Fall Festivals

While I will miss the long days of Summer I certainly welcome the slightly cooler days of Fall. With the coming of the Fall Season we have a host of events I’m looking forward to. Here’s a good list of wonderful events coming up. Hmmm…notice a theme w/ my favorite upcoming festivals? One word…wine! Hope you can find your way out to a few of them.

September 7th – Labor Day Jazz & Wine Fest – Herndon, VA
September 12-13 The Commonwealth Polo & Wine Event – The Plains, VA
September 19-20 Virginia Wine Festival – Bull Run Park, VA
September 19-20 Apple Harvest & Craft Festival - Winchester, VA
October 2-4 Mount Vernon Wine Festival
October 16-18 Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival – Millwood, VA

Twilight Polo Night w/ The Girls

Early Saturday morning Abby & I headed off to Wegmans to pick up food for the nights festivities. When we got home Abby made homemade guacamole. I made a spinach bowl, chocolate covered strawberries, and a wonderful layered cheese covered in a caramel pecan dried fruit topping. We had a bunch of other premade items thanks to Wegmans.

Once all the girls arrived our fabulous limo driver Omar of Chariots For Hire helped us load all our goodies in the trunk. When we arrived at the polo matches we found our reserved party deck. Wow…we had upfront wonderful views! I had no idea we were going to be right up close. We set up our space. Our bar area was insane. We had so many bottles of varios vodka, xo fruit syrups, Canton Ginger liquor, and lots and lots of wine. I immediately set about mixing up martini’s for all of the girls. By far the favorite of the night was my ginger peach martini. We had several strangers stop by to try the concoction as well. Not surprisingly the Peach XO Fruit Syrup was the first bottle to get completely used!

Several times we had to dart to the limo with our drinks in hand as it decided to rain cats & dogs. We contemplated leaving but Rob (President of Great Meadows) assured us the weather should be clearing up and the festivities would continue even though the polo match couldn’t be played. Our food ended up drenched. We tried to salvage what we could. Despite the rain we were having a great time and decided to stick around. On the pavillion we danced and enjoyed the DJ for quite a bit. We also met a very interesting couple who were highly entertaining. Especially the husband who was very drunk and very gregarious. His poor wife is sure to have had a long drive home – LOL.

We all decided to wrap it up around 10pm. We had our driver take us back to my place where the girls threw their clothes in my dryer and touched up their make up. Seriously we were all drenched! We then had our driver take us to my local bar Lion & Bull. We stayed there fairly late and then my fabulous friend Nate carpooled everyone back to my place. I didn’t get till bed till 4am. It was a late night for sure!

Twilight Polo was a blast. My friend Pat invited me back to her box seats on Sunday to watch the match be played. However, I had a BBQ to attend in Rockville earlier in the day. Then I had tons of cleaning to do!

It was such a wonderful weekend. I can’t forget to mention Dawn & Tim. They both had Mary and I over for dinner on Friday night. Tim is a very good cook. We got treated to his special sliders. He rolls out the meat very thin. Seasons the inside. Flips half the meat over on itself and uses a pizza cutter to cut the meat into squares. Great idea! We also got the guilty pleasure of oooey gooey cheese fries. Dawn hit the jackpot with this guy!

Have a good week everyone!

Hoping For Clear Skies Tomorrow Night

I absolutely can’t stand it when mother nature does not cooperate with my social calandar! Tomorrow night my girlfriends and I will be heading out to the Plains, VA for an evening at Twilight Polo. I’m glad we moved our box seats to the covered party pavillion. Wise move! Weather.com is showing on and off thunderstorms tomorrow. I’m crossing my fingers that the skies don’t open up until we are back home after our evening out!

Twilight Polo – Girls Night Out

Courtesy of Market Salamandars Girls Night out The Real McCoy & Company will be enjoying a night out at the Twilight Polo Matches this coming Saturday. The theme for this Saturday’s event is Fox & Hound night. I’d be willing to bet I’ll see my friend Pat there as she’s part of one of the area Fox & Hound organizations. Abby won six box seats and I won the limo ride to and from the event. Later this week we’ll coordinate our tailgate food. I’m clear skies this Saturday evening! Should be a fun night out. I’ll be sure to post pictures from the event. Come on out and join us if you can. Twilight Polo is a great night out. You can bring your own food and beverages. You can bet we’ll have a good supply of wine. Thanks to our hook up with some wine suppliers in town and our recent outings to several vineyards! See my links on the right of my blog under “horse country” for more details on Twilight Polo.

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

This past Friday night Abby and I went to go see the new movie Julie & Julia. We absolutely loved this film. I was so touched by how they depicted the love between Julia Child and her husband Paul. You could see how profoundly deep his love and affection was for his wife. Don’t we all long for this kind of relationship? Paul was loving, supportive, passionate, funny, and protective. All the characteristics men should aspire to being. (In my opinion at least). Julie’s character was absolutely charming and I loved watching her struggle with this challenge she created for herself. I questioned who the group of woman she was lunching with in the movie. They never really addressed how she knew this woman and they just didn’t seem to be “her crowd”. I suppose it was a means of addressing the fact that she wasn’t feeling succesful in her career. But the whole scene just seemed akward to me. Overall, we both loved the movie. This is a perfect date night movie or a night out with the girls. Go see it you won’t be disappointed.

After watching the movie Abby and I realized we hadn’t had dinner. Our palate has been quite wetted after watching a movie smothered with epicurous delights. No chain food would do after watching a movie about Julia Child! We decided to venture out to the Carmelos Little Portugal. I’m so glad we did. The food was devine and the perfect ending to an evening spent in Julia’s company!

Great Find – Carols Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie

How could I resist trying this lovely product??? Not only does it have a light vanilla smell but it’s infused with coconut as well. My two favorite scents! Friday I visited the Sephora store at Reston Town Center during my lunch break. I stocked up on my Dior Show mascarra and a purchased the Benefit scent “Something About Sofia”. I was examining a bottle of the Carol’s Daughter when one of the stores reps asked me if I’d like a sample. I had no idea they’d make custom samples of anything in the store. Oh…this is going to be one of my new favorite lunch time hobbies! Those girls are going to regret they ever let me know about that service – lol. Anyways the lovely sales girl rang up my purchases and gave me a few samples of items I was looking at. I just tried the Carols Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie this morning. My hair feels soft and manageable. I also love the light vanilla/coconut scent it’s left on my hair. I’m heading over there a buying this whole line!!! I’ve also read great reviews about the product online. I love finding great new products….SCORE!!! Go out and get your samples and I’d bet you’ll agree with me that this stuff is fantastic!

Our Weekend On the Loudoun Wine Trail

Yesterday I visited four vineyards with my girlfriends Abby & Liz. We started off at Corcoran Vineyards. We met the owner Lori Corcoran at last weeks dinner at Iron Bridge Wine Bar. Lori was actually at the tasting room running the tastings. She’s such a personable person. I guarantee you’ll instantly love her. Her wines are equally terrific! I purchased a bottle of the Viogner and a bottle of the Malbec. Liz, Abby and I got a glass of wine and headed out to the front deck to enjoy our glass of wine along w/ some hummus, cheese, and french bread.

The next vineyard we visited was Sunset Vineyards. I’ve been wanting to visit this particular vineyard for a while. The barn was completely restored by some amish craftsman. Wow did they do an amazing job! The building and tasting room are beautiful. Here you’ll find a place to sit down inside on the main level or above the tasting room in the loft area. They also have plenty of outdoor seating (two level decks facing the pond). The wines here are still fairly young. I feel that they could and likely will improve with time. None of us purchased any wine at this vineyard. However, I will say that on Friday’s and Sunday’s they offer a Sangria which was very good.

As we made our way down the wine trail our next vineyard was Loudoun Valley Vineyards. I was not impressed with the tasting room. It was hot and stuffy. In my opinion there could be a lot of work done to make the room feel a bit warmer and inviting. The staff however was very friendly and the wines were actually pretty good. The property sits on a location that overlooks an old barn. That particular view from the deck is very nice. I purchased the 2006 Vinifera White and a bottle of the 2005 Dynasty Reserve.

Our final destination was Doukenie Vineyards. The second we walked into the tasting room Abby realized that she knew the owners. One of the daughters who was assisting with the tastings was best friends with her daughter in middle school. The property is very picturesque. However they must do something about the ridiculous amount of flies and nats around this place! I purchased a bottle of the Chardonnay and I really liked the blackberry desert wine as well. Especially when paired with the baklava the owners grandmother makes! Super yum!

All in all it was a wonderful day exploring some of the other vineyards in our area. I hope you get a chance to get out and start exploring them as well. Virginia winemakers have come a long way. I for one couldn’t be happier to be living in an area which I have access to all these great wines. There’s nothing more zen then enjoying a glass of wine with friends on a hot summer’s day!

DC Restaurant Week

Beginning August 24th – 30th DC will be celebrating Restaurant Week. Tons of area restaurants are participating in the special three-couorse, priced fixed menus. Lunch at $20.09 and Dinner at $35.09. Prices do not include drinks or gratuity. This is always a wonderful opportunity to get out and explore some of the restaurants you wouldn’t normally make the effort to visit. Click here for a list of participating restaurants.

Janice & Darren’s New Home

Congrats to Janice & Darren on the purchase of thier new home in BFE…I mean seriously…Round Hill, VA??? Darren sent me the directions to the house: Go down Mosby Memorial Hwy about a click or two past Purcellville, take a right at the old oak tree, drive down till you see Jimmy’s old tractor and go right, when you don’t see any more cows (Now you’re getting close). I’m going to miss having them as neighbors. The kids in the neighborhood will be sadly disappointed this Halloween when it’s discovered the cool haunted house they’ve come to love is no longer all done up for the holiday. Our group of friends will still see them but it won’t be as often as it used to be.

Sweet Pea’s Wine Tasting

Sweet Pea’s

Just got the proof for the custom wine labels I ordered from Larry at Sweet Pea’s in Anna Maria Island. I got a case of their Signature Red wine as well as some Sangria, and Mango Wine. Here’s what the label will look like. If you find yourself visiting AMI please stop in and visit Larry and his wife. They are a fantastic couple! Larry is very knowledgable about the Florida vineyards and loves to chat about wine. You’ll enjoy sampling some of the wines he offers. If you’re looking for a fun “tropical” wine then go ahead and order a few of these fun wines. I liked almost everyone of the wines I tried. One sip and you’ll feel like your on vacation! My first case arrives the 20th and the second case will follow next week. I can’t wait to crack open a bottle…or two!