Erin sent me an email this morning giving 10 reasons why wine is better than beer. I liked it so much that I decided to share it here. Because really, what's better than a glass of wine?! Well, a bottle of wine is better, I guess. But you get the point...
10. Did you ever hear of a “wine belly"?
9. Wine glasses don’t weigh as much as beer mugs - less wear and tear on the wrist and elbow, fewer cases of carpal tunnel
8. Fewer unanticipated belches
7. Doesn’t open the “flood gates” quite the same way beer does
6. Was there an Oscar-nominated movie last year about beer? I don't think so.
5. Ages better - and so do those who drink it!
4. Jesus didn’t turn water into beer; he left that to Miller and Anheuser-Busch, who proceeded to get the process backward and turn beer into water
3. Tastes better with ALL kinds of food - not just brats, chili and tacos
2. When asked what attributes they’re looking for in the perfect mate, “Knows how to navigate a beer list” never makes top 10
And the No. 1 reason wine is better than beer: Tastes great, less filling!
Now go enjoy a glass of wine!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
A Farewell to Fine Dining.....For Now.
On Saturday night, Mark and I went to Oceanaire to celebrate our engagement...and to say good-bye to fine dining for quite some time. With the engagement comes the need to save money like nobody's business in order to have the wedding we've always pictured. So, we decided to cut fine dining out of the mix for a while, and decided to go out with a bang by celebrating at Oceanaire.
We arrived quite early for our 8:00pm reservations and so decided to go over to Manny's first for a drink. Mark opted for a Sam Adams, while I ordered a glass of cabernet. I don't remember the name of the cab right now, but it was delicious! We sat and chatted with the bartender a bit before heading over to the restaurant to satisfy our seafood cravings.
We were seated in the back of the restaurant in a large booth. Mark and I sat on the same side of booth and cozied up all romantic like. We were celebrating our engagement; it's allowed. The waiter soon came over with fresh bread and a relish tray for us to start with. He also presented us with a bottle of Block 13 Pinot Noir, a gift sent over from Mark's dad in celebratory fashion. It was a fantastic bottle of wine, and a most appreciated gift!
After no deliberation at all, we each placed an order for a crab cake appetizer. The crab cakes at this restaurant are out of this world. Seriously. You have never had a better crab cake than the one at this restaurant. Perfectly delicious lump crab meat with just a touch of sauce. Many crab cakes are about half crab, half filling. Not with this crab cake - at least 80% of the cake is pure crab meat. I have dreams about these crab cakes. We ate them very, very slowly, savoring every bite.
After the delight of our crab cakes, Mark selected the Ahi Tuna with red wine reduction and exotic mushrooms and I selected a magnificant salmon stuffed with baby bay shrimp, blue crab and brie cheese. We also got a side of hash browns to share. Mark's entree looked delicious, but because I am not really a fan of ahi tuna, I decided not to taste the dish. My entree was one of - if not the - most succulent things I have ever tasted in my life. I can't even explain how the medley of flavors complimented one another so amazingly. Words can't express how each beautiful bite was an explosion of rich, deep from the sea flavors. I urge you to run - not walk - to Oceanaire adn taste this dish as soon as is humanly possible. I truly can't describe the wonderful flavors that came out of that dish.
After a very filling dinner, my Dessert Spot was still empty and itching for a little something sweet. We ordered a piece of New York style cheesecake (and a glass of champagne for me) to top off the night. The cheesecake was served plain with just some fresh strawberries adorning the plate. It was very light and refreshing after such a rich entree. We sat back and enjoyed the last few bites of our fine dining experience.
We truly had a wonderful celebration of our engagement and a grand good-bye to our affair with fine dining for quite some time. It was a great way to go out.
Note: I tried about four times to put up some really great pictures of this night out, but they didn't work!
We arrived quite early for our 8:00pm reservations and so decided to go over to Manny's first for a drink. Mark opted for a Sam Adams, while I ordered a glass of cabernet. I don't remember the name of the cab right now, but it was delicious! We sat and chatted with the bartender a bit before heading over to the restaurant to satisfy our seafood cravings.
We were seated in the back of the restaurant in a large booth. Mark and I sat on the same side of booth and cozied up all romantic like. We were celebrating our engagement; it's allowed. The waiter soon came over with fresh bread and a relish tray for us to start with. He also presented us with a bottle of Block 13 Pinot Noir, a gift sent over from Mark's dad in celebratory fashion. It was a fantastic bottle of wine, and a most appreciated gift!
After no deliberation at all, we each placed an order for a crab cake appetizer. The crab cakes at this restaurant are out of this world. Seriously. You have never had a better crab cake than the one at this restaurant. Perfectly delicious lump crab meat with just a touch of sauce. Many crab cakes are about half crab, half filling. Not with this crab cake - at least 80% of the cake is pure crab meat. I have dreams about these crab cakes. We ate them very, very slowly, savoring every bite.
After the delight of our crab cakes, Mark selected the Ahi Tuna with red wine reduction and exotic mushrooms and I selected a magnificant salmon stuffed with baby bay shrimp, blue crab and brie cheese. We also got a side of hash browns to share. Mark's entree looked delicious, but because I am not really a fan of ahi tuna, I decided not to taste the dish. My entree was one of - if not the - most succulent things I have ever tasted in my life. I can't even explain how the medley of flavors complimented one another so amazingly. Words can't express how each beautiful bite was an explosion of rich, deep from the sea flavors. I urge you to run - not walk - to Oceanaire adn taste this dish as soon as is humanly possible. I truly can't describe the wonderful flavors that came out of that dish.
After a very filling dinner, my Dessert Spot was still empty and itching for a little something sweet. We ordered a piece of New York style cheesecake (and a glass of champagne for me) to top off the night. The cheesecake was served plain with just some fresh strawberries adorning the plate. It was very light and refreshing after such a rich entree. We sat back and enjoyed the last few bites of our fine dining experience.
We truly had a wonderful celebration of our engagement and a grand good-bye to our affair with fine dining for quite some time. It was a great way to go out.
Note: I tried about four times to put up some really great pictures of this night out, but they didn't work!
Friday, August 18, 2006
A little life
I haven't posted in quite some time, so I thought that I'd do a little life update for my millions of readers.
Life as an engaged person has been quite lovely. It's been so fun to show off my beautiful ring to coworkers, friends and finally my family last weekend. Sadly, I had to take it in to get resized on Monday, and it was supposed to be out until today. It is amazing how much I missed something that I only had for a short time. But they called last night and said it was in, so I scurried right over to pick it up. It's the most sparkly and pretty ring I've ever seen! No offense, of course, to all of those other rings out there that are lovely and beautiful, but every woman feels that hers is the prettiest! That's why she picked it out!
Last weekend at home in WI was so wonderful. I had a great day of shopping with my sister; went to see Lexi in her acting debut in A Pig Called Wilbur at the Malthouse Theater; walked the lake path in Lake Geneva with my mom, Nikki, and the kids; celebrated my mom's 50th birthday with the whole family; and talked wedding talk with the parents. It was a relaxing, yet busy, weekend at home.
I'm really looking forward to the weekend ahead. I'm heading over to Susie and Kristin's tonight for some wine and some chatting. Saturday night, Mark and I are going to Oceanaire to celebrate our engagement and to say good-bye to fine dining for a while. We're going to be saving, saving, saving in the next year or so for the big upcoming wedding. So, we decided to go out with a real bang!
I think that's all the big stuff for right now. Hope your life is going splendidly too!
Life as an engaged person has been quite lovely. It's been so fun to show off my beautiful ring to coworkers, friends and finally my family last weekend. Sadly, I had to take it in to get resized on Monday, and it was supposed to be out until today. It is amazing how much I missed something that I only had for a short time. But they called last night and said it was in, so I scurried right over to pick it up. It's the most sparkly and pretty ring I've ever seen! No offense, of course, to all of those other rings out there that are lovely and beautiful, but every woman feels that hers is the prettiest! That's why she picked it out!
Last weekend at home in WI was so wonderful. I had a great day of shopping with my sister; went to see Lexi in her acting debut in A Pig Called Wilbur at the Malthouse Theater; walked the lake path in Lake Geneva with my mom, Nikki, and the kids; celebrated my mom's 50th birthday with the whole family; and talked wedding talk with the parents. It was a relaxing, yet busy, weekend at home.
I'm really looking forward to the weekend ahead. I'm heading over to Susie and Kristin's tonight for some wine and some chatting. Saturday night, Mark and I are going to Oceanaire to celebrate our engagement and to say good-bye to fine dining for a while. We're going to be saving, saving, saving in the next year or so for the big upcoming wedding. So, we decided to go out with a real bang!
I think that's all the big stuff for right now. Hope your life is going splendidly too!
Monday, August 07, 2006
We're Engaged!
Well, it finally happened! On Saturday, August 5th, Mark proposed!
It was completely unexpected. Well, I knew that the proposal was coming sometime soon, but the actual night I had no idea. Here's how it happened.
We went to the wedding of my friend Meghan. It was held at a lovely country club north of the cities, and we had a really great time. The weather cooperated, the food was delicious, and the music was great to dance to.
At the wedding, I caught the bouquet - by pushing other girls down and diving for the prize!
Two months earlier, I caught the bouquet at my cousin Tony's wedding. That's two bouquets in two months. I was starting to feel like it was really my turn. On the car ride home, I was giving Mark a hard time about it, saying that someone must be trying to tell him something.
When we got home, he asked me to sit down on the couch because he had a surprise for me. I was not expecting anything like a proposal at all; in fact, I thought that he was going to play a new song that he learned on the guitar or something. I sat down on the couch and thought, "I'm so tired. I hope that he plays the song and then wants to go to bed!" Little did I know...
When he came out from the back bedroom, he had his hands in his pockets and his knees were shaking a bit. I was a little confused that he didn't have the guitar - are anything in his hands, for that matter. What kind of surprise was this? He stood in front of me and started his speech. He told me that he'd been wanting to do this for so long, but that so many other things had gotten in the way. He'd been waiting and waiting for the perfect moment and the perfect time, but he just couldn't wait one more minute to ask me this or he was going to explode. Then, he got down on one knee, and he asked me to marry him.
I fell right off of the couch. Somewhere in there I screamed, "You're not really doing this, are you?!" I had NO idea what was happening. Before I knew it, I was off the couch and on the floor kissing him and crying. I was kissing him so much that he didn't hear my answer - yes, of course! - and had to actually pull away from me to say, "What is your answer?!"
We stayed on the floor like that for quite some time, in complete shock. I was in shock because I completely did not expect to come home from the wedding and have him propose. And, I think that he was in shock, too, because he completely didn't plan to do it that night. It just felt right, and he felt the moment, and he just couldn't wait.
I love so much that the man I love couldn't wait to ask me to marry him. He was so excited and is so thrilled to be marrying me, that he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask! I was so touched by that, and I think it's truly one of the most adorable things I've ever heard in my life!
Here's the ring with all of the little accessories that I got. I tried so hard to take a good picture of the ring, but it didn't turn out. But I wanted people to see something! So, I thought that I'd at least put up this picture of my amazing ring with the lovely, little blue box...and all that comes with it!
The rest of the night, we just lay around in each other's arms, letting it all sink in. I didn't sleep much that night. I decided to wait until morning to call my mom, but my mind didn't quite get the concept of time that night. I woke up three times between 2:00am and 6:45am. Finally at 6:45am, I just decided that it was time to get up.
I called my parents at 8:00am, and no one was home! They were both working! Because I wanted my parents to be the first people in the whole world to know, I had to wait two more hours to tell people. It was brutal waiting. But, it was all so worth it in the end. Calling my family and friends has been so fun. I've gotten such fantastic reactions from everyone - shrieks into the phone, followed by congratulations, followed by excitement and just pure joy for Mark and me. Mark's family and friends reacted the same way - with pure excitement. It's been so great to be surrounded by people who are just as thrilled as we are!
The planning will start sometime soon, although I truly want to take my time and let this all sink in. I want to enjoy this time in my llife as much as is humanly possible. We haven't set a date yet, but it will be some time away. We're thinking June of 2008. Plenty of time to plan plan plan!
It's a little crazy that with a simple question and a simple (but GORGEOUS!) ring, our entire lives will change. I am no longer - and will never again - be a girlfriend. I am a fiance. And someday in the not so distant future, I will be a wife. With a husband. And an eternal bond of marriage. It's crazy how just a little question can change your life so much.
I'm so excited for all of the wonderful things that that question will bring us.
It was completely unexpected. Well, I knew that the proposal was coming sometime soon, but the actual night I had no idea. Here's how it happened.
We went to the wedding of my friend Meghan. It was held at a lovely country club north of the cities, and we had a really great time. The weather cooperated, the food was delicious, and the music was great to dance to.
At the wedding, I caught the bouquet - by pushing other girls down and diving for the prize!
Two months earlier, I caught the bouquet at my cousin Tony's wedding. That's two bouquets in two months. I was starting to feel like it was really my turn. On the car ride home, I was giving Mark a hard time about it, saying that someone must be trying to tell him something.
When we got home, he asked me to sit down on the couch because he had a surprise for me. I was not expecting anything like a proposal at all; in fact, I thought that he was going to play a new song that he learned on the guitar or something. I sat down on the couch and thought, "I'm so tired. I hope that he plays the song and then wants to go to bed!" Little did I know...
When he came out from the back bedroom, he had his hands in his pockets and his knees were shaking a bit. I was a little confused that he didn't have the guitar - are anything in his hands, for that matter. What kind of surprise was this? He stood in front of me and started his speech. He told me that he'd been wanting to do this for so long, but that so many other things had gotten in the way. He'd been waiting and waiting for the perfect moment and the perfect time, but he just couldn't wait one more minute to ask me this or he was going to explode. Then, he got down on one knee, and he asked me to marry him.
I fell right off of the couch. Somewhere in there I screamed, "You're not really doing this, are you?!" I had NO idea what was happening. Before I knew it, I was off the couch and on the floor kissing him and crying. I was kissing him so much that he didn't hear my answer - yes, of course! - and had to actually pull away from me to say, "What is your answer?!"
We stayed on the floor like that for quite some time, in complete shock. I was in shock because I completely did not expect to come home from the wedding and have him propose. And, I think that he was in shock, too, because he completely didn't plan to do it that night. It just felt right, and he felt the moment, and he just couldn't wait.
I love so much that the man I love couldn't wait to ask me to marry him. He was so excited and is so thrilled to be marrying me, that he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask! I was so touched by that, and I think it's truly one of the most adorable things I've ever heard in my life!
Here's the ring with all of the little accessories that I got. I tried so hard to take a good picture of the ring, but it didn't turn out. But I wanted people to see something! So, I thought that I'd at least put up this picture of my amazing ring with the lovely, little blue box...and all that comes with it!
The rest of the night, we just lay around in each other's arms, letting it all sink in. I didn't sleep much that night. I decided to wait until morning to call my mom, but my mind didn't quite get the concept of time that night. I woke up three times between 2:00am and 6:45am. Finally at 6:45am, I just decided that it was time to get up.
I called my parents at 8:00am, and no one was home! They were both working! Because I wanted my parents to be the first people in the whole world to know, I had to wait two more hours to tell people. It was brutal waiting. But, it was all so worth it in the end. Calling my family and friends has been so fun. I've gotten such fantastic reactions from everyone - shrieks into the phone, followed by congratulations, followed by excitement and just pure joy for Mark and me. Mark's family and friends reacted the same way - with pure excitement. It's been so great to be surrounded by people who are just as thrilled as we are!
The planning will start sometime soon, although I truly want to take my time and let this all sink in. I want to enjoy this time in my llife as much as is humanly possible. We haven't set a date yet, but it will be some time away. We're thinking June of 2008. Plenty of time to plan plan plan!
It's a little crazy that with a simple question and a simple (but GORGEOUS!) ring, our entire lives will change. I am no longer - and will never again - be a girlfriend. I am a fiance. And someday in the not so distant future, I will be a wife. With a husband. And an eternal bond of marriage. It's crazy how just a little question can change your life so much.
I'm so excited for all of the wonderful things that that question will bring us.
Big News
I'M ENGAGED!
Well, to be fair, Mark and I are engaged. :)
I'll post tonight all the details and the story of how it all went down.
Well, to be fair, Mark and I are engaged. :)
I'll post tonight all the details and the story of how it all went down.
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