A Festival of Wine? I'm totally there.

Last Saturday the Winey Women took a field trip to the farm! Janoski Farms to be exact for the Harvest Wine Festival.

Despite the rain, our group had a great time sipping various Pennsylvania wines and noshing on a great spread of food featuring vegetables grown at the farm!

Some of my favorite wines of the day were from Greehouse Winery out of Brentwood, PA. I purchased the Applesauced wine – a blend of spiced apple and sweet cranberry – which will be amazing this fall! 

Shot of Mom purchased 8 bottles of wine, including Hoe N The Garden from Greenhouse. We drank this later that night and it’s the winery’s best seller. It’s a great summer wine – light and fruity!

The sales team at Greenhouse were great and let us try a number of wines. Two other good ones were Tramp N The Weeds and the Dan Good Wine – which is a cab that is low in sugar (= less of a hangover!)

While they didn’t have these bottles at the festival, the Hoe N Santa’s Sled & Tramp N The Snow would make cute Christmas gifts!

Last, but certainly not least form this winery was Red Hot Diamond. This is a super unique wine that is aged with a hot pepper in a bottle of Fireball! Yes, this wine has a kick to it and it’s more like a shot than a sipper.

My second favorite winery was probably Starr Hill. My top sip here was from a blend called Margarita Madness – it tasted just like a…well, you probably guessed it – Margarita! The Blackberry Blush and Recession Red were also delish. Shot of Mom bought the al Mondo – which tastes like Amearetto and smells like Maraschino Cherry. It was tasty, but I think it would be even better baked into a cupcake or icing! They also have recipes on their website.

Starr Hill appears to have a winery where you can host events and weddings or take tours.

Hailing from Aliquippa, PA, was Glatz Wine Cellars. I love a good theme and appreciate Glatz for naming its wines after gems. I tasted a number of good wines here, but I can’t seem to find their wine list online and do not have my paper of blends!

I probably drank the most frozen sangria from Volant Mill Winery. Sold as a show special, you received a bag of sangria mix and a bottle of red wine for $22. The only thing you needed to do was add water and an optional brandy and freeze to make frozen sangria. I tried a number of other wines here, including their Cocoa Vino – which tastes like chocolate.

I skipped Wilcox Winery, which has a location in Robinson, because I’ve broke out into hives from their wine in the past. I also wasn’t too much of a fan of the wines form Michael Stephen Kavic Winery located on Campbells Run Road in Carnegie. Given it’s close proximity to my hometown, I really wanted to like these wines – I just couldn’t.

I HIGHLY recommend going to this event next year! It’s a great time and a beautiful setting! Follow the Harvest Wine Festival Facebook page for news!

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Fashion Friday: Midi Life Crisis

It’s not so much of a crisis, but a crush. Right now, I’m loving midi-skirts!

A midi-skirt is a bit tricky to pull off when you are short like me, but I still attempt to rock it.

Here are some midi’s that I’m crushing on.

1. Kate Spade
2. Asos
3. Alice & Olivia
4. Oscar de la Renta (similar, less expensive skirt from Theory)
5. Tibi
6. Topshop
7. Express
8. Old Navy
9. Piperlime

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Judge Wine By Labels!

I say you can totally judge a bottle of wine by its label. In fact, that’s how I make about 50% of my wine decisions! Being a wine-o is all about the “test & learn,” right?

Visiting my almost remodeled liquor store, I snapped a few cool labels for your future purchasing pleasure. 

I apologize in advance for the awful, one-handed iPhone pics. My other hand was holding my purchases! 

Tell her that she is "Biutiful."

I love a good Cava in the summer! Not as sweet as champagne, but light for those hot days!

This one is tricky because it isn't a Pittsburgh wine, but your Pittsburgh loving friend will appreciate the name. 

For that wine lover who's husband's name is Brady...oh wait. That's me.

People from New York aren't egotistic of anything. 

God only knows what wine you are drinking. 

Pug life. The wine for the Notorious D.O.G. lovers.

On a boat or on shore, this is a festive bottle of Chandon.

Also, how cute would this be at an "Ahoy, it's a boy" themed baby shower!?

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Moving Right Along

            

Over the course of the last two weeks, the hubs and I said goodbye to our apartment of the last three years. It was a lovely first place for us in the Shadyside neighborhood. We haven’t moved too far (less than a mile), but I’ll miss our little courtyard garden (as seen above)! 

Sometimes reader Trish was hungover when I was moving. I asked her – what’s worse: being hungover or moving? We agreed. It’s moving.

I’m no moving expert. I clearly don’t work for Two Guys and a Truck. But I’ve moved from Pittsburgh to Morgantown to Pittsburgh to Blacksburg to Pittsburgh to Chicago to Pittsburgh. So I know a thing or two about moving. Here’s my tips.

• If you are moving a short distance, leave your clothes on the hanger. It’s easier than unhanging them, packing and rehanging them.

• My moving lifesaver – 59 cent blue Ikea bags. I packed those puppies (22 of them to be exact) with containers that I always keep packed, my shoes that are in containers, awkward shaped items, books and even pots and pans. Like I said, we didn't move far!

• Computer paper boxes. Take some of these home from work on an ongoing basis. They are sturdy and have handles (most of them. Make sure you get the ones with handles!). 

• If you are moving DIY style, move all of the light stuff first and then tackle the furniture on the last possible day. 

• Pack a bag list you are traveling for a 2-3 night stay. Use this to get ready at the old place until you are in the new place. Include clothes and all of the essentials to get ready. Don't forget to leave out towels too!

• Pack your suitcases! Fill those early in the packing process with clothes that aren't in season! 

• Pack your tools last - they'll likely be one of the last things you use at the old place and one of the first things at the new place. You may need cleaning supplies for both places - to freshen up the new one and to prep the last one for the cleaning lady or new tenants. 

• Save your bubble wrap! That stuff is expansive!

• While you are packing, organize items by room. It’s so much easier to unpack items when they are grouped by room! On moves past, I’ve also applied color-coded stickers to boxes so that the people moving knew where to place the box!

• While moving is a pain in the butt, it’s also a good time to throw things away that you haven’t used in 1+ years.

Overall, these are likely common sense tips. But please do share if you have any other tips! 

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