Wine of the day!

Alright! New wine today... :D

Todays wine is Old Vine Red. Lot Number 55, California Red Wine, Bottled by Marietta Cellars.

Smell: Oaky with a light fruit note. Very light and fragrant. Beautiful and simple. Fruity and jammy.

Taste: Wow jamborie goodness! Lovely balance of jammy goodness and light oak finish. I dare say that I could drink the entire bottle in one sitting if I wasn't careful.

Think I've found my new favorite wine, actually... This one is probably better than the Gnarly Head Red Blends or Klinker Brick Old Vine Zins...

Very tasty goodness!

The label on the back says:
"Old Vine REd is a proprietary red wine made to replicate the field blends of many of the old vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Predominantly comprised of Zinfandel, Old Vine Red is characterized by intense spicy aromas, bright fruit, and a solid structure. Since 1978, this wine has been the 'red house pour' in many fine restaurants across the nation."

Woo! That is some good stuff! Okay... I'm doing feeling pretty good now, so I think I'll have some more wine and eat some dinner. Yep yep!

Wine of the day!

In wedding planning, I've decided that to make it special, I'm going to add a few little special touches instead of going over the top and making it some sort of fete or gala or something else equally ridiculous.

So, I'm going to get some really good wines. Today I went to the local liquor store (Liquor Mart) and picked the brains of the assistant wine manager. I picked up four bottles to start. Tonight, I'm trying the first one.

Oraison, a Cotes-du-Rhone wine from Vin De La Vallee Du Rhone. Made in 2009.

Smells very soft and clean, especially for a red. There is an underlying jam scent with a lilt of spiciness. Its very inviting in its soft scent, which makes the taste an even bigger surprise.

The first sip is very peppery mid-tongue. The scent carries up through the taste a hint of fruit. There is a lingering body throughout my whole mouth. A nice meaty red that has enough complexity to give up a little more flavor with every sip. This is the kind of wine that could hold its own against a serious steak or a heavy Italian dish.

The label says:
"This rich and round Cotes-du-Rhone wine is made from Grenach (80%), Shiraz (10%), and Mourvedre (10%). It is produced on one of the best pebble terroirs of the Rhone valley, where poor soils and strong Mistral wind naturally concentrate the grapes. With flavors of black cherry, thyme and cinnamon, this wine pairs perfectly with cheeses and red and white grilled meat. *In French, Oration means prayer"

I feel like the pepper outweighs the fruit, but after 1/2 of the glass, its a lot easier to taste the black cherry and cinnamon. The thyme is harder to pick up, but it could be what I'm tasting as the pepper note.

Good all around. Would be better with a steak or heavier meal, I think...
Still like Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin better. :D

Busybusybusy!

Ah... life is back in full swing once again.

I had a short hiatus during my recent, and unplanned, unemployment, which left me in a bit of a funk.

But no more! Along with starting therapy, I've also started at Great Clips in Longmont. We've been busy with the back to school season and it is the second busiest salon in Colorado, so I'm optimistic about it staying pretty steady.

This is my last full weekend for a while, so I'm making the most of it by updating my website and cleaning/organizing the house. As a nice break, I was perusing a website from Key West Florida, and found a nice little extra that I'd like to try:
Sub Tours!

They're basically in one of those yellow bubble mini subs, like the one that Andy Samburg from SNL was driving around during Shark Week on the Discover Channel.

Well, I better get back to it! Have a great week everyone!

Writing!

What better way to get things out of my head? I started writing a new story a couple of days ago. This one features a character named Rebecca. She's a little crazy...

That, along with reading my books seems to be helping get things right. I'm also applying like a fiend. There has to be something to be said for persistence, right? Now, where did I put that paperwork? Hmm...

Jobs and the future...

I guess the long and short of it are that I should get a part-time job... at the least. Maybe two. One way or another, I've figured out that I need to start making about $1300-$1400 per month. Thats $350 a week. If I'm figuring hourly, that could be anything from $10 an hour (take home) for 35 hours, or $14 an hour for 25 hours.

Obviously, if I could do the the second of those, would be the best. That way, any other freelance that I might do, as with my company, Goddess To Go, would be extra. Also, I would be able to pay an equal share of utilities and mortgage and be an equal partner with Sean.

I'm not really sure, beyond knowing what I need, of what to do... What do I do now, seems to be the big question.

Be Nice! ...wait, what?

Everyone has their own little idiosyncrasies that make them who they are. Mine are different from yours, and yours are different than mine. A lot of people have ones that line up and thats where you get your lifetime friends or most celebrated rivals.

I've noticed recently that a fair amount of my characteristics and idiosyncrasies are based on my need for honesty. On a base level, I don't trust people when I first meet them, or I trust them too much and get burned. Any time someone has to "put on a face" or "act as someone" in an environment that isn't related to theater, my guard goes up. That contrived and forced niceness feels fake and somewhat malicious.

I know that its a defense mechanism because I do it too. Trying to cater to everyone and be the best, most glowing example of whatever it is that I'm attempting has been a crutch of mine since before I can remember. Because the best get noticed. The best get praised. The best get attention, and therefore, are loved.

Its a silly notion, that attention = love, but how can there be love without that, right?

The idea reminds me of those if-then questions on standardized tests from when I was a kid. If Blue is always Green and Green is always Yellow, then can Yellow be Red? Or some such question.

Love is always attention, but attention is not always love.

I'm reading an amazing book from a woman named Sonia Choquette, about balancing your chakras and renewing your spirit called: "True Balance" Its an interesting approach to not only rediscovering balance, but also in finding out who you are and ways to balance that in order to find peace with yourself. This passage about an overactive third chakra, or power/intelligence center, caught my eye this morning:

"Another indication of an overinflated power center is an overbearing personality. An expanded energy field does have a strong influence on others, but often in undesirable ways. Sometimes, this imbalance reveals itself in subtle and manipulative behaviors, such as using flattery and gift giving and always being the nice guy (unless crossed), in order to gain quiet control over others and consequently feel safe."

Did you just hear that exploding sound?? That was my mind. My mind is blown. Not only have I done exactly that, for YEARS, but it was all, in fact, a way to exhibit a kind of quiet control. I didn't want to muscle my way into a place of power, but I did want a sort of subversive control of the situation... so I'd needle, and I'd prod, and then when people would call me on my crap (which always happened eventually), I'd get extremely upset.

Why so sad? Fear of losing control, fear of losing attention, and fear of not being the best. Because if I'm the best, most attentive, most needed, most in control, then I'll be beloved above all others, right? Not so much...

...and thats kind of the point. Love is not contingent upon being the best, it just is what it is, and it doesn't care if you win the competition or are the prettiest or are the best singer or whatever. Thats what I'm learning. Its a pretty nifty thing.

A tree falls...

On Friday, one of our large trees in the courtyard in front of our building fell. At 2am. After the rain had stopped and so had the wind, actually.

What we didn't see was that the other tree had tried to fall as well, is still teetering and is very close to falling too. What's keeping it up? The dumpster shelter next to it. Our grounds people have blocked off part of our parking lot for our safety until the tree can be removed. That was supposed to happen this last weekend. Tree is still there. LOL