100th post!

Happy 100th post to me! In honor of the occasion I’m going to include links to my top 5 favorite posts so far. Thanks to Brandon for the idea. I was at a loss for what to do for my 100th.

#5 – Recycling. This post is just really important to me because the subject is. Not turning the world into a dump is a huge priority for me ;)

#4 – Santa Cruz. I love Santa Cruz. This trip was our second there together, and our first trip with our bikes. It was perfect.

#3 – Dublin! The post itself isn't especially entertaining, but the subject is SO exciting. I'm so proud of Rose! She's leaving for Ireleand on September 18 (I think). Keep up with her journey on her blog: A California Girl in Dublin.

#2 – Chardonnay's favorite things. I was excited that I thought of this original and fun blog idea. Looking forward to posting more favorite things sometime in the future!

#1 – 100 goals to accomplish before my 30th birthday. I love that I created this list! It’s so fun checking things off and writing about all the fun things I’m doing. Best post ever :D

Martha recipes update

Remember when I was excited about trying these Martha Stewart recipes to freeze and re-cook? So far I’ve tried the Mediterranean Tuna Noodle Casserole (sorry Mom! I can see you gagging as you read this), Spinach Pie and the Broccoli Calzones.

The tuna casserole was disappointing. Very bland. I don’t know why I made it anyway – tuna casserole just sounds gross. I guess I wanted to try something new.

The spinach pie was bad too. I keep trying to make things like this, thinking they’ll be different, but they’re never as delicious as I hoped. I’m done making things that are primarily spinach.

Martha, you have failed me!

The broccoli calzones were pretty good. Not amazing, but I will most likely be making them again.

Even though the first few recipes were duds, I’m still planning to make the Vegetable Enchiladas, Lasagna Primavera and Chicken Tetrazzini. They sound good. Hopefully I get around to making one or two of those tonight.

$159.50

The last few nights James and I rolled the change that he's been leaving in my piggy bank for the majority of our relationship. It's seriously all from him - I rarely contribute.


Our total: $159.50. Cha-ching! We're going to cash it in and spend it on our vacation in a few weeks.

Goal #50: Design a web site for my dad's business

Okay I've actually had this done for a long time, but I never posted it because I'm not that proud of the work. I've never done anything like this before and it's obviously very much in progress, but here it is:

www.OakTreeSolarEnergy.com

If you know anyone who needs solar energy or construction work done on their home, farm or business in Northern California - give my dad a call! He's awesome and has been in the construction business for way longer than I've been alive. Email Info@OakTreeSolarEnergy.com if you have any questions... or leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP!

>List of 100 goals<

Who am I?!

Looking at the title of this post, you probably thought it was going to be really deep and meaningful about my innermost thoughts. Nope, sorry. I chose that title because it’s about me doing something that I’ve always hated and was my last choice of exercise – running.

Last Monday James and I went for a walk and somehow turned it into a run. I just wanted to try it, I guess. And it was kind of fun (but hard). The next night I got home and he was really excited about doing it again. He’d planned out a route and everything so we went running two days in a row (man, were my legs sore).


We took the rest of the week off but last night we went running again and it was fun and a lot easier than last week. I didn’t even complain like before!

We’ve agreed to make it a once-a-week thing. We’re going to run every Monday evening. That, combined with kickboxing twice a week should give me a good routine to stick with. It’s hard to make yourself run, but having James as my running buddy helps a lot.

Seriously, who is this running girl?! Running is not a Chardonnay thing!

Clean

Today I did something very indulgent and wasteful. I’ve never done it before: I went to Harv’s Car Wash and paid them to wash my car inside and out. Everyone in my life (parents, boyfriend) has always told me that it’s silly to pay someone to do this for you, when you can easily do it yourself for free. I feel kind of bad about spending $20 on this but I had a coupon and the regular price was $30. And honestly, I hadn’t vacuumed my car in such a long time and probably was never going to! I vow to make this a once in a blue moon habit and not do it again any time soon!

This is my 95th post. I’m creeping up on 100, and since about 80 I’ve been trying to think of something really unique and exciting to do for my 100th post but I just can’t think of anything creative. Any ideas??

The day I got a new wine stopper

Tonight, I decided to open the bottle of delicious Boitano almond sparkling wine I purchased several weeks ago while wine tasting with friends.

Oh darn, I forgot to blog about that day! It was so fun. We went to Vino Piazza in Lodi. Although some of the wineries charged you $5 to taste, it was really nice to have several wineries all in one place. We had a ton of fun and I ended up purchasing a bottle of sparkling almond from Boitano and sparkling raspberry from Woodbridge. I was really into sparkling wine that day :)

Picture borrowed from Jessica's Facebook page

Anywho, so I opened my sparkling almond tonight. It was just as good as I remembered (from the tasting), but the cork was HUGE! There was no way we could fit it back in the bottle (James tried too), and I wasn't going to drink the whole bottle in one night.


So after critically thinking about this problem for a few minutes, I decided that I needed to go to Target and purchase a wine stopper. I really should have one by now, but I didn't :( Luckily, Target is just a few blocks away so I drove down (I'd only had a few sips) and bought a cute but intricate wine stopper/combination pourer for $5. Yay, I'll never have this problem again!


So I got home and put the stopper in the bottle. Then I put it in the fridge lying down, and it leaked. Boo! So I played with it a little more and finally got it "air tight."

"Look honey," I showed James, "I got it air tight!"

Then I flipped it over upside down to show just how well my new wine stopper worked.

Then,

*POP*

The stupid thing gave out and I poured freaking wine all over the floor!! And all over our new bookcase!! And James' physical therapy books!!


Gah! What the hell! Okay, maybe I shouldn't hold open wine bottles upside down, but come on!

That's my Sunday night for ya. I just enjoyed Kendra on E! and am now watching Denise Richards: It's Complicated. I hope you had a great weekend!

Disclaimer: This post was written after a few glasses of the aforementioned wine. Hopefully that just made it better :)