Nightlife in suburban New Jersey is pretty much confined to three highly desirable establishments: Applebee’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, or [insert overt Italian name here]‘s house for an evening of Coors Lite guzzling in your finest imitation Juicy Couture velour sweatsuit. Given the options this past Thanksgiving weekend, my friends and I decided that Friday’s would be our safest bet (it promised the fewest unwanted high school classmate encounters).

It turns out Friday’s has gotten a little more glamorous in our absence. The booze menu’s latest gems are two cotton candy cocktails — the Pink Punk Cosmo and the Lemon Twist Martini. His and hers cotton candy (blue for the lemon twist martini; pink for the pink punk cosmo) are placed in a martini glass and topped with their respective cocktails. My best friend ordered the Lemon Twist Martini (a drink whose fossilized clump of cotton candy looked like it had been left out for one too many days), took a sip, and asked the waiter if the bartender had forgotten to include the alcohol. The drink tasted more or less innocuous, but the saccharine cotton candy flavor was certainly apparent. I’m eager to see what T.G.I. Friday’s mixes up for next Thanksgiving — Ring Pop jello shots? Vodka snowcones?