A Relaxing Wine Night

Oh the joys of Saturday!!! 

It’s a relaxing cloudy/rainy morning here in Richmond but I’m okay with that… for now

I’ve been lounging around looking through some recipe books for the upcoming week and watching tv, no complaints here!

Speaking of lounging, last night The Man and I decided to get our lounge on at a wine bar just down the street which we really like, The Wine Loft.

We had some yummy pours as well as a light appetizer before heading home.

P.S.  My IPhone definitely didn’t take good pics in the darkly lit room!

 This was a red blend of four different wines and was deelish!

The Man enjoyed a local Kluge Cru (Charlottesville, VA) which is actually a Chardonnay that has been blended with brandy and then aged in Jack Daniels barrels, it is AMAZING when served over ice.

Woah 19% alcohol though

Caramalized onion and mushroom flatbread – holy yum!

Definitely one of my favorite places to celebrate the end of a super busy work week

We also made a stop at World Market (my obsession?) for this new wall hanging for our living room…

And yes, our walls are blue!  Love it.

Today I have a few things planned, including getting my hair did, finding a yummy appetizer to make for Super Bowl Sunday and then having Fanatic Mom and Dad over for a belated birthday dinner!

A fun recipe awaits…..

Before I go, let’s get into another one of the new Cho flavors, which continue to impress me.

The lemon was next on my to-try list and I gobbled it up yesterday afternoon!

Kind of reminded me of some sort of lemon pie/dessert, but once again not super sweet and with a little bit of that “pucker” that you’d expect from a lemon.

I liked it.  I liked it alot.  I kind of wanted to dip a sugar cookie into it.  Don’t ask why, it just sounded so good

Overall, here’s my ranking of the new flavors:

1.   Black Cherry

2.  Mango

3.  Lemon

I’d have to say that pineapple is still by all time #1 favorite, but these are some great other flavor options to mix things up!

Next up:  Chobani Champions!

Note that I received all of these Chobani products for free.

Happy Saturday!!

Birthday at Balliceaux

Last night was my official birthday celebration!!

Two of my besties from college made it in for the occassion along with my Richmond besties and my favorite foodie ever

We all met up at a restaurant in The Fan (by my old house) called Balliceaux. 

I’d really been looking forward to trying this place and was definitely not disappointed!

I did miss my DSLR though

The menu had some phenomenal choices and it was hard to choose an entree, but the Grilled Vegetable Lasagna ended up winning out.

Fresh house made pasta/ eggplant/ mushroom/ zucchini/ roasted garlic pomodoro.

 

Served with a bed of greens on top, so creative and a great addition of flavor.

‘Twas delicious!

The Man chose the Sesame-Potato crusted Catfish.

Served with spicy grilled sweet potatoes and honey glazed broccoli rabe.  

Even though I really enjoyed my lasagna, I must say that this dish was amazingggggg.  The fish was cooked perfectly and had such a nice crust, the sweet potatoes were divine (and the broccoli rabe was even cleared off his plate).

Wow I’d go back just for this dish!!

To finish things off The Man and I shared a four-layer cake that was the size of my head haha.

Moist & delicious.

Balliceaux was definitely the perfect place to spend some quality time with great friends, such an awesome night!

Oh, and as if the company and the food wasn’t enough, check out these super fun gifts that I was lucky enough to receive too.

(My friends know me too well).

Mexican inspired measuring cups – how freaking outta control cute are these?!?!?!?!

Laura just knows

And this amazingly scented candle which is currently making my kitchen smell like the freshness of spring!

Love it Brittany

Well I better get back to the kitchen, I’ve got lots of fun things going on in there today including a fun new dinner I’m trying out for tonight (The Man’s parents are coming over!) and dinner prep for tomorrow night…

Can’t wait to share both of these dishes with you guys too!

See you soon!