New Year, New Adventures

Hello, 2015!  I can't believe how quickly time flew by since my last blog post.  One minute I'm visiting wineries and the next we're unexpectedly buying a condo!  We've spent the last two months packing, moving, unpacking, painting, and more painting.  Shout out to my boyfriend's brother and his girlfriend for visiting us over New Year's; it helped get our butts into action to make our new place ready for our first house guests.

We were busy non-stop up until Christmas and are very happy that all but one room have been painted.  Needless to say I had no time to do my poor nails (they're in recovery) or go to the gym (made my first trip back in today!).  But come Christmas and New Year's Eve I finally had some time to sit down and do some nail art.

I also finally had time to visit another winery.  I took the weekend off from Greenhill and we took my boyfriend's brother and his girlfriend out to their first Virginia Winery.  We found ourselves at Tarara Winery on a dreary Sunday.  Despite the weather, I still found their property and set up to be amazing.  As we found out later, they host live music for thousands at a time during the summer, so of course they'd need a striking set up for the crowds.  They have plenty of outdoor patio space for the warmer months that looks out at the mountains in the distance; I'm sure it looks beautiful when everything's in bloom.

I enjoyed their wines, though I found I preferred their whites more than their reds.  And surprisingly I liked the Boneyard White 2011--a white blend that we purchased at the end--over their Almost Unoaked Chardonnay 2011.  All of their wines are oaked; the whites are aged in French oak barrels and their reds in American oak barrels.  Our Tasting Room Associate was very knowledgeable in just about anything you can think of from wine, to beer, to marathons, and Disney World--a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  I'd love to go back in the summer to see what new wines they might have as well as to take advantage of their ample outdoor space.

We ended our afternoon with a stop at Old Ox Brewery on our way home.  No pictures, but out of the three local breweries I've been to so far this is my favorite.  Very laid back vibe with cement and metal interior, TVs to watch sports, a food truck, and cornhole in the actual brewery area.  I love porters, so I stuck with their core Black Ox.  They had a few new beers on tap since I'd been there a few months ago: Belgian Specialty, a dark brown ale; Farmhouse-to-Table, a saison that I found particularly good (generally they're not my go-to); and a bourbon barrel-aged beer (not usually a fan of these).  I can't wait to see what their next seasonals will be!