Living life to the fullest: enjoying good food, good wine, good health and good friends.
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So, dear friend, here is to 10 more years of…….
finding our passions in life…
being in love….
heartbreak…
good laughs…
helping each other up after we “fall”…
road trips…
girls nights…
spending time with our gang…
bringing out each others fabulousness…
And just living our lives. Because my life is better with you as my friend and I love you so much!! xoxoxo
Bonjour dear friends! How I have missed you all! I have been a busy busy bee the past few weeks. First June flew by, now August is already here?!! What happened to the dog days of summer? Okay, I am going to stop dwelling on it because thinking about how quickly summer is flying by only makes me depressed. Let’s focus instead on the fun things that have caused the last month to zoom by.
Like a night at the Global Wine Pavillion downtown during CherryFest.
It was Greek Night! Upon entry to the tent, everyone received a sample of either a greek red or white. I went with the white. It was….just okay.
The Global Wine Pavillion was arranged in a U-Shape, with each booth representing a different region/country. My first stop was South Australia!
Yum! Juicy & Fruity…just a tad dry. The kind of red that would be excellent slightly chilled!
Mucho tasting then ensued….sometimes double fisted, because….why not!? 
Hands down, this was my favorite of the night!
Time to test out some of the food being offered. We were drawn immediately to the pulled pork tacos by a restaurant I have been DYING to check out- The Cooks House.
Seriously….these were OUT OF CONTROL. SO fresh, so well seasoned, so juicy….AHH! Niki and I were licking every last morsel from the plates, our fingers, our hands. This place is ranked number 1 on my to-do list now!
We toasted to a beautiful evening, enjoyed some pear hard cider, and watched the beautiful sunset. A great night 
More weekend fun & good food at The Tuscan Bistro, a long time favorite of mine- unique DELICIOUS food, great wine, good drinks, beautiful setting.
Started with an extra dirty Kettle One martini, up, with gorgonzola olives.
Two shared appetizers- The mussels, done with lots of garlic, white wine, and served with delicious cripy, doughy bread for soaking up the incredible sauce.
And the summer vegetable packets- fresh Bistro made mozzarella, wrapped with grilled vegetables, roasted red peppers, capers & balsamic glaze.
More warm squishy bread with fantastic pesto & a delicious cold white wine- the Ruffino Orvieto Classico Trebbiano. Say that ten times fast.
This past weekend was spent camping out on the lake, celebrating WoodStach 2010- a joint birthday party with a grooooovy theme Serious silliness ensued in the form of bean bag toss (corn hole??), ladder ball (golf ball rodeo??), drinks, bonfires, pig roasts, homemade bounce (fruit infused vodka), puppy play time, handdrawn tattoos and other shenanigans. I feel tired just thinking about it.
Not a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen…hoping that changes soon?? But so MUCH coming up in the next few weeks! More camping this weekend, a concert/wine/food event the weekend after that, CHICAGO for the HLS!!!. Phew. Oh well. I can rest when I am old
A couple weekends back, we trekked up to Leland, MI for the annual Food & Wine fest. I have attended the fest every year since I have been of the legal drinking age, and it is one of those things that just screams SUMMER IS HERE to me! I look forward to it every June. This year was just as enjoyable as all the rest.
Even though they raised their prices….
Haha, um dear boyfriend, please don’t hate me for sharing these pictures with everyone. Maybe it will encourage you to try a little harder when you pose for my shots. No more angry/fake faces!
MUCH. BETTER.
Also, THANK YOU for taking all the pictures I demanded sweetly asked you to take for me. We will juts need to work a little on your skills with the DSLR…..although I have a feeling I know what you were trying to capture in this pic. Haha…
THERE we go! 
Our first stop once inside the tents was to Cherry Republic, where my friend Melissa (you know, the one who just got married) now works as the winery even coordinator! UM, I want that job!!
We sampled the Conservancy- a 100% cherry wine- and the Cherry White- a, um, well, cherry white wine. Both were great! LOVED the cherry white. Light, crisp, slightly sweet, great cherry essence!!
Next stop was Silverleaf Winery- a newer place I have never been to before. I went for a taste of the Semi-Dry Riesling, and TJ opted for the classic Late Harvest Riesling. 
Verdict- thumbs up! The semi-dry was exceptional. In fact, as we passed this man going to town on some blackened whitefish, my mouth started watering imagining that pairing. I will definitely be picking up a bottle of that next time I see it!
As for the late-harvest….I was on the fence. It was GOOD, don’t get me wrong, but Northern Michigan has too many WONDERFUL late harvest rieslings, and this one was just a little too acidic for my taste.
Two glasses of wine down by 1 pm? Clearly it was time to sample some goods from the food vendors. First stop- Stonehouse Bread.
Um, yeah. Four inch thick slices of fresh foccaccia?! Sold. We split a piece of the artichoke garlic.
HAHA!!! Oh boyfriend, you crack me up. As soon as he saw my camera come up, he was making the most ridiculous faces!!
But the bread….oh my gahh the bread! Fluffy, tender, chewy, soft, WARM, flavorful, not greasy at all! AKA….bread I would sell my unborn children for. Ridiculously good.
One we were sufficiently carbed up, we headed out for more wine, and for some local craft beer for TJ. 
Short’s brewery is fabulous. I am not a big beer person, but I have really enjoyed everyone one I have tasted from here. TJ grabbed a glass of the Humalupalicious (how fun is that to say!!).
I promise he loved his beer. I was dying laughing because every single pic I took of him, he looked like he was in PAIN drinking this beer! Bahahaha. I <3 him 
I headed to Circa Vineyards. Their table was absolutely decadent! So plush.
Their Pinot Grigio was FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!! I may or may not have gone back for another sample…! We wandered around the tents for a bit, indulging in the sights and finding friends!
More food! A SUPERB burrito with smoked pulled chicken, lettuce, rice, homemade pico de gallo, and a chipotle cilantro crème drizzle.
And more super flattering pictures of boyfriend. Muahahaha.
CAUGHT ya!
FRIENDS!! Kate and Cam (engaged! shiny clean new ring!!!)!!
More friends!! Shawn and Niki!! You know them by now…!
A few more samples, a little bit of dancing, and some silliness while I assigned everyone buttons I had picked up from Circa’s table.
And by 6 pm, we were ready for dinner. Tj and I stopped at a cozy little place across the street, right on the water, called The Cove. And….Camera died!! But don’t worry, I caught more embarassing shots on the iPhone. You’re welcome.
We shared a cup of chowder, whitefish pate dip, and fresh garlic butter escargot. Coors Light to wash it down. Thanks to our friend Sarah for waiting on us!
And with that, we waved bye bye to beautiful Leland and headed home for a VERY much need deep sleep.
Hubba hubba,
Already looking forward to wine fest 2011!
