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Memorial Day has come and gone, which means summer has officially kicked off. With three full months of sun and sand ahead of us, there is one thing that pops into a girl’s mind more than anything – looking great in that itsy bitsy bikini.

And who doesn’t want to enjoy a cool cocktail when basking in the glory of summer sunshine? I‘ll tell you who, people who know how many calories are in those frozen concoctions. It’s actually terrifying to look up how many calories are in a restaurant’s margarita, so I won’t go there, because thankfully, <a href="http://bethenny.com" target="_blank">Bethenny Frankel</a> already did.

Back in 2009, Bravo’s reality TV star, made a small “branding attempt” on her show, “The Real Housewives of NYC”, to get the word out about her self-named “Skinnygirl Margarita”. It all started with her refusing to order the margarita shown on a restaurant’s drink list, and then rattling off her own low-cal ingredients for the bartender to mix up. That TV plug was the start of something great, because just two years later, Beams Spirits purchased <a href="http://www.skinnygirlcocktails.com" target="_blank">Skinnygirl Cocktails</a> for a not–so-skinny $1OOM.

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Beam saw the opportunity to appeal to the female market that wants to feel like they can get a buzz on and still fit into their skinny jeans the next day. Beam also knew that the phenomenon was much bigger than the margarita.

Skinnygirl Cocktails now includes a red, white and rose wine, sangria, flavored vodkas, and a new ready-to-drink Piña Colada that just launched this past spring.

<img class="size-full wp-image-4422 alignleft" style="margin: 5px;" title="TinaM3" src="/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/TinaM3.jpg" alt="" width="181" height="245" />So what’s all the hype about? It’s more than just good branding - it’s about promoting a lifestyle. Bethenny also created <a href="http://skinnygirlshapers.com" target="_blank">Skinnygirl shapewear</a>, cleanses, juice drinks, workout DVDs…the list of healthy lifestyle paraphernalia is never-ending. She has proven she is one smart cookie (who clearly isn’t eating any). Women want to be able to sit down after a stressful day at work and enjoy a cocktail that won’t completely erase their workout at the gym that morning. And even if you haven’t worked out, the Skinnygirl brand can provide you with slimming lingerie to replace your lack of treadmill time. Bethenny is a genius.

Sure, there are critics out there who are crying that this is just another brand promoting the unattainable model thin physique, but I dare to disagree. At the end of the day, a high-cal alcoholic drink is not worth the extra sit-ups, but a 100 calorie glass of confidence sounds right up my alley, so I’m choosing skinny.