Independence Day

Although this posting is several days tardy, we really enjoyed a lovely weekend celebrating the 4th of July. We kicked things off with the annual White Trash Bash held by a dear friend...we'll call her the Social Director. It is as delightfully tacky as it sounds. Every year on the eve of the 4th we set up lawn chairs, a boom box, a charcoal grill and a kiddie pool on the front lawn and celebrate. We come dressed in our best version of white trash couture and apply temporary tattoos liberally (in just the places that you're imagining). The hostess provides burgers and dogs while the rest of us bring sides and desserts. And, of course, it's strictly BYOB - preferably in continuation of the theme. My husband's drink of choice was a grape variety of Mad Dog 20/20, which in some sort of masochistic ritual dating back to his fraternity days he forced himself to consume in its entirety from the bottle (back off ladies, he's taken). Others were pulling on Old English Malt Liquor, PBR and Arbor Mist. I had fond college memories of Mickey's 40 ounce...until I remembered the massive hangover that accompanies drinking a 40 of Mickey's. The highlight of the evening was a "White Trash Food & Wine Pairing" put together by your favorite two chippies. But I'll let Deana post more about that later (um, since she drafted the WT Wine Pairing before I wrote this post, it actually posted before...good to know) .

On the actual 4th of July, the Judge was kind enough to host several of us for dinner, kiddie activities and fireworks at a local country club. It was very family oriented - lots of bouncy houses, obstacle courses and pony rides. The children had a blast! And the adults really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and GREAT food. And of course, the fireworks were amazing. The sky was lit up fantastically over the beautiful grounds of the golf course. So many feelings of pride, awe and patriotism are inspired in me every Independence Day. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend...that has in typical fashion turned to absolute shit. But more on that later as well.

Photoshop Fun

I've been taking an online photo editing class through Jessica Sprague's website. She is a scrapbook diva, especially anything digital. The basic photo editing class was wonderful and taught me alot about Photoshop. Now she is offering a free class on adding masks, brushes, frames and blending. The class starts July 6th but I read an online tutorial this evening about masks. I learned how to use a mask in Photoshop Elements tonight and I used this fabulous picture of Deana and I to learn the technique. I really like the final product. Let me know what you think.

Deana says: Well, I guess now I no longer blog in anonymity! No autographs, please...... ;o)

Jenn says: You told me it was okay to use "real" pictures of us and the kids after the summer wine blogging session...maybe all the wine interfered with your memory.

Deana says: You say that like you don't know how I get after a couple of bottles, I mean glasses, of wine...

Jenn says: No, I know how you get. I'm pretty sure it is exactly how I get.

Deana says: I can neither confirm nor deny to any degree of certainty as we usually drink together and well, you know how I get..... And now, we have come full circle....

We're Back...

So we know that we've been away for a bit but life got hectic and interfered with blogging. We thought today that we'd come back with a couple of recommendations for nice, inexpensive summer wines. Deana has a subscription to Real Simple magazine and they did a nice article on summer wines under $12 (see the whole article here). We picked out two wines that are top on our list to try - a red and a white.

We like a couple of things about this Jargon pinot noir. Clearly, the label is impressive with bright summer colors and a clever font. It caught our eye right away. Now we know that judging a wine solely on its packaging can sometimes be a disastrous choice but every once in a while it can lead you to try something wonderful. Also this red features dark cherry flavors that complement its easy drinking nature...at least that's what the wine experts at Real Simple have led us to believe. Plus it's red wine which right away fits in our wheelhouse - we're just not that choosy! Also, we've found that if at first you don't like a particular wine drink, drink something else. When you go back and taste the first wine it is ALOT better.

We also recommend the Clean Slate riesling. Obviously, the name sparked an interest right from the get go... "Everybody deserves a second chance" or a clean slate as it were. But what really excited us was the description of the delicious peach and apricot flavors that brighten up this clean, crisp white. Although we are not as drawn to white wines at first glance as we are to reds, whites do have a distinct advantage - they are socially acceptable for early morning or afternoon drinking. It just screams "wino" to order a Cabernet at brunch...although as Deana pointed out you could make sure your wait staff brings the wine in a juice glass and then tell everyone that it is grape juice. But you'll have to be hypervigilant to prevent a youngster from sipping on your "grape juice" or you may end up with some angry parents.

We thought we'd leave you with this awesome photo of Mr. Sam after he went with Jenn to see Wicked last weekend. We actually won the Wicked lottery and got our tickets for only $25 each! And our seats were in the fifth row - we could see everything perfectly. After the show, Mr. Sam kept acting out scenes from the witch's life. This shot is my favorite...