Because Monday’s book review was about “the Mennonite in the Little Black Dress,” it seemed like the appropriate week to drink the Little Black Dress (2008) Chardonnay.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I would have to give this Chardonnay a 3. It is the perfect wine for a night of wine with the girls. Especially because it isn’t that pricey, and can be found almost anywhere. It is fruity and not to heavy. My last glass I poured through my aerator and it really eliminated the bitter taste that is always present in every Chardonnay I’ve ever had. To me this doesn’t really stand out from any other Chardonnay.

Little Black Dress is also available in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and several other varieties. I’ve had the Cab and the Merlot and thought the Cab was pretty good. The price point on these wines doesn’t hurt either.

After finishing the Chardonnay, I had a glass of Beth’s Gewürztraminer from Messina Hof. I hope Beth doesn’t kill me, but this wasn’t my favorite. I figured I wouldn’t really like it because it would be really sweet and overly sugary, but instead the reason I am not a fan is I felt like I was drinking a bouquet of flowers. It didn’t just smell like flowers but it tasted like flowers. I suppose for some people this wouldn’t be bad but it just wasn’t for me.

Tomorrow, September 2, is National Cabernet day, what will you be drinking?

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After the success of Pub Golf last year for the big 3-Oh, we had to do it again. But this year we had a different theme: Bar Olympics.

The costumes were a bit trickier this year; you couldn’t just wear argyle or plaid. . .you had to put a little more thought in it. But I think they all came out great. We had field hockey refs, runners, tennis players, soccer players/fans, and spectators. I loved everyone’s outfits!

The “crawl” took place on McKinney Ave again because it worked so well last time. We were only at each stop for 45ish minutes. First stop was Black Friar, we met there at 4:00. I was so excited about this stop because they sell Leffe Blondes, and thanks to WhitforBrit and many mentions to Leffe’s I had been wanting try one for quite some time. (Quite tasty, if I do say so myself.)

After, Black Friar we headed across the street to Idlerich Pub, where we were joined by a few more friends at this stop. The challenge for that bar was Irish Car Bombs. Not sure why but I’m a fan of these.

Next we headed up to the MAT where Big Al Mack and Red Neck Steve were kind enough to buy us all a round of shots. This is where Scott and Tiffany met up with us; I was so excited they met up with us with all they have going on.

Stop number 4 was Christies Sports bar. . .where thanks to my friend Marshall I have found my new favorite bar game, that shall be left unnamed, mainly because I don’t know the name of it if I’m being honest.

Then we had a bit of a walk up to Frankies, stop number5, where we arrived shortly after the Cowboys game started, bad timing on my part because it was packed! But still we managed to give “Liquid Courage” a try.

I quickly headed to the Quarter, last stop, because they were kind enough to hold some tables on their upstairs patio for us. I am a sucker for patios, even if it’s a bit warm. We got to the Quarter about 8:30 and stayed there until almost midnight.

It was a blast. I feel like I didn’t really get to talk to everyone that was there. . .but I hope you had as much fun as I did, and thanks for coming out for Bar Olympics 2010. Let me know if you have any ideas for next year’s theme!

Oh, and I was lucky enough to receive a lap dance. . .sort of, click HERE to watch.

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I’m not going to lie; the thing that drew me to tonight’s book was the cover and title.

Based solely on the title I bought the book one day, knowing I would take it to read on my vacation. Though I must confess I thought this would be a chicklit book I would just breeze through. Somehow I missed the word “memoir” on the cover.

This book starts out at what you would assume would be the low point of the author’s life. Due to her surgeon’s error two of her organs were punctured and she had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital and months hooked up to a “pee bag” as she calls it.

Things seem to turn around, her recovery is moving along just fine, and then her husband announces that he is leaving her for Bob. A man he met on gay.com. But that’s not the worst of it, a few days later she is in a terrible car accident that leaves her seriously injured.

With not many options, and a house that costs more than she can afford, Rhoda returns to her parent’s home and the Mennonite community she ran away from. At this point in the book, for an unknown reason I glanced at the front cover and saw the glowing review of this book from Elizabeth Gilbert. After not being able to make it through “Eat, Love, Pray” I almost threw the book down and moved on. . .but, I was on vacation and didn’t have many other book options.

Hesitantly I started reading again. . .and found myself laughing out loud whenever Rhoda talked about her mom. She is one fiery, opinionated woman, who has never lived anywhere but in the Mennonite community her entire life but boy does she have some hilarious perspectives and thoughts that I had to share with my friends.

In spite of Elizabeth Gilbert’s review, I too have to recommend this read. You don’t even have to know anything about the Mennonite community to enjoy this book because I sure didn’t.

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My friend Tara sent me this and I thought it was hilarious and oh so true!

A real man is a woman’s best friend. He will
never stand her up and never let her down.
He will reassure her when she feels insecure
and comfort her after a bad day.

He will inspire her to do things she never
thought she could do; to live without fear
and forget regret. He will enable her to
express her deepest emotions and give in to
her most intimate desires. He will make sure
she always feels as though she’s the most
beautiful woman in the room and will enable
her to be the most confident, sexy,
seductive and invincible.

No wait… sorry…

I’m thinking of wine.

It’s wine that does all that.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!! In honor of Kate’s birthday, I (Beth) have taken over her blog today. Kate needs a proper shoutout on here without having to write it herself. And in honor of her birthday I would like to share 10 things I like/love/want to share about Kate, Katers, Kady Lady with you:

10. There was that one time she went missing on New Year’s Eve and I drove all over looking for her and even called the police station to see if she had been arrested (you’ll have to ask her where she really was ).

9. We get to see each other pretty much all day every day since we live together and work in the same office!

8. She keeps the house stocked with wine!!

7. I love her for growing out of Barbie’s and passing on a sweet collection to me when we were little (see the sweet dream house below).

6. She’s always available via facebook, gchat, twitter, BBM or text if you need her….well, except for that one time on New Year’s Eve

5. She made my website for me and so graciously helps me out A TON with it – www.lifesafont.com

4. I love that she’s having another cool birthday party this year!

3. Growing up we spent A LOT of time with our boy cousins on our mom’s side of the family….we lived in the same neighborhood for awhile and all attended the same school…..Kate was always my allie and bestie.

2. Because it was probably her idea – one time all 3 of us kids thought we were going to be in trouble (a.k.a. be spanked) with our parents so we all put on multiple pairs of underwear and multiple pairs of shorts before going downstairs to face our punishment….but it turned out we weren’t in trouble at all!

1. Because she didn’t kill me that one time when I gave a guy her phone number because I didn’t want to give him mine and he called her like 3 nights in a row at 1 or 2 a.m. (For the record….I’m still sorry, but I also still find it hilarious!! )

Happy Birthday again!! You are the best and my favorite sister!! Love you!

Beth or Beeper

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It had been just over 5 years since I went on an extended vacation. . .which meant it was about time for one. I went to the Dominican Republic with my friends Meredith & Melissa. We left at the crack of dawn Wednesday morning because we had a 5:40 am flight out of Dallas to Punta Cana (with a brief stop in Atlanta).

We stayed at the Occidental Flamenco, all-inclusive hotel. . .it was alright. . .nothing special, but I can’t really complain because we were less than 5 minutes from the beach. My plan for this trip was to relax so there really isn’t a lot to tell about the trip other than our excursion.

My sister had gone to Punta Cana a few years ago and highly recommended the Saona Island excursion. The only day we could do it was our first full day in the DR and it was a great way to start the trip. We were picked up at 7 am and had a 2 hour bus ride. . .that was a bit of drag but once we were on the water we forgot about it. Check out the view:

We took a catamaran out to the island and then had time to enjoy the beach and the water. While we were on the island we got to know the other people on our excursion that were a lot of fun. In fact if you are up in Montreal and looking for something to do, check out our new Stand-up Comedian friend Daniel. After lunch they loaded us up on this huge speed boat and took us to the “natural swimming pull” and got to play with starfish.

It was the best day, after that we spent the rest of the time chilling on the beach and reading. I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation and most definitely will not be waiting another 5 years for my next vacation!

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Tonight I decided to go with an oldie but a goodie. . .the 2008 Kali Hart Chardonnay. With these 100+ degree temperatures I had to go with something chilled. And after the adjustment from vacation back to the real world. . .I needed something I KNEW would be good.

Since you know I already like this wine. . .instead of discussing why I like it I want to share with you some fellow winos I have found via twitter that have some great wine knowledge and are pretty darn entertaining.

Recently I discovered that much like on my blog, on twitter it is #WineWednesday. This is how I found @CorkTease, this girl cracks me up! Check out her blog! And @FabOCGirl suggested two new types of wine to me tonight I’d never heard of: Sancerre and Albarion (both whites) – look for these to be discussed here soon. Be sure to visit her blog. Last but not least @UCBeau, he seconded the above suggestions and he has a wine and food blog you should check out!

Sorry to keep it short and sweet tonight but this bottle of wine is getting tome! I’ll post vacation pictures tomorrow for you to see!

Oh and there will be a pause from wine o. wednesday next week more than likely as it is a “special” day and there is a possibility my blog will be hijacked. . .

Cheers!

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