on the debates, and the election in general...

Yes, this about sums it up for me...

(found on facebook, and cannot find the original link on the site! if you know it, please let me know so that I can give proper credit!)

Oh and yes, I was indeed a political science major in college....

filed in, so ready for November 7 to get here. 

the most amazing thing ever

Have you ever tried the Ciao Bella brand of sorbets? I'd seen them in stores, but never bought them. I don't buy much ice cream, believe it or not!

In April, I was at a B&B in Walla Walla, WA and this was served with breakfast---

It is amazingly delicious, I can't even tell you how much I adore it.

As soon as you are done reading this post, rush to the gorcery store and buy some.

You won't regret it.

Trust me.

strawberry sangria Saturdays

(oh hey, alliteration!)

Recently, Maris posted a recipe for strawberry sangria, and as soon as I saw it, I knew that I needed to try it. I love sangria and I LOVE strawberries, so this seemed like the perfect combination of amazingness.

I mean really, how is sangria not the perfect summer drink?

Recipe, again, posted via Maris-

White Strawberry Sangria

1 750 mL bottle of dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 cup of strawberry schnapps
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups fresh, sliced strawberries

Mix everything in two quart pitcher and add sliced strawberries. Cover and chill for 1-4 hours. Serve in glasses over ice and garnish with whole strawberries, if you wish.

Enjoy, obvs!

Here is my result----

1. I didn't serve over ice or garnish with whole strawberries, as you can see.

2. I didn't chill for 1-4 hours, because, honestly? We didn't want to wait that long! I think it chilled for approximately four seconds before I poured it into the glasses! I did add ice to the pitcher before I added the ingredients though!

We made three batches. The first was with a pinot, the second was with a moscato and the third, with an apple wine. Our favorite was the moscato, it was just a bit sweeter than the other two, but not too sweet. Perfect, really.

Steve and I always have plenty of wine in the house, so I have a feeling that this is something we'll make often. It's so easy, and so delish!

What is your favorite summer drink?

wine and cake...what's better than that?

As part of birthday festivities at one of my favorite Virginia wineries, Steve bought me a red velvet cake from Cake Love, one of my favorite bakeries in DC. They were ahead of the cupcake trend- they have cupcakes, yes, but also cakes and pies and all sorts of amazingness. Across the street from the bakery, they have a little shop with a cupcake bar where you can choose your cup, icing and toppings! So fun. Come to DC, I'll take you there :) The owner wrote a cookbook, and I have a signed copy of his book!


Here is yours truly with my cake. Yes, I shared!




Once everyone was leaving, Steve packed everything into the car. When I got home, I opened the box, and this is what I found---

Confession- I may, on occasion, leave a bar with the glass I had been drinking from. When I was in Krakow, one of my friends and I would have a contest to see who could leave with the most glasses. I think our record was nine glasses- that included two pint glasses, shot glasses and others, all stacked inside one another, very, very carefully! Yes, I managed to get them all back with me and now I have some very cool pint glasses from Poland.

When you go to these wineries, they (most of the time) let you keep your glass as a souvenier. Of course, we acquired several glasses throughout the afternoon and along with these in the cake box, I found a few more in one of the gift bags holding a present or two, and I know I saw a few in the backseat of Steve's car. Oooops.

Need a wine glass? Leave a comment and tell me your favorite kind of both red and white wine. I'll randomly pick someone on Friday (January 29) and send them a glass or two, and maybe another goodie, who knows!

it's my birthday! (well, almost)

So, since my birthday is quickly approaching, I've been considering where to have festivities. Over the last few years, I've had it at various bars in DC, but I thought that since I am turning 30 (wait, what?!), maybe I'd do something a little different this year, to kick off my 30's right.

A winery!

We all know how much I love wineries, and it seems like that would be a good place. They are usually spacious enough inside that they could seat a large (20ish?!) group. Plus, people could do their tasting, and then buy a bottle of their favorite. If you buy a bottle for $15ish, that is about the same as buying two drinks and leaving a tip in a bar, right?

The biggest problem that I see is the distance. Most wineries are not super close to DC, for obvious reasons, so people would have to drive an hour or so, depending on where they are coming from. My birthday is a Sunday, so it would be an afternoon thing, which I think would be perfectly lovely.

Question for you, dear friends. Would you think it was horrid if someone asked you to drive an hour or so for their birthday? (their 30th birthday! it's a big deal!) Would it be mean of me to ask my friends to do this? Obviously I'd look for somewhere close (my favorite Virginia winery is down in Charlottesville, almost three hours away...I won't do that!)

I'd totally drive an hour for your birthday. Especially if it was at a winery.

Thoughts? Opinions? Want to come celebrate with me? :)

New York/Niagara fun!

Right, so we went to New York and Niagara Falls a few weeks ago and I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures. There are loads more on facebook, but I didn't think you'd want to see all hundred or so that we took!

We left at 4am...clearly NOT my idea! Sheepie was a great co-pilot :)

Totally funny, because I had tweeted recently about how nice it would be if there were coconut M&M's and apparently there are! I found these at a gas station somewhere in PA and bought several bags. They are limited editions, but I hope they stick around! They are so good!

Steve and I at winery number one of the day, of about a dozen! Oh, and it was approximately 10:30am when we pulled into the driveway :)

Sheepie likes fruit wines the best.

Yum.

I'm pretty sure I need a Vespa. How cute would I be, cruising around DC on one of these?

Winery number seven or so.

YAY! Niagara Falls!

So in love with Tim H.

Loonies are my favorite.

We had dinner at the Skylon Tower, where we ate 750 feet above the Falls! The view was amazing and the food was also excellent :)

Us at the Falls. It's taken by me, so we are blocking most of them, but they are there!

Horseshoe Falls, the Canadian side. It's so much prettier than the American side.

The view from the B&B we stayed at, Merritt Hill Manor in Penn Yan, NY. So, so lovely and how much do you want to sit in those chairs?

I could post more photos...maybe I will...

Niagara Falling

Hello from Ontario!

I'm in Niagara Falls for the night, on the Canadian side, which is so much better then the American side. It's been a busy day, but loads of fun. We left DC yesterday (Thursday) at 4:15am (SO not my idea, obviously), but were in NY well before lunch, which was ideal. We pulled into the parking lot of the first winery on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail at approximately 10:30am. Awesome. From there, we drove north and hit about ten more wineries. We had lunch at one of them and kept on going! Of course, we bought a bottle or two at each one...

Wine-o's? Us? Nooooooo.....

Today we got up early again (not as early!) and left our B&B around 9am to head to the Falls, which I love! So, so pretty. We stopped at my beloved Tim Hortons for a breakfast snack and were at the Falls by lunchtime. After checking into our hotel, we drove a bit north to Niagara-on-the-Lake to visit a few more wineries. Many of them feature ice wines, which Steve loves and we don't see much of in VA, so that was a nice treat. Then we did the Falls, had dinner 700 feet about the Falls and then went to a casino where I lost $10. Oh well. It could have been far worse!

Of course, there are lots of pictures, which I will post when we get back.

Tomorrow we are heading back to the Finger Lakes for a wedding. Sunday, a few more wineries with some friends (on the other side of Seneca!) and then visiting a family friend in Binghamton before back to DC on Monday...

Happy long weekend to you! Hope you are enjoying it!

Loonielove :)

blackberries, the yummy kind

Last weekend, we went blackberry picking! We went out to Great Country Farm in Bluemont, VA, which just might be one of my favorite spots around. It is the same place where we went strawberry picking a few weeks ago and we also got our Christmas tree there last winter! It is such a neat place. There are barnyard animals, like goats and turkeys and geese. There are also peacocks! It is such a fun place for children. They often have festivals, where there are games and activities. They do CSA's too, which I want to join next year. There is apple picking in the fall, Christmas trees in the winter and berries all summer long! While there, we discovered that the peaches were ripe for picking, so we grabbed a few of those too!

I told Steve that I think I may have been a farmer's wife in a past life, but he didn't believe me, hehe. I love farms though! This town of Bluemont is seriously adorable. They have a general store! Love it.

I had plans to make something wonderful with the blackberries, but I pretty much ate them all...ooops. They were SO good though, so sweet and juicy and perfect! I still have the peaches though...does anyone have a good peach recipe? Maybe peach muffins? I don't want to make a pie, because we won't be able to eat all of it....

Across the street from the farm is a winery- so convenient! Bluemont Vineyard is one of my favorites in Virginia. The view from the deck is gorgeous- you can see for miles and miles. They claim that on a clear day, you can see the Washington Monument. I am not disputing this claim, though I haven't seen it yet! Oh, and this is a good hour from DC- you take I-66 past Dulles, and then get on route 7, and it is a bit passed Leesburg.

They have several different wines, including a strawberry, a blackberry and a peach wine! All of their wines are named for the farm animals-

2008 Viognier "the goat"

2008 Vidal Blanc "the cow"

2008 Rose "the donkey"

2007 Merlot "the ram"

Norton "the pig"

My favorite, aside from the fruit wines, is the Vidal Blanc. As you can see, we, along with some friends, enjoyed some refreshments after our afternoon of berry picking!

If you are in the DC area, definitely check out both places for a fun afternoon!

(I don't know why this is now underlined...and I can't get it to go away!)

new and improved!

Happy Saturday!

Look at my new blog header! I lovelovelove it. It was made by Tiffany at Mira Designs and she was wonderful to work with! Along with doing blog/etsy banners, she also does invitations and other personalized greetings, so if you have a need for anything, go say hello to her!

Since I am so pleased with my pretty new blog, I've decided that my giveaway will have two winners! The first winner will still win the spices and the second winner will win a few spices (I won't say which ones!) and a few other goodies. Yes, a surprise prize! YAY! So, if you haven't entered yet, please do, and if you have, enter again and pass the word along :)

Last weekend, Steve and I went to IKEA to find a table for my sewing machine. I found just what I needed- it isn't huge, but works, and I found a pink chair! Fantastic. I managed to put them together myself last night and was quite pleased with myself. Of course, I sat down right away and stitched together a few things. I have no idea what they will become, but I have a few bags of scrap pieces, so I decided they should turn into something, right?

What do you think I should make next?

I am off to go blackberry picking at Great Country Farm out in Bluemont, VA. Across the way it Bluemont Vineyard, where there will be live music and food and wine specials on their strawberry and blackberry wine! We've been there several times before and there is a GORGEOUS view. They say that on a clear day, you can see the Washington Monument from their porch, which is around sixty miles away. I haven't seen it yet, but hopefully one of these days! This is also where we got our Christmas tree last year and went strawberry picking a few weeks ago. It's a great place, check it out if you live nearby!

What are your Saturday plans?

red, red wine, you make me feel so fine

Hooray! I just bought tickets for the Mount Vernon Spring Wine Festival! It is the middle of May this year, and we'll be going Sunday night! As we know, I am a big fan of both wine and Mount Vernon. Put them together? Bliss! Mount Vernon does this wine festival twice a year; in the fall and in the spring. We've gone to the last few and it's really just so lovely. The wineries are all local Virginia vineyards and new ones each time, in order to be sure that they all get equal representation and it isn't "elitist." I was so excited to find out that Hortons will be there, which is a winery down near Charlottesville that has about 30 different wines maybe, but around ten fruit wines, including a cranberry wine that is so nice.

The festival though, is so much fun. There is a big tent where the wineries set up, the estate is still open and there is a jazz band playing. People set up blankets and sit on the lawn of the Potomac and drink wine while the sun sets. Oh, and there is the option to buy a cheesebox to go along with your wine. Yes, cheese, crackers, grapes, pepperoni and all sorts of goodies. Love. It's just such a nice evening. Want to see a few pics from the ones we've been to? Of course you do!

These are obviously from two different events, as my hair is straight in one and curly in the other! This year I will have to remember to try to take some pictures of the house too!

If you are in the DC area, get tickets! The lovely Heidi (and Adam, of course!) will be there with us and if you come Sunday night, you can sit on our blanket :)

when Irish eyes are smiling

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since it's nearly over and I am home eating dinner (and okay with that, might I add), I thought I'd wish you a happy day. I actually celebrated over the weekend with some of my favorite people. We went to a winery (shocking, I know, I never go to wineries!) calledChateau O'Brien, which is way out on I-66, in a really lovely spot.

I'll share a few pictures of the fun.

See the food photos? They had corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, Sheppards pie, Irish cheeses and bread...but best of all- GUINNESS CHEESECAKE!!! Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds, and I must find a recipe. They were tiny little tart, so it was okay to eat about 30 of them, right? Okay, I didn't have that many...but I wouldn't have minded, ha!


See the picture of me holding the wine glass and a tiny green plastic mug? They were hiding those all over the winery with prizes inside. I found a ticket inside mine saying that I had won a free glass of wine! They had an apple wine that was fabulous.


See the picture of the case of wine bottles? They were doing a deal where if you bought a case, you were entered into a drawing to win a free week at a cottage at the Outer Banks in NC. There were eight of us there, so we all went in together! It was a four bedroom cottage, so it would have been fine. No word on winning yet, but my fingers are crossed!


How was your St. Pats? What did you do to celebrate?

alive, mostly well

Thank you for your lovely and thoughful messages regarding my last post. I guess I've just been in a bit of a funk lately, which I know is totally normal, but still, I hate it. I'll be fine, right?

Hope your Valetine/Presidents weekend was lovely. I enjoy three day weekends and really feel like I'd be more productive if we had them more often. Not necessarily every week, but maybe one a month? That isn't too much to ask, is it?

Remember my 12-in-12? I'm doing one of them this weekend! I signed up for a quilting class at Capitol Quilts on Sunday and I'll be making THREE potholders, according to the email confirmation I received after registering! Apparently I am also supposed to bring my sewing machine. Hmm, I guess I'll need to buy one. I won't be buying one before then, but I'd like to. Do you have a sewing machine? Anyone have any suggestions for what sort of sewing machine to buy?

Oh and my tax refund paid off my credit card! YAY!

Over the weekend, Steve and I went to Fogo de Chao for Valentines Dinner, which was so nice. We'd been once before, for my birthday, but ages ago. We saw a few movies this weekend- Taken and Defiance, both of which were very good and I'd recommend them to you as well. We also watched Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist, which I thought was adorable and hilarious. I think I have a crush on Michael Cera. Steve bought me the pancake pan from Williams Sonoma for Valentines, which I'd been lusting over for months and months. Who wants to come over for brunch?

Oh, we also went to a few wineries. Please don't let me buy wine for a long, long time. I seriously have at least 20 bottles right now. I don't think that is healthy, do you?

PS. I really want this. I love Susan Branch.

I'm sinking slowly, so hurry hold me

It's not even 6am and I've already been awake for more then an hour. This can't be a good omen for the day. I spent much of last night in tears about, well, everything and I don't know how to make it go away. I don't know how the weekend, which started off so nicely, went down the drain by mid-Sunday.

My tax refund arrived in my checking account Friday morning, along with my normal pay for the week (yes, I get paid weekly and no, it isn't as nice as it sounds), so after I work, I may have stopped by H&M. Finding nothing, I walked to Ann Taylor Loft in Chinatown and picked up a few things. This was after paying off a credit card (good work, Lexi) and calling World Vision to send an extra donation to my girls. I spent the rest of my Friday night reading a new book that came out this week and I'd been waiting rather impatiently for. Saturday I went to the VA Wine Expo with Steve and Magda, where I bought about 18 bottles of wine after being mistaken for her mother. Yes, some old broad pouring merlot told Magda that she didn't look old enough to be drinking and that her mother looked young too. We both were a bit confused until we realized that she meant me. She then tried to backtrack by asking if I was her sister, but the damage was done. THAT MUST BE BECAUSE I'M NOT HER MOTHER, YOU JERK! I had a birthday two weeks ago. I wasn't too bothered by turning 29, but apparently I need to invest in some wrinkle cream. We quickly left that winery's table, forgoing the rest of the wine they were offering.

Sunday included a trip to Target, the grocery store and the Washington Animal Rescue League where I fell in love with several puppies, but didn't take any home with me. After that, it was all downhill. I don't know what is wrong with me, but this stress needs to go away and I don't know how to get rid of it. I can't talk to my mother or to Steve without ending up in tears. My grandmother had heart surgery last week; it went well and she's recovering nicely. I wanted to fly home this weekend, but my parents told me not to. I hate being so far from home, especially during times like this. I want to be there when my family needs me and I want my godson to know who I am. This is my last semester of school and I feel like it may never end. I have so much work to do and I don't know when it will get finished. I am so sick of my tiny apartment, but the idea of moving to a new one makes me cringe. Everything is making me crazy right now.

I think I need a corgi to make it better.

party this

How do you feel about in-home parties, ie, things such as Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Lia Sophia, etc?



Are you often invited to them by your friends? Do you go? Do you purchase anything? Do you find them annoying? Do you feel obligated to purchase something?



Me? I like them. I find them fun. I like learning about new products and trying new things. I don't seem to be invited to them often, but when I am, I usually go, assuming I can, and I often buy something, not out of obligation, but because I want to.



Tonight Steve and I went to a wine tasting party. I hadn't heard of this company, but we had a lot of fun. We tried a few new wines, had some munchies and met a few new people.

Always a good time.

We didn't purchase anything this time, but did sign up to host a party of our own. Want to come? :)

I'm pretty sure this is field hockey weather

This weekend reminded me of why I like fall so much. Cool, crisp and perfect, aside from the partial rain on Saturday. Depsite the forecast, Steve and I were out and about on Saturday with a few things in mind. First we stopped at the Arlington Library for their semi-annual used book sale. They do it in the fall and spring and I mark the day on my calendar because I love it so much. The books are mostly used, though I've scored new books before, including this weekend, finding a new hardcover of Sophie Kinsella's Remember Me for $4. Awesome. I spent $24 this weekend and came back with 14 books, four of those being brand-new coloring books marked .50 each to send to my Albanian babes.

Then we left and went out to Cox Farm for pumpkins. Unfortunately, it was pouring then, so we quickly got pumpkins and left. We went last year too, and went on a hay ride and played with baby goats.

On Sunday, Magda and I went to two wineries where we tasted several lovely blends. It was simply gorgeous- really, the weather couldn't have been better and the company was grand! At the first place, we bought a bottle and sat outside with it and enjoyed the sun, music and conversation. The second was decorated a bit for Halloween with spooky goblets on their mantle. I bought two bottles at each, I believe M bought one or two as well.

Today I began the new job, finally! I was off all last week, waiting on paperwork and whatnot, and it was all ready today. It went well, I think I'll be happy there. Unfortunately, I found out that my office is in fact open the day after Thanksgiving. Booooo. My boss did say that if I had plans to go home, it was okay, but honestly, I hadn't made any plans yet, because I thought I'd better wait. It was a good thing I did, because Dec 1-2, the Monday and Tuesday after the holiday, we have a big board meeting. She said I can take off an extended break at Christmas though, so I guess it makes up for it. Still, I'm disappointed, but I guess there isn't much I can do about it.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend---

This was a real pumpkin, made to look like a cheeseburger! So cool.

The wine, so delish.

Enjoying my wine, and some spinach artichoke dip!

He sang. He was good.

I think I want a winery of my own.

Still enjoying, maybe a bit too much by this point!

Inside La Grange

Halloween!

How was your weekend?