Annual Wine Party

A couple of my friends and I came up with an idea to have a wine party tasting competition.  Everyone was to bring two bottles of the same wine, one would be used for tasting and the other to be taken home as part of the winnings.  There would be two winners, bottles split and weighted appropriately between first and second.  There would also be one loser, who would have to host the party the following year. Fun times ahead. 

Our very gracious host, Ramsey. 

The tasting scorecards. Hand crafted of course.

Upon arrival, you dropped off your two bottles in a room.  They were bagged and anonymously numbered.

Appetizers.  We don't mess around.

Don't I have some beautiful friends?

More of them.

We set up multiple stations for tasting around the house. 

People could start wherever and migrate around.

Dinner is served by Monti's.

Erin and her staff did a fantastic job with this setup.

The tasting cups.

Julie worked so hard on these; they looked awesome.  So did she. 

Bonus, my bestie was in town.

The ever fabulous Monti's staff.

Tallying up the votes.  We are going to change this process in the future because Trish & Julie spent far too much time cooped up in this room.  We all appreciate their hard work!

The winners & a loser.  Wanna guess?!

Me = LOSER.  How could this happen?  Notice that Eric let me take the fall all by myself?!  We picked the bottle together, for the record.

The shirt for the big loser. 

The bottle on the right was #1, left #2.  Neither of these are very expensive, probably around $10-$13.  We have figured out that the easy on the palate, middle of the road, wine is the way to go.  If you want to win.

In case you want to know what loser bottle WE brought, here it is.  I've had many times before and it's never disappointed.  Eric thinks we got a bad bottle, but who knows.   

The best story of the night.  My gorgeous friend Leah was the #1 winner.  When her and Andy were at the store, he didn't like the bottle she chose, so he brought his own selection.  Classic. 

This was such a fun night and everyone had a blast.  I cannot confirm nor deny the late night dance party and gab fest.  This is my Arizona family and I love them.  Next year, I get to host.  Jokes on all these fancy people when I send out the Evite for a potluck instead of a catered event. :) Cheers!

Post Race: Portland in Pictures

Once the race was over, we spent some quality time tasting beer and touring downtown.  This city is so beautiful and eclectic.  We began our adventure at Rogue. 

Love the building.

I could've stayed all day!

How do you choose?!

I had the Mom's Hefe and Eric the Chocolate Stout. Yummmmmm.

While I shopped.  Most patient man ever...well, after my Dad.

Columbia employee store!  Cleaned up on some serious winter goods.  You know because we have a hard core winter here in AZ.  

Uhh, more beer.  Caps N' Taps is actually in downtown Caymus.  Such a cute and laid back place. 

We picked up dessert for the family at Cupcake Jones.  Mmmmm cupcakes.

Just a little more beer at Hopworks.

Eric went with Survival 7 Grain Stout.  It tasted like coffee...mmmmmm!

I loved the bike influence at this brewery.

The taps were fun!

Downtown Portland.

Me and the mister.

Cole.

Our lovely hosts.  Eric's sister, Kristen, and BIL, Chris.

House envy....to the max.  Gorgeous.

Streets of Caymus, WA

I have no idea how you could live here and not run. 

Post race walk.  This place is so beautiful.

Nerds.

Love these mailboxes.

Touchdown Portland

Portland is one of my all time favorite cities.  I love the PNW: the greenery, the outdoorsy feel, the breweries, the hipsterness of downtown.  I might actually live there if the constant rain didn't worry me.  How do you ride your bike in all that rain?!

Flying in style.  Starbucks + Pro Compression.  Shortbread 100 calorie cookies Southwest?!  Nice touch.

Eric's very cute nephew, Cole.  This game was probably a bit old for him, but ehh what do I know?!

Eric's sister, brother in law, and nephew live in Caymus, WA just outside of Portland.  Their house and property are absolutely beautiful.

Adorbs!

Eric's BIL, Chris, brews his own beer.  It was excellent and a lovely welcome to PDX.

My cousin, Marc, and his family live in Portland as well.  Such an awesome family.  Eric and I got to have dinner with them at Deschutes Brewery.

Love all the beautiful bridges in this city.

While we were in Portland, we were running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon.  We ran our pre-race tuneup on the gorgeous tree-lined streets of Caymus.  I can't wait to visit again when I can just run until my heart is content; it's breathtaking.

Post run selfie.

Miss Robin...can I please have a picture too?! So cute!