Perfect Fall Weekend for the Wineries

We kept it pretty low key around here this past week and decided that we would spend some time enjoying the fall weather this weekend.  My Aunt and Uncle were down at the wineries in Ste. Genevieve for a mini getaway and asked us if we wanted to come down for lunch and a visit to a winery or two.  Missouri is known for its wine country and considering I have never been to one since turning 21 (watching the grape stomp when you're 14 doesn't really count!) and D has yet to see much of the state, we decided to make the hour trip south.
After missing our turn off and getting lost for about 30 minutes, our first stop for lunch and a bottle of Bouvet Blanc was at Chaumette Winery. The food was amazing and from a girl that very rarely eats a lot of meat anymore, my pork burger was absolutely delish.  (I was the DD for our trip, so a burger paired with my wine was exactly what I needed so I wasn't loopy.)  My uncle, who had done a tasting on Friday afternoon was our wine expert for the day.  Thankfully I didn't have to make many decisions on what wines we were having.
After lunch, we traveled down to the Charleville Vineyard and Microbrewery.  This is one of the smaller of the wineries but it was absolutely beautiful sitting in the countryside enjoying the view and the company.  At Charleville we did a small tasting and what is really neat about this winery is that it is a microbrewery as well so D was in heaven.  He did a sampler flight of some of their regular and seasonal brews and after testing 3 wines, I settled on a Charlerita, which is margarita mix paired with their lovely Genevieve Rivard.  It was refreshing and didn't leave me feeling woozy like most margaritas with tequila do.  In fact, after everyone tested my Charlerita, it became the favorite of our group and everyone else had one the next round.

We spent a couple of hours just chatting with my Aunt and Uncle, catching up on what all of my cousins have been up to, what is coming up ahead for the holidays, and anything else we could possibly think of.  The great thing about hanging out with them is that there is never a dull moment and we have a lot of fun.
As the afternoon started to dwindle, we made our way to our cars and made the hour trip home.  It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the weather and the company.

The couple that cooks together....

Lately we've been testing out a lot of new recipes at home.  While I've always loved cooking and experimenting with ingredients, I've gotten D into the kitchen madness and we've been pretty successful with our culinary adventures.  We have taken to grocery shopping together so that we can collaborate on ingredients for upcoming dinners.  It's actually been a lot of fun, albeit we do get carried away sometimes with some of our ideas but all in all, we are both enjoying it.
Here are a few of our latest dinner creations:

Ham and Cajun Turkey Stromboli

Gnocchi with Shrimp and Asparagus in Homemade Pesto

Scallops and Brussel Sprouts over Lemon Butter Angel Hair

Loaded Pulled Chicken Nachos for Game Day

And probably my greatest creation to date...cheesy chicken spaetzle, continues to be un-photographed because I always forget to snap a pic before its gone.  I'll work on that!

As we start spending more time at home in the fall and winter months (fingers crossed), we have a bunch more ideas for dinners we want to make.  The great thing is that we've been open minded in trying new ingredients and I have a plethora of cookbooks to pull inspiration from.  Hopefully I can get pics before we dive in!

Doctor Ordered Vacation

I am finally home after a 2 day hospital visit and while the doctors are not exactly sure what caused the GI tract infection (they think it was a combo of a virus and bacteria), I have been ordered to take it easy for the next few days so that my immune system recovers.  Since you all know me, required rest is somewhat difficult but I have been given off the remainder of the week by my boss and I am trying to listen to the doctors orders.
I really didn't think how I was feeling on Monday was anything serious.  I thought it would be a quick bug from something I ate at one of the many weekend events we attended.  I didn't really eat bad but again I wasn't 100% on my healthy eating diet.  I stayed in bed most of Monday morning, checked emails Monday afternoon and scheduled the blog post for Tuesday (which I then had to update a bit before I actually published) and thought I was feeling better.  I actually contemplated going into work Monday afternoon and then decided against it because I thought getting more rest would make me feel that much better at work on Tuesday.
Then Monday evening things took a turn for the worst.  My mom stopped by, brought me crackers, 7Up, a heating pad and made me soup.  Mom left, hoping that I would feel better but I couldn't even eat, I laid on the couch doubled over in pain.  D asked me multiple times to take me to Urgent Care or the ER and every time he asked, I declined.  I told him I'd feel better in the morning and around 10 pm went to lay in bed with my heating pad.  Obviously, D was not happy with my decision and called his mom to see what else we could do to make me feel better.  She urged him to take me to the ER and finally put her on the phone with me and she convinced me to let D take me.
The one thing about living downtown that that there are multiple well known, top hospitals within 10 minutes.  These hospitals are so popular though that actually being seen in the ER would take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  D called one of our good friends, who is also nurse, and asked which hospital would be the best to get me in and seen within a reasonable amount of time.  She recommended a smaller hospital that she worked at before landing her current position.  By 10:35 we were at the hospital and within 5 minutes I was checked in and headed back to a room.
From there it was all about blood tests, samples, CT scans and monitoring all of my pain.   At 1:30 am, they decided I needed to be admitted and at 3 am, I was headed for a normal room.  They ran more tests, hooked me up to fluids and tried to ease my pain as best as possible, all without letting me actually eat until they could figure out what was wrong.
Besides having an inflammed GI tract caused by some infection, they also accidentally found a gall stone which could be another reason why I have had some other issues lately.
Yesterday afternoon, the doctors finally decided that I could be released after being able to hold down food for 2 meals and around 2 pm, I walked out of the hospital.
Right now, I'm just tired.  Being prodded and poked every few hours and being woken up for vitals and to see how I'm feeling definitely takes its toll but the hospital staff was great.

I'm really glad to finally be home.  It killed me on Tuesday night watching D leave and knowing I couldn't go with him and mostly I just wanted everything to be back to normal.  I have to say though that given all of this, my family, D's family and my friends have been so great checking in on me and wishing me well.  I haven't taken much time off lately and it has been go go go, I guess this hospital visit was my sign to slow down and get some R & R.  It's also my sign to get a primary care doctor and start taking care of myself so my Moms don't have to worry.

The man of many hats

After my Sunday night post, I somehow got a stomach bug that caused me non-stop pain for a good portion of Monday.  For the first time in 8+ years, I had to call into work...or I guess I should say, D emailed our boss because I couldn't even move to send a quick message out.  She was understanding but I still don't like having to call in last minute so I felt bad.  As much as I thought I could try to come in, I realized it would be impossible.
Once I could at least hold my head up on Monday afternoon, I decided to check my email and at least get a head start on tackling all of my weekend notes and determine where I sat for my return on Tuesday.  The thing about  my job is that part of it has to be taken care of immediately by someone our group whether I'm there or not and the rest of it can wait until I personally make it into the office.  I'm lucky in the fact that D is one of my backups for the things that need to be handled ASAP.  He sent me a text about halfway through the morning and told me not to worry (which I would have since that's just me) because he got all of my info entered into the system.  It put my mind at ease enough to know that at least half of my 60+ new emails were handled. Monday night things took a turn for the worst and I have been hospitalized to get rid of the GI infection causing me so much pain.
People sometimes ask us how we are able to work together and still maintain a personal relationship.  It's actually been pretty easy so far.  We are only co-workers at work and while we work well together, we don't show favoritism to each other.  At home we try to put work behind us as much as possible.  But, it is nice to know that when I need help when I'm feeling under the weather, D takes care of me both at home and at the office.

Weekend Recap (In Pictures)

I'm enjoying the Rams win this afternoon and decided why not give a bit of a rundown from the weekend.  I know, I know....I gave you all a heads up on Friday morning but here's the recap.

Nothing like a Friday afternoon in the Champions Club

Excited to catch the game but peeved they lost it!

D wore my Blues jersey to the game. We won 7-0! 

 

 

The things this Red Wings fan does for his girl. :)

Our Company Day at the Rams Game!

Couldn't get him to wear a Rams shirt though! Luckily we still won!

Ready for Rocktober!

Source

It’s a sports-filled weekend around these parts….this afternoon I was lucky enough to score a ticket to Game 2 of the NLDS series here in the Lou.  Our boss emailed us all yesterday afternoon and told us she got tickets for our group to attend the game.  It’s my first playoff game ever and along with getting to leave work a little before noon, I get to spend the afternoon with the work fam at the game.  D and I were lucky enough to score last minute tickets to the game last Saturday and have had baseball fever for the playoffs.  He may be rooting a bit more for the Detroit Tigers but until we get to the World Series, I'm alright with that.  :)

Since Dad is gone on his honeymoon, he gave D and I his tickets to Saturday nights’ Blues game.  This year our family has a ticket package that includes 4 seats to selected games so we decided it would be fun to take my Aunt and Uncle with us.  Once they get all my cousins settled with 2 homecoming dances, they get to have an adult night at the hockey game with the two of us.

Sunday is our company day at the Rams game and while the Rams really haven’t played up to par so far this season, I’m still excited to get to go the afternoon at the game.  Last year was a blast and I wouldn’t expect any less this game.

 If that wasn’t enough to fill a weekend, we also have a birthday party for one of my former co-workers (my poker buddy MO) and D’s Friday night hockey game.  It’s another busy weekend here.  I’m not sure why I thought things would slow down with the start of fall because we’ve been on the go once again!  Let’s go Cards, Blues and Rams!!