Not your mother's Rose...

Should we even admit it? Do we dare?

We like pink wine. No, don't get scared, this is not your mother's White Zinfandel. Nor is it like the wine coolers you drank before you were of legal age.

These tart, dry pink wines are delightful on a warm summer evening, perfect with a backyard barbecue, and lovely with an appetizer of grilled vegetables. (Kerry makes some killer grilled tomatoes, you'll have to ask her for the recipe.)

We have sampled (read: consumed) two varietals of pink wines this season. The first is Crios Rose of Malbec, from Argentina. Yes, it is made with the same grapes of a traditional Malbec. The processing (with or without the grape skins) account for the color of the wine. I found the wine to be pleasantly tart and have a nice, dry finish. Robert Parker, Jr. gave the wine 89 points and said, "The 2007 Rose of Malbec is medium pink with an expressive bouquet of strawberry and cherry. The wine is medium-bodied with lots of glycerin giving the wine a smooth palate feel. Dry in style, the wine has rich flavors, excellent acidity, and a lengthy finish. Drink this remarkably food-friendly wine over the next 1 - 2 years. All of the Crios wines are outstanding values"

The second pink wine we tried was Nine Vines Rose made up of a Grenache and Shiraz blend. Again, this wine utilizes grapes traditionally used to make red wines. Again, this is a light, tart, dry wine. The Wine Spectator gave the wine 89 points and said, "This wine has raspberry and strawberry aromas on the nose. On the palate, zesty fruit flavors of red currant and raspberry from the Grenache combine with spicy cherry of the Shiraz to produce a crisp, refreshing wine with a long, full finish."

The Nine Vines Shiraz Viognier, a red, is another interesting blend and quite a tasty combination of grape varietals. It's a nice, lighter red that will be great to enjoy all summer long.

So, if you are looking for a new wine to try, be adventurous. Go pink--you might be surprised with what you find.

A Monday Favorite

We are going to try and let you in on one of our favorite finds each Monday. This week we wanted to let you know about a new discovery in one of our very favorite categories, wine. Martha Stewart, the woman who can do anything, recently launched a line of wines. Rachel couldn't resist and bought a bottle for me. We tried the Cabernet varietal and enjoyed it very much. It was not too strong but with enough bold flavors. I then found the line at my local wine store. Sale price was $9.99, very reasonable for a nice bottle that you can have a with a weeknight supper or a casual dinner with friends. I bought the Merlot and again was quite pleased. It was served at our local book club meeting with a lovely array of appetizers (prepared by Rachel, a very delicious bruschetta and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto.) The Merlot blended well with the foods. They are both wines that I definitely would serve again. There is also a chardonnay that I will try soon. I hope you all have a chance to try some of Martha's wines and enjoy them as much as we have.

30 resolutions

Inspired by other blogs we read, we have decided to make a joint list of our resolutions for 2008. We are aiming high with 30 resolutions . We feel confident we can achieve them all if we work together.

We, Kerry and Rachel, do solemnly swear we resolve.....

1. To wear our cute clothes on a daily basis instead of saving them for special occasions.

2. To light candles nightly in our homes.

3. To greet our husbands in 1950's style, with a smile on our faces and a clean welcoming home.

4. To drink more wine

5. To not complain about doing laundry and how it never ends.

6. To not complain about our children putting clean clothes into the hamper because they don't want to fold them.

7. To wash our cars more than once a year.

8. To find out and share better gossip on our friends and enemies.

9. To drink less wine.

10. To stop wasting hours looking at the internet and forwarding links to each other.

11. To eat more meals consisting solely of appetizers.

12. To find more amusing cards to send to each other.

13. To actually sew instead of just staring in awe over our fabrics.

14. To water our plants regularly not just when they turn brown.

15. To shop sales more diligently.

16. To take more pictures of our children, and less of our craft supplies.

17. To use the fabulous craft supplies we have and not save them for a "special project"

18. To make every project special.

19. To not learn another craft until we finish all the projects we have bought supplies for and never started.

20. To throw more parties.

21. To drink more fine wine.

22. To be brave enough to cut the pretty fabric and papers and not just look at them.

23. To make fabulous tote bags for every occasion.

24. To use the fabulous tote bags on a regular basis.

25. To make fantastic bags and accessories for our children so they too can have an artful life.

26. To walk more.

27. To read more blogs and to comment with witty feedback.

28. To write more witty, crafty blog entries.

29. To have more art give-aways.

30. To host an art swap with all our artsy friends and throw a party to celebrate!

The tour that never ends...

...and on your left you will find our food and drink station. Today we have some lovely hazelnut coffee and some delicious pumpkin chocolate chunk bread. Help yourself to some coffee or tea, and take a look around.

During our evening events we offer wine and dessert. In addition to the wine glasses on this shelf, we have placed various art pieces that we have each made, as well as some folk art and scrabble tile messages. Click the photo to take a closer look

As you make your way around our studio you will find a plethora of beautiful materials. We have worked hard to sort, categorize and organize the many items we use for our various projects. As much as we have boxed and labeled, it is hard to keep everything at hands reach and aesthetically pleasing. Many our our supplies are kept on this shelf.

We came up with a solution to hide all the mess. We call it the magic curtain. Now you see it... now you don't! We close the curtain when we have guests so the chaos isn't too distracting.

Our big supply table has been a challenge. Our solution has been a dozen or so of the media storage boxes you can find at Michael's Craft Stores. They are perfect for sorting and storing all sorts of items. We have one for rubber stamps, on for ink pads, one for chip board letters, one for costume jewelry pieces, one for children's game pieces, and the list goes on and on and on....

If you read this blog or this one or this one or have seen all the things we have in our studio, you would never guess that our space is really pretty small, only 15 x 20. No, really, it is. We use every inch of it!

One of the best parts of the studio is the wonderful, warm feeling you get when you walk in the door. We hope you feel it too. If you haven't stopped by, you really should sometime. We'd love to show you around!