Favorites Friday - National Wine Day

Tomorrow is National Wine Day – what a great holiday, right!? I figured this was a great reason to share some of my absolute most favorite wines for this round of Favorites Friday. Go to the store and pick up one (or all) of these wines to enjoy on Saturday. What are YOUR favorite wines that I need to try?

Dreaming Tree – Red Crush

This is one of my go-to wines that I can’t get enough of. It’s not very expensive and it’s just an easy sipping wine that pairs well with pretty much anything.

Alamos – Malbec

This is one of my other favorite go-to wines. I always have at least one bottle on hand. This is always the wine I pop open when I don’t want to think too much about what I’m drinking. It’s smooth and easy to drink and is only about $10 bucks per bottle.

Voulet –  Casorzo

While I don’t typically drink a whole lot of sweet wines, my in-laws really enjoy them. I stumbled across this fun sparkling red wine at a local shop and they absolutely loved it. It’s been the perfect wine to enjoy at all of our family gatherings. It’s not the easiest wine to find but it’s worth tracking down if you have a sweet wine loving crowd to please.

Chateau Camplazens – Marselan

A new restaurant recently opened near our house and my husband happened to randomly choose this wine off the menu. I all but ended up stealing his glass of wine because it was so much better than the one I was drinking. I had never heard of Marselan before and was pleased to find out that it was a cross between a Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache grape. The only place I’ve been able to find this wine is at this local restaurant so if any of you out there can find it – let me know!

Favorites Friday

I’m excited to launch a new series with you today – Favorites Friday! There’s always something really neat that I come across in my daily life that I just need to share with the blogging world. Sometimes my Favorites will be related to books or wine, sometimes they won’t. But they will always be awesome things that have made me happy. I think they’ll make you happy too!

Vinoair Wine Aerator

Ever since we joined the Cooper’s Hawk wine club, I’ve been pining after these cool aerators they sell. I never used an aerator before but these cool pewter animals were just too hard to resist. My husband found this Vinoair wine aerator and gave it to me for Christmas and I have been LOVING it (even though it’s not an adorable animal). It’s amazing how much better my red wines taste after running through this fun little gadget. The best part about this aerator is that it fits right down into the bottle and you pour directly into your glass. And, it doesn’t even slow down the pouring process! You can see the bubbles but most importantly – you can taste the difference!

Lodge enameled cast iron skillet

My husband and I love cooking and we do a lot of it. We love finding and trying out new recipes all the time. A couple of years ago, we got our first enameled cast iron dutch oven. We became obsessed with it and started using it ALL the time. We also watch a lot of Food Network and something that I always see the chefs using was a shallow enameled cast iron casserole pot. I got this super pretty Lodge one for Christmas and was so excited to use it. It didn’t disappoint! It’s perfect for literally every dish from chicken to pasta to steak. You can sauté or sear and then throw the entire thing in the oven to finish cooking. If you like to cook, get one of these in your life immediately.

Crocheted ponytail hat

Unless you’ve been living under a social media rock, then you know the hottest trend on the internet right now is the “messy bun” hat. I’m not sure how this hasn’t caught on before now because it is a GENIUS idea. I knew I needed one the second I saw it. Luckily, I have a super talented Mom who can crochet. When I asked her to make me one – she happily obliged! With the super cold weather that we’ve been getting lately, this hat has been the perfect addition to my wardrobe. You can find patterns online to make one yourself if you are crafty. Or, you can buy one already completed. My good friend over at Jess Runs ATL is fundraising for cancer research in order to run the NYC marathon and is taking orders. Get yours here. It’s for a great cause so go check it out and get your beanie on!