Riesling has taken to “killing” various toys which she then presents to me for both breakfast and dinner. I can only imagine that this is her idea of a trade. :) These antics are ramped up significantly when, say, beef stew is added to her ordinary kibble. We decided to capture it on video for your enjoyment… how can this not make you smile?

Like much of the Eastern US, we’ve been getting more than our fair share of snow this winter and although it’s fun to play in (and get snow days), we have decided enough is enough and we booked a trip to Puerto Rico next week. From snow and cold to sand and sunshine!

Most of this has melted by now, but it’s supposed to snow again tomorrow.

It’s been a crazy year in a lot of ways, so here’s a quick recap of what Eric, Riesling and I have been up to this year…

January—Eric started a new job at Syngenta Biotech and I celebrated the first anniversary of my web design business. Obama was inaugurated and it snowed in NC.

February—We enjoyed many beaches in St Maarten.

March—Visited friends in Berlin and my folks in Florida.

April—I got a new passport, drank some wine in Napa Valley and ate at the world famous French Laundry!

May—We tried three local restaurants for Triangle Restaurant Week,  got a fancy new grill, Eric gained a year and poor Riesling was attacked at the dog park.

June—Went to Seattle to see a friend get married and found some new Washington wineries.

July—Tried some Long Island wine on the 4th, partied with my sister’s friends in Chicago and got a complimentary wine tasting via Twitter.

August—I turned 33, finally got to see The Bean and my little sister got married.

September—Acquired multiple insect bites at one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, celebrated our 8 year anniversary, got completely soaked during our waterfall trip to Asheville and had a much deserved spa day.

October—Celebrated SchOctoberFest, saw U2 in concert, bought a new washing machine, had to rebook our Brussels flight after being stranded overnight in Atlanta and spent some quality time with Ryan and April in a beautiful setting.

November—Ate one of the best meals ever with family, and visited the two closest capital cities in Europe over Thanksgiving.

December—Drove 37 hours to visit family for the holidays and Riesling met her first lizard.

Happy New Year everyone!

You may have noticed the lack of photos and updates from our trip to Brussels last weekend… and that’s because we never made it.

Our flight was delayed over two hours out of Raleigh (due to Atlanta weather) and even though we were repeatedly told that all flights were delayed and our outgoing flight was probably delayed as well, we missed it. By a good 45 minutes. The Brussels flight wasn’t even listed on the monitors by the time we landed (never a good sign).

Once we missed the flight, Delta had automatically rebooked us on a flight for the next day, but that would have cut our time in Brussels to one day and it didn’t seem worth it to us. So we stood in line and waited on hold and booked a flight back to Raleigh with the idea of having the un-used miles redeposited back into our accounts.  We were still stuck in Atlanta for the night, but thankfully we have friends in town, so after a 45 minute MARTA trip we had some thai takeout and a couch to crash on.

After arriving home the next day we got back on the phone to see what, if anything, could be done about our non-refundable hotel reservations. The hotel representative in Belgium said they would make a one-time exception and offered to rebook us for a different date – when did we want to come?

Ummmm.

This prompted another 1+ hour phone call to Delta reservations to see if we could rebook the entire vacation for next March. Unbelievably, the agent was able to reuse our miles and extend our trip two more days for mid-March 2010.

Even though this trip was interrupted, we were ultimately able to salvage our miles and the hotel charges. A huge thanks to Sharisse and Theresa at Delta reservations for helping make a busted trip into a vacation for another time.

As I write this our 20+ year old washing machine is sitting at the end of our driveway, in the rain, waiting to be hauled away. This is the 3rd major appliance we have had to replace since we bought our house four years ago, not too shabby considering  the advanced age of these machines.

The last few times I did laundry, the end result was a giant puddle behind the machine slowly making its way into the adjacent kitchen. Upon inspection, we discovered that all the hoses and connections were intact but the bottom of the unit was rusted out.

As always, we carefully research any purchase over $100 and ultimately both agreed on this Samsung High Efficiency front loader. You can’t beat getting a $850 washing machine for $510! Eric also did a great job of talking me out of getting the matching set, after all, the dryer is still working fine and it’s hidden away, so we’ll worry about that replacement purchase at a later date.

Sears delivered the washer yesterday and after swapping detergent with a friend of mine (HE detergent only! Grr!) I am now able to do laundry puddle-free. :)

As part of the standard procedure around here, Riesling gave everything the once over and she approves.

Eric and I have a list of restaurants to try that is added to constantly as new places open or we read a good review.

Last night we got to try two new places, Whiskey and Dos Perros. Originally, we were supposed to go to a furniture sale in Cary but after a quick look online at the traffic cams, we discovered a huge wreck between us and the store. And don’t these cocktails look like a nicer way to spend some time?

Eric’s Debonair and my Monkey Gland cocktails

We relaxed and chatted in comfy leather chairs for a bit before heading over to meet some friends a few blocks away at Dos Perros, the new restaurant of Jujube’s owner, Charlie Deal.

The setting is very nice and homey and the waitstaff was eager to talk about the food. Eric got a pork special that was very tasty, but my mole poblano from the menu was just okay. I would have preferred the meat more shredded so the sauce could coat more evenly. I also greatly prefer flour tortillas to the corn ones, but didn’t think to ask if they had any. On the plus side, the beans that came with my dish were excellent and I had Eric take his home for my lunch today. Overall, I thought the food was good but the prices were a few dollars higher than I would prefer to pay. I will give them another shot but order something different next time.

The third new place was Local Yogurt where I met a friend of mine and her kids for a snack this afternoon.

Above is a small bowl of peanut butter frozen yogurt with magic shell and peanut butter cups. And yes, it was as tasty as it looks. :)

This is going to be stuck in my head all day.

My cousin’s band, Saintfearless, is launching their new album next week in South Africa, so I found their video for Tango Tango on YouTube. Cody is the drummer (and also most of the dance contestants!)

Enjoy!

Full disclosure: I have very mixed feelings about the overall experience of this concert.

U2 put on a great show, the music selection was good, a healthy mix between old and new, and the stage effects were spectacular. However, whoever was in charge of the traffic control and parking before the concert should be taken behind a woodshed and flogged. We live 20 minutes away (16 miles) and it took us almost two hours to get to the stadium. While traffic backups aren’t unexpected for a big concert, what was most frustrating was the complete lack of signage and directions!

The main exit off the highway to the stadium grounds was inexplicably closed, so all the people waiting in the right lane for several miles could have been dispersed into two lanes if a sign had been posted ahead of the closed exit. Same situation on the Blue Ridge exit: two lanes were turning right but everyone keep trying to get into the right lane causing even more delays.

We finally parked the car and hustled the 10-15 minute walk to the stadium entrance only to be confronted with even more confusion. Barriers everywhere (which people had deftly separated) and crowds of people asking what was going on while only two to three people appeared to be scanning entrance tickets. Absolutely unacceptable. In the multiple concerts I have attended over my lifetime, I have never seen a more disorganized venue than Carter-Finley stadium. I can’t imagine every NC State game is like this, so who knows what exactly the problem was?

Thankfully we made it to our seats in time to hear Muse’s last three songs, including Eric’s favorite, Starlight.

U2 came on around 8:50pm and people were still just filtering in to their seats. The floor wasn’t anywhere near full to capacity.

During the last encore, Bono asked everyone to light up their cell phones for the beautifully melancholy song, Moment of Surrender.

We had a great time at the fifth annual SchnOcoberfest fundraiser for the North Carolina Schnauzer Rescue on Saturday afternoon. We took Riesling for a two mile walk before the 30 minute drive to the event, so she was pretty chill by the time we got there.

The organizers had set up a few agility course items, but nothing I said was going to make Riesling enter the tube thing.

There is no way I am going in there.

She was more game for the jumping obstacles, but I had to put a bar underneath the top one or she would just schooch underneath. No one said she wasn’t clever.

wheeee!

Riesling and I tried our luck at the sit & stay competition but she was eliminated after a few distractions. I was most proud that she wasn’t the first up! After that, she spent a little time as the donation dog while we hung out in the shade to cool off.

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to be outside with 50 mini schnauzers!

For my birthday this year, Eric got me a spa package at Umstead Spa in Cary. Because of my sister’s wedding, our trip to Peru and the NC nonprofit’s conference were all back to back in late-August/early-September, I waited until now to make the reservation.

After dropping my car at the complimentary valet, I was whisked away to the spa area where a giant fluffy robe and massage slippers were waiting for me. I arrived early so I could take advantage of the whirlpool hot tub before my “Body Glo” exfoliation treatment and massage. The description from the Umstead website:

Your body will be exfoliated with a rich blend of sea salt and Umstead Bath and Body Gel, after which our luxurious Umstead Body Butter will be applied leaving your skin ‘baby soft’ and refreshed.

You lay on a table covered with towels (with one draped over you) and six rain-style showerheads above you spray warm water down while the sea salt rub is applied.  Absolutely lovely and very relaxing. Immediately following this was my 50 minute massage with lavender oil. The hiking this weekend did a number on my hips, so the therapist concentrated on that area and my lower back. My actual treatments only took about two hours, but I was there for about 3.5 hours total, trying out the sauna and hot tub again and reading trashy magazines while sipping on water laced with cucumbers.

I finally pried myself away from the spa to have lunch with Eric at Heron’s and I continued my day of luxury with the Market Menu and wine pairings…

Somerset Farm Vichyssoise (Carolina Hen and Arugula Pesto) with Four Graces Pinot Gris
Roasted Southport Snapper with Joseph Drouhin Chardonnay
Roasted Peaches (White Chocolate Rice Pudding and Burnt Almond Ice Cream) with La Yunta Late Harvest Torrontes

Everything was delicious and Eric very much enjoyed his grilled cheese sandwich and creamy tomato soup with a cheese crisp. A wonderfully indulgent and relaxing day.

Thanks, Eric! :*