Vineyard Time!

This week, I discovered two delicious new wines. I typically enjoy a wide variety of wines, but there are some brands and styles to which I am completely partial. Rieslings are my go-to after work choice, specifically, Relax. You can't not relax while enjoying this wine. I also have a sweet tooth, so Moscato is an after dinner drink that I LOVE. That leads me to the first new wine I discovered:

Please notice that by the time I took the picture, I drank most of it. This Pink Moscato from Be Flirty was outstanding! It embodies the sweet of Moscato, while also tasting exceptionally fruity. It was so good, it was gone before I realized it. This is definitely a wine to share with a friend!

The second wine I discovered is from a brand that I drink many of their wines: Cupcake. I randomly decided to try this wine after seeing it in a TGIFridays menu. I realized that's sort of dumb, but the bottle was neat, and it caught my attention. So, when I saw it at Malloy's, I picked up their Merlot. Let me tell you, everything Cupcake makes is delightful. So, when I discovered, while meandering at Jewel, that there was a Cupcake I hadn't tried, I had to get it.

Presenting Cupcake Angel Food. This is a smooth white wine that isn't dry, but isn't terribly sweet either. I'm enjoying a glass alongside my lasagna right now! Cupcake also has a red wine that is my absolute favorite: Red Velvet. Like the Angel Food, it's so smooth and just the right combination of sweet and full body. For a relatively inexpensive wine, this stuff is gold. 

Any wines that you love that I should be aware of? I like to pretend that my hanging wine rack is actually my own private vineyard, so I'm always up for recommendations! 

How many times have you read a book, loved it, read it again, continued to love, it and when you heard it was being turned into a movie, felt the utmost excitement at seeing something you enjoyed so much put on the screen? It's happened a lot lately: Hunger Games, Twilight Saga, Harry Potter, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Secret Life of Bees, those Nicholas Sparks books, etc. It seems screen writers have run out of original ideas, so they have to make their money on books that already have a following of fans. 


Typically, when I love a book and then see the film, I'm utterly disappointed. Some key scene or event is left out due to time, hiring extra actors, or the story has been changed so much, the scene is no longer needed. Either way, it seems that movie studios are dead set on ruining our favorite books. 


Well, I've finally found the exception to the rule. I have a deep love for science fiction fantasy, something I can lovingly blame on my husband. In my dive into dorkdom, I fell in love with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is the most recent translation of all the typical archetypes I've grown to love in greek mythology: the quest, the fall of the hero, the loss of innocence, etc. I've been on a Stephen King kick since the end of last year and decided a month or so ago that I needed a break. So, I took my students' advice, and decided to read a book to a movie I love, The Fellowship of the Ring. For once, I can say that the movie is better. While I will admit I am only 2/3 of the way through the novel, I am struggling to get through it. I've learned more about the eating and sleeping habits of Hobbits than I ever thought was natural to know about. I will say the movie is very different from the book. From right away, the book takes a much different path in taking the reader to Bilbo's birthday party, from which he departs on his final adventure, than the movie did. And, the movie did it better. 


I realize, being someone who is vehemently angry every time I see a coveted book turned into movie and I spend the next week ranting about the differences and how the movie ruined the book, I understand what I say is blasphemous. But please, if you haven't read this book, give it a try. Just give it 100 pages. I bet you'll understand where I'm coming from. 

I'd love some suggestions to other movies turned to books that perhaps I haven't read. I'd like to test the theory that perhaps I was too invested in the movie to appreciate the book, or if reading about the eating and sleeping habits of Hobbits really is that annoying.