Rosé Night

If you are looking for an excuse to have a girls night - a Rosé tasting is the way to go! It's the perfect summer drink and it's super fun and girly! Plus why not do a blind tasting so you can figure out what you like....and don't!

Last weekend Kevin took the boys camping and Hayden had a sleepover with Gigi and Papa. So what did I do? Had some of my favorite ladies over for a night Rosé tasting. It's the perfect summer time wine and we had the perfect weather for it! 

I really wanted to have our patio party lights installed by then but that didn't quite happen. So maybe when they are installed we will have to host another adults only outdoor dinner. Just sayin'. 

First things first. Group shot. 

Flowers, trivia & tasting notes!

 

Oh my gosh I had so much fun prepping for this party!

I've never been a 'flower' person. I mean, I love them but I am horrible at arrangements. But I decided to give it a go....and it turned out so great! 

I also make little mini rose planters for each of the place settings - I am pretty sure I might have killed the plants in the process. Luckily, they survived through the party. They looked pretty cute too. And since we are talking about plants...check out Kevin's new Savannah Holly trees in the background- he's pretty pleased with them. 

Let's move on to food: The most important thing is to have a lot of it. You are tasting wine...heavy carbs needed!!!

Meat ✓

Cheese ✓

The cheese was Ah-maze-ing. The gouda, jack, and fontina came in a party pack from Sams. There was also a goat cheese but I didn't serve it because Lindsey has strong feelings about goat cheese.

Crackers, grapes, nuts, chocolates & Sugarfina rosé gummy bears ✓ 

We Favored Grimaldi's pizza (my all time favorite) and we got started. 

We began with the sparkling rosés. 

Since this was a blind tasting, I wrapped the bottles with brown lunch sacks and tied a number.

We tasted. 

And recorded our findings on these little printouts that I created using Silhouette Studio. 

You can download these here.

The bottles were revealed. 

LUC Belaire Rare Rosé (France) - $30 

Chandon Reserve Pino Noir Rosé (Napa Valley) - $35

Chandon Rosé (Napa Valley) - $25

Ruffino Rosé (Italy) - $15

Findings:

- The most we would pay for one of these bottles is $20 

- The two bottles of Chandon were the favorites 

- The Ruffino Rosé was delightful

- The LUC Belaire was a "Dump"er

The pizza arrived right as we finished our sparkling tasting - perfect timing. 

So we dug in and finished off our top picks! 😀

We also took my little wine trivia quiz.

This was from a Pop Sugar quiz that I found here. You can download my printable here. 

{The picture taking at this point in the night is completely lacking.}

After some pizza we tackled the flat Rosés.

Chloe (California) - $15

Whispering Angel (France) - $20

Kirkland brand (Costco) Cotes De Provence - $9

J L Quinson Cotes De Provence (Trader Joes) - $10

 Our notes were far funnier this round...I wonder why? lol 

The Trader Joes Cotes De Provence was the least favorite. It was described as 'Corky' (not to be confused with 'quirky'), funky, and having a weird aftertaste. The ideal food pairing would be 'cheetos and cigarettes', perhaps with Brittany Spears? lol. Just kidding...I do love her. 

And when we were done we still had so much catching up so we worked hard on finishing our favorites, and then opened some more. 

We enjoyed the White Girl Rosé

It was a fun girls night -  I kinda feel like we need to have wine tasting parties more often - maybe each season. 

 

Stonewall Jackson Auction 2017

This years auction theme was 'Race For the Stars' (as in Derby 'Run for the Roses') and it did not disappoint! Mint juleps, seersucker suits, and fancy hats - it was a BLAST!

An appropriately themed SJE hat by one of our teachers :)

Although I was technically in charge of the 'Hat Project', where we asked students to create derby hats that we sold (to raise money for the school) a couple weeks before Auction, I didn't even make one myself! gasp! I decided to take it slow this year. This kinder year is all about getting my feet wet...I'm just trying to understand everything before I dig in full throttle. Plus, I'll be here plenty of years :) I digress...

Anyhow, as I was saying...I didn't make my hat. I bought it from Sam Moon. So random, but they had quite a nice selection for a very low price.

All dolled up! 

And Kevin's outfit (blazer & white pants) was Stein Mart off-the-rack. lol. Another derby gold-mine. Not kidding...if you ever need ANYTHING bright or seersucker Stein Mart is your place. They killed it. 

Love that Kevin's sister lives down the street. And that our kids go to the same school :)

She's like my cool older sister I always wanted.

We met up at a neighbors house and Uber-ed from there. 

And then we were off to The Hall of State at Fair Park. 

The drink of the night. Admittedly I didn't have one - I knew mixing in liquor might be troubling. 

Loved the venue! 

Lacey and Heather were this years auction hosts and they did an amazing job!

Free My Music VIP party sponsors, very fun neighbors and also fellow kinder parents - The Staffords.

And we were off to the races silent auction!

I did have a plan of attack, kind of. My main goal was to sign up for the parties (adult & kids) and to win Ryan's kinder teacher for a night of babysitting. Anything else would just be bonus. I know that doesn't sound like an exciting auction but there were a ton of actual items and experiences to win too. Tickets to Bruno Mars, VIP parking at North Park, Interior Decorating packages, Four Season Resort stay, ect...

Another fun thing each grade does is put together a 'basket' of goodies to auction off. We did an exercise themed bag - but here are examples of other grades. 

so fun!

One of the items on Big Board that I really wanted was the PHOTillustrator. I love the entire concept behind this and would love to get one done. We have lots of space in the dining room - and it would be such a great conversation starter! Too bad I didn't stay on top of my bids...this one slipped away.  Luckily I have all the info I need :)

Instead of paying attention to the auction items, I was off gabbing. All night. 

Michael and Sarah doing a little bidding at the table. 

And this picture cracks me up because it was CLEARLY taken at the end of the night.

Proof of how much fun we all had!

Oh and I guess the important question is, What did we "win"? Well...apparently I was too busy gabbing and I wasn't keeping track of my bids. I am still waiting to hear the final outcome. Although I was told that I did win Mrs. Littlefield for babysitting! Wohoo!

And then there was the after party....

Yup - we stayed out until 3am like we were in college. Please note that between the six ladies above, there were 17 sleeping children that were going to be up and ready to go in less than 4 hours.  #seemedlikeagoodideaatthetime 

Unit next time....