Wine Bargains...

There are so many wines that I want to try as I peruse aisle after aisle at the wine store. Typically, I have a price point that I try hard not to exceed when it comes what I purchase for myself. It's not because I'm cheap, or don't understand the value of a high priced wine, but because once I open a bottle, it won't last much past a few hours from then. I have a hard time paying $30 for a bottle that will only last a few hours. But, when sharing with friends, I have a different perspective.

With my individual wine price point, it excludes a lot of brands and new creations that I see from time to time in my shopping excursions. So, when I was grocery shopping at Target last week and came across their newly fixed up liquor department (it was quite nice) and saw a collection of clearance wines, I was thrilled! I searched among the bottles and found a brand that has piqued my interest for quite some time. I checked the handy red clearance tag and saw that I was 40% off! Yippee!! It was in my cart before my husband knew what was going on!

A few nights later, I decided to give the wine a try. Sadly, I wasn't overly impressed with its flavor, considering how much more expensive it is to the wines I frequent and love. But, I drank it anyway. After two glasses (large, large glasses), my husband came home from work. After asking about his day, he looked at me rather strangely and asked what I'd been eating. I'd only had my clearance wine, so I was quite confused and walked straight to the bathroom. My teeth and my tongue were blue. I drank 2/3 of a Cabernet Sauvignon and I looked like I'd given fellatio to a smurf. It seems there was a reason this wine was on clearance and it wasn't just to make room for newer stock on the shelves. Be weary of clearanced spirits!

Summer!

In my little world, it finally feels like summer. I got a sunburn yesterday (beware of patio meals!), have had to mow the lawn with increased regularity, and, wait for it....I bought a kiddie pool. Yes, I am a grown woman. No, I have no children. And, no, I have no shame in spending my summer sitting in a kiddie pool on my patio. 

Will my kiddie pool be as fun as floating around a lazy river at a water park? Well, probably not, BUT, I can enjoy adult beverages in this kiddie pool and I don't have to pay $15 every time I feel like relaxing in the water. Even better: this kiddie pool is completely lacking in children who will splash me while I relax, read trashy magazines, and enjoy adult beverages. 

I already noticed a neighbor staring quite incredulously as I filled my kiddie pool with water. JEALOUS. Clearly, people need to be reminded how to have a good time in their yard. Now, all I need is my patio redone (hopefully at the end of the month!), and a grill. I think the biggest challenge will be getting my husband into the pool. He seems to think it's silly, but I bet if he got all hot and bothered while grilling us a meal he'd want to cool off in this fabulous beauty. 

Anyone else going the more affordable route to cool off during these hot summer months? Any suggestions for making my kiddie pool more adult-like?

The 80's...

I am a proud 80's child. In that, there are movies, music, and key phrases from that point in my life that I think are AMAZING. They have wholly made me who I am today. With that, some outstanding movies from the 80's include: 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, Adventures in Babysitting, Beetlejuice, The Breakfast Club, Children of the Corn, Coming to America, Empire Strikes Back, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbuster's, Goonies, The NeverEnding Story (my FAV), Poltergeist, Terminator, Willow, and a slew of other things, but these mean the most to me. 

Then, there's music: Bette Davis Eyes, Jesse's Girl, Eye of the Tiger, Every Breath You Take, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Come on Eileen, When Doves Cry, Uptown Girl, Like a Virgin, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Take on Me, Addicted to Love, Sledgehammer, I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight, Sweet Child of Mine, Simple Irresistible, and soooo many others. 

Music and movies make up such a large part of what a person likes and who they become as adults. It defines what I really love: Ah Ha, The NeverEnding Story, Poltergeist (eeek scary movies!), and Willow (oooh science fiction!). It's outstanding when you think about what you may have revered as a child and think about how that has dictated your interests as an adult. 

What commonalities have you noticed? 

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.