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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Technorati Tags: Olympics, Pub Crawl, pub golf, The Quarter Bar

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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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One thing I was definitely tardy to the party on in life, was floating the river. I’m really not sure how I never knew about it; it’s so much fun!

Not that long ago we decided we wanted to float the river this summer and picked last weekend. So I went in search of a place to stay. After scouring numerous vacation rental properties, I stumbled up what I think was a great find; a cute little house in New Braunfels that sleeps 10 called Hausita.

It was perfect less than 10 minutes from both the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. Last year we floated the Comal so this year we decided to float the Guadalupe. It was high this year so we didn’t have to get up, lift our tubes and walk around rocks. . .for the most part the water took us right over them, every once in awhile a few of us did get stuck.

We did the 5 hour float and had a blast, just a few bumps and bruises and a little sunburned. Can’t wait for next year! Here are a few pictures I borrowed from: www.RiverFotos.com.

If you haven’t ever floated the river you should. Although let me recommend you go with someone who’s been before and hopefully you won’t lose anything like we did (take rope & tie everything down). Last year my friend Joe recommended taking a Camelbak instead of worrying about a cooler. . .best idea ever!

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I was on the hunt for a particular wine, but was not successful in finding it. On a positive not, at least I know what next week’s wine will be. . .however in my search I did stumble upon an unexpected treasure.

Recently two liquor stores opened just minutes from my house; I decided to check out Majestic because I hadn’t stopped in yet and they normally have a great wine selection. Since they didn’t have the wine I was looking for I walked up and down each aisle to see what I could find and stumbled upon the 2007 3 Girls Cabernet Sauvignon.

Because it’s made by 3 girls I decided it would be fun to get 3 girls’ opinions of it. I should preface the opinions with, none of us claim to be expert wine tasters we all just love wine.

First Girl: my sister Beth
When I asked her what she thought of the wine she said it was smooth and sweet, but not too sweet. She followed that up with, “I don’t know I just like to drink wine.”

Second Girl: Lacee
While she also described this wine as smooth, she thought it was light and had a hint of dried cranberry, but finished her description with, “I LOVE it!”

Third Girl: me
I have to agree with all that Beth and Lacee’s said about the wine. I loved it as well. It had a subtle fruity flavor that made it refreshing which is unusual to me for a Cabernet. As I drank it I actually thought, I bet this would be amazing cold; I know blasphemous.

I even tried pouring it through my new fancy aerator that I picked up last week at Bastille on Bishop and even though the effect was to make the wine seem more heavy it didn’t affect my opinion of the wine.
Wish I had picked more than just the one bottle. . .at under $12 I am impressed!

Unfortunately there isn’t much information available about “3 Girls” so if you know anything about them please send the information my way.

What are you drinking?

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I have to confess that I have actually had wine two nights this week. . .so far. But I’m not really sure Monday night’s wine counts because I’d already had both wines before.

In thinking about wine for tonight, I wasn’t sure what to have. . .then I found out on Twitter about Bastille on Bishop. Having grown up in Dallas, Oak Cliff was never a place I was encouraged to go. . .but I have to give them props. . .the Bishop Arts District has some great shops and restaurants and this was the perfect excuse for me to go check them out.

We each paid $10 and got a stemless wine glass and then all the wine we could drink. To get the wine you had to wonder from store to store on both sides of Bishop. This was both good and bad. . .

I found a few things I just had to buy and a few things I really wanted to buy but couldn’t afford. There were so many really amazing pieces of art I would have loved to have brought home to hang on my empty walls, but somehow I just couldn’t justify a $600 piece of art (and that was even at 30% off). . .even though I REALLY wanted it. I have this big empty wall in my kitchen it would have looked perfect on. Maybe one day when I’m rich I can buy it.

I had quite a few different wines tonight, but if I’m being completely honest I actually enjoyed the champagne punches and sangrias they had at several stores a lot more than any of the wines I tasted. Which means this is a pretty lame Wine o. Wednesday blog. . .but it was one of the most fun wine Wednesdays I’ve had in quite some time! Just goes to show that it’s not always about the wine but sometimes it’s about the company you drink it with and the place where you drink.

I’ll get back to the sipping by next week but until then, cheers!

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I met the girls at Patrizzios for dinner last night (gawh, I know it wasn’t Wednesday), but during the month of July they have $1 bellinis. This would be awesome if I were a bellini fan;, but I’m not. I was the last one to arrive, which really is not all that unusual, and was told that two bellinis had been ordered for me.

“Are you serious?” My immediate reaction.
My friend with a nervous look on her face, “Yes?”
“I really wanted a glass of wine,” I say deflated.
Friend with a smile, “I’ll drink fast and help you out, don’t worry.”

Luckily our waitress took pity on me and still let me order a glass of wine despite having two bellinis on the table in front of me. (Talk about looking like a lush, I should have taken a picture!)

Despite it actually being cooler in Texas right now then the Northeast, that doesn’t mean it isn’t still freakin’ hot here! And, just like last summer my goal is to introduce myself to more white wines; since as you’ve probably realized I am red girl.

The hardest white for me to try is going to be Pinot Grigio, I have NEVER found one that I like. I think it is just too tart for me. . .I am not much of a grapefruit fan and that’s what Pinot Grigios remind me of.

On my last trip to Sonoma (dang almost 2 years ago now), I realized that I liked Savingon Blancs. I just haven’t tried very many of them. But, that is what I settled on to have with dinner last night and I only had two options that were available by the glass. I went with the Joel Gott, because I have actually heard of that winery and enjoyed their Cabernet Sauvingon. I can’t tell you what year or what vineyard (if they have more than one), but I can tell you that I really enjoyed it and found it refreshing.

The only downfall. . .my 1 glass of wine was $1 less than the 9 bellinis enjoyed by the 3 other girls at dinner. . .oh well, what can a bellini hater do?

Feel free to send me your wine suggestions, especially white wine suggestions.

Cheers!

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I have always wanted to see New York City at Christmas time and finally got to do just that. Meredith and I flew up to New York early Saturday morning and met Adam at our hotel. Then we headed out to see all the decorations.

Unfortunately the weather was awful; originally we had thought it would be it would be snowing and we were excited. But instead it was raining and freezing! I was the only one that didn’t bring an umbrella with me so I’m pretty sure my hair froze to my head.

Just as the rain turned to snow we found a great wine bar and grabbed a table right by the window so that we could watch the snow fall. Then we headed out to find all of the fun Christmas decorations around the city. These pictures will be from Saturday night and Sunday morning:

Sorry, that’s all you get for now because I’m not on my own computer and this Mac is a little smarter than I am so I can’t figure out how to rotate pictures. Enjoy!

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