Wining and Dining in Charlotte, NC

This is just a quick post to recommend a delicious wine that I tried last night. I was at the Savannah Red Wine Bar, which is tucked inside the City Center Marriott in downtown Charlotte, NC, and their wine list is impressive to say the least. I had the Delta Pinot Noir from Marlborough, New Zealand, and it was one of the post enjoyable pinots that I've had a in a long time. It was fruity and light, yet very complex which really is what makes pinot noir such a fabulous grape. Plus the wine bar was a fun place to try wines - the staff are very knowledgable, quick to offer a taste if you express curiousity about a wine, and really go that extra mile. We witnessed them saving a wine label for a customer at a nearby table, and the manager demonstrated a nifty trick about how to get a wine cork out of the bottle! That was impressive, but the most impressive part was watching by co-worker and drinking buddy, Jayce, master the trick on his first try!

If you're curious, here's the link to Delta Vineyard's web site:

http://www.deltawines.co.nz/wines/deltavineyard_pinotnoir.asp

My New Car... a Mini Cooper! Woo hoo!

So for those of you that don't know, Troy and I finally decided to spring for a new car this year. We've been putting it off for what seems like FOREVER, but our circumstances just finally got to the point where we couldn't put it off any longer. Troy is training for a 100 mile bike ride for Team in Training (check it out here!) and let me tell you... only having one car with him leaving for training rides for 8 hours every Saturday got old quick!


I've always wanted a smaller, more gas-efficient car, and while I grew out of my VW Beetle obsession shortly after college, I will never grow out of my love for cars with personality, so I decided to get a Mini Cooper. I've been building them online at the Mini site for years now, and my friend Lacey has one that she had graciously allowed me to drive in the past, so I was pretty familiar with them and knew without a doubt that a Mini Cooper was what my heart desired! I contacted the dealership and was seriously disappointed in what they had in stock, so on February 28th, I high-tailed it down to the Mini dealership and custom ordered my Mini! I was feeling pretty good about everything, but buying a new car and not actually getting to take it home is a little anti-climatic. But finally, on April 25th, after an agonizing wait of 8 weeks, my baby arrived! I can't tell you how great it feels to have a second set of wheels, and to have a car that is all my own! I'm positively thrilled, and it's everything I thought it would be. :)


Take a look at my pride and joy:

It's a ton of fun to drive around and I'm enjoying the heck out of it right now. :) I think my favorite parts of the car are the ipod hookup, and the bluetooth capability. It's trippy when my phone rings through my car, but I'm getting used to it and it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately my voice doesn't carry well, so sometimes people have trouble hearing me, but I've learned to speak louder when I'm on speaker, so I'm adjusting. As far as the exterior goes, I think my favorite part is the black rims! I haven't seen anyone else with rims like that, and I'm just not the type of person that likes to blend in and following the crowd, so this car suits me. :)