Host a Blind Wine Tasting Party

Last year, two of our colleagues and friends entered into a debate about whether or not the price of the wine determined its quality and tastiness. The conversation resulted in a blind wine tasting party that is now a Fitzgerald tradition. If you enjoy wine, at any price point, I highly encourage you to host your very own blind wine tasting party. You won't be disappointed with the results!

First step is to identify your guest list. This year, we intentionally brought together couples that we keep hoping to connect with but for some reason or another, our schedules do not seem to match up. J and I enjoy bringing together friends from different aspects of lives. It is both fun and an open space for us to truly walk in community with others.

Once you've determined your guest list, you can invite them to bring their favorite bottle of wine. We like to leave it up to guests to choose a white wine or a red wine, and award a prize for each category. You could have folks sign up if you'd like or even assign regions from around the world. There are lots of fun ways to personalize this aspect. Our guests this time around really loved red and we ended up not having a white wine in sight {fine by this red wine lover!}.

Part of my wine love involves the bites to eat that often accompany the sips. Our guests were also asked to bring an appetizer to share. Wine + small bites for dinner. My kind of party, for sure.

For my food contributions, I made a healthier buffalo chicken dip and a baked brie in phyllo cups with a walnut and craisin garnish.

As guests arrived, we invited them to choose a number to attach to their bottle of wine. I found this free printable here.

When the tasting began, each guest received a scorecard to rate the tasting. I like to give a few minutes in between tastings for chatting and preparing for the next sip. As we tasted each wine, we identified the number on the bottle but keep the secret of whose bottle it was and what type of wine it was. For us, it lead to a lot of fun guessing as to who brought it and what type it was.

We prefer to provide mini cups for the tastings and then toss them out each time. You could also provide guests with one glass and a dump bucket if you preferred that. I also recommend some palate cleansing snacks such as: crackers, goldfish, etc. for guests to munch on in between samples.

After all of our tastings were complete, we asked guests to vote for their favorite white wine and favorite red wine. In the case that all of your guests bring one type, liked ours did, have them vote for their top 2. As we announced the top selections, the bottles were revealed! After that, everyone was free to enjoy glasses of any wines they chose.

The winners of our categories took home gift certificates to the newly opened Mini Doughnut Factory, a personal favorite of ours {get the cotton candy one!}.

Of course, decorating for your party is also a fun aspect. Or at least it is for me. A few little pretty things go a long way.

For this party, I used a roll of brown butcher wrapping paper to create a table runner, picked up a fresh tulip plant, and used some thought provoking cocktail napkins to spur on conversation. {I pick up cocktail napkins all the time for this purpose and to be sure that I always have fun ones on hand.} You can use any embellishments you'd like to represent you and add a little fun for your guests.

Write down your own great ideas and invite your friends over for a lovely and lively night with good wine and even better company!

If you're curious about our winners from this year, the favorites were:

Cupcake Black Forest

Dreaming Tree Pinot Noir

Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon

Cheers!

mags + bachelorette = athens weekend

One of my favorite cities in the United States is Athens, Georgia. I did have the great fortune of living there for two years in graduate school. While there, I met some of my closest friends. One of those people is Mags (or Margaret is her real name) whom I just adore.

After graduate school she moved to Texas for a job and met her sweetheart, Hayden. This summer she will be becoming a Mrs. and before she does we decided to celebrate in our old stomping grounds. Being back in Athens was special and we were able to enjoy all of our old places. Some are even improved while others seemed just perfectly the same.

We kicked off the celebration with drinks at the Georgia Theatre rooftop bar. This was certainly an improvement. Sadly, the theatre burned down a few years ago but they have rebuilt it and it is better than before.

Supper just had to be at Shokitini, aka the place for the best yellow sauce and fried rice you ever will eat. We were even able to sneak in a little time with Andrew and his wife, Katie, which was a treat. While at Shokitini, one might also do a little karaoke so we indulged. I can only imagine how amazing we sounded as we belted out some great tunes.

 

Of course the fun did not stop here. We took off for a little dancing and singing to the best of the 8E's. These next two photos are my favorites from the whole weekend. Pay special attention to what is happening around us. And my choke hold on Sarah.

The next morning we hit up an old favorite, Mama's Boy. Easily the best biscuits in town. I have no idea what they put in those things but they are killer.

We toured campus, had lunch at Cali n Titos, and swung through the air at a trapeze class. For our last night, we celebrated Mags at Last Resort Grill. Our last stop was Allgood downtown for drinks.

As you can see, it was quite a fabulous weekend filled with good food, great friends, and many special memories with Mags.

trapeze

 
While in Athens recently for my friend Margaret's Bachelorette Party, we decided to check out a trapeze class at Canopy Studio. I was honestly not quite sure what to expect or if my fear of heights would get the best of me but this class was an absolute blast! As an added bonus, there was a kid party there that day too which meant tutus! So, yes, we absolutely wore those. Our bride to be even got to sport a white one.

Mags and I had wanted to attend a class here when we were graduate students but somehow the time escaped us and we missed out. I am glad that we took advantage of it the second time around because we had such a great time.. and lots of sore muscles. Seriously, this is a great workout.

The class kicked off with some stretching and getting us used to being on the apparatuses. One of the most challenging moves for me, funny enough, was the one of the beginning ones because you had to go backwards. Bless our instructor and Jeff for spotting me so I could get up and through it. There is a reason I was a base in cheerleading. The loss of control thing, especially in the air, is not my strength. Once I got over that, it was a swinging good time.

Some of our bachelorette attendees did a turning spin thing. Although dizzy, they seemed to enjoy the move. My favorite part was at the end because we did a triple transfer. It was so freeing to fly through the air, using your own body strength to get you to the next apparatus.

 

If you are in Athens or there is a studio near you, I highly encourage this experience.

Adventures of 2012

Whew, this has been quite the year. I hardly even know where to begin to reflect upon 2012. I kicked off the year with goals to challenge myself to grow in new ways but this year has exceeded expectations. I'm ending the year feeling confident and settled in the woman that I have become, in love with the life that I have created, and so incredibly thankful for everything that has brought me to this point. I spent much of the year gearing up for thirty, an age which I am already enjoying beyond measure.

Life is full, happy, and blessed.

Thank you for reading along throughout my adventures, here are a few of my highlights from 2012:

Took a trip to NYC to visit Kathryn

Had some terrific reflections on who I am

 Chronicled my dating life, well some of it

Met a boy who got me off the bench 

And thinking about what I'd really like someday

Had many first time adventures with Mallory

Traveled back to Arkansas for a visit

Reconnected with my girls

Traveled to Greenville, SC for E and Matt's wedding

Tea Party with Little M

Saw the play version of To Kill A Mockingbird

Spent lots of good time with the family

Enjoyed being a tourist in my own town

Celebrated special people in my life

Welcomed my new little love, Lilly Ruth, into the world

Went rock climbing

Had lots of fun with the Chi O Tampa Alumnae Chapter

Ran 3 5k races!

Learned how to decorate cookies like a pro

Went paddle boarding
Read some great books

Had lots of good life conversations with my Momma

Traveled home for Lauralee's 30th Birthday!

Celebrated baby brother Kyle's 21st birthday

Took off on a sailboat

Made a trip to Texas for Thanksgiving
And got to visit with Mags

Traveled to Pennsylvania for Steve and Sam's wedding

Met my fitness goals

Wrapped up my twenties

Rang in my 30th Birthday at the beach weekend with all my pals

Visited Morg and Chris in their new home in Georgia

Ran the Color Run - happiest 5k on the planet

While I have loved every minute of this year, I am looking forward to quiet time this winter break (bonus of being an educator) and spending the holidays with my cheerleaders, family and close friends.

Up next I will be rocking the wedding circuit celebrating the marriages of my close friends, completing a 10k and taking off to Greece! I am sure there will be lots of unexpected treasures in 2013 so I am looking forward to all of the adventures that await me. Until then!

Welcome to the Speakeasy!

To celebrate Mallory's birthday we picked a restaurant that we heard had a great atmosphere, amazing drinks and stellar food. Ciro's Speakeasy & Supper Club in South Tampa did not disappoint. Actually, the only disappointment we felt was when our meal had come to an end.

A speakeasy was an establishment that illegally sold alcohol during prohibition. These clubs were secret and often ran by gangsters during the 20's. While they were often raided by the police their popularity did not diminish. Due to the illegal nature of the clubs, some of them required secret passwords. And thus the premise for Ciro's. You will not find their menu online (part of the secrecy) but you will find phenomenal reviews.

When you arrive at Ciro's you feel a little confused about if you have made it to the correct location because the restaurant is tucked away behind an apartment complex (it does conveniently have valet parking). Earlier in the day, you are given a password for entrance. Once your party has assembled, you are escorted to do the door to give the appropriate password and then the fun begins!

Knock, Knock

We were seated in one of their large lounge rooms. At first, I was a little curious about how this would work because it does not have traditional tables. I ended up loving this set up because, unlike most dinner parties, we were free to get up and move about the room to converse with different folks. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk with everyone in our party as opposed to just those that I am seated next to.

The drinks are definitely one of the biggest highlights. Ciro's only sells alcohol that would have been around during prohibition. While there may not be many of the drinks we commonly have today, their mixologists whip up some of the most delicious drinks I have ever tasted. Our server, Chuck, simply asked us what we normally liked to drink and then brought us back something amazing. For our second drink, Mal and I even said just bring us what you think we would like and that was the best drink of the night. I could not tell you what it was (he described it, I don't recall) but I enjoyed every sip.

The food is perfect to share. Mal, Dwayne and I ordered a couple items off of the menu that we wanted to try and then shared our dishes. We feasted on their truffle popcorn, chicken and waffles and crab cakes. No lie, this food was so good that we did not want it to end. For dessert, Mal and Dwayne had the waffles with ice cream. While theirs did look good, I wanted to die and go to heaven over my dessert. I enjoyed chocolate fondue with churros (my fave) and fresh fruit. This dessert was killer. I wanted to just repeat the whole meal as soon as it was over!

Don't worry, I shared

Chuck, the server, made the experience all that much better. He was insanely knowledgeable and provided us with great service. Our meal ended up being about $40-$50 a person but it was well worth the splurge. We had such a marvelous time that we keep trying to make up another excuse to go back, immediately.

If you are in the Tampa area, definitely check out Ciro's Speakeasy or look to see if there is a speakeasy in your neck of the woods.