38. have a picnic

The Blue Angels were in town this past week and on Friday they performed one of two shows for the Air & Water Show in Milwaukee. I've seen them several times in my life (being a Navy child) and they never cease to amaze me. So we took this opportunity to have a picnic on the bluff and watch the Blue Angels. Number 38… check!

the label project: test I

I've begun my project with two wines. One a light Pinot Grigio the other a simple Merlot. I bought the former for the label and my friend brought over the Merlot. I thought it would be a good time to experiment since one had a simple label and the other a gorgeous one.

wine name: Kris

wine type: Pinot Grigio

vintage: 2008

region: Italy

price: $14.99

good value: Yes

drink again: Can't Wait

after careful consideration the overall rating: 4.1/5

side note: each label was designed by contemporary Italian artist Riccardo Schweizer.

wine type: Merlot

vintage: 2008

producer: Charles Shaw

region: California

good value: Yes

drink again: Maybe

after careful consideration the overall rating: 3.2/5

In the first battle of label design I'm happy to say the one with the beautiful label wins!

42. enjoy the first warm rain fall

Okay so the first warm rain fall happened a while ago but last night was the first chance I could photograph it. The other day at 6am there was a big thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail for about 10 minutes then it broke and opened up to blue skies. Last night it was another rain fall that passed quickly but it was another good storm. I hate rainy days but love passing storms so please, mother nature, keep them coming.

21. find a project to do

I FOUND A PROJECT! Well more like I developed a project. I was in Whole Foods last night and walked past the wine section and had to stop. There was this beautiful label for a red wine that I wish I would have bought. I tend to buy wines because of their label and usually they are good wines. I think wines that have lame labels take themselves too seriously. It's wine, have some fun with it. With that said I am going to partake in a little project/experiment where I buy wines because of their label and then rate them. At the end of this experiment we'll see if you can really buy wines because of their labels.

By the way… the first wine pictures: not so good. The one above is one of my favorite white wines of all time. And the label is so cute!

25. get a mani/pedi

My philosophy is that you are allowed to splurge on the best manicure and pedicure once in a while. It's allowed. Why? Because it feels really good! And you get it done once and you then want to keep them that way. So you do the moisturizing, the oil and most importantly you don't bite. So every once in a while (2-4 times a year) splurge on the best manicure and pedicure you can find.

gorgeous!

Too bad they are $298 a piece… damn you Anthropologie.

for love of country…

Oh I want…

The Impossible project has the most awesome film available and I want it all! Can't wait to get it!

48. Spring Gallery Night

Okay, so #48 needs to be modified. Instead of going to Spring Gallery Night I went to MAM After Dark. It was the opening of a new exhibit, To Speculate Darkly, with performances, great food, and wonderful art.

The exhibit is by an artist, Theaster Gates, who has looked at the history of pottery and the people who created the works. His main focus was on Dave the Potter, a slave from the Carolinas who signed his work. No one knows much about Dave which is why we must speculate. Gates worked with Kohler workers at the factory to create pieces for this installation. To Gates, the Kohler workers are the modern day Dave the Potter. Workers without a name.

During the night there was a performance by singers from Milwaukee and the Chicago-based Black Monks of Mississippi. They were singing pieces written by Theaster Gates himself that correlated directly with Dave the Potter and the show.

So glad I chose this over Spring Gallery Night.

24. enjoy Easter

the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the church bells are ringing… happy easter!