The Easter bonnet tradition, revised and expanded for a new era! Hats featured prominently in the Easter parade in New York City today. You can read about it and see some of the spectacular examples here.

I enjoyed reading this piece on the Cigar Aficionado blog about man caves, specifically about retreats centered around smoking cigars. I realized while I was reading it that in spite of the fact that I’m not actually a man, I apparently have a “man cave” — over the past couple of months I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in my backyard shed, which houses my meat smoking, outdoor cooking, and homebrewing equipment, to the point where one day when it was raining but still relatively warm, I sat in the shed, drank some cognac, and smoked a cigar. My shed has got to be the least glamorous “man cave” (what’s the gender neutral term there? smoking cave? personal retreat?) in history, when really a man cave should be a luxury retreat at home. It’s a little corner of the world where you can be king, and the best ones are outfitted accordingly.

Here are some much more inspiring man caves:

Slideshow of 10 man caves crammed with electronics

Great man cave decor ideas

Homes currently on the market that already have great man caves

A pinterest board entirely devoted to man caves

How about you — do you have a man cave of your own, a smoking room, or a space otherwise devoted entirely to your own personal favorite things? Have a picture of yourself in your man cave wearing your BBB hat?

For those of you who read my post last week about spring travel destinations and felt a little sad that a tropical getaway isn’t in your near future, I’m in the same boat. I thought I’d share some tips from BBB about enjoying your Montecristi Fino despite cold weather.

How to create a tropical island experience in the dead of winter (or a still-way-too-cold “spring”):

Step 1: Obtain several fine rums for sampling. Perhaps Zacapa (either the 23 or the Gran Reserva, or, if you’re feeling flush, both), or a Rhum Agricole from Martinique, or get the best rums you can find from several different countries of origin so at least your tastebuds can have a whirlwind tour of the tropics.

Step 2: Lay down a sonic backdrop. If you have a white noise machine or a relaxing sounds app on your smartphone (there are several free ones available, I happen to like Relax MP), choose some beach sounds to play in the background. You can also supplement this with some tropical music. Music suggestions: Jimmy Buffet, Bob Marley, Hawaiian slack key guitar, or some retro exotica (i.e., the music that plays in the background of every tiki bar).

Step 3: Turn up the heat. Take off your sweater and socks, go dig out some shorts, and crank that thermostat.

Step 4: Put on your Brent Black hat. Settle in. Check yourself out in the mirror. Realize you look awesome. Change into fancier shorts.

Step 5: Relax and bask in the warmth. Sip rum. Listen to your tunes. Read a great travel memoir. Compose a great travel faux-moir about the adventure you wish you were on. (Post the latter in a comment.)

Optional: If you want some suitably tropical food or cocktail suggestions, take a moment to investigate the recipes we’ve posted here.

How are you beating the winter weather this year?

The piña colada is often frowned on by “serious” rum drink enthusiasts, but I think this is unfair. A carefully crafted piña colada combines some of the greatest things on Earth into one incredibly tasty cocktail.

That said, I’ve had some wretched piña coladas. Too sweet, based on some kind of creamy dairy product, too weak, poorly blended… the list goes on. There are a lot of ways to screw up a piña colada, apparently. The reality is, of all the piña coladas I’ve had, my favorite have been my own. I like to make them not to sweet and using fairly simple ingredients, which, really, is how I make everything:

Ingredients required for 1 sizable batch:

• 1 standard sized can of coconut milk, either regular or light (see note)
• 2 tiny cans of pineapple juice, or 1 standard sized can of crushed pineapple
• 1/8-1/4 cup of sugar, depending on your tastes (or you can omit the sugar entirely)
• 4 jiggers of rum (or adjust to your preference)
• Plenty of ice

Place all ingredients in blender. Depending on blender capacity, you may need to run this in batches. Blend until smooth. Best served from vintage ceramic coconut-shaped cups, hollowed-out pineapples, etc.

Note: I don’t like pre-sweetened coconut creme. It’s too sweet and not coconut-y enough for me, plus it always has kind of a weird texture. The best piña coladas are made from frozen coconut milk, but I’ve never found this outside of Hawaii so I make do with canned.

The weather is finally starting to warm up in the Northern hemisphere. As everything comes back to life after winter, I think it’s natural to want to get away for a little while. Planning a spring break for yourself? Here are some destination suggestions from around the web:

The ten best places to travel this spring, according to Fodor’s: New York City, Tuscany, Miami, Paso Robles, Mallorca, Prague, Sydney, Denver, St. Lucia, and Austin. My pick from this list would have to be Prague, because the spring music festival appeals to my secret classical-music loving side.

The 15 best spring vacations, according to US News and World Report: US Virgin Islands, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Paris, the Grand Canyon, Washington DC, San Diego, Bermuda, Athens, Walt Disney World, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Monaco, San Antonio, and Charleston. My pick? Rio de Janeiro, because who can resist? Spring would be a great time to go, if you can time your visit just right you could miss both the Carnival and summer crowds of tourists while still getting to enjoy all that Rio has to offer.

Of course, we can’t talk about spring vacations without talking about spring break. The way I see it, there are two possible responses to the idea of sharing your vacation with bajillions of spring break revelers: 1) “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and 2) “Let’s not.”

Personally, I’d rather go and enjoy beautiful places without a throng of intoxicated idiots. If you’re similarly inclined, remember to check when college spring breaks are and where people are headed this year to help yourself avoid the crowds. This year, it looks like break time is just about now through the end of March (to account for different schools’ schedules), and popular destinations include Cancun (as always) and Vegas.

Has anyone created spring break for grown ups? Because that would be awesome — we could take a week off, go somewhere beautiful, sip wine, keep our tops on… wait, when did I get boring? Oh well.

It’s Friday! Time for a rum drink to jump start your weekend, no?

We’ve been having pretty icky weather here in Oregon (duh, it’s Oregon), and in the wake of the massive storm on the East coast, I’ve had storms on the brain lately. What better to relieve the blahs of a stormy day than a Dark and Stormy, one of the finest and simplest of the rum cocktails?

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz dark rum (I prefer Cruzan Black Strap, Koloa, or Myer’s Dark)
• Ginger beer (either Cock and Bull or, my personal preference, Reed’s Premium Ginger Brew)
• Lime wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the ginger beer, leaving enough space for the rum. Pour in rum. Add a straw and garnish with the lime wedge. Note: I always squeeze the lime into my drink, I think it tastes great.

Andrea reported this from Ecuador around Christmas, and I haven’t had a chance to post it until now:

Complete success on Christmas in Pile. Maria and Simon were near tears over Carlos’ commissions; they are tired of their son working night shifts. Carmen could not even speak! She plans to buy a washing machine. She and her kids hugged each other, and all of them gave thanks for you. Patricia and Fausto send you their best wishes. Their lives wouldn’t be the same if you had not entered them. Everyone was happy with their gifts. I think it is important that they all feel like they belong to your group. I gave presents to your weavers at El Aromo.

Man, it’s really exciting to do good. Not just to follow rules. I could see sincere gratitude. I wish I could do the same things you do. They offered me a pig in gratitude, but it’s just enough joy to see their faces. Thanks Brent!

This is what drives my dad, and what makes all of this worthwhile. Reading this continues to bring a smile to my face!

If you haven’t seen Menswear Dog yet, go, go now. Tumblr is a silly thing, and this is a silly Tumblr, but it made me squeal with delight. A dapper dog donning daring duds? What’s not to love?