A taste of summer.

We’re on a rotation at work where each coordinator gets a ½ day on Friday every couple of weeks. Last Friday was my lucky week and I refused to just go home and watch TLC. I ran out of the office at 1:00 on the dot and headed home for a nutritious lunch with Ken before I shattered all calorie counts for the rest of the afternoon. We drove up to Michigan and the so-called “Wine Trail.” We went back to Tabor Hill winery where I tasted some of their wines and Ken helped himself to some highly addictive truffles by Norman Love. We sat outside and soaked up some sun and information from a highly-knowledgeable owner/employee. Wild peacocks, wild turkeys, goldfinches, hummingbirds. Tabor Hill is a happening place! After taking care of my thirst at the winery, we headed just down the road to Round Barn winery which has a lovely little barn. I skipped the tastings here and just settled in under a tree with a nice Riesling. I might have been getting a bit giggly and unfocused at this point, but I knew that I wanted mussels for dinner and I was going to do whatever it took to get them. Luckily, Ken doesn’t take much convincing and we bought some lovely bivalves at the grocery store, some fixing for a summery bruschetta and a sushi roll. With the help of more white wine, we feasted on amazing mussels and I could literally taste summer.

 

On Saturday I started my stint as a volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages. It began with a lady sprawled out on the floor after passing out from sudden pain, but then got to be more normal. It’s a really pleasant experience because, while it is retail, the people who shop at this store and the other volunteers make it a friendly and pressure-free atmosphere. I resisted buying everything in the store and settled on some fairly traded chocolate as a treat. I really enjoyed myself and signed up for my second day of volunteering in July.

 

Then after a wonderfully weird and tasty dinner that Ken made (sweet potato with black bean/tomato mixture on top), we headed out to eat our chocolate bars at a movie, The Hangover. OMG. Hilarious. I can’t say anything else. I might start laughing outloud and that would be embarrassing.

 

On Sunday, after hitting the gym, we grabbed lunch at the Uptown Kitchen and had the most delicious Soft-shell Crab Po’Boy. Wow. And we dined al fresco with a cute puppy to watch. Sitting outside inspired us to head to the apartment complex pool that afternoon and although the water was way too chilly for grown-ups, it was nice to be out in the sun.

 

Essentially, I ate my way through the weekend and it was fabulous. Can’t wait to do it again!