Category Archives: life as I know it

Tis the Season for…Wine-Making!

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We’ve trimmed the tree, we’ve started the Advent calendars, and the month of December is in full swing. I haven’t done too much to get ready for it this year- I attempted last year’s calendar (one of my best brainstorms ever, if I do say so myself), but a lot of the rings are blank. I hung the garland up on the mantle anyway, and guess what? It hasn’t occurred to the kids yet that maybe something is written on the rings. That’s ok with me.

One thing I did do to get ready this year is…make wine. It’s true. Back in October, some girlfriends and I got together, went to Harmony Winery in Fishers and made a wine kit for the holidays.

It’s quite the process, making wine, even when you’re starting with grape juice and not in the vineyard.

After sanitizing our hands and donning aprons, we set to work creating the concoction that would then ferment for about six weeks. I don’t remember exactly what we were doing in all these photos- but it took about an hour, and we had a lot of fun!

 

After Thanksgiving, we returned to bottle our concoction (actually, it was a different kit- long story, but we mixed one batch, bottled another, and took home bottles of both). The bottles were ready and Kevin put us right to work!

After sanitizing, we took turns filling the bottles with Riesling. After bottling, came corking. After corking, came foil seals. After foil seals came customized labels. After all of that, we had a toast for a job well done, for done it was. We bottled about forty bottles total, and all five of us carted out a box of our creation.

Look at the finished product. Now the real dilemma is, do I really gift the fruit of my labor, or do I enjoy it myself?

 

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Happy Birthday, Grandma!

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A few weeks ago (ok, nearly a month ago), my grandma turned 98 years old! We kind of make a big deal about her birthday, because, well, how many 98 year olds do you know?

We had a party for her at my parents’ house, and of course there was cake. She brought her collection of birthday cards to share with us- she must have received over fifty cards. (PSA: Send birthday cards to the elderly people in your life! They love them!)

We had a lovely afternoon together, and as the day went on, she began to reminisce. As she gets older, her memories go back further and further. She used to talk about the sixties, now she talks about the thirties. She surprised us all by reciting, word for word, the opening monologue to the radio program, Our Gal Sunday. As she began to talk about the show, I started Googling for more details. She was wondering the exact year it began, and how long it ran for.

Between websites devoted to old time radio and Wikipedia, I was able to help her fill in the blanks. It was a fun way to share some time with each other.

Smart phones and the Internet, bringing generations together!

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Contain Indy

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If you live in Indy, you may have heard- the Container Store is finally here! If you’ve never been to one, you might not know why this is a big deal. If you’re familiar, well, then, you aren’t reading right now, you’re shopping.

Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with some of my favorite people and tour the Container Store, all 25,000 sq ft. That evening, I attended the Preview Party, complete with live band, dance floor and 2000 of the Container Stores biggest fans.  It was a lot of fun, really overwhelming, and really left me wanting to reorganize my entire house. October 6, 2011 will forever be known as “Container Store Day” in my book.

The Container Store generously sent me home with a bag swag and I thought it would be fun to take some before and after pictures to demonstrate how useful their products really can be.

Exhibit A: The kids’ bathroom caddy. Ack.

Before: The basket actually held everything from toothpaste to a measuring tape, to hair ties.

Before
After: This Turbo Organizer has a spot for exactly everything that actually needs to live in that space nothing more, nothing less. I want one for our other two bathrooms now!
After
Exhibit B: Organizing the family calendar
Before: The back of my kitchen door is magnetic, so I use a couple of magnetic clips to hold papers I’ll need for the week. I only have two clips.

Every time I need a paper, everything else held by the clip falls to the floor!

After: The Container Store sent me home with four mega-magnets with hooks. Now there’s a magnet for coupons, tickets, school and etc. I’m still using the clips as well, and I’m not sure that it looks better, but things are a LOT easier to find!

Sorting the papers I need each each week by topic make things easier.

There are more goodies to put to work- I think the FlipFold  might have to be it’s own post. I find it oddly relaxing to fold my shirts like they do at the Gap.

What do you need help Containing? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure the Container Store Indy will have an answer for you!

(Top photo courtesy of Angie Six, local blogger and Container Store enthusiast!)

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