If I Had $500

If I had $500, what would I do with it?

1. Buy an orange Kitchen-Aid mixer to make these cookies.

Sigh, the one thing I didn't get off my wedding registry that I REALLY wanted. Making mashed potatoes has been quite a cumbersome task without one.


2. Sponsor a new kiddo through World Help. If money grew on trees, I'd sponsor all those sweethearts.

3. Buy a new coat for my trip upcoming trip to Chicago. Brrrr... it's going to be cold in the windy city in a few weeks. Either way, it's my first big work trip and I'm so excited!

4. Take my hottie of a husband on a fantastic date for his birthday next week... oh wait- I'm already doing that! Jared, if you're reading this, you are going to love your life next week!

5. Buy the new Florence & The Machine CD. They rock my world.

Life As the Orozcos Know It...

Well, blogger world, it's been awhile. What's been going on in the world of Stacey Szumiak, now Stacey Orozco?

1. I've always wanted to open my own restaurant, and solely serve gourmet grilled sandwiches. Well, I have awesome best friends, and they eagerly joined me in my vision! On labor day, we created, named, and made 6 different types of gourmet grilled cheeses. If your eyes aren't strong enough to read the menu board (proof that wedding decor can be useful in everyday life), we made the following delicious concoctions: The Caprese (tomato, homemade pesto, mozzarella), The Big Cheese- yes, I named that one (pepper jack, cheddar, and mozzarella), The 'Shroom- yes, I named that one, too (mushrooms, spinach, and chicken), The Honey Bee (chicken, bacon, honey mustard), and The Jack and Jill (BBQ sauce, chicken and pepper jack).

And, we even served RC Fizz, AKA Rachel and Cara brilliance- ginger ale and strawberry lemonade!

2. We had a grown up SLEEPOVER!!! It included boys for the first time in my life, which was a plus, since one of them was my husband. Oh, and a pillow fight (although, not super fun when you're playing against Steve Gilmore), and snacks to boot!!

3. PS: I got married!!!! I could gush for hours about how perfect the day was, how amazing my husband is, how being a wife is my favorite and proudest role, etc... but, I'll spare you all.
Perhaps the expressions on our faces in the below photo will suffice to describe how we feel.

4. For my birthday, my best friends are taking me to Castello di Amarosa. Their marketing language is: "Taste Napa Valley Wine in a Castle". 'Nuff said.

Life is sweet, rich, and fulfilling, like it's never been before. The Lord sure does lavish His love on His children.

1 John 3:1

11 Musings

1. It's Friday!!! Whenever I can't say that, I can't help but think about Rebecca Black.
Fun, fun, think about fun!

2. My mom comes into town tonight to begin the week of wedding madness! I'm practically bouncing off my office chair with excitement!

3. Jared's dryer takes over 140 minutes to completely dry a load of laundry. After attempting to do 6 loads of laundry for him, I resigned to hanging all of his clothes to dry- there were t-shirts, boxers, pants, and socks strewn all over the place.

4. Tonight, I'm cooking a yummy bow tie pasta recipe with cream sauce, peas, and pancetta. I'm also cracking open a delicioso Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, courtesy of my lovely colleague, Catherine! The best part? I'm eating it with 5 of my favorite peeps- my bestest Cara, Steve-O, Rach, Momma, and of course, my almost hubby!

5. I just read in the latest Oprah magazine that you should put spinach in your breakfast smoothies. Boo ya Oprah! I've been doing that for years!

6. I came home from work last night to find my house with newly installed sconces and ceiling fans, a clean kitchen, and candles lit, to boot. I am most definitely marrying the best man alive.

7. I really like sleeping on an air mattress. I've been doing that for over a week now, and I sleep like a rock. Do you think Jared would be up for trading our Cal-King mattress in for an Aerobed?

8. Rach and I watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit every night. We have 39 episodes recorded and we WILL watch all of them. I'm always amazed by how many crime scenarios the writers can come up with.

9. I love the book of Judges. Our pastor has been teaching a month long series on it, and every Sunday I am brought back to 3rd grade Bible class. I will always remember my teacher, Mrs. Meyer, dramatically acting out how Ehud slayed the fat King Eglon.

10. Words with Friends, the iPhone scrabble game... bringing families together. My dad never responds to my texts, but when I play a scrabble move, he plays back within like 10 seconds. Might I add that he is beating me by over 100 points.

11. I'm worried that my teeth are going to get crooked. Whenever I sleep with my retainer in, come morning, I usually find it underneath my pillow. It's like those people who sleep walk and binge eat, and then wonder why they've gained 20 pounds. Except worse!

Bachelorette

Do I look just a teensy bit happy?

(Jared says I look like big bird in this picture, but then again, men don't understand feathers, tiaras, sashes and how they really do add to the fun).

Well, I most certainly AM happy because...

1. I have the best friends and family in the world. Seriously. This weekend I was spoiled rotten by 10 of my favorite ladies!

2. I had the most amazing bachelorette party in the world.

3. I have the best fiance in the universe.

4. I'm getting married THIS month. 18 days!

5. I am moving out of my little backhouse tonight and am moving in with my dear friend Rachel for the remainder of my unmarried life. Can you say rainbow sprinkles, champagne, musical theatre duets, and P90X?

6. I came home from my bachelorette party to brand new wood floor, a newly installed stove and oven, LOTS of organized cabinetry in my new 13 foot walk in closet, several new light fixtures, cabinet doors installed with my orange and green knobs, and my handsome (and a little bit tired/sweaty) fiance.

7. 3 weeks from today I will be in my favorite place in world with my new husband- Nantucket island!

Life is sweet...

28 days

Well, folks- i'm getting married in 28 days. That's 4 weeks!!! I can hardly stand it!

This is a photo of some of my lovely bridesmaids at my LA shower. I am so blessed!!

The Past 5 Months...

It's been over 5 months since Jared popped the question while we were on a picnic on Mt. Diablo. I knew that from that moment that my life would never be the same- and it hasn't been!

We have less than 2 months until the big day and we absolutely can't wait for August 19 to come.

What have we been up to the past 5 months?

Well...

We've been making our house a home. It will be a long process- giving TLC to 5 rooms and 3 bathrooms (and a pool) can take up quite a bit of time! Thank goodness I'm marrying a hard-working master of construction!

That tile is now on the floor of our snazzy, redone bathroom!

We got our first wedding gift- a toaster oven! Baked potatoes, here we come! And of course, Jared HAD to squeeze me in the box.

We've gone shopping at IKEA, Lowes, Home Goods, and TJ Maxx waaaaaay too often. No matter where we go, Jared some how makes it fun.

We've made LOTS and LOTS of wedding decisions, including the wedding party wardrobe. Here is Jared in his big day outfit- what a hunk!

And, we've loved each other more and more along the way.
It's always nice to get picture messages like these during the work days.

Yes, there's been lots of love along the way.

Over the past 5 months, I've become truly thankful that God is allowing me to get married- what a privilege and gift!

Most of all, I am thankful that God has given me Jared to marry. He is always making me laugh, supporting me, encouraging me, and loving me so well.

He is most definitely my other and better half.

51 days and counting!!

I Love Collio

Check out this blog from one of our clients- I've been writing the posts. Can you tell? :)

http://usa.blogcollio.it/

Stacey's Darling #3: A Lucious Beaujolais

Hi Peeps--

I tried another wine at work last week that quickly became a new darling.

2009 Domaine Tete Julienas, Cru Beaujolais, France.

You may see on the label that is just says "Red Beaujolais Wine". Of course, if you are new in the wine world, you would have no clue what grapes are in the bottle, what to expect stylistically, etc... That's what I'm here for :)

Gamay is the red grape queen of Beaujolais, and almost all red wines in this area are made from Gamay. This wine may have a blend of other grapes, but Gamay is the star of the show.

Now, about the wine making region:

This wine is from Beaujolais, which is a smaller area located in the famous region of Burgundy, France.

Beaujolais' claim to fame is Beaujolais Nouveau, which is a wine that comes out every 3rd Thursday of November (right in time for Thanksgiving!) These wines are light in body, color, tannin, and as some people will argue, light in flavor. They are meant to be fun and festive, and there is nothing serious about them!

This wine is a Stacey's Darling because it breaks all those rules that people hold about wines from Beaujolais! This is a serious wine- it has delicious and cutting acid, warm black and red fruit flavors, meat and pepper (yummmmmm), and fantastic body, but at the same time is very sip-able and approachable!

It goes for $22 at my work, but I'm sure you can find it online for a more reasonable price (although I think $22 is a worthy value for this fantastic wine).

Pair this with some dark meat poultry- it would be a fantastic sidekick to duck!

Happy Drinking!

Making the World a Better Place, One Media Sending at a Time

A lot of my time at work is spent sending out our clients' wines to media across the country, with the hopes that they'll write about them and give us some awesome coverage.

Well, my new wine friend Beau Carufel of Beau's Barrel Room posted about one of our client's wines, and gave me a little shout-out, too. It made me smile :)

Here's his post about Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc (which is an awesome wine, BTW!)

Happy Chardonnay Day!

Hello Friends!

Today is a great day! Why, may you ask? Well, for me it's great because I am just 6 hours away from hopping on a plane with my hunk, which will zip us up north to Portland. Jared and I are spending the next 4 days with our friends Tim and Ashley, who have quite a fun itinerary planned for us, from wine tasting, tours of Seattle and Portland, hikes, and more!

Another reason it's a great day is because it's Chardonnay Day! Wahoo-Happy Chardonnay Day!!
Now, those of you who know me know that I actually despise most Chardonnays. I typically would rather opt out of drinking than drink a glass of oaked Chardonnay.

But, as I wine-o, I am a fan of any day that celebrates wine!

In honor of Chardonnay Day, here are some fun Chardonnay facts:

1. Chardonnay originated in Burgundy, France, but now it is made practically everywhere- even Greece, New York, and South Africa!

2. Chardonnay is one of the 3 permitted grapes in Champagne, along with Pinot Noir and Pinot Menuier. In my opinion, that's the best way to drink it!

3. Chardonnay has a few aliases, including Aubaine, Beaunois, Gamay Blanc, Melon Blanc. Lots of people just call it "Chard". Sommeliers turn up their noses at wine abbreviations, FYI.

4. Among white-wine grapes, few adapt so easily as Chardonnay to soil and climate conditions, or are so responsive to different techniques by growers and winemakers. This is why there are so many styles of Chardonnay- ranging from flinty Chablis to oaked, buttery Napa Chardonnays!

5. Want some food with that wine? Chardonnay is a great side-kick to seafood and poultry. If a chicken breast and plain white fish sounds boring- how about trying some lobster tail or fried chicken with that Chard?

6. Want to buy some Chardonnay? Here are some reliable and trustworthy producers of Chardonnay from around the world:

France: Chablis: Domaine William Fevre, Moreau et Fils, Dauvissat Bouchard Pere et Fils, Dujac, Verget, Olivier Laflaive, L. Jadot, L.Latour, J. Drouhin, Ramonet, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Leroy.

U.S. of A: La Crema, St Francis, Arrowood, R. Mondavi, Staglin Family, Kendall-Jackson, Lohr, Jordan Vineyards, Estancia, Matanzas Creek, Beringer, Cuvaison, Grgich Cellars, Heitz,

Chile: Errazuriz, Santa Rita, Concha y Toro, Caliterra, Casa Lapostolle, Undurraga


Now, go have some Chardonnay to celebrate! Or, if you're like me, just have it in your Champagne :)

I'll be back next week with reviews of Pacific Northeast wines and wineries!!


Stacey