Tag Archives: World Market
Day 352: In the Wheelhouse . . .
So here we are, winding down yet another busy weekend and Sunday. Feel a little bit like Carol Burnet’s Theme Song – “I’m so glad we had this time together . . . seems we just get started and before you know it . . . it’s time to say so long” – yessiree Bob, that about sums up the roller coaster we’ve been on for the last three months. Now, do not (“I say, I say . . . Do Not” – name the cartoon character….) get us wrong – we have had the best blessing that parents could ask for — time with our children.
As we all know. Time is truly a ‘Dog Eat Dog’ competition (Who’s wearing milkbone underwear?) and before you know . .. BAM, they grow up, go to school, graduate, go to college, graduate, move back home, move out … and start their own career! It just doesn’t get any better than that! NOW, we know how our parents felt–some 30+ years ago–it wasn’t JUST the financial reward of a child graduating, but it was the emotional “paycheck” of knowing that you’d done your part to make a difference in our world. AND, if what we’ve seen over the past three weeks is ANY indication—wooooooo, watch out second graders–you’re going to be in for an AMAZING ride!!!
The roller coaster always goes up, down, side to side — and that’s the way life goes too. We never know what turn is coming up. . .we don’t know when there is going to be a drop that we didn’t expect, and who would have thought that all of a sudden we’d be heading up, up and away? When professional athletes ascend to the next level, they call it getting into the zone. When we get to the next level, we call it ‘being focused’. Whether it’s getting ready to teach second graders, getting ready to take courses for our Junior year in college, helping another school reach their admission numbers or selling out a networking golf tournament, we ALL find a way to navigate through the turns, dips and inclines of life’s roller coaster. . .we call it–being in the wheelhouse of life.
Funny that we’d call it that! Tonight we opened a 2010 Wheelhouse Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. And, for all the fancy wines that come out of Napa, who would have thought that we’d find this little beauty for less than $15 at World Market? We didn’t see it coming, but that’s probably because we were too busy looking at the wine racks on display for $10 – yes, we bought one . . . heck, for $10 it was a deal and potential could hold 144 bottles of wine . . . Yeah, the World Market in North Austin next to Dave & Buster’s was clearing out their wooden wine racks and–you know–it’s REALLY hard to pass up a deal–so now, although it’s NOT a BRWC–it IS a major wine rack that will store MANY of our POST-BLOG wines!
This 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine of structure and finesse, with blackberry and cassis fruit aromas and flavors, backed by subtle notes of chocolate and anise. Its suppleness lends it to drinking now, but it will age gracefully over the upcoming decade. The wine lends itself to classic Cabernet fare: Filet Mignon with Wild Mushrooms or a simple grilled New York strip steak. . . BUT since we didn’t have such fancy fare, we opted instead for stir fried chicken with roasted veggies and steamed white rice. It was a nice combination to go with the wine!
For a wine at less than $15 a bottle, it’s got all of the things you want in a big wine–dark fruit, smooth taste and finish and a lot of flavor. We were impressed enough to buy multiple bottles of the wine and still can’t believe that it’s available for such a low price. Hmmmmm, the list is narrowing for the Top Ten Bondy Deck Wine List.
Wines like this don’t come along every day, and whether you care to buy this wine or enjoy your favorite wine, please do so responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.
Day 351 – Saving One for The Girls
So much coming and going. Up early in the morning; many times, home late. New people and other things in the house. When you’re a dog, we think that life is built around routine. For our girls, the routine is up around 6 every morning to take care of business. . .followed by breakfast. . .followed by taking care of business. . .followed by their infamous, early morning nap! By any human account, it’s a schedule made in heaven. Food, sleep and relief and it’s all repeated in the evening.
Over the past three months, the routine has been somewhat skewed. As D#1 has settled in with her dog, the routine became–well, less routine, and more like a circus. Consider that for the past 90 days, we have gotten up at our usual time to try and be as ‘routine’ as possible; however, her dog has begun to adopt our dogs’ routine hours. So, guess who gets up at the same time? Yeah. . .the only problem with this is that the puppy wants to play and our brood wants to go back to sleep. In the evening, the energy level of the puppy was so great that Jean figured out that they could have a certain amount of play time together followed by alone time. Once this plan was hatched and started, routine started becoming a reality in our house–again!
Now, that D#1 and the puppy have moved to their own digs, we’re left with the 3 girls. They know something is different and are pretty sure it has to do with that DOG that had been here, but they’re not quite sure. We know that it will take a few days for them to ‘let their guard down’, but until then we’ll be watching to see if they start to get back into their routine–come to think of it, we’ll probably be up around 6 tomorrow, so we guess that all is right in the dog world!
To mark the moment of returning to the three dogs, we found at World Market a 2011 3 Girls Cabernet Sauvigon from Lodi, California. It’s from a familiar place in our wine blogs, Oak Ridge Winery. This wine isn’t going to set the world on fire. It’s your basic cab–medium body, dark ruby color; earthy, tart cassis, tart plum nose; tart currant, earthy palate; medium-plus finish 87+ points—in case you missed it, it’s tart–but good. It actually rates higher than we would have thought because it’s so young. And a mass-produced wine like this typically isn’t one that you’ll cellar for 10-15 years, so buy it and try it. . .available exclusively at World Market, here’s what they say about this wine, “Ripe, dark fruit, smoke and vanilla notes add to the full-bodied sweet fruit and creamy texture of 3 Girls Cabernet Sauvignon. Sourced from Lodi, California, which is ideally situated between the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Francisco Bay, the climate features warm days and cool evening breezes. An instant customer favorite, try it with burgers, meat-lovers pizza or simply on its own.” Priced below $10 a bottle, it’s probably worth at least a try because there are a lot of more expensive options that may not offer the taste of this wine.
Our girls are exhausted. . .after their early morning nap, they had to take a mid-to-late morning nap followed closely by an afternoon nap. That was interrupted by a potty break outside and then a late afternoon/early evening nap. . .fortunately, we rescued them from the routine and they enjoyed a full dinner with chew sticks for dessert! It just doesn’t get much better than this—if you’re a dog! For us, after a day of shopping at the Outlets in San Marcos, a stop at Target, a run for some furniture shopping, stopping at D#1’s apartment and unpacking — followed by dinner at Dave & Busters—which brought back some serious memories from when the kids were growing up–for us, it’s time for “lights out”.
Enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.
Day 240 – Radio Days
