Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Confession Time

I'd love to tell you that it was other bloggers' previous confession posts that inspired me to write this post, and get back in the habit of writing again.  No really, I'd love to tell yall that.  However, thats completely not the case.  My husband made me watch his favorite guilty pleasure tv show tonight, which further made me question if he ate paint chips as a small child.  God knows that I'm not in a position to judge him for his television preferences, but I can't lie- this show he forced me to endure made Teen Mom AND Jersey Shore look like classy programs.

Hello Epitome of Trashy.
Ohhh myyyy Goodness.  These broads make the people on the Bachelor Pad look normal.  There are no words for the craziness featured on this program.  Even more so, there are no words that my husband thinks they make for quality entertainment.  
Anywho, for those of you who haven't had the distinct pleasure of watching this hot mess, the girls provide the viewers with individual monologues in their confessional booth, Real World style.  
Due to these girls making me feel incredibly GOOD about my life, I thought I'd throw out some confessions of my own.  
Sooo, without further adieu...

I Confess.....

  • I am obsessive about keeping our kitchen clean.
  • Mine & Kevin's biggest fights have stemmed from him not cleaning up after himself in the kitchen.
  • I hate the taste of beer, which is why I insist on carting the most ridiculous drinks ever to KY Football tailgates.
  • My car is messy 95% of the time.  
  • I despise listening to voicemails.  
  • I am dying for a tattoo
  • I have a strong dislike for wedding showers, & got anxious for my own.
  • The same sentiments apply to baby showers.  Honestly, its nothing personal to anyone, I just think I got forced into going to entirely too many when I was little.
  • It annoys me when people scold me for biting my nails. Its a nervous habit that I've done for 27 years. I highly doubt your comments are going to detour me doing it at this point in my life.
  • I cried my eyes out like a 4 year old when I figured out Kev's wedding band had fallen off in the lake.  
  • I don't entirely understand the frozen yogurt craze.  Lets be honest, cupcakes still completely outrank fro yo.
  • I've never been skinny dipping.
  • I thought Shades of Grey was terrible. The writing in it was horrendous, and beyond repetitive.  Ie: he murmured, she murmured, we murmured.  Why didn't her publisher inform there that there are other words for murmur? Come on. Whisper? Utter? Mumbled? 

Blecccchhhhhh
  • I probably talk to my Dad between 3-4 times per day.  Not because I miss him that much, but mainly because he is my comic relief.  
  • I prefer running solo with Hudson versus Missy or with Kev.  They both cramp our style & hurt our time.

  • I have a mouth like a sailor, and I was recently reprimanded by my neighbor because her children heard me utilize some choice language when my garage door stopped working in the 102 degree heat.  Ask me how well that went over. 
  • I have no clue how to operate our grill.  Actually, I havent the slightest idea on how to grill food at all. Thats Kev's expertise, and it just wouldnt be fair for me to deprive him of that by learning how to do it.
  • My High School Best Friends, immediately family, and husband all call me "The Driving Nazi."  They claim I am the worst backseat driver ever.  In reality, they just can't take constructive criticism.  Remember, I drive all day, every day for my job. 
  • I am not skilled to anything related to graphic design, blog design, etc.  I have as much artistic skill as a rock. My whole blog design was developed and fully constructed by the amazing genius that is Jenn with Munchkin Land Designs.  Seriously, she is phenom and is currently doing some amaaaazing give-aways this week.  Check her out ASAP!!!

That about concludes my first confession session.  Believe you me, I could confess to about a million more things, but ummm, I'm slightly scared it might impact my readership :)  
One major thing that I failed to mention in my confessions is that I AM 4 WEEKS AWAY FROM BEING DONE WITH MY MBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Obviously you all don't probably share my enthusiasm level on that one, but what it does mean is that I'll be able to get back to blogging on a much more regular basis.  Get excited bc I've got about 4 months of ridiculous ideas built up for this little road show :)  
Alright yall, hope you all have a fantastic week & great Tuesday.  I'm with my boss all day today, so send some positive thoughts my way. 











Monday, July 9, 2012

I left my heart in San Francisco

Okay, the title isn't exactly accurate but I somehow thought it sounded a tad more classy than
"I left Sonoma in a wine induced coma?"

It's no secret to anyone that knows me well that my absolutely favorite things in life revolve around my family and friends.  However, I'd have to say that wine and fabulous food are a close 3rd & 4th priority for me.  So obviously when we plan a trip that's primarily focused on and in wine country, It's essentially my ideal vacation.





The 19 year old Caroline would be rolling her eyes at the 26 year old Caroline, mainly bc at that time, my idea of fine wine was a bottle of Fish Eye Merlot. (not that I'm knocking cheap wine bc let's be honest here- I have yet to find a wine I absolutely won't drink!) However, once college ended (as did the end of $8/ all u can drink Thursdays at Avio, which I still consider to be a tragedy.), you tend to figure out that there are actually better tasting wines out there that won't give you quite the insane headache and hangover that a box of Franzia tends to cause. Shocking, right?  Wait, let preface that last comment by saying that I'm pretty sure ALL wine can give you a headache if you drink enough of it...which I normally do, soooooo nevermind. 

Anywho, I've been counting down the days to this vacation since December, especially since Kev was actually pretty pumped to go too. Last time we went to San Fran & wine county, my ever-eloquent husband immediately informed our wine tour guide of the following:


"Hi. My name is Kevin. I am from Kentucky. I only drink beer and bourbon. I just think you should know that going in."

Umm geeze. Way to be open to new things. Not. Our wine tour guide was like 65 years old, and she refused to be detoured from Kev's pissy attitude regarding wine. She gave it right back to him by looking him up & down, and then saying, "Son, by the end of the day, I guarantee I'll have you drinking wine of some sort. Mark my words." At the time, I didn't know if Kev was intimidated by her or if he had just sampled so many that he didn't care, but she was right because by the end of the day ole buddy was slamming back some wine & loving it.

These days, kevs taste for wine has expanded something serious, which is why I was more excited about this trip out there than any other time I've been (sorry, momma!).  On this trip, Kev jumped right in to the wine tasting aspect of our trip, and immediately realized how much his wine palate had exponentially expanded from our last trip.






And when I say wine palate has exponentially expanded, I'm not just saying that.  Unfortunately, that sentiment regarding Kev's highly developed taste palate was discovered by a gentleman who helps run the Benzinger Winery in Sonoma.  THEN, it was confirmed by another wine-maker at a different winery in Napa.  Kevin being told he possessed a superior palate was hilarious because I'm prettttyyy sure it made Kevin feel like a rockstar at every tasting.  However, it began to get even funnier because he INSISTED on telling people at every tasting about his amazing tasting skills.  I'd say the best part of this is when the winery hosts would ask Kev if he tasted items that Kev refuses to even try, such as mushrooms, while sampling the wine.  
Kev's response would then tend to be something along the lines of this:  


"Ohhh you know, I knew I was having trouble pin-pointing every aspect of this particular wine selection.  I bet (fill in the blank of the item that he has never tried) that is it exactly!"


Uh huh.  Sure honey. Or, the other hysterical thing that Kev has now started doing while tasting wine is for him to read the label and SWEAR he tastes the most random ingredient in the wine, such as green pepper?  
I will say that Kevin has been blessed with an insanely acute sense of smell, so I'm not doubting he can taste different aspects of wine that other people cant.... But I'm doubting its as developed as he's making it out to be. However, its highly entertaining to listen to-- just ask the friends we were out there with on the trip :)





Don't worry though- it wasn't just my husband that was entertaining.  The three of us should win an award for some of the hilarious comments that came out of our spouses' mouths.  
For example:  While doing a private tour of a boutique winery, where the bottles are all $40+, which included a private tasting & dinner in a wine cave, one husband (who shall remain nameless) asked our host this jewel of a question


"Sooo, my wife & I also drink two buck Chuck... like from Trader Joes?  Can you tell me what the difference is between your alls wine & this wine?  Because I can't tell a lick of difference!"

 Gotta LOVE us some Kentucky boys in California.  After his wife quieted his awesomeness down, we got to enjoy an amazing amazing amazing dinner in a wine cave.  


SO FUN!!


Literally, such a thrill.  I think we all felt like we were major celebrities at this point.  (Random side note: this particular winery was where Ben's season of The Bachelor was filmed.  Also- Ben does NOT own that winery & they have cut off ALL ties with him... in case you were wondering.  :)  )


Believe it or not, we also did do some beautiful hikes in the Sonoma Valley while trying to detox after consuming mass quantities of wine.
I swear Kev isn't wearing a purse- its a water holder thing.  Because were SOOO rugged and all :)




Anwho, after about 5 days out there, yall know my homebody self starts to miss Kentucky & our plethora of animals.  However, I definitely think that our trip out there lands in one of my favorite trips of all time.  Amazing company, perfect weather, great hotel, and phenomenal wine.  Whats not to like?  Now I just have to convince Kev that we need to take a trip out there at least once a year :)  I mean, we can't possibly waste the talents of his highly developed palate now, can we?? :)   


Until then, I guess I'm gonna have to curb my desire to head back out west with me drinking the wine we bought & looking at pics off my phone that look like this....





Weeellll, that about does it for me!