The Wino and I Know

I feel terrible for neglecting my blog, but it has been a busy week.  On the law front, I worked on getting my new office in order (it is freshly painted and I will have pictures soon), met with several Judges regarding appointment work, attended a continuing legal education seminar, and did some volunteer work at Legal Aid.

On Friday some friends and I went to Huntington's new wine bar, Sip.  We each tried a different "flight" of 3 wines.  The wine was good, the bar looked great, and the owners were really nice.  I love how hard they are working to promote other local businesses and artists.  For example, they get the bread for their appetizers from the nearby River and Rail Bakery and decorated the bar with work from local artists.

Sarah, Anna, and me, Jenna.

I give the interior of the bar an A+

I tried to take an artistic photo of my wine
and here's the result.

On Saturday morning I worked at a rummage sale.  The sale was conveniently held next door to the home of a genuine hoarder who came to peruse our merchandise at least 6 times during a 4 hour period.  On several occasions she bought clothes, returned home to change into them, and came back to do more shopping in her new threads.  During last year's rummage sale this same woman asked if she could just take any unsold items back to her home.  The whole situation felt almost dirty, like putting a Krispy Kreme next to a Weight Watchers, but the woman seemed to genuinely enjoy herself and she got some great bargains.

Later that afternoon I volunteered at a local wine tasting.  Either I know more about wines than I thought (I don't), or many of us in attendance were wine-ignorant and just pretending otherwise for fun.  The qualifications for pouring at the wine tasting included showing up.  I quickly learned that as long as I said something with confidence, I could pass as a fellow wine enthusiast.

"Try this one," I would say.  "It is a dry sparkling wine with a hint of lemon zest."  

"Ah, I can really taste the distinct lemon aftertaste," the taster would respond.  

If I said, "this is a high quality Moscato," the taster would smile and nod.  Conversely, if I said "I find this Moscato to be a bit too sweet," the taster would pucker.  

This song and dance reminded me of the story of the Emperor's New Clothes.  I waited nervously for the patron who would publicly denounce me on my wine ignorance.

The view from my station right before the festival started.
What a boring picture.

On Saturday night we threw my friend Courtney a surprise going away party at Tahona Grille, a local Mexican/Italian/Burger restaurant.  Huntington has several of these hybrid restaurants, the most notable being "Flapjack Tenampa," a Mexican pancake house.  Anyway, Courtney and her husband are moving to Florida.  I will miss them terribly, but I already have plans to travel to Florida, kidnap Courtney, and take her to Harry Potter World.  It's my way of coping.

The lovely lady in the center is my friend Courtney.  
She is moving to Florida, which is a mean thing to do to her friends.