Tag Archives: sonoma wines and spirits

Weekend With My BB – Part One

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway for two Anchor Bay fitness DVDs – I received 193 entries! The two winners are…

Laurel and Angela!

Congrats, ladies! I will be contacting you for your shipping information. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the DVDs! And now, onto today’s weekend recap (part one!)…

During Friday’s drive from work to the gym, I was itching with excitement. Yes, I felt pumped to get to the gym after taking a semi-active rest day the day before. But I felt MORE pumped for what would be arriving in Glastonbury after my gym trip – Heather, my best blend!

Cheers!

My BB drove from MA to CT to stay for the weekend. We both absolutely craved the same things Friday night – wine, salad, and pajamas. Consider it done!

My mom captured the bloggers at work!

I purchased a bottle of Pinot Grigio for the perfect price of $7! I’d sampled this Pinot, from Lulu B Wines, at the Yelp Helps! event in Hartford recently. It was definitely Instagram-worthy, as you can see above, and also tastebud worthy! I find that white wines are way easier to “do cheap” than reds!

Using glasses from Chamard Vineyards!

Heather and I like to buy each other little gifts when we see things that remind us of each other (you can vomit now), and we weren’t even surprised when we pulled out bags from the same store (our little piece of heaven, Urban Outfitters) when it came time to exchange presents.

Who’da thunk it?!

I love giving people presents. I’ve been known to find someone the PERFECT birthday gift, and buy it, regardless of whether the birthday is a week or almost a year away! Hanging onto the gift becomes difficult. I only got Heather’s gift last weekend, but have been so anxious to give it to her since!

And for good reason! I knew this would be Heather’s face when she opened her present – a large photo book containing a history of the Beatles through FASHION! I don’t know much about the Beatles (don’t judge me) but I do know she loves them, and loves the fashion of the 60s (and beyond). Also, the book was $2 .Yup. Purchasing it for her was kinda a no-brainer.

Wet hair, don’t care.

The notebook on the right literally lists the benefits of drinking coffee – as if I needed any convincing to consume it daily – and is so perfect for grad school. Especially since I just started back this past Thursday! I love the contrasting stripe and polka dot patterns of the notebook on the left. They’re sure to get my creative juices flowing, which is appropriate since Heather purchased the notebook for the specific purpose of my continued journey with #AmazingMe. Um, #AmazingHeather! I’m so touched by her constant support.

The pan in the center has curried sweet potatoes from Whole Foods (plus ketchup) that we made extra crispy in the oven. Le duh.

We’d planned to add re-runs of “The Hills” to our salad-and-wine soiree, but they were not available on MTV.com. Never fear! We were better off moving ourselves and all our “gear” down to my basement to use Netflix. Five or six episodes later, we were in major #jadorelavie mode.

I also need to give Lauren Conrad props for having the BEST bitch faces ever.

I awoke with an annoying stab-my-eyes out headache, but I wasn’t too concerned. Heather and I had plans to visit the local Bikram Yoga studio. I had 9 classes from a Groupon to use and she’s a big fan, so we thought it was an appropriate Saturday morning BB workout. And a workout it was! Not only did I feel physically challenged, but also mentally. I noticed that whenever my mind started to wander, my balance did too! My desire to hold poses longer and more correctly drove me to bring my mind back to the present. The practice felt hardest to me during all the transitions to and from savasana, as strange as that sounds. The switching between lying on my back and whatever mat pose was next really got the blood flowing to and from my head, which made me feel light-headed and set my heart to a racing pace at times. That might sound scary, but I still felt in control of my body – just challenged as well. I felt like my heart and lungs were fighting to get stronger! I always discover something physically and mentally new about myself when I practice yoga, particularly a style as extreme as Bikram.

The post-Bikram glow – and HLS headband!

After showering and packing a snack bag (priorities, people), we went to our special Glastonbury spot – Daybreak Coffee Roasters. Every time Heather visits Glastonbury, our time together is not complete without a blogging session at Daybreak, just as my visits to her are not complete without a Wildflour trip (which must include a scone).

Of course my standard cottage cheese and fruit snack was on stand-by!

We ordered Pumpkin Spice (Heather) and Southern Pecan (me) French press coffees. In mugs, for ultimate coziness.

All set up with her protein oats!

We both were super productive thanks to our fresh fuel and cups of joe! And super zen thanks to the morning’s yoga and the peaceful atmosphere of Daybreak.

Thanks for the labels, Daybreak!

Afterwards, we went to Sonoma Wines & Spirits, my favorite package store ever, to help my mom pick out some craft beers. Sonoma has a great selection of singles of unique beers from smaller brands, and customers can build their own six pack AND get 10% off! Later in the day, I joined my mom in sampling some of the Dogfish Head Burton Baton and Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. We both agreed the Hoptimum was the winner!

Beer in a Coca-Cola glass, classic.

Perfect for Tennessee football viewing!

We obviously had to do a photoshoot outside of Sonoma. Because that’s what bloggers do.

Sonoma – and Heather’s fishtail braid skills – rock!

We had another Whole Foods experience for our late lunch, but managed to spend a bit less money this time.

Heather’s awe of how “cute” my town is totally made me realize that I sometimes take it for granted. I DEFINITELY used to in high school. I’m glad that since moving back home, I’ve learned about the treasures my town has to offer. One of the cute gift shops we visited, Emmy Lou’s, also happened to be home to Heather’s favorite type of dog, a corgi.

Awkward…

This particular corgi was named Tasha, and she was literally camera shy – as in, afraid of cameras! Opposite of a blogger. A hilarious attempt to get a photo of Heather and Tasha together ensued.

Corgi fail!

Corgi isn’t having this shit.

Seeing Heather laugh that hard was pretty awesome.

Tasha is over it.

Thanks to the shop/corgi owner, we got a good photo!

After our Glastonbury adventures were done, we went back to my house and I watched the football game with my mom (and my beer) while Heather read her book. Seeing my friends read makes me so happy, since I’m such a bookworm! We took some time to read each other favorite passages, both of her book and my latest (which I plan to do a post on soon). After more episodes of “The Hills” (can’t stop, won’t stop), we set off for dinner. To be continued…

You can read Heather’s take on our first adventures here 🙂 and more to come from me!

Cheap wines, red and/or white…do you buy/drink them?

Which old show could you watch endless re-runs of?

Have you ever tried Bikram yoga?

Beer Tasting – Yes, This is Still Caitlin

I’m having a great day so far! I woke up at 5:30am for no reason, feeling ready to go, so I had time to hit the gym for a workout, something I often don’t get a chance to do on Thursdays since I have class after work (and refuse to get up at 5:30am to work out unless it happens on its own). Did not bother to put in my contacts, though.

Rocking my ALA Stair Climb shirt for a stair-climbing workout of course!

I did 20 minutes of HIIT on the StepMill and the following bicep and tricep workout from Heather. Ended with some oblique #PlankADay, of course!

Heather continued to make my day by notifying me that I won her Naturebox giveaway! They send out a monthly box of new snacks – it’s like Birchbox for food! I don’t know how I didn’t know about it. I can’t wait to get my box of snacks and share my thoughts with you all 🙂

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I also enjoyed about 15 minutes of sun time before clouds rolled in during my lunch break (I’ll take what I can get) with a new book that is super-weird, but also super-interesting. Has anyone read it?

The coffee is a new flavor from a local cafe, Almond Joy! Another day-brightener.

Let’s move on to the surprising part of this post – I hosted a beer tasting at my house during our Easter party. Yes, me, as in I, as in Caitlin. Just had to clarify that. I’m not shy about the fact that I’m not a big fan of beer. I know many of my readers, particularly the runners, feel differently. I find that so many runners I meet just love their beer! My mom is no exception. But I’m also an adventurarian, so I went to the best possible source for beer advice and suggestions, Elliot of Sonoma Wines & Spirits.

He helped me pick out the above selection of seven different beers (at Sonoma, if you buy six you get 10% off!) – the Sierra Nevada holder (is there a proper name for those?) is just what they had on hand. I was “sitting on them” for about a month, and decided the Easter party was the perfect time to do a tasting because plenty of people could join in! I wanted to try them all at once but needed enough other people around to help me finish them.

The beer tasters (well, not all of these youngsters had beer).

We all tried different beers at different times, I didn’t bother trying to keep any “order” to it. My sister was kind enough to pick up a bunch of cups at the store the day of the party.

I’d already heard of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but since I’m so carbonation-averse, I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy it. It was better than I thought it’d be though. I can see myself getting used to it. My friend Stacy’s dad LOVES this beer – he wasn’t even gonna participate in the tasting until he saw this was involved. Then his eyes got very wide and he asked for a cup!

This Smuttynose Robust Porter was more my style for sure! Less carbonated, though not TOO heavy. Think of it as a lighter Guinness. I was one of the few who enjoyed it, probably because I’m one of the few who doesn’t care for carbonation – or most beers in the first place.

The Konig Ludwig Weissbier was a crowd favorite! Seriously, no one disliked it. I think everyone was doubly impressed as well because no one had ever heard of it before. I’d call it a nice middle-ground beer. Just a medium body, not too hoppy, not too heavy either.

Elliot referred to the New England Brewing Co. Elm City Lager as a much-classier “college beer”. What those New England preppy frat boys drink, ya know? Too light and hoppy and Bud Light-like for me – and many who tasted it. Though it was thought of as a good beer for a boat ride on a hot day. Of course, I don’t know when my next boat ride on a hot day will be. I wish I did! Anyone know?

A lot of those who sampled the Boddington’s Pub Ale had already heard of and/or tried it, so it was not received as warmly as some of the other selections. More of a “meh, this is fine”.

The Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA was definitely the hoppiest – and rarest – of the beers in this tasting. However, I think I can definitely appreciate its high quality because despite the fact that it was very hoppy and, as Andrea called it, “intense”, I enjoyed it more than the other pale ale I tried from Sierra Nevada. You’d think I’d go for less bubbles, but this beer was just quite cool! Who knows, maybe its “rare-ness” went to my head, but I don’t think so!

I saved the one I was most excited to try, and knew I’d like the most, for last in this discussion. The first beer I asked Elliot to recommend to me was the best chocolate beer he knew of, and this was the one he mentioned without a second’s hesitation – Southern Tier Imperial Chocklat Stout (FYI I next wanna do a tasting with ALL the beers on that page – YUM). It was so good!!! I even had half a cup with my chocolate cake for dessert. I was one of the few who liked this beer. All the other tasters were fairly regular to very seasoned beer drinkers and since this tasted least like beer, they liked it the least. More for me?! What’s also cool is that you don’t have to worry about finishing this guy in one sitting (it’s a bigger bottle) because it actually keeps pretty well in the fridge for a few days after opening if you stop it up with a wine cork!

Nice, Mollie.

Thanks to my beer tasting companions – and observers – for joining me on my quest to become more adventurous with my alcohol! Because that’s SUCH a necessity, right? 😉

Are you a beer drinker? Have you ever tried any of these beers, and/or attended a beer tasting?

How I Spent My 23rd Birthday!

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday! I ended up having a great day (so great that I didn’t have time to blog :-P) and want to thank all of you that wished me happy birthday on Twitter and/or Facebook! So how did I spend my special day? Haven’t had time to upload cam pics yet, but I was tweeting a play-by-play of life, as per usual.

The day got off to a great start when I woke up to this. I love my mom!

My co-workers continued to make the day fabulous. My friend Steve got me these gorgeous tulips. The bow matches my St. Patty’s Day nails!

The fellow ladies of our sales row (of cubicles, ha) know me well. They gave me a bottle of local CT red wine from Sharpe Hill Vineyards! I haven’t had their wine yet and am super excited to try it.

Holy moly, look at this gem! It’s from Jim, a co-worker who has access to a pretty awesome bakery (he got another co-worker an equally awesome cupcake for her birthday last month). That chocolate-cake looking part is actually ALL icing. I am an icing freak. So let’s just say I’m gonna enjoy this. Saving it for tonight after dinner maybe!

I’m a lucky girl!

My boss was kind enough to give me a half day on my birthday, and good thing, because it was about 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky yesterday. Is this the new CT March? I’ll TAKE IT!

Obsessed with Vera towels.

No, this is not a summer ’11 photo, this is YESTERDAY. Amazing! I chilled with my best friend Lidia as we drank iced beverages (coffee for me, green tea for her), read magazines/books, and chatted. She was also kind enough to use my Goodreads to-read list to pick out a couple of new books for me as a gift – it used to be we were gifting each other off our Forever 21 wish lists, and now it’s Goodreads! Oh, how adult we are!

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Now I can see what all that hype is about!

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A classic that I’ve been curious about.

Call me weird, but I wanted to go to the gym despite the fact that it was my birthday. I completed 4.08 miles on the StepMill, Level 16, speed intervals AKA some kick-butt HIIT. Felt FABULOUS after! Read the issue of SHAPE with Kate Walsh on the cover. She is one amazing lady.

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I wrapped things up with the below workout created by the amazing Heather of For the Love of Kale (who gave me a birthday shoutout yesterday, THANKS LOVE). I’m not doing any upper body today so wanted to get some in yesterday. Quick and effective!

After showering my sweaty self off, I went to meet my friend Colin (of Taste of New Haven) at Mustard Seed Cafe, a cute local breakfast-and-lunch place, for a French Wine Tasting Class event put on by my favorite liquor store EVER, Sonoma Wines & Spirits. Apps were served to start and I put together a little tasting plate, but kept it light because I wanted to go out to a late dinner afterward.

Went back for seconds on the veg (obviously).

For a wine lover like myself, this was definitely an informative event, in terms of both tasting wine and its origins. I have to admit I found myself drifting a bit during the historical parts of the presentation, but I think that was because I was so excited to get-to-sippin…

Flight #1 (three total).

The most fascinating part for me was learning how to both properly smell and taste wine. Did you know that you’re supposed to cover the glass with your hand, swirl the wine around, and then just take a slight sniff from under your hand when smelling a wine? The whole swirl and stick my nose in the glass thing that I’ve had going on is NOT correct. Too bad I put on hand lotion right before the event!

The proper method of tasting wine is really cool and made a HUGE difference. I’m having no luck finding a video or series of photos on Google (I know, what?) demonstrating the method, but it involves taking a sip, tilting your head forward and letting the wine rest in the front of your “palate”, and then tilting your head back (it reminded me of taking a shot…) and letting the wine slide over the middle and back parts of your tongue before swallowing (or spitting, something I am not fond of, and I know, that’s what she said). The taste was SO much more intense. I kinda loved it.

My favorite flight obviously – three reds, how can you go wrong?

I had a few favorites, which I marked with stars on our info/ordering sheets, and ended up decided to purchase the Chateau Picque Caillou Graves Pessac-Leognan. I know – what?? Just know that it tasted sooo oak-y and fabulous. I also received a $25 credit with my admission, and the bottle was $30.59. How often do I have a chance to buy a $30 bottle of wine for $5?! Answer: never, so I leapt at it. I’m going to save this bottle for something very special!

After the tasting wrapped up, Colin and I headed out to get some FOOD. It was almost 9pm, so we hit up the late night happy hour at Max Fish! I love going to these kinds of happy hours at nice restaurants because I get the chance to order and sample food that would normally be out of my price range.

Recycled image from my last visit but obviously I had to get the cheese plate again.

Colin offers a useful hand-size comparison for this ahi tuna with jasmine rice and lemongrass sauce.

Frozen not fresh (as our waitress honestly told us when we asked), but still so good.

Does anyone else dip fries into their ice cream and/or milkshakes? Colin thought I was a weirdo for that one!

I’m asking about ice cream because Colin not-so-secretly (I noticed immediately…) approached our waitress and asked her to send over a birthday dessert for me. I was still surprised because I had no clue what it’d be! I wish this picture hadn’t come out so blurry:

CARAMELIZED BANANA SPLIT

SO DELICIOUS. I realized it had been too long since I last had ice cream. And it had been way WAY too long since I’d made that an ice cream SUNDAE. The caramelized bananas and slightly-salty nuts on that whipped cream made it extra special.

Fabulous, fabulous birthday. And it doesn’t stop there – off to J. Gilbert’s with my family tonight!

How did you celebrate your last birthday? Do you have any go-to traditions?

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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