Is this week over yet? It’s super hot here in NYC at The Chew HQ and we’re thankful for our air-conditioning but also yearning to be free. Here are some of the stories we’ve been following today and since the dog days of summer are officially here, we’ve made a point of including a handful of articles about drinking. Enjoy!

To kick things off, we have a story out of Asia claiming that tomato juice sobers you up fifty minutes faster than water. The study’s a bit fishy but it makes us wonder if all those bloody marys are for naught?

And while we’re on the subject of drinking, no less an authority than the medical reporters at NPR are saying that enjoying a few drinks while pregnant might not be that bad. The results of a new Danish study say:

“[T]he results suggest that light drinking (one to four drinks a week) and even moderate imbibing (five to eight drinks) may be OK. Even occasional binge drinking (five or more drinks in a single session) didn't appear to be tied to developmental issues.”

We are certainly not telling all you pregnant mothers to go our binge-drinking this weekend, but the study is worth looking at if you’re a mom who misses her Pinot Noir.

And our final booze story of the day, “What America Spends on Booze”, from Planet Money. The answer is pretty much the same as we did 30 years ago – about $1 out of every hundred we spend. However, wine sales are way up and liquor sales have noticeably declined. We also spend more at bars and restaurants and less on booze for the home. Good or bad? We’re undecided.

Have you noticed that your water bottles are a little flimsier than they used to be? It seems it’s partly a bid to make them more environmentally friendly. But is that the only reason?

Swedes put weird things on their pizzas, so says Gawker.

When it comes to fancy, it doesn’t get much fancier than The New Yorker magazine. So why are they reviewing the new Burger King Bacon Shake? And, can you believe it, it gets a pretty good review, at one point being described as “elegant”?

And yesterday we brought you an article about pesticides and produce, but perhaps we don’t need to be quite as alarmed as we thought. More from The Salt which responds to yesterday’s report from the Environmental Working Group.