Cheers To A Never Ending Weekend!

This weekend was one of those that seemed to last forever.  In a good way :)  And I honestly wouldn't change a thing about it, even if I could.  It was perfect.

Friday I had lunch with the girls.  Absolutely delish gumbo, and an early dismissal from work.  You surely can't beat that! 

The Voice of Reason and I had an appointment for a mani/pedi later in the afternoon, so I headed to Lowe's to pick up some things I needed in the mean time.  And then, I appeared to have an hour with nothing to do.  NEVER FEAR!  I headed to the closest TJMaxx.  And I found the most divine gladiator sandals.  (that I am actually wearing today, and wore Friday night, and will be wearing every day b/c I love them). 

(eww...I look like I've got cankles! booo...)

I spied the Easter Bunny while I was there, and he gave me a few things to put into LW's Easter Basket, and also a thing or two to sneak into TEN's Easter Basket :-o

Friday evening TEN and I had our date night.  We decided to scrap the movie since we were having such a good time just enjoying each other's company at the restaurant.  We had a delish meal, plenty of wine and so much laughter :)  We talked about the past, and what went wrong.  We talked about the present, and how happy we are.  And we decided that we don't ever want to end up where we ended up before.  And no one pointed fingers.  We both fessed up to what we did wrong, and could have done better.  And then we bought another bottle of wine to toast us.  To toast the present.  And to toast happiness.

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Saturday morning we were up early to head to the new winery where we were going to help plant baby wine vines (as I continued to call them all day).  We had invited The Voice of Reason and Mr. Swiss to join us, so we all met and headed "up the mountain". 

I was completely surprised at what baby wine vines looked like:

Honestly they just look like dead sticks :-o

But, clearly they are NOT dead.  One of the sections that was planted last year looks like this now:

There were various other wineries there doing tastings as well:

(Mr. Swiss, TVoR & TEN)

(the winery pups taking a break from playing with the ball)

They had live music, wonderful food for lunch (shrimp, chicken kabobs, BBQ, cheeses, etc.) and great wine selections.  The weather was perfect, and we decided to stop by another winery before heading back to Smalltown, VA. 

On the way we saw an old saw mill.  We pulled over to the side of the road to investigate:

We also stopped at a shop where they sold Buffalo Meat.  But, we didn't buy any.  I think there may have been some correlation to the fact that we kept passing buffalo, and cows, and calves, and they were all still alive......

The second winery has a bocce ball court, and the guys played bocce ball while TVoR and I enjoyed our wine and took in a little bit of sun. 

At one moment I closed my eyes and listened to the laughter of my friends, and I just wanted the day to last forever.  Have you ever had one of those days?  Where you weren't expected to be anywhere?  When no one was bugging you to get back to town to do something.  When everyone knew you were off enjoying the day, and therefore they didn't call you nonstop?  It was all just so peaceful, and it was so absolutely lovely :)

As we drove back along the Parkway, TVoR and Mr. Swiss invited us to their house for a fancy Swiss supper called Raclette.  TEN and I were very curious as to what this fancy pants meal would be like, so we dropped off TVoR and Mr. Swiss and headed home to fetch Louis.  Poor muffin, his legs were crossed when we got home...he had been praying we would arrive home soon.  We rewarded him for his patience by taking him along for the fancy pants supper!

(this is the raclette grill.  there is a stone on top, and a cheese warmer below)

(that plate has the raclette cheese on it, and check out that bottle of riesling!  XL for sure)

(raclette cheese in the warming/melting dish on the lower level of the grill)

(mushrooms grilling on the stone top)

(the finished product!)

The best way I can explain raclette is as a reverse fondue.  Rather than dipping potatoes, meats, veggies, etc, IN TO the cheese/oil...you dump the cheese OVER the meats, veggies, etc.  You prepare your plate, add tasty spices (all kinds of fun things Mr. Swiss had brought back from Switzerland) and then when your raclette cheese is bubbling you dump it over everything. 

Let me simply say that I had THREE servings, and it was divine.  Louis was in a feeding frenzy because everything smelled so delicious.  He laid under the dining room table and licked our toes.  He must have been REALLY hungry :)

TEN and I are convinced that we MUST purchase a raclette grill ASAP.  It's just as fun as fondue, but much less messy!

For dessert we had Vermicelle.  "What?" you ask....Well, I can't find anything in English to explain what it is.  So, I'll just try to tell you.  Apparently it is this tasty treat with vanilla ice cream, almond paste pushed through a press that makes it look like vermicelle noodles, whipped cream and a cherry. 

The weekend must be getting close to being over, right? So many lovely things discovered and experienced. But no...not even close! It was home to rest up for Easter Sunday.  Another big day in T's world :)

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Sunday morning we decided against going to church.  I know, I know...sacrilege.  But here's the thing...my least favorite days at church are Easter and Christmas.  Why?  Because people come out of the wood work.  People that haven't been to church since Christmas show up for Easter service.  And I end up having to stand.  And considering what Jesus did for me, I realize that standing up against the wall is not a very big sacrifice.  But it irritates me.  It's very small of me, I know.  I realize this.  I'm just being honest.

So, we didn't go to church.

We had our own little Easter celebration with Jesus and the Easter Bunny.  Louis got some treats, and so did TEN.  I, however, did not.  The Easter Bunny apparently gave my Easter Basket to someone else :(  But that's okay.  It's not about the receiving, it's about the giving.  (repeat after me...)

And then we went to Easter Brunch.  And since there was a Peep in TEN's Easter Basket again this year, we decided the Peep should accompany us for the Easter festivities.  And so he did...

(we are so proud of our Peep!)

(Mimosa Peep)

(Peep at home)

(Croquet Peep)

(Cocktail Peep)

(T & TEN)

(the whole crew - CJ, BW, Ken, Barbie, Mr. Swiss, TVoR, me & TEN.  Ken's daughter is in the front :)

TEN and I wandered home yesterday evening and were both ready for some quick supper, and an early bed time.  What a wonderful weekend!

The best news is that the Knockout Rose my Mother bought me for my birthday last year is blooming!  Louis was thrilled (as you can tell), and I had to fetch my camera for a photo this morning.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and I can't wait to share this week with you.  So much fun on the calendar...and JUST WAIT until I tell you how we will be celebrating while watching THE ROYAL WEDDING.  Kate and Wills would be so proud!

T