrapping up my 2013 Tiki roadtrip around Florida brought Derek and I back to Orlando, FL before we flew back home to Buffalo. We were excited to say good-bye to our weird experience in Sarasota at the Bahi Hut Lounge and say "Aloha" to Waitiki which was right in downtown Orlando at the Wall Street Plaza.    Waitiki had a very young vibe about the place, I could picture the bar being filled with young college students while top 40 music blared over the speakers. We were there during the afternoon and on a weekday, so it was pretty much...

Well now, we've just got this Tiki train started with My 2013 Tiki Road Trip Part I, so now it's time to grab myself a Mai Tai and dive once again into part two!   After our adventures at Caffeine Bistro & Wine Bar and their Kona Tiki Bar, we said good-bye to my parents and headed to Sarasota, FL. where we visited the only Trader Vic's Island Bar & Grill chain restaurant known in the US, which is not to be confused with Trader Vic's more upscale bars and lounges. Note: As I'm now researching the link for Trader...

It's that time of year that you may be invited to a back yard luau or plan on attending your first large Tiki gathering, so have no fear, Cats Like Us is here! All of our closest friends (and not that close) know we're pretty crazy about Polynesian Pop anything; from entertaining with rum filled Tiki drinks, to scouring vintage and antique stores for Tiki mugs, or traveling near and far to visit a Tiki bar, we love it all! The Cats Like Us crew have taken all that hard work out of searching for Tiki themed items and have...

I am sitting here during a snowstorm, I'm daydreaming of being whisked off to a tropical location with a Tiki drink in one hand and a Tiki drink in the other. Hehe! The winter months are often long and cold in Buffalo, so I like to put on a Mu-Mu (with a sweater), pour myself a tropical cocktail and hula the winter blues away. While I was reviewing my photos of 2013, I realized how much the year was filled with Tiki adventures, which included a trip to visit my parents and sampling some Polynesian delight around Florida. I wanted...

Often when people hear the word 'muumuu' they think of large unflattering dresses or have found memories of giggling at Mrs. Roper's muumuu's on the 1970s TV show, Three's Company. The fact is, a muumuu is so much more than the goofy the image it has been portrayed by TV and pop culture. A muumuu dress or mu'umu'u, is a loose dress of Hawaiian origin that has quite an interesting history.   (Tahitian women wearing examples of Mother Hubbard dresses, in which Hawaiian women would be wearing at the same time period) In the 1820s British Protestant missionaries introduced the...

Andrew and I don't get to go on vacation very often, but we've been trying to plan one big trip each year. Last year we went to New Orleans (you can read about it here), and this year we decided to go to Las Vegas. It was the first time we were in Vegas without it being for work in the form of Viva Las Vegas or the MAGIC Tradeshow. So naturally we planned our trip around food and drinks.... lots of tiki drinks! This is the story of our tiki drink adventure in Las Vegas. We arrived early at our hotel,...

  I am very excited about Tiki Tuesday's for the month of June (ok, I know it's still May, but who cares...more Tiki!) and to kick it off we're featuring our friend's from Montreal, Jim Johnson and Geneviève April and their amazing home bar! The Lime Lounge is a located in Gen and Jim's living room area and is filled with vintage tropical treasures! I love their use of space as it's pure eye candy. Hey Jim, I'll take one Mai Tai please!   What got you into the Tiki Culture? Gen - Personally, I remember loving the exotic vibe since...