Wine and Christmas

One of the people I wanted to see while I was in Ohio is my pseudo mom, Mary. We had a date planned for that Thursday. And something that we love to do is finding wineries to go to and of course try all of the wine that we can. *wink*

Mary found a wonderful winery for us to visit called Maize Valley. It is located in Hartville, OH. Hartville has many other sites to see but we were there for the wine. *grin*

When we walked in there were all kinds of goodies: food, produces, wine goodies, etc. The wine bar is located in the back and after browsing through all of the goodies we headed straight for the wine. Jen was the girl behind the counter. Wine tastings are only 25 cents and they have an assortment of choices. Jen handed us a wine "menu" (a list of all the wines they offer) and we got to tasting. 

The inside was beautifully decorated with white lights and garland of leaves. It reminded me of the inside of a cottage.

Look at all of those choices *wink*

Mary holding up the wine menu.

Yes a wine called Mad Cow and Middle of the Road. There was also Red Neck Red, Little Red Pecker and Big Red Pecker... along with many more.

This wine is a combination of three different wines and I liked it mostly because of the bottle and the fact that I love Christmas. The wine was also very good.

After trying all of the wines that we wanted it was time for lunch, we were all getting hungry and a little tipsy *wink* Jen handed us a menu and gave us some wonderful recommendations. 

She recommended this wonderful sandwich. The sweet and spicy chicken, delicious yet very messy. My plated ended up needing a napkin.

and to start out their red pepper soup with Gouda cheese. YUM!

After we left the winery we went to another favorite place of mine and Mary's, Donzell's. The reason I love Donzell's so much is because they really know how to do Christmas!! And Christmas is my favorite holiday.

Yes that is a leg lamp, like the one from A Christmas Story. I love a traditional Christmas and this display was just wonderful, brought back good Christmas memories. I ended up purchasing a few faux TV ornaments.

Donzell's was in the middle of setting up their Christmas displays so they did not have everything out *sigh* I wasn't going to get to see everything they had to offer this year. Mary did promise to take pictures for me though. *wink*

xo

*My Thoughts*
Here is the link for Maize Valley Winery.
And the link for Donzell's.
If you are in the northern Ohio area I highly suggest checking out both of these places, especially if you like wine and Christmas.
Donzell's is a happy place and a wonderful place to visit during the holidays even if you don't buy anything.

Pumpkin Patch and Rittman Orchard

On Wednesday Theresa, Wyatt and I took a trip to Rittman Orchard. Theresa wanted to get some apples to make apple sauce with and then of course we had to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. 

It was a cold, cloudy, and windy day... even more so since we were at the top of a hill. But the view was amazing and the colors of the trees in Ohio are gorgeous, something we do not get much of in Florida.

As we entered the shop the smell of apples immediately hit my nose. There were many apples to choose from. Plus all kinds of other goodies.

I snapped a picture of these weird looking turnips just for that fact: they were weird looking and I had never seen anything like them. At the register there was one that someone had put googly eyes on... what a clever idea. 

So many apples!

This picture is for my mom since her name is Peg.

This is such a pretty pumpkin.

Pumpkins everywhere

This pumpkin has warts. 

The pumpkins we picked out!

We were all starting to get hungry so we stopped off at a little restaurant in Barberton to have lunch.

These gorgeous trees were right out front. I mean just look at that vibrant red tree! Beautiful.

Theresa and I opted to have this delicious chicken dumpling soup that hit all the right spots on this cold gloomy day. The dumplings were huge and very filling.

After lunch we headed back to Akron to enjoy the rest of our day together.

xo

*My Thoughts*

I miss all of the beautiful colors that Ohio has to offer in the fall.

It's one of the many downfalls of living in a state where it is always summer.

I miss the good home cooking.

I miss the views.

Ohio will always hold a piece of my heart.

The Mount Dora Craft Fair

The Sunday before I left for my vacation Mount Dora was putting on their annual Craft Fair. The fair is a top rated event and brings in thousands of people. This year just happened to be the 30th annual fair. Since it is a craft fair the crafty people of the world travel to Mount Dora to sell their goods from paintings, crafts, ceramics, wood works, and jewelry. I go for the jewelry. I get most of the jewelry I own from craft fairs and most of it has come from the Mount Dora Craft Fair.

While I was waiting for my friend Ashley I decided to make a stop at Norm's, after I grabbed some grub from one of the many food vendors the fair had to offer....

I decided on a Philly and I think it was a good choice... just look at all of that goodness!! Yum. I walked down the street, Philly in hand, to Norm's. I sat down outside and ordered a glass of house made Sangria.

I sat and munched on my sandwich and enjoyed my glass of Sangria all the while listening to the autistic sounds of Adam (I apologize I cannot remember his last name and lost the business card I picked up).

Norm's is a beautiful place... if you are ever in the area I suggest you stop by. I snapped a picture of Norm outside his shop before heading off to meet Ashley.

When I caught up with Ashley we headed off into the large crowds in search of some goodies.

I loved the way these pictures looked.

A bee found his way into my sample cup of honey... I could feel him or her buzzing *grin*

Not a part of the craft fair but I could not resist a picture of all these different beers located at Maggie's Attic.

I had to stop and take a picture of this of course. GO BUCKEYES!!

I purchased a bundle of these wild flower weeds to put in a vase in my bathroom. They were all beautiful.

Had to get a picture of this as well... how cool.

This was completely adorable.

Before heading back to Norm's Ashley stopped off to buy the biggest bag of kettle corn *grin*

The Craft Fair was amazing, so many talented people in the world, but I was good and only bought a couple of things including one pair of earrings.

xo

*My Thoughts*
The link to the fair is below.
Find all of the information for the fair on their website.
Start planning your trip next year.
Mount Dora Craft Fair

How I pack for trips

I am going out of town next week to visit some friends in Ohio. The city of Akron was my home for two years and I am proud to say that I am a graduate of the University of Akron with my AA. In my short time there I became great friends with two lovely people, Wyatt and Theresa. We made some unforgettable memories together. Now I am headed back up there, over the Halloween week, to make some more memories with them. I can't forget to mention my pseudo mom who I am also going up to spend time with. We always have fun together with whatever adventure we find ourselves in. *wink*

It is time for a vacation and I couldn't be more ready for one. My life is going through some major changes recently, where some might think a vacation now is not a good idea, but I say phooey to them. I need a break and right now is a good time for me. And that is all that matters.

I am leaving really, really early in the morning on Tuesday... like I don't even want to think about what time we have to leave. o_0  My wonderful mother has come to my rescue and offered to take me to the airport. We are going to have a sleepover at my place the night before *grin*

Since this is a post about my packing technique let's get to it, but first a little explanation before the pictures. My degree is in Event Management and a part of event management is the PLANNING part. I always get overly excited about trips and begin planning and packing weeks in advance, it's just in my nature and I have tired many times to wait. It just never works out that way. So of course I plan everything out.

Now scroll down and you will see what I mean *wink*

I don't normally plan out every outfit. But for this short trip with a small suitcase I decided it was necessary. I am taking only 3 pairs of shoes since my suitcase is a carry on. Normally I would probably take more.  

This is all of the jewelry I plan on taking, but I am going to the Mount Dora craft fair tomorrow so I may pick up a few more things and take them with me... who knows *wink* 

I mean come on let's be honest there is a very good chance that I will find more jewelry since I go to these things specifically for that reason. I love funky jewelry if you can't tell.

Now I have fit everything into this carry on suitcase, so who comes out being the real winner here?

xo

*My Thoughts*

I did add a couple of "extra" shirts after this picture was taken just in case... you never know what could happen.

All of my electronics are going in a backpack since they obviously weren't going to fit into this suitcase, something I had not originally planned on but that ended up being necessary. 

Make time for you. Do not let what anyone else thinks keep you from doing what is best for you or what you need to do.

*I apologize for the sideways jewelry picture, I could not get the darn thing to rotate correctly.  

A Book Review for You

Okay first off I must say that I love books, book stores, and reading. My obsession with buying books has gotten worse over the past year *grin* I have always loved books and there was never a time I was buying more books than I had time to read, but this past year it's been more and more. It all started with me purchasing my Samsung Galaxy 3 tablet. I added the Kindle app to it on a whim not really expecting to use it. Until I got my tablet I was against reading electronic books, it has something to do with the feel of an actual book in my hands and the smell of the pages. I now must say that I love reading on my tablet.

How this obsession started was with a little website known as Bookbub. My wonderful mother is the one who put me on to this website. (I have to make sure she mentioned this website to me because I know she will be reading this post later and if I didn't mention she was the one who introduced me she would get on my case about it... love you mom.) *wink*

Anyways a little about it... you sign up with your email address and they send you an email everyday, yes EVERYDAY with a discounted books between free and $2.99. Yes free book, this is where I get into trouble. *grin* I can't tell you how many books I have purchased from these emails. The website makes it really easy as well... just click the link next to the book you want and it downloads to your device. How freaking easy, right? Now this only works this easy if you have an Amazon account, which of course I do. *wink*

Now the reason for this post... Henry Wood Detective Agency.

If you are looking for a new series to read I strongly recommend these books. There are four of them all together and yes I have read all four, that's how good they are. I downloaded one from bookbub and every time I saw another Henry Wood book pop up in my email I purchased it right away.

If you enjoy detective novels, as I do, you will definitely enjoy these books. Quirky, funny, shocking. Brian D. Meeks is the author and does a remarkable job. Henry Wood is an older, tired detective who ends up taking on these big cases. The books are set in the 1950's in NYC. Now Henry's office and apartment are in Manhattan but he also keeps residence in Brooklyn (a place that many people do not know about.) This house is unique in that it has a closet that sends him clues from the future to help him solve cases he is working on. How cool, right?  I do not want to give too much away but the characters in these books are wonderful. Henry is sometimes lost and is helped along by his close friends... The way he goes about solving these cases is unique and smart. Dealing with the mob, rich folks, betrayal, etc. throughout all of the books Henry has to decide who he can trust and those he can't.

These books had me hooked and wanting to keep turning the pages... even late into the night *wink* Now go out and purchase these books for yourself to see.

xo

*My Thoughts*

You do not have to purchase these books through bookbub, you can get them off of Amazon.

I am not being paid to talk about bookbub, I just love it.

The four books are Henry Wood Detective Agency, Edge of Understanding, Perception, and Time and Again.