Happy Anniversary to Us!
I'm a few days late with this post because we were so busy celebrating and partying it up!
Nah, actually, our anniversary was pretty low-key on Sunday and then I was busy the last few days with my final project for Intro to Marketing.
However, we did have a nice anniversary. We went our separate ways a bit for most of the day. I met an out-of-town friend for brunch in Chapel Hill while Mike ran a few errands. That evening, we had a quiet dinner together at Mez. I really wish they did more business on the weekends because it always makes me nervous that the restaurant is so empty but Mike assures me they are absolutely packed all week long. The joys of operating in RTP I suppose.
I guess after twelve years of marriage, it isn't necessary to stage elaborate celebrations each year. But it's still nice to curl up at the end of the day and just be together.
The Raleigh Concert Scene
Every year, I await tour date announcements with great anticipation. And it seems like every time my favorite bands are touring, they aren't coming anywhere near Raleigh. Instead, we get a lot of country acts and "Remember when?" acts like KISS and Tom Petty. And the Backstreet Boys. Seriously. I realize preferences for music vary widely but I like to think my taste in music is pretty eclectic. Still, there's next to nothing on the schedule that interests me.
And yet somehow the City, in all their wisdom, felt that what the area really needed to spend tax money on was another concert venue. I guess so it can be half-filled with more sub-par acts while taking away from the established concert presence (not to mention foot-traffic and associated revenue at near-by restaurants) in Moore Square.
It's no secret that the economy kinda bites. Okay, not just kinda. It's been biting hard for awhile now. As a result, there's generally not a lot of spending money for extras like concerts. Especially since concerts are often very expensive, plus all the fees, plus parking, plus don't you dare think you're going to buy a bottled water for less than $10! A lot of acts are finding themselves in the position of canceling shows or even entire tours due to poor ticket sales. Some are canceling due to the poor health of band members (or, you know, poor ticket sales that they don't want to acknowledge). Everyone from Christina Aguilera to Simon and Garfunkel to Black Sabbath is canceling shows.
So Raleigh starts off with a lousy concert schedule. And then acts start canceling shows. Lilith and the Jonas Brothers (I know, how will I survive?) have already pulled their Raleigh dates. Who's next?
But John Mayer? He's still coming to Raleigh. I couldn't get rid of him and his skeeviness if I tried.
Happy 4th!
Happy Independence Day!
Also, happy birthday to my baby brother. Even though he probably doesn't appreciate being called that.
Ha, like I ever listened to him before. I'm sure not gonna start now!
Chatham Hill Winery
On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, after Matt & Rachel were on their way to Gatlinburg, we were looking for something to do. Mike realized there was a wine festival happening in Winston-Salem but by that time, it was too late to head there for the day.
With wine on our minds, we decided to check out Chatham Hill Winery. We had driven past the signs for this winery for years as it's in an office park about five minutes from Mike's work and ten minutes from the house. However, we've never bothered going. Why?
- Past experience with a bottle of their wine: Mike had picked up a blueberry wine from Chatham Hill at the grocery store and it was super-sweet. Mistakenly, we thought all of their wines would be sweet, fruity wines.
- Location: How good could wines be from a winery not in the mountains? An office building in RTP seemed like a really unlikely source of good wine.
- "Our Own Backyard" Syndrome: Somehow we never seem to do the things in our own backyard but instead run all over the countryside. Then if we end up leaving the area, we end up in a panic to do everything before we leave.
So, with nothing to lose except our unfounded pre-judgments, we wandered over to Chatham Hill Winery around 2:30 in the afternoon. We were greeted by two friendly ladies and started our tasting. I think we sampled 3 reds, 4 whites, their peach-infused sweet wine, and two varieties of sangria they had made for the holiday weekend. We were really surprised by how good their dry wines tasted! And while we aren't a fan of fruit-infused sweet wines (and I'm REALLY not a fan of peaches), we were able to appreciate how the flavored wines might be really good used in applications other than straight into the glass.
We each took a glass of wine with us for the "tour". I say "tour" in quotes only because there wasn't a lot of physical space to cover. From the tasting room, we went through the double doors in the back and that one large room included a small private event area, barrels of aging wine, all of their product storage, and their wine-making and bottling equipment. Grapes are trucked in from the mountains (and a small percentage from CA) and processed on-site from start to finish. Their bottling procedure? All by hand. No big fancy assembly line of machinery - just an assembly line of people and some simple tools.
In the end, we signed up for their wine club (3 bottles each quarter) and took home half a case of wine. Cabernet, Trinity (a blend), Syrah, Rubio (a red aged in steel instead of traditional oak), Chardonnay, and a Riesling. The Rubio may just be my favorite but I may need another tasting to be sure...
I'm glad that after years of driving past them, we finally gave them a try. They're much more than just sweet fruit wines and the tour made the entire process seem really personal. If you're in the area, please check them out - directions and hours are on their website.
Happy Birthday, Tasha!
Congratulations, Tasha, on surviving for an entire decade! Ten years old. Ten whole years of terrorizing us with your hairballs, songs, and cattitude. Maybe the congratulations should really be for us?
Tasha has actually had an eventful few months. Back in February, she lost a tooth. That's really not supposed to happen but it finally convinced us to have her teeth cleaned. That in itself was quite the adventure - the words of caution in her file at the vet's office are not there without cause!
We've also learned something about her that should've been obvious right from the start. It seems Tasha is Canadian. It makes sense - she was born to a homeless teenager on the streets in Niagara Falls. Obviously, her mother had crossed the border, hoping to find a better life for her litter. It also explains Tasha's crazy long hair (what is Canada if not cold?), her love of hockey, and her obsession with ham, which is practically the same thing as Canadian bacon.
To further prove the point, Tasha has become relentless in following Mike around when he's using the speakerphone for a work conference call. Usually, she hates the sound of male voices, especially over the phone. But if that call is with Mike's Canadian co-worker, David, Tasha stalks him. She must be as close to the phone as possible, jumping on tables, crawling across the desk, perching on the counter. These are all places that she knows she isn't supposed to be and yet if David is on the phone, the rules no longer exist. It's possible that his accent reminds her of her father, even though we keep telling her that her father was hit by a car and sent to Kitty-Heaven long ago.
So happy birthday, Tasha! Life sure would be different without our little illegal alien in the house. Mostly because I wouldn't have to vacuum so much.
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