Vino in the Valley, Maiden Rock, WI

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Melanie

Well hello there friends! Is everyone having a good weekend? The weather has been unbelievably gorgeous here in MN this weekend and I am loving every second of it. I took a day off from the blog yesterday so I have some catching up to do these next couple of days.

Let’s rewind to Friday afternoon.

Dana and I had a date night planned. We had received a gift certificate for our wedding from our friend’s Tim and Heidi to a unique little Vineyard called Vino in the Valley. This destination is located in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin in the Rush River Valley and it is going to receive rave reviews from me.

But first…we begin with our journey to Wisconsin at 4:30 pm because it was about an hour and 15 minute drive and we wanted to be able to enjoy some “light” time in the Valley before the sun went down.

On our drive we saw a whole lot of farmland…

Crossed over the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers…

And were welcomed to Wisconsin…

From then on the views just got better and better. The bluffs were beautiful. The leaves are beginning to change colors and the way the sun was beating on them they just looked gorgeous.

This photo below is the driveway leading into Vino in the Valley and you can see what I mean by the picturesque bluffs.

We pulled into the gravel driveway and upon arrival were greeted by a sweet man sampling different local cheeses (we are in Wisconsin after all), next to that was a honey stand, as well as a mini market with pumpkins and watermelon. We sampled some cheese and made our way to make reservations for dinner.

At 5:45 when we made our dinner reservations, we were told it would be a 45-60 minute wait. This was completely fine since neither of us were very hungry yet and we had plenty of wine and views to take in while we waited.

Not to mention there was live music! They had a quaint little gazebo nestled in the middle of the action where three men were singing and playing live. That night Vino in the Valley was hosting the Riddle Brothers and they were definitely fun to watch. I really enjoy live music!

The whole set-up is open air from the dining area to the bar to the music, etc. Dana and I made our way to the bar and ordered a bottle of their house red wine called Rush River Red .

We learned that they although they have a vineyard, they don’t actually produce their own grapes. The original plan was to grow their own grapes and use them to make their own wine. This process usually takes 3-5 years, because you have to wait for the grapes to reach a perfect mature stage. However, the bartender was telling us that there was a terrible flood last year (or the year before?) that completely washed away all that had been developed. They had to start over basically and now it sounds like they may never harvest their own grapes. I am not sure if the soil was denatured or what. I have absolutely no idea. I hope their grapes will still flourish, but either way I know this place will do well.

So although they can’t produce their own grapes at this time, they still continue to make their own wine, they just import grapes from local growers. I’m all about keeping it local and cutting down on fuel emissions and air pollutants!

The vineyards are very pretty and reminded me a lot of our honeymoon in Italy. Open-mouthed smile

Wisconsin Vineyard:

Tuscany Vineyard:

Dana and I walked along the vineyards (mind you we were battling many-a-gnats), and I discovered that I can’t walk and carry a glass of wine without spilling. Remember my little episode at the Healthy Living Summit in Boston? Well, I couldn’t help but realize that I don’t walk very gracefully because my wine always seems to spill over the sides. Luckily I wasn’t wearing a khaki skirt this time. We decided to end our walk and just enjoy the live music while we waited for dinner.

It was a good thing I wasn’t wearing a skirt because man, once that sun went down it dropped about 20 degrees.

The atmosphere really changed once the sun began to set. They have two bonfire pits on site so they got those roaring, they eventually brought in space heaters into the restaurant, of course they turned some more lights on, and the atmosphere became very warm and cozy (albeit it wasn’t very warm temperature wise). I learned real quickly that I wasn’t dressed appropriately. I should have known better.

***Note: bring an extra sweater or jacket when you go!

Once we were seated inside the restaurant, we got to browsing the menu.

We decided on two side salads and to split a 10-inch gluten-free pizza. We built our own and went with chicken, spinach, black olives, and tomato with a red sauce. I was very impressed they had gluten-free crust available.

While we waited for our dinner to arrive we took in the views, sipped our wine, and sang “That’s Amore” led by a MC type of guy working for Vino in the Valley. He went around the restaurant announcing any birthdays or anniversaries that were being celebrated. It made for a very fun and friendly atmosphere. He would only talk for about 5 minutes every hour or so, so you didn’t feel like your dinner was being interrupted or anything. It was just friendly.

They brought us out a bread basket with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and pepper. I passed on the bread but Dana enjoyed a couple of slices and said it was good!

At this point in the game I was still feeling chilled but not too terribly yet.

Then came the salads. A simple salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, onions, and carrot served with a side of raspberry vinaigrette. I really liked the dressing. I cleaned my plate.

To the left of where I was sitting was the wood fire oven where the pizzas were being made. Pretty neat looking!

While we waited for our pizza, the sun went down completely. This is when the heat lamps were brought out. Unfortunately for us, they weren’t brought over by our table and I got very cold. Again, my fault for not dressing appropriately but it’s hard knowing exactly how cold it will get when you leave your house and its 75°!

Anyway, our pizza came out of the oven and was so tasty. I could really taste the difference from the wood fire stove. It tasted slightly smoky. The sauce was great too.

Before we left we made our way into the gift shop and bought ourselves a bottle of the house red wine to take home with us.

I cannot say enough good things about this place. If you are looking for a unique dining experience full of cozy and romantic ambiance (yet kid-friendly too), great entertainment (they even have bean bag toss set up and some other yard games), gorgeous views, friendly staff, nummy wine, and wonderful food, this is the place for you.

Dana and I had such a great date night and obviously HIGHLY recommend this destination to any of my local readers. It’s worth the hour and 15 minute jaunt.

***********

I am not going to go into a Saturday recap today but definitely had a very productive day yesterday. I spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen, and will be sharing some recipes with you soon. For now though, I am heading to the gym and plan to bombard my house with Fall decorations this afternoon.

Excited to catch up with you all again! Much love….

Cheers to New Friends: HLS Day 2

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Melanie

I won’t waste any time. Jumping into day 2 of the Healthy Living Summit.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling ready to take on the day. I was happy I had called it an early night on Friday. The morning began with a delicious breakfast full of fresh fruit, an egg scramble creation created by a fellow blogger, and other tasty Wild Harvest recipes.

I dished up loads of fruit, egg scramble, maple turkey patties (my favorite), veggie potato hash, fruit and yogurt parfait, and a super strong cup of coffee.

The coffee actually tasted too strong to drink probably because I am used to weaker brews these days. They seem to sit better in my belly.

I mingled with the ladies at my table and had a chance to chit-chat for a minute with Courtney. I love her blog, and was thrilled I was able to meet her! She is even prettier in person if you can believe it.

(Photo courtesy of Courtney)

After breakfast we were coached through a mini CrossFit session presented by Reebok. They provided us with these snazzy headbands and challenged us to a introductory intense workout: complete as many sets of 7 squats and 15 jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Although it was only a short workout, I was really feeling the burn afterwards and continue to feel it a couple of days later!

The rest of the day was spent sitting in on the sessions. I attended:

Blog Photog Basics with Gretchen Powell of Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen
Blogging With Brands: a panel hosted by Lauren of Say What You Need to Say
Keynote Speaker courtesy of Wild Harvest(R), Genie Nicholas & Kim Kirchherr
Newbie Q & A Discussion lead by Courtney of Sweet Tooth Sweet Life
Social Media: Keeping Up With Online Trends with Heather of Running with Sass

(The ladies of Wild Harvest which is based out of Eden Prairie, MN btw…woop woop!)

I wish I had a clone so I could have been in two places at once because I wanted to go to ALL of the sessions. I learned so much valuable information on ways to improve my blog, and continued to meet many wonderful people throughout the day.

My brain was officially mush at the end of the day. Information overload. I knew it would take me a few days to digest it all and actually put it to use in improving my own blog. I can’t believe how fast the day went.

Next on the agenda was dinner at Russell House in Harvard Square with the beautiful Shannon, Jamie, and Caroline.

We cheers’ed to new friends (make fun of the cheesiness I don’t care!). Open-mouthed smile

(Image courtesy of Jamie at studioeats.com)

We had amazing conversations, ate delicious food, sipped our wine, and laughed until our cheeks hurt.

Dinner: A bed of mixed greens with figs, walnuts, grilled chicken, and honey dijon dressing. YUM.

We hit up J.P. Licks for dessert which deserved all of the hype it had been getting. So stinkin’ good. I ordered chocolate and vanilla fro yo with Oreo topping.

We hailed a cab home around 10:30 and called it a night.

I was on cloud 9 at the end of this jam-packed day. It is so unbelievable to meet such genuine people who have common interests and who you get along with so well. Although these girls on live on the east coast, I still plan to keep in touch and visit them again in the future. I fell in love with each and every one of them and am so grateful to have met them. They took me under their wing and made me feel comfortable throughout the weekend. I miss them already.

I just have one more day to Healthy Living Summit recap for you and then I will be back to normal posts again full or recipes and tangents. I just don’t want to short-change you on any of the details of my fantastic weekend. I hope you are all having a great week so far. Catch up with you soon!

Destination Boston HLS12

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Melanie

I made it to Boston, but I was one tired girl when I arrived.

(Back track to Thursday)

I rolled out of bed at 4:00 am to get to the airport by 5:40 or so. My flight wasn’t until 7:35 but I need to be extra early to keep my anxiety level at ease.

As I’m waiting to board my 7:35 flight, they make an announcement that due to weather in Chicago (which is where I had a layover), that there would be a half hour delay. Okay, no big deal. I go make an extra lap around the airport and come back. Another announcement…Captain wants to wait for the storm to pass. Take-off has been delayed until 9:35. Now I’m ticked.

I understand this happens and it’s for the safety of everyone involved, but I was just disappointed because Dana was waiting for me out in Boston, so that we could spend part of the day together. He was out there for business this week so the plan was when I got in at 1:30, we would go hit up the town and explore Boston together, and then he would be taking off Friday morning.

This is getting long, so long story short, I switched flights and airlines and flew standby on a direct flight from Minneapolis to Boston that took off at 10:30. I arrived in Boston around 2:30 (??) and Dana picked me up at the airport. I ran into a friend from college at the airport btw! Such a small world!

By the time we checked into our hotel, got situated, changed, and went outside to wait for the free hotel shuttle, it was 4:00 already.

(Check out the view from my room. Wowzas I love it! I love this hotel…more to come on that!)

Even with limited time, we still made a pretty good dent in the city. We took the hotel shuttle to the T, and took the T to The Freedom Trail which is a 2.5 mile walk around part of the city, and it passes many historical landmarks. Dana and I followed along with an app on his phone and were able to catch up on some of our history that way.

Did I mention I hadn’t eaten lunch yet? Okay, I don’t function very well when I’m hungry. So, as we made our way through the walk, we were also scoping out places to eat. I had a hankering for seafood especially after Dana texted me a photo of his lobster roll from the day before.

After walking past handfuls of gelato stands, I was tempted to eat gelato for dinner, but decided something more substantial was probably a better idea. We decided on Salty Dog which is located in the Faneuil Marketplace.

This photo below if the only proof I have that Dana was with me yesterday. I didn’t get one photo of the two of us! Bummer. We have the memories though. Winking smile

We started with a shrimp cocktail appetizer that we split between the two of us. Such fresh perfect shrimp. I could get used to this.

For dinner, we split the lobster sandwich that came with a side of coleslaw and fries, but we swapped the fries for a side of sautéed veggies. After seeing Dana’s lobster roll photo from the day before, I was expecting a lot more food than this. I guess that’s the difference between a lobster roll and a lobster sandwich? Oh well. The food was delicious, with a ginormous chunk of fresh lobster in the sandwich, a light spread of mayo, lettuce, and a buttery bun. I just left feeling kind of hungry still.

After dinner we continued our Freedom Trail journey and did our tourist thing. I am embarrassed to post this photo as I am sweaty/tired/dirty/hungry, but I do it for you.

Paul Revere’s house:

The USS Constitution:

I have to admit, I am a little ashamed at my lack of historical knowledge. History was my least favorite subject in school so I didn’t really pay very good attention. It isn’t too late to start learning now though! I enjoyed learning about some of the history of Boston. What a beautiful area.

We got back to the hotel around 8:00 pm and we were both famished again. We hopped in the rental car (way too exhausted to walk any more) and made our way to Trader Jo’s and to Whole Foods. We made ourselves a Mediterranean inspired bowl of goodness at Whole Foods and ate that as our second dinner. I also bought a bag of Cinnamon Almonds from Trader Jo’s which are HIGHLY addicting.

Friday

Now it’s Friday morning and I am being a lazy bum in my room until some of the festivities of the Healthy Living Summit begin! I was in dire need of sleep yesterday and slept for 10 hours last night. The hubby is back home now. I loved every second of having him here.

Now that HLS12 is finally here, I feel like it’s the first day of school. I am full of anticipation, anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement! Now that I am fully rested, I am pumped to get this party started! Cannot wait to meet all of the other attendees, and can’t wait to fill all of you in on the events of the weekend.

I hope you are all having a great Friday. Catch up with you soon!

Date at Pittsburgh Blue

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Melanie

Happy Friday to you all!

Last night, Dana and I had a date night. We still had a gift card from our wedding to a chain of restaurants in the area, and it was burning a whole in my pocket.

The chain of restaurants is called Parasole and among their restaurants, we chose Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse which specializes in duh, steak, but also has a great variety of seafood.

We got all dolled up, had our own happy hour at home with a glass of wine, before heading out the door to the restaurant.

Moose wanted in on the photo shoot. I want to frame this one below. How stinking beautiful is he??

He made sure to smile for this one…

We told him that if dogs were allowed at the restaurant we would so let him come with, but no can do. Rules are rules. Sorry, Moose. Winking smile

While we contemplated our dinner orders, we both ordered a glass of Zinfandel which was perfectly smooth and slightly sweet. By far my favorite wine.

They also brought out a bread basket which I had originally said I was going to pass on, but changed my mind about 7 minutes later. Boy am I glad I did. The bread loaf was made up of 4 large rolls that were incredibly soft on the inside, and the outside had a light crust brushed with garlic butter and sea salt. OH MY. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

For dinner I ordered the seafood cobb salad. The salad started with a bed of romaine lettuce drizzled with lemon vinaigrette, and then was piled high with these toppings:

Left to right: fresh lobster, tomatoes, chives, hard-boiled egg, citrus shrimp, cheese, bacon, avocado, and fresh crab.

What an awesome salad. I ate 80% of it and was pretty proud of my accomplishment.

Dana ordered the prime rib which to me is the most unappetizing thing ever. I’m just not much of a meat person as you may well know by now. He really enjoyed it!

We also ordered a side of asparagus which were the bomb.

Although I was feeling pleasantly full after dinner, I really wanted to finish date night with something sweet. I had the bright idea to stop at Whole Foods on the way home and get some gelato.

2 scoops: 1 scoop chocolate brownie and 1 scoop salted caramel.

Are you kidding me? My second glimpse of heaven that night. I especially loved the salted caramel.

It had been way too long since we have had a date night like this. It was perfect. I loved spending such a nice evening with my hubby. Thanks Brett and Krystle for the great wedding gift!

I hope everyone has a great Friday! My favorite day of the week. Catch up with you all later!

Dinner Date with My Girls

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Melanie

This is going to be a short but very sweet post. Last night I met up with two of my great girlie friends, Kate and Heidi (also two of my bridesmaids) for dinner at Emma Krumbees in Belle Plaine.

Emma Krumbees is an old bakery and restaurant that offers everything from burgers, to salads, sandwiches, flatbreads, and has an extensive breakfast menu too.

I decided on the Citrus Chicken Salad and I ordered the half portion because whole salads at restaurants tend to be absolutely ridiculous. In the salad was iceberg lettuce, red onion, avocado, tomato, grilled chicken, and a lemon citrus vinaigrette on the side. It was a very simple salad, and it was pretty tasty. The amount of food was perfect.

After dinner we walked on over to the gift shop and chit chatted along the way. Emma Krumbees also has an apple orchard and in the fall you can come and pick your own apples. I did that a long time ago with my mom and dad, and would love to do it again this fall!

After a couple of hours we were forced to say our good-bye’s and go our separate ways. It has been so bittersweet getting together with Kate lately because she is moving away to Georgia in less than a week. I am attempting to soak up every last bit of her before she leaves. I definitely will be making plans to go visit her out there.

As always, it was so good to be with my girls, and although Kate will be in Georgia soon, we are still going to Skype, and have a glass of wine together that way, and before we know it I will be heading out there to visit, or she will be coming home to visit.

I stopped by my mom and dad’s on the way home and hung out with them for about an hour before heading “home, home”. Mom and dad’s is my second home, and my house is my first home. I love the comfort of each place.

The rest of the night was spent hanging out with my men.

Today has been an absolutely AMAZING Saturday. I have lots to share with you tomorrow, but it’s going to have to wait. I hope you are all having a great day as well.