Hello!! It's been a while, huh? I decided to take a short hiatus from blogging. October has been a very busy month at work, a very busy month in general, and sometimes I just can't do it all.  In addition to work, there's been some really great times this month. One of my best friends, Corinne, came to visit philly, I got to travel to Ohio for work and this weekend we were able to head to the Finger Lakes in New York! Next weekend, I'll leave October with a bang in the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. There's been a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to. 

The Finger Lakes: 1 Day, 8 Wineries

Michael and I left PA on Friday night after work to head up to New York. Our friends Andrew and Lauren invited us to stay at their relative's B&B in Hector, NY, which is right off of Seneca Lake. Oh man. It is GORGEOUS up there. We stayed in Lauren's family's guest house, which resembled a rustic barn. Complete with two horses in the backyard, and a labrador named Maisey, who was the coolest dog ever. 

We started off Saturday morning with a big breakfast and a short hike down to the gorge led by Maisey. Side note - she picked up a semi-fresh deer leg in the woods on the way down. Yum!  After our hike, we quickly showered and got ready for a full day of wine tastings. Around Seneca Lake, there are more than 20 wineries. We made it to 8 of them in a time span of 6 hours...we made pretty good progress! I will say that we tasted so many wines, that I don't remember each one. I have a few absolute favorites and I will explain in pictures. We took a group photo at every stop so that we could look back and remember each winery we stopped at. A full day of wine tasting leads to a blurry memory...who would have thought? The best part about tasting wine in the Finger Lakes...each winery averages about $4 to taste 6 different wines. 

Stop 1: Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars

Lamoreaux was one of my favorites. The wines were all amazing and the view was picture perfect. My favorite wine at Lamoreaux was the 2012 76 West, a Bordeaux blend that combines Cabarnet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Listen to this description: Bright notes of blackberry and blueberries harmonize with aromas of luxurious vanilla and espresso. A classic steak wine or an accompaniment to Roquefort cheese. Um YES PLEASE.

Stop 2: Standing Stone Vineyards

At Standing Stone, we went for a wine and cheese pairing, otherwise known as a match made in heaven. The cheese really changes the way that the wine tastes and it's so fun to try all of the different combinations. My favorite combo at Standing Stone was the Smokehouse Red wine paired with a spicy chipotle cheddar cheese. Lauren noted that she downed a whole bottle of this watching Magic Mike XXL, and I can definitely see why because it's so smooth, so I am now referring to this wine as the Magic Mike Wine. 

Stop 3: Hector Wine Company

Hector Wine Company looked like a classy brewery inside. The atmosphere was great, but to me the wines weren't as memorable as the other wineries we stopped by. They definitely win for best logo design, though - I love it! 

Stop 4: Damiani Wine Vineyards

We stopped for lunch before heading to Damiani Wine Cellars - perfect timing because at Damiami we were able to pair chocolate with the wine for desert! My favorite pairing was the black tea dark chocolate (INCREDIBLE) with the Cabernet Franc. Another match made in heaven. 

Stop 5: Ryan William Vineyards

Ryan William Vineyard might have been my favorite in terms of the tastings. Every single one I tasted was so different and SO amazing. The Chardonnay was incredible. I ended up purchasing a bottle of Pinot Noir Rose´. I usually hate drinking Rose´ because it's way too sweet for me, but this one was a game changer. Had to buy it. The guys even loved it and termed it 'Brose´' 

I don't even know what's going on here.

Clearly excited about my new wine...

Stop 6: Atwater Estate Vineyards

Atwater was awesome. I loved the cozy atmosphere and in addition to the wine tasting, they added on a special treat of a mulled wine tasting at the end. Oh. My. Gosh. Amazing. Can't get much better than heated and spiced wine. Perfect for a winter night. 

Had to buy a shirt to remember this experience. No coincidence that I spent more money as the day went on...shopping feels great when you're a little buzzed until you look at your bank account later! Woops. 

Stop 7: Chateau Lafayette Reneau

Chateau Lafeyette Reneau was beautiful inside will high ceilings and a view overlooking the lake, but these wines were mostly too sweet for my liking with an exception to their Cabernet Sauvignon - it was amazing.

Stop 8: Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards

Hazlitt was by far the most fun. Hazlitt is super quirky inside, with a taxidermy grape weasel on the wall (yes, I thought it was a real animal at first,) and popcorn served to go along with the wine tasting. So great. The wines here were great, too, but the music playing was even better, so I think we were mainly focused on singing out loud and feeling that wine. 

It was a weekend well spent with great company. No 'wining' over here! However, I'm very ready to get back into a routine this week.

CHEERS!!

XO - Rach

Let's chat:

What's your favorite wine?

Bloggers - have you ever needed to take a hiatus from blogging?

How was your weekend?

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend. My dad and sister were in town this weekend! My sister had a break between summer session at UF and Fall session, so they took a road trip through Charleston and West Virginia on the way up to Philadelphia to bring me my car. We definitely ate well this weekend...

Friday night I took my family around the Chestnut Hill area where I live and we ate dinner at Earth Bread & Brewery . It's a funky little place! They brew their own beer and specialize in flatbreads. It also reminds me of home (Gainesville) a little bit because their menus are placed in old quirky story books, like The Top (#1 favorite restaurant of all time.) We started with a cheese plate and I got the house wine.

Side note: the house wine is a blend and they call it 'draft wine,' meaning that it's kept in a bag inside of a big keg. I was a little skeptical at first, but it was delicious. Smooth and easy to drink. I don't think I could tell the difference between bagged wine and a $150 bottle. Unless of course it's Franzia.

The cheese plate was awesome! Honey, homemade jam, a brie and a goat cheese.

We also tried out an amazing black bean curry dip that I'm going to try to recreate at home. For my dinner, I ordered the Summer Smash flatbread because it sounded so interesting. It had pea pesto, yellow squash, mint, lemon, pine nuts, mozzarella and a honey balsamic glaze. It was incredible! The honey balsamic really made it.

After dinner, we took the train back into center city and realized that the Ben & Jerry's shop was right across the street from the hotel my dad and sister were staying at. The Tonight Dough all the way.

Saturday started on a sweaty note - Julia came to my Super Circuits class at Sweat Fitness! We worked up an appetite. To be quite honest, I felt like all we did for the rest of the day Saturday was eat! We had brunch at Continental Diner and then made our way down to the Italian Market after digesting in Rittenhouse Park. Couldn't go to the Italian Market without getting a cannoli!

Once we made our way back toward the hotel (Dad and sister had to catch the airport train at 5:30) we needed a cold beer and another snack. We ended up at Monk's Cafe. Such an AWESOME bar. They have more than 200 beers on their menu and beer battered chicken fingers. Super dark inside though so no pics, but such a great bar in Philly!

I live for the weekends full of good company and good food. There's nothing better!

- Rach

What was the high light of your weekend?

Hey there! I haven't had the time to sit down and catch up lately - everything has been really busy, to say the least! I'll share some snap shots of the last week and a half or so, which seems to have gone by so fast. First off, I moved! Again! Michael and I got our first place together. It's been very new and exciting. We couldn't be happier with our place, and it seems to be finally coming together. We had an Ikea field day last Sunday and it took us three days to build a dresser. Okay, it was probably only a total of four hours, but when we get home from work the last thing we want to do is build furniture...

I'll share photos once the place looks nice, but here is one from the day we moved. Moving this leather couch was one of the hardest things I've ever done - it feels like it weighs 1,000 pounds and we put multiple holes in the hall way walls lugging this thing up the stairs!

The last few days we've just been busy trying to settle in. Here's a few snapshots from last week. We had a fun week at work including a venture to Painting With A Twist, a Good Humor sponsored ice cream party (clearly the ice cream deliverer doesn't eat the ice cream), and a morning of volunteering at MANNA which included making a batch of brownies for 300 people which was SO FUN. You better believe we cleaned the bowl pretty well...

On Thursday my mom and grandma came to visit! I had a blast showing them around Philly. They both have never been here before and absolutely love it!

I was able to leave work early on Friday to give them a little tour. We stopped at Agno for lunch, which is basically a really healthy & Mediterranean Chipotle (AMAZING).

I showed them a lot of the historic landmarks including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Elfreth's Alley and Betsy Ross's house. We also walked through the National Museum of Jewish American History. It's a beautiful museum! I loved it because it wasn't too large or overwhelming. We got through the entire museum in probably an hour, if that. Definitely recommend! The bottom floor features a lot of Jewish pop culture and we were cracking up at a Seinfeld episode that plays on a loop. We ended up at Spruce Street Harbor Park on the river because we all needed a beer after walking all day. Spruce Street Harbor Park is easily one of my favorite places in Philadelphia.

Yesterday my mom came to my Saturday morning class at Sweat Fitness, we grabbed an egg sandwich at Reading Terminal Market and then we all hopped on the train to come to the new apartment. We spent the rest of the day buying some odds and ends for the apartment, some booze (necessary for a new apartment) and some stuff to make for dinner. It was the perfect Saturday ending with an amazing home cooked meal - angel hair with veggies and shrimp and delicious sirloin. Plus some munchies before hand...

Michael and I are heading into Center City soon to have brunch with my mom and grandma before they leave to go back to Florida. It was a short but sweet visit - we packed it in! I always say this, but I really do feel like I'm on a summer vacation even though I work full time - Philadelphia is such an amazing city with so much to offer! I probably won't be saying this in the winter, but for now, I'm loving it.

- Rach

How is everyone's summer going?

What's your favorite city?