Bachelor(ette) Weekend

It was a beautiful weekend for a getaway to the Finger Lakes! I’m so glad Brad and I were invited to his cousin’s bachelor/bachelorette party.
We started bright and early on Saturday and hopped aboard a limo bus that was so cool. I’ve never been in a limo before, and this was double the size! It was so neat. Party music blasting, lights in the ceiling and a champagne toast to kick everything off.
We went to 3 different wineries, but Three Brothers is basically 4 trips in one (three wineries and a brewing company).
And let’s not forget the gorgeous weather that made seeing the vineyards and waterfall that much better.

All photos taken/edited with VSCO Cam.

Dinner Last Night: Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bites

Apologies for the not-so-pretty photo. I’m not the best at pancake shaping, and there are a LOT of chocolate chips in that.
I was looking forward to breakfast all week. I just love it. Sausage, bacon, eggs, pancakes or toast or waffles or French toast or English muffins.
It’s all so dang good.

Usually, when I make breakfast for dinner, I scramble a bunch of eggs. But I decided to go with something different, something Brad has made for us a few times but my family has never tried. That would be sausage and egg breakfast bites from Mark’s Daily Apple.
It is the simplest thing to make and so delicious.

My family ate the whole thing. I was looking forward to some leftovers for a quick breakfast today, but alas.
I’m glad it went over well, though.
I love cooking now, and my family are the best critics. Mostly because they love what I make.

 

In other news, I’m off to Seneca NY for the weekend! It’s Brad’s cousin’s joint bachelor/bachelorette party. I love the Finger Lakes, and I’m in desperate need of escape. I have a three day weekend. We should be back on Sunday, but we are taking are time, so I’m looking forward to a day to recuperate from partying in a limo-bus and drinking wine for long periods of time.

I’m a little bummed out, Mohegan Sun is having their Oktoberfest and I had such a blast last year. I was looking forward to it.
But come on. There’s no way I won’t have a good time this weekend.

Have a great one, guys!

Dinner Last Night: Chicken Parmigiano

Apologies for the not-so-focused photo.

I decided to try a chicken parmigiano last night. This marked another first for me: frying! I’ve never fried anything before, but it was easy and fun! I got the chicken tender recipe from Rachael Ray (she’s my go-to since her meals are meant to be quick and easy to make). I used a jarred pasta sauce with some bowtie pasta as a compliment to the chicken. And, I finally made roasted green beans, a recipe I found on Pinterest forever ago and have been wanting to make from the moment I saw the picture. Green beans are probably my favorite food, so I love learning new and interesting ways to cook them and kick up the flavor!

Also, what is Italian food (or dinner in general) without wine?

 

It’s Friday! To be honest, this week sorta blew right by. I am not complaining. I have work tomorrow, but it’s Easter weekend, and I’m sure it will be lovely. I’m really waiting for next weekend though! 3 days of freedom. I have the 16th off, I took a vacation day, and it is and will be a much needed break from the norm. But that’s a while away. So I’ll just focus on the now!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!
And happy weekend y’all!

Wine and Cheese

This weekend was sort of quick, although I am writing this blog from home, sipping on French Vanilla coffee, enjoying a day off from work.
Basically, it was a blur. Brad and I got dinner with my sister and her boyfriend Josh, which was a lot of fun. And then my friend Jenna came over for a wine and cheese night (which we had been wanting to do for ages) that maybe got a little crazy at the end.
Regardless, it was a fun time and, as always, I can’t wait for next weekend.

Hope y’all had an excellent weekend and let’s have a great week!

Labeling

Wine tasting is an excellent activity (can I stress how much I enjoyed this past weekend enough?) and can really help suss out your tastes. I’m still a fairly young “drinker” because I’m only legal for 3 years and spent most of my drinking days with cheap beer. It’s only recently that I’ve opened my palate to fancier beers and wines. And wine is a complicated thing. Dry, Semi-Dry, Sweet, Semi-Sweet, Red, White, Blush, Rosé… It’s rather overwhelming. During the course of my 48 hour wine splurge, I realized that, though I don’t enjoy super dry and oak-y wines, I don’t like them too sweet. I do not discriminate by color…I love them all. I also realized that a super cute bottle is often what may ultimately seal the deal. Perhaps that’s judging a book by it’s cover…but often what’s inside is as delectable as the outside.

(Sidebar: I didn’t really have intentions to solely use my iPhone to take photos but I’m glad it’s all I used. It was too icky, rainy, and risky to use my DSLR.
I know it’s been a Hipstamatic overload lately!)

“Uncork New York!”

This is where I spent my weekend. It was insanely fun. We didn’t have the best weather (gray skies, rain, chilly) but that didn’t really matter. We stopped at a ton of wineries (I bought 13 bottles…none of which I will be able to drink anytime soon…) and had some pretty great meals.

It doesn’t hurt that we also slept 10 hours Saturday into Sunday. We needed it, after the 4ish hours we got the night before (worth it, for my first paid photography gig and a really fun and adorable wedding).

Let the pictures commence. When I plugged my phone into the computer, I had 129 photos waiting to be transferred. That’s a personal record, in terms of iPhone, Hipstamatic, and Instagram photos.

There are SO MANY more photos. Expect to see them scattered throughout the week.

Ronery

I enjoy a nice night in to myself. At first, I was bummed out that my sister was going out and my mom was going to bed.

But I:

• watched (500) Days of Summer (which I loved all over again) and laughed and cried as much as I wanted to
• drank Franzia sangria
• painted my toenails (Essie Lady Godiva)

I want all of Zooey Deschanel’s clothes in the film. And her bangs.

I am such a wussy.

I am starting to fall absolutely in love with the blogging community.
I am sure someone out there would make fun of me for following blogs, especially those of people that I do not talk to/will never know.
To be honest, I've had this situation happen before. I guess it rolls in and out. With any other pattern in your life, you like something, then you get bored and like something else, but you probably will always like that something anyway.
First, it was LiveJournal. Then Xanga. Then years of nothing until this, right here.
Just as I enjoy reading magazine articles and celebrity gossip blogs, if I can find an interesting blog of your average Joe, I will enjoy reading that too.
Just yesterday I fell in love with Rockstar Diaries. The reasoning for my wussiness? It is the first blog I've decided to follow and I'm doing so anonymously. Despite the fact that this blog isn't private...I just cannot bear anyone reading it. Seeing it and thinking, what a LOSER!
Oh well.
I want to keep this fun, and interesting, in the off chance that someone stumbles upon this too...they might think so too.

In other news, I am obsessed currently with wine, and its ability to make me laugh until I cry and/or it hurts. Last night on a whim, these ingredients created the perfect Thursday night in the apartment:



Throw a snack plate of pepperoni, sharp white cheddar, and Triscuits in the mix and you have yourself one wonderful night.
I need to start documenting these events more. I mean, seriously.
I have a terrible camera though. It's only a few years old, but the thing barely works.
Sad how technology keeps changing, to the point where you can order a product, and as soon as it lands on your doorstep, there's a better, faster model already.

Time to continue the weekend with another Coupling marathon.
Have you ever seen the show?


If not, you should watch! It's an amazing, older British comedy that only had 4 series (their term for "seasons"). They are only around 6 episodes per series. But its better that way, because each episode is gold. 6 friends, 1 pub, and tons of relationship and sex jokes. Like an even better version of Friends. In fact, NBC tried to do an American version and failed miserably. Some things we cannot do like the Brits. I envy the freedom they have on basic BBC channels that we can only achieve on something like HBO.