Dogs, Penguins, and Seals: All on the Friday Five


ONE.  Meet Snickers, a patient and sweet Bernese mountain dog that visited my school this week.  More importantly, Snickers is a working dog and a member of Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ).  


READ is a nationwide organization whose mission is to improve literacy skills in children through the use of therapy animals whom they read to.  Most are dogs, but I found out that they do have other animals including a cat, a pig, and a duck!  Programs are offered free of charge (at least in my area) at all of the local libraries and children do not need to be struggling to read to one of the dogs.  Click the link or check with your local library to find out if they host a READ program near you.  If you are a Marylander, you can also check out Wags for Hope for more details on Snickers or other animals that work alongside him!

TWO.  Pens vs. Caps game!  


The fiance and I had a Wednesday date night at the game courtesy of one of our bestest buds, who also happens to be a trainer.  He hooked us up big time with all you can eat and drink throughout the game, and if you’ve seen stadium prices lately, you know how clutch that can be!  Too bad we had to work the next day.  Pens crushed them won, so I didn’t even mind the sleep sacrifice.  

THREE.  Playing around online with holiday card designs.  So many cute samples these days... what to choose.... what to choose.... 


FOUR.  Bought my first carton of almond milk.  I’ve always been a traditional milk lover, but I decided to try the healthier switch, at least for protein shakes.  I’m not sure I’m ready to drink a pure glassful yet.

FIVE.  Three days left of work until Thanksgiving break.  Hallelujah!

Oh yes, and I learned the best joke this week: 
What’s a seal’s favorite subject?

Art art art art... (said like a seal with clapping hands) hahahaha



Now go check out the rest of the links if you love a little Friday randomness :)

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My First Fashion Show!



Friday night girls night with some of my best hometown buds!  Here are some pics from our first fashion show :)  We started the night at one of our favorite spots, Isabella’s, for tapas and sangria.  Half red, half white, because we simply could not decide.  





Next, we headed over to the Faux School for the show.  A fashion show in Frederick??  Yea, that’s what I said, but when I randomly stumbled across the event online, it seemed like the perfect something different to spice up the social calendar.  All proceeds from the event went to benefit Goodwill and all of the looks featured clothing actually found in the store.  The entire thing was extremely well planned and the venue was really trendy and cute.   



We ended our night back on Market Street at another of our usual spots, and after three drinks too many and running into a lot of old friends, finally called it a night.  Now it's time to clean out my closets and get my own donation ready so I can make room for something new. Sounds like a great excuse to me! ;) 
 

Sami's Shenanigans

 
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8 Essentials for Wine Festival Success

What’s up fellow wine addicts?  It’s time for Kelly’s Wine Review link-up!  As I stated in my update earlier this month, I attended my first Linganore Wine Festival in several years.  And by first, I mean probably my 67th time, but truly it has been quite a while.  Here I share my favorite wines from festival, followed by festival check-list for anyone planning on attending a wine festival of their own, Linganore or elsewhere.  

Find it in Frederick

Because it has been several years, I wanted to do a full tasting of the wines they had available at the festival, and let me tell you, my tastes have certainly changed.  I used to love all of that sweet sh*t.... Rasberry, Blueberry, and Skipjack were always some of my staples.  If you’re a sweet wine person, I still swear that Skipjack is one of the best.

Apparently I don’t really do sweet anymore though and was looking for a drier option.  These are the bottles we settled on:

Black Raven.  This was my fiance’s favorite, which actually surprised me because the wine is not actually all that dry.  It has a hint of sweet cherry for sure, but he didn’t get sick of it and downed 2 bottles that very day.  

Terrapin White.  I chose this one because I like white as well and I wanted something similar, but not quite as sweet as the Skipjack.  This seemed to be the best fit. Apparently it was the winner of the 2013 Governor's Cup Silver Medal AND the 2013 Wine Master's Choice Silver Medal.  Whatever the heck that means.   

Red Skins.  (Do you see the Maryland theme going on here?)  This was by far my favorite and also the driest wine there.  By driest, it still was not entirely dry.  I have come to the conclusion that Linganore Wines definitely err on the sweet side every time.  But for them, it was definitely dry.  It is also a Wine Master's Choice GOLD medal winner and can only be bought at the winery.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO TASTE!
Thinking of attending a wine festival yourself?  Don’t just show up.  After much experience, I am a firm believer that the secret to wine fest success is in the preparation! 


Pack a cooler with all of these essentials:

  1. Cheese! [Duh!] I like to buy the big blocks and pre slice it ahead of time so you are not fumbling with a knife at the event.  Get a variety to suit everyone in your party.... pepper jack, cheddar, and colby jack are usually a good mix.  
  2. Crackers... to go with the cheese.  Preferably big ones.
  3. Pepperoni slices so you can stack it all up Lunchable style. 
  4. Water!!!! This is so important especially at a summer festival because you do not realize how dehydrated you are becoming drinking wine in the sun all day until you are basically crawling up the hill because you are so utterly exhausted.  
  5. Other non-alcoholic drinks to use as mixers.  I know this totally goes against the experience of the wine, but I’ve been known to mix it with Ginger Ale or Sprite to make it more of a spritzer and slow the sober-to-drunk progression.  
  6. Frozen fruit.  Buy the fruit and throw it in the freezer the night before.  I like grapes, strawberries, and blueberries best.  They act as ice cubes for your wine without watering it down.  When you finish your glass, you have a scrumptious, wine logged fruit bite. 
  7. Sunscreen.  I didn’t pack it this time because it was October and I was fully covered, but if you’re going in the summer, you don’t want to risk being baked to a crisp all afternoon.   
  8. Tailgate chairs.  (Not in the cooler, naturally.)  Trust me, a blanket is not going to cut it when you’re in it for the long haul.  Your butt will start hurting, you won’t be able to see, you won’t have a cup holder for your glass...  and if it’s a really hot day,  you absolutely must come with a pop-up tent unless you want to stare at everyone else that has one with angered envy.

Let me know if there is anything I missed, or perhaps a super awesome idea I’d never even heard of yet!  Enjoy the festival!







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Petite Ramblings - Wine Reviews

Whiskers on Kittens.. These are a Few of My Favorite Things

TGIF guys!  The weekend is finally here!  Let’s start the weekend by sharing some of our favorite things! In fact, these five favorites of mine are probably the things that define me most, incase you really wanted to know what I was about.

Whiskers on Kittens.  Seriously.  I’m a cat lady.  I am not ashamed.
Cats with forest friends.
Cats in the wrapping paper.
Cats making dinosaur toes.
Cats reading books.
Cats in sweatshirts.


Pop music.
  Nothing else has the power to turn my mood around like this does.  Singing and dancing empower me, even when in the privacy of my own vehicle. 
My job.  In my dreams.


Love.  Romance.  Spending time with my very favorite boy in the whole world.  Without it, my entire outlook on life changes.  With it, I can survive anything.  



Fitspiration.  I love an athletically fit body and the idea of one keeps me motivated to make healthy choices in life.
Putting the cookie down now... dannnnng.

Reality TV.  It’s 90% of what I watch and I don’t see a problem with it.  It’s nice to escape to the world of the rich and famous after a long day of work and mentally fall into their worlds.  Oh, and I just found out the new season of Shah’s of Sunset starts this Tuesday.  I am so excited!

http://www.bravotv.com/shahs-of-sunset

Superficial? Maybe. But who doesn’t need a little superficial in their lives to survive this crazy world we live in?  What’s your favorite things?  Follow back to Kylie’s site and link yourself up!

Lip Gloss & Lunges

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