The (Not-So) Ordinary Life and Times...

Rachel Zoe Craft Night

I love The Rachel Zoe Project (and really all things Zoe) and the lovely Christina Kahler let me invite myself over to her place to watch the show last night (how ridiculous is her HOUSE!?!). Christina suggested making a fun fall craft that her friend had tried...so we attempted some fabric-covered pumpkins.

After much discussion over whether or not we should use real pumpkins, we decided they would rot and we'd have to throw away all our hard work. A little Mod Podge and some Summerset Winery Caba Moch later, we had some darling fall decorations!

Thanks for hosting me, Christina, and sharing your fabric magic :)

A Day of Wine and Bees

Dan and I went to Indianola, Iowa, just south of Des Moines for the final day of their grape harvest of the season. We were lucky to stay at our good friend Meg's the night before so we didn't have to get up and drive from Omaha to make it to the winery by 7:30 am. During breakfast the vintner told us we'd be picking the concord grapes that day. His list of rules for the day included not cutting off a finger and not being "that girl." Did ok on the first task. We also randomly ran into one of Dan's friends from Iowa State, Brad, and his girlfriend Sara.

We went into the fields to pick grapes. You're given a 5-gallon bucket and you'd be surprised how quickly it will fill up. Once your bucket is full, yell "BUCKET!!!" and these fabulous people just appear and take your full bucket away and an empty bucket is now yours to fill. Amazing. Dan thinks those guys get really tired of hearing the word "bucket" by the end of the day.

 




After a couple of hours we moved to pick a different type of grape (that I don't remember...awesome). That only took a little while and then it was wine time!

This is our little band of harvesters with the vintner, Ron.

Then we went back to the winery and had some lunch and watched the people stomp some grapes. Ok, who are we kidding, after lunch we went to stomp too.

And then Sara (Brad's girlfriend) fell in. She was "that girl". Then the boys thought they should give it a go.

After the grape stomping was finished, it was time to paint our shirts! Since Sara had fallen in, Brad only thought it would be appropriate to have her begin the shirt painting...with her butt.

Then the rest of us got our feet painted and walked on the back of our shirts. Super fun!

We had a blast and really want to return for next year's harvest!

I'm glad I got to check 2 more things off my list! With only about a moth to go, I've gotta get moving!

Have a glass of wine and enjoy the first days of fall!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

It's the first day of Fall (my favorite season) and it's potluck day at the museum. It's weird, I don't like pumpkin pie, but I like pumpkin cupcakes (and would probably give a digit or limb for Christina Kahler's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies) and so I made an Ina Garten recipe that my stepmother-in-law Susan made for Labor Day weekend at the lake. She had them out at breakfast and I thought I had died and gone to heaven - pumpkin muffins with frosting!? - but only after I had eaten (more than) one she told me they were actually cupcakes. Oh well. Have a good weekend!

 

It's Greek to Me

I've been experimenting with some simple Greek food this past week. I baked some chicken breasts and made a really quick and easy Tzatziki-type sauce and served them with some frozen Spanakopita from Whole Foods (yum!).  I think I've definitely found a winner in Cooking Light's Quick Pastitsio. We had it last night and will be making it again!

This weekend I get to cross #16 off my list! We're heading to Indianola to Summerset Winery for their grape harvest! This will be me:

Calendar Wisdom - September 2011

Happy September! Thought for the day (courtesy of my quote calendar from Christina Kahler):

 

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, steer a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, soilve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cooke a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly."

-- Robert Heinlein