favorite wine.

For years I’ve had a love/hate relationship with red wine. I love the way it tastes but hated how it made me feel (headache central). Until recently I had sworn off red wines. I can recall a Thanksgiving about 5 years ago, maybe 6, that I had a sip, A SIP of Yellowtail Merlot – after that it was all down hill. Not only did I get a migraine headache, but I had nothing to take for it, thus resulting in me tossing my Thanksgiving cookies all night long. Good times, right?

Fast forward to the past few Thanksgivings with M’s family – wine has become a staple during the holidays. Mostly because the oldest children are of age, and his parents are OK with a little wine in the house. Usually alcohol is not permitted – and they will only drink during the holidays or while on vacation. I respect that (they still have two smaller children, Lil Sis M, is only 6 years old, and littlest brother, P is 14 – so I completely understand them not wanting to have liquor/beer/etc around them at these ages).  That being said we’ve started a small tradition each year for the past three, during Thanksgiving and Christmas of having a bit of a wine tasting celebration. We all go purchase some wines we like, or new ones we’ve never tried to share with each other and sip, sip, sip. M’s older sister, Big Sis M is really into wine has is her husband. They know so much about it that usually whatever they bring to the table is excellent. I was always a white wine drinker until we started this tradition. Over the years I’ve learned that my body is either changing or I’m better at selecting wines that don’t hurt my head. I still get a headache from time to time, but I remember which wines to stay far away from, and when to stop drinking them (I can tell when the headache is going to come on). I probably would still be anti-red wine if it wasn’t for this tradition – or the fear of being “left out” of the fun.

M’s sister-in-law doesn’t drink red wine, only white. His mother doesn’t like real wine and prefers her Harbor Mist – we always buy her some and chuckle, but truth be told, on hot summer nights it’s rather tasty. All these years of wine tasting has led me to my favorite. It’s a middle of the road priced wine which is good for my pocket and I love the taste more than I can describe. It’s not too dry, and not sweet – just the way I like it. And truth be told, I love the name Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin. (Not to mention I love the label – YES, I do buy wines based on their labels from time to time – I’m a graphic designer it’s in my nature!!!) I have yet to find another Zin that I like this much.  I also enjoy a good Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot is a bit too dry for me but this Zin and the Cabernet Sauvignon are a good middle ground.

I still have a hard time trying to pick a white wine that I truly enjoy sipping. Usually it has to be sweet and fruity, I don’t care much for dry, white wine at all. Riesling is tasty but often times too sweet for me. Yes, I’m totally guilty of loving White Zin… to which I get a lot of slack from wineo buddies of mine.

So tell me – are you a red or white kind of person? And what’s your favorite wine/wine brand? I’m always looking for new wines to try.

Summer is going to be here before I know it and I’ll have to put away the red wine – but as part of my new years resolutions I’m going to try to drink less beer and be more mindful of what I drink when partying. Wine in small doses is much healthier than say lots of light beer, or liquor mixed with sugar filled drinks. (I’m still on my diet soda only kick, and it’s TOUGH). I’m not ditching my booze – heavens NO! I’m just switching it up a bit. Besides, truth be told, I enjoy a good wine buzz far more than the spins that liquor gives you. *wink*

CHEERS!

December 28, 2009. Uncategorized. 4 comments.

Happy Holidays & All That Jazz!

I wanted to take time before my holiday kicked off to wish you all Happy Holidays, I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas (or whatever you may celebrate) and a blessed and happy New Year!!!

December 24, 2009. Uncategorized. 12 comments.

I’ll be home for (early) Christmas.

I’m heading home to Maryland for the weekend. YAY! The land of blue crabs, Natty Boh, my father, best friends and loved ones… and apparently the possibility of 6-12″ of snow! WOW! I was wanting to see snow but I think that might be a bit much. *Fingers crossed it’s more like 3″ of white fluffy fun*

Dear Mother Nature,
Please see if you can find it in your heart to wait to dump the huge amount of snow until AFTER I get my night out on the town with my girls that I miss so much! Please don’t dump on my Saturday night parade.  I can deal with missing out on Christmas shopping on Sunday. Drop that mess then. At least I know the roads will be cleared by Monday so I can shop ’til I drop!

Love, Kelly

I hope you all have a great weekend – I will be incommunicado until next Tuesday!

M, if you’re reading this, I miss you already and I’ll be home soon to you, June and Mr. Angus. oxox

P.S. Tell Angus no skank kitty friends can come to the party!
(inside joke)

December 18, 2009. Uncategorized. 11 comments.

texts from last night.

Oh how I wish I came up with this concept. I’ve been reading this site for a while now, and it always tickles me. I should have saved this for a tickle me tuesday but honestly, I’m having way too much fun reading this. (Warning: May contain language or words you won’t find enjoyable).

Enjoy some of my faves from texts from last night.

(713):on the last problem of the exam i just drew a picture of a cat and left

(201): kicked my backpack and turned on my vibrator in the middle of class. success.

(843): I had my own version of the Hangover last night. I woke up to a disassembled Christmas tree, shit on the futon, and a hamster in the bathroom with a necklace on that said”Feed Me Bitch.” I don’t own a hamster. I don’t know what I drank last night, but I want to do it again.

(330): just had dinner with my dad’s new gf and her daughter.. had to drink a beer to get through it.. she’s 19 she has on a disney watch and snowflake earrings

(719):Found a barbie with nipples. Life is complete.

(609): So im using the back of a keystone box as notecard for my presentation

And lastly… in the spirit of the holidays I give you…(832): I just found out how hard it is to put together a fake Christmas tree with a hangover.

December 17, 2009. Uncategorized. 8 comments.

2010 Handbook.

I just received this via email from my cousin and I thought it was great so I wanted to share it with all of you. These are some resolutions I can stand by 100%.

2010 Handbook

Health :

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality :

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree…

Society :

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life :

1. Do the right thing!
2. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
3. GOD heals everything.
4. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
5. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
6. The best is yet to come..
7. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
8. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

December 17, 2009. Uncategorized. 8 comments.

for the love of football.

M and I had a blast at the Division II NCAA National Championship on Saturday! It was freezing cold but our seats were awesome! 10 Rows from the field and right on the 50 yard line. I’m happy to say my team of choice, the Bearcats were victorious! Although it was hard for me to cheer for them because when we arrived in our seats we were on the home team side. Grand Valley scored the home field advantage and I was in a sea of blue and black rooting for the Grand Valley Lakers. I cheered to myself for the Bearcats – I wasn’t trying to get beat up (Seriously one of the old men rooting for the Lakers had a huge stick with him – I hope it was for walking and not for whacking). We stayed through half time but it was way too cold – I saw a flurry or two. We instead headed to our favorite bar in town to get some warm drinks. M got a beer I chose some coffee with a shot of Bailey’s. It was great – we warmed ourselves and watched the remaining half of the game from the comfort of the bar.

M kept saying how much fun he had – and I myself enjoyed it too. I haven’t been to an actual college game ever, so this was extremely exciting. We were close to all the action and the ESPN2 cameras as well. M recorded the game on our DVR at home and we hoped to see if we made it on TV that afternoon. We were able to see ourselves in the stands, but not clearly but it was still cool to know that the small town where we live was televised and talked about not just on ESPN2 but on the regular ESPN as well.

I’m realizing more and more how much I truly love the game of football. I will be the first to admit that up until I started dating M, I really only knew a few things about the sport. I knew when to cheer, I knew what was good and what was bad in a play – but not always the technical side of why it was good or bad. What all the penalties were about etc. Since moving here five years ago I’ve had plenty of practice in getting up on my football knowledge. Between watching college ball every Saturday and NFL every Sunday or Monday and sometimes Wednesdays or Saturdays – I’ve learned so much more about the game (as well as all the differences between Pro Football and College Football). I’m also thankful that when I ask M a question about a certain play he doesn’t treat me like a “stupid girl” like some douche bag boyfriends would, and he never shhh’s me. Truth be told he got into football more because I enjoyed watching Pro Ball. We both started watching Alabama play together in the past two years we’ve become glued to the tv. Most of it for me was watching them go from a team with a legacy to a team recreating the legacy – it’s magic!!! Helloooo Mark Ingram – first Alabama University player to win a Heisman! WOOP! Don’t get me started on their amazing season!

This past Saturday it was nice to watch football and truly enjoy the spirit of the game. The great plays, the technical calls, all without having a mild heart attack over who might win or lose. I get pretty passionate about my teams when they are playing and after the heartbreak of the Steelers loss to the Browns last week, my heart couldn’t take it anymore – I needed to step away (seriously – I need therapy). I was angry, I still am. I know the are better than that but you win some and you lose some. I have to remind myself of that – I’m just bitter to go from Super Bowl Champions to not even getting a race to the wild card for this years Bowl. I’m sure they are more angry with themselves than I am.

Getting to watch these two college teams that were both 13-1 in their season records was awesome. They were pushing for the love of the game. That’s another reason why I love college ball so much – the passion that these kids have. I know most of them are dying to make pro but they play for the love of the game, more so than the huge paycheck they may get if they were in the NFL.

It just felt good to watch a game, cheer for the under dog, have them be victorious and not have any pride to lose in the end. And to share it all with M made it a great afternoon. After enjoying this great college game we’ve decided we need to get some tickets to an Alabama game next year. We have a few friends that live there, one is an alumni, the other works for the University. As well as all of M’s family members that love the team and would want to go with us. So let’s hope we can make that happen!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well! xo

December 14, 2009. Uncategorized. 2 comments.

baking like it’s 1808.

Ok, so the year I picked is a bit extreme. I have an oven and I have lots of modern gadgets. Which is all well and good – except yesterday in the middle of making a batch of cookies, my hand mixer crapped out on me. This does not make me happy. I’ve only completed two different types of cookies, (chocolate chip and snickerdoos) and it broke in the middle of making M’s favorite peanut butter cookies that he was begging for. After a few choice curse words, I started stirring the dough by hand – crisis averted, for now. At least I’ll get a good upper body work out in the process of this. I think I’m going to wait on the rest of the cookies until I return from my trip home for a weekend. Maybe my father will give me some money or gift cards for Christmas and I can buy a new hand mixer. Truth be told I would love a stand alone mixer but I have a hard time justifying the price for a nice one. My rule this time of year is that I’m not allowed to buy anything for myself this close to the holidays so I’ll stick with that for now.

Maybe I can make my own butter while I’m at this old school baking. Not likely.

December 14, 2009. Uncategorized. 9 comments.