I might be wrong, but I noticed several people in this thread saying that the calories from alcohol will "knock you out of ketosis." I don't think this is true- as long as you don't have many carbs, you should stay in ketosis. It's just that you won't be using those ketones for fuel- you'll use the alcohol instead, leading to reduced weight loss. Basically its just an increased caloric intake thing...
As far as keto-sticks go, don't shoot for dark purple- that just means that you are not well hydrated, so your urine is too concentrated. Any color change is good, darkness just has to do with how much water you've had!
And, finally, regarding the one person who said that her sticks are darker 2-3 hours after dinner: that's because you are just measuring the ketones that came from the fat that you've just finished digesting!! I've heard that you should always measure in the MORNING, so that you are measuring BODY FAT that is being turned into ketones and burned up (isn't that what we all want???). Otherwise, you are just measuring the ketones from what you eat...
Jess