wines not worth mentioning...

...so i won't say anything more.  but here's two photos for reference.

 [these three deserving of an only-one-word review:  "meh..."]

The Girard 1999 Red Wine below was quite delicious (please ignore Random's expression, as he's not a big wine drinker).

But, actually, please don't ignore his expression, the picture's more about him than the wine anyway.

great find!

What a lucky thing... last weekend we found this rug laying out on the sidewalk--unstained and in perfect condition.  Free for the taking!

It's the perfect size (6' x 8') for our living room and the colors go great.  

I've been wanting a new rug for a while now, but haven't been willing to pay some outrageous price for one.  By some crazy fortune, we just happened to be walking down that one particular street and this one particular rug that just happened to be the right size and colors magically appeared on the sidewalk.

And, to top that off, Christopher's parents just happened to have their carpet steamer that weekend, planning to clean our other rugs... (Thank you!!)

It makes the room feel so much warmer and homier.  I'm kind of amazed.

chai tea

With Christopher's folks in town this weekend, we headed over to the Random Tea Room & Curiosity Shop, the tiniest and most lovely of tea rooms I've ever had the pleasure of visiting (twice now).  We ordered the Chai Masala, having heard raves about it from friends.

They serve it to you as a candle-lit teapot on your table with small (2-3 ounce) tea cups, allowing you to share or drink yourself.

And, ohhhhh, I wish I could share our teapot with you over this blog....

Perhaps you and I can start experimenting and come up with our own chai recipe...

Maybe start a new tradition.

lonely toothbrush...

it's small and it's silly, but when Christopher goes away for a few days, the thing that really underlines his absence is seeing my lonesome toothbrush on the sink...

last time he went away, i bought a replacement toothbrush to sit next to mine until he returned.  that replacement turned into his current one, and mine is sitting alone once again.

i guess i'll have to make a trip to the grocery store this morning...

Mom visits!

This past weekend, not only did my mom come for a visit from Pittsburgh, but so did Christopher's brother Jeremy!  Because our apartment is only a one-bedroom and not quite large enough to house all of us, Christopher booked a stay for my mom and I at a beautiful Bed & Breakfast just two blocks away!

Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could take some photos of the B&B (my mom got some though!), but I did snap a few on one of our days out in Philadelphia.

We started our day's adventure with a stop at the Green Line Cafe for free WiFi and a bottled water to last through the day (not pictured...hehe...).

From there, we took off to the Philadelphia Museum of Art...

We gazed, we read, we stood in awe...

Strangers sitting in front of the famous Van Gogh...

It's a beautiful museum.

Taking obligatory pictures of Rocky in front of the famous museum stairs.

After the museum, we went over to the Random Tea Room & Curiosity Shop and had some Spiced Assam tea with scones and delicious pound cake slices!

Later on in the afternoon, we met Christopher and Jeremy at church and after the service we went out for dinner at Radicchio Cafe, a place we've never been but will likely return to in the future!

I love Philadelphia!!

Hopefully, Mom will come back to visit (and bring Dad along, hehe) some time soon!

oh life and stuff.

Today, Christopher and I have been married for 9 months! I can't believe how time flies by. It seems like just yesterday that we first met. At the same time, it feels so completely normal, as if this is how life has always been...

I am so happy to be living in Philadelphia and spending my time here with Christopher. I think it's the perfect place for us right now. The section of the city that we're in (West Philly/University City) is exactly the type of place that I've always wanted to live in. It's so diverse, and there's lots of food places, thrift stores, coffee shops... all within walking distance. Very large, very old victorian houses. Clark Park is just a few blocks away. And trees. Lots of trees.

We celebrated Easter on our own yesterday. I had fun dressing up in my new dress that Christopher bought me, feeling girly, and strolling around outside in the beautiful spring weather. We visited a church just down the street that we'd both like to return to and cooked up some tasty food for dinner.

Me (in my new dress) and Ranny, before going to the church service (Ranny didn't go to church, obviously...):

We've had a few bottles of wine in the past weeks that I'd like to share a few pictures of, not really because the pictures have any artistic quality, but more for documentation's sake...

The Molly Dooker Cabernet Sauvignon (above, left) wasn't our favorite. I picked it out because I liked the bottle, just like picking out a book based on it's cover. Sometimes very deceiving. Maybe if we waited a few years to open it, the flavor might have rounded out a bit...

The Red Bicyclette French Rose (above, right) was fine. Perhaps not the best quality wine? It was sweet and fruity, but something tasted a bit cheap (if that's the right word) about it. I'm just starting to form my own vocabulary about wines and flavors, so forgive me.

Girard Red Wine.... Mmmmmm. We opened this for our Easter dinner yesterday and it was so smooth and delicious. The bottle says that it's 50% Cab Sauv, 32% Cab Franc and 18% Merlot. We still have some left.... I might have a few sips while finishing this post....

I might do a little bit of sewing today, I'm feeling happy and creative.

I hope that everyone is able to get outside and enjoy the new spring weather, maybe read a book, do whatever it is that you enjoy doing....

-stace

sneakers!

Converse has probably been doing this for years, I don't know, but I just found out you could design your own sneakers on their website!

Follow these links to the two that I "designed" and then design your own!!

Chucks - Numero Uno

Chucks - Numero Dos

Wine 101

I just wanted to share this video with you....

Monty Python's John Cleese has an undying love for wine and his aim in this Food Network special was to make the experience of wine less intimidating for the novice wine-drinker.

Definitely an informative video for those with little knowledge of wine, but also interesting and entertaining for those of you who may know a little bit more. We loved it!!

--------------------------------------

On a similar note, Christopher & I stopped at a Wine "Super Store" in Delaware last week on our way home from Annapolis, MD. (Delaware's great, no sales tax!) We bought a few bottles and opened the first one a few nights ago...

The first one we tried was this bottle of Zinfandel produced by Oak Grove Reserve Wines. It was one of the cheaper bottles we bought (less than $10) but came recommended by one of the wine store workers as a "great bottle for a cheap price." If you spot it at your local wine store, pick up a bottle or two! It was delicious and perfect with our meaty pasta dinner. Mmmm!

Home Things...

Finally, after months of not knowing what to do with one HUGE white wall in our living room, I found an idea! Actually, as of yesterday, I have two or three ideas... but wanted to share this one first.

From Pottery Barn, this interesting canvas:



Not our living room: