Life 2.1

I have a serious Pinterest addiction.

I love it.

It makes me want to have my own house and DIY the hell out of it. On Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon, I sat listening to the USF Dons baseball game online, while pinning.

In fact, the two meals that Dave and I ate on Sunday were recipes found on Pinterest.

I made Apple-Pancake Rings which weren’t bad, after some minor tweaks and accounting for some ingredients I didn’t have on hand.

I’d make them again, but I recommend a double-dip into the pancake batter. And because I’m not a fan of syrup, we used powdered sugar which was a good thing because they weren’t terribly sweet. I might sprinkle a little sugar on the green apples prior to dipping next time.

Because I’m constantly scouring Pinterest for delicious-flavored things, I was inspired to throw out a dinner suggestion of chicken-caprese panninis for dinner and despite Dave being quasi-alarmed at my addiction to Pinterest, he supported this dinner thought.

Since we had to head outside to get the necessary dinner items from the store, and since the weatherman–in a shocking turn of events– was wrong about the rain coming on Sunday, we went for a hike in the marshland in South Napa before shopping.

This was a good idea because I had spent the last 36 hours staring at a computer screen, scrolling through the new pins. I think Dave might have been a bit concerned about my mental state at that point, so his suggestion of the hike was a smart one.

I had no idea the marshlands in South Napa even existed for hikes! It was a perfect place to get out and stretch my legs after being inside and online and it felt good to walk around in the sun for a bit. We explored the trails for about 45 minutes before heading to the store to get the chicken-caprese pannini ingredients.

The dinner recipe was also a success, though again, next time I would marinade the chicken in balsamic vinaigrette or something. The flavor wasn’t bad but Dave and I both agreed it just needed a little something else.

I still have a serious Pinterest addiction, but at least Dave keeps me balanced with non-computer activities. I suppose he can’t argue with Pinterest as long as I keep making delicious things from the site, right??

No Comments | In: Delicious-flavored foods, Living the Vine Life, Social Adventures | tags: hiking, Napa, Pinterest, recipes. | #

Let’s be clear with the title of this post– it was my cousin LEIGH’S wedding weekend that just took place. As such, I was her Maid of Honor and this of course comes with VERY important duties, such as her bachelorette celebration! Leigh is in retail and October-November-December are essentially akin to my August-September-October, which is to say, insanely busy and not so easy to plan a getaway. So to work around her (and selfishly, my “busy season” I opted to do a spa day the morning before her Big Day to try and help her relax and get ready to be a bride. This was especially appropriate because she had literally been working every.single.weekend.ever and I thought it would be a good idea to get her out of her work mind and into bride mind.

I arranged a private “retreat” room at the Villagio Inn & Spa in Yountville and we had optional mani-pedi appointments for those who wanted to take advantage. For those who didn’t need their nails done, they joined us for breakfast and hung out in our room. The below documents the girly-ness that went on Click to enlarge photos and an actual wedding post will follow shortly.

PS- I know my birthday was also last week, but given that it was a Tuesday (work day) and the wedding took place Saturday, that post is on hold. Dave and I celebrated with a nice dinner out (more on that later) and he is giving me a present this Saturday, as it’s our first 2-day weekend together in a while. The birthday post will come post-birthday present

2 Comments | In: Living the Vine Life, Social Adventures | tags: bachelorette party, Napa Valley, spa day, Villagio Inn & Spa, wedding. | #

Rarely do I blog about work because, truly, I like to keep my personal life and my professional one separate but since work today included being able to cross something off My Bucket List, I figured it was acceptable to share.

I drank this today. Please refer to #5 on my (albeit small) Life-long Bucket List.

A wine so special they count bottles produced, not cases. I drank from bottle #09513.

That’s right. I got to drink my DRC (2001 vintage). And not just a sip but a whole TASTE! It was such a treat.

It was delicate, more orange-red than purple-red, showing some signs of how nicely it had aged. The flavors swirled together in my glass, none of which were overpowering the other. There were slight notes of clean minerality, paired with hints of rhubarb, red berry…sigh. It sure put my coffee to shame at 9:30 this morning!

I learned about DRC when I first began work at the distributor in New Orleans. It was my first couple days and my boss told me to go through the portfolio and select some wines that I was not familiar with from some of our largest suppliers and sample them out so I would know what I was selling. I put DRC down on my sample request and was promptly laughed out of the building for even trying to requisition out a bottle of wine that went for more than my whole paycheck. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has a handful of grand cru vineyards, with grand cru being the premiere level of vineyard in Burgundy, France. Of their grand crus, there is one in Puligny Chassagne, six in Vosne-Romanée (one of which is the Grands Echézeaux) and three in the Aloxe-Corton region.

So, back to what I was saying.

Later that year at the distributor, when the DRC allotment came in, one of my customers had pre-ordered a bottle (which was awesome, since I was on full commission.) In order to receive said bottle, I had to hand deliver it to the customer. No big deal. But when I went to pick it up, handling it came with strict instructions.

I was to head to the warehouse, leave my car running with the air conditioner blasting, then ask the warehouse staff to take me in the golf cart to the back “cold room” where this heralded wine was kept. Then I had to take the wooden box in which the wine was to be delivered and buckle it with a seat belt. Once I arrived at my account, the customer signed for it and I was safe.

The particular wine we tasted today is so highly coveted they are numbered.

Cheers Bottle #9513, you made my day.

No Comments | In: Living the Vine Life, Pulled Corks, Social Adventures | tags: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Echézeaux 2001, wine. | #

Does anyone remember this post? It was written after I had just moved to New Orleans and was getting settled in my new place. For those of you not interested in re-reading it, it had to do with how my dishwasher was my archenemy, refusing to work and when it did, it leaked water.

Well, I have spent the weekend getting settled in my own place (!!) and my parents are officially empty-nesters (again). I really don’t think this empty nest thing really registers on their radars since it would seem that every time the “last” kid moves out, another revolves around and moves back in. I’m pretty sure Joe is settled (although I’m also fairly certain that is what they thought about me and look how that turned out) and Ted is still in college, so there’s a pretty good chance he’ll make his way back home but not for another year or two.

Anyway, on Saturday night, I spent a good portion of the non-movable (read: too dark to physically move stuff anymore) hours unpacking. Mostly trying to get my kitchen set up. I pulled out dishes, which were wrapped in my towels and began loading the dishwasher and clothes washer, thinking a clean start would be in order before I load up my cabinets.

I turned the dishwasher on and then retreated to my bedroom to begin unloading there. I returned to the kitchen approximately 20 minutes later to find the Great Flood of 2010. Awesome. Why does this continue to happen to me when I move into a new place? Crimany.

After a few words which shouldn’t be repeated and, as my mother would say, certainly aren’t lady-like, I quickly pulled out more dishware in an effort to get at the towels in which they were wrapped, so as to clean up the water. I looked at the box sitting on top of the counter above the dishwasher and noticed it too had been soaked. As was my phone which was placed next to the box. Even more phenomenal. Lucky for me, my Verizon agent, Cole, convinced me to get the silicone phone cover which proved to literally be a phone-saving device. Crisis averted.

Or so I thought.

I pulled the Cascade from the wet counter top to return it to its home beneath the sink when water came flooding out of the there. Fast-forward through the next flood (no pun intended) of curse words. I began sopping that water up only to look to the other side of my sink and find water beginning to seep to that side where I had strategically placed my iHome so I could listen to music while unpacking. Sigh. Luckily that was saved too.

So more than anything, it was a giant pain in my backside to be cleaning up water in my kitchen when I could have spent that valuable time unpacking the kitchen so as to be able to attempt a meal in there in the near future (that pipedream has yet to happen and I have had the keys since Thursday).

More to come I’m sure. I haven’t called the cable guy yet but on the plus side, I do have jacks in each room so there’s one for the win column.

Hooray for independent living.

No Comments | In: Living the Vine Life | tags: moving. | #