Lost Oak Winery

We celebrated Christmas today, Christmas in June anyway. For Christmas Mr. Lucas and I purchased a Groupon from my dad to go to the Lost Oak Winery for a tour of their facility and wine tasting. They did not expect to have such a huge turn out with their Groupon so they have been pretty booked. We just happened to have our your today and it was lots of fun. If you live in the Fort Worth area or ever come here to visit you must go! The winery itself is so pretty and the store front is very festive. You can rent space for a party or even a wedding. They were setting up for a wedding today. They have been awarded best pick for weddings by The Knot! Check out their calendar, they have lots of events! Yeah, there is a craft fair next weekend.

Joy lead us on our tour of the winery. She knows so much and has such a friendly personality. She told us that we could volunteer at the winery and would be able to help harvest the grapes and bottle the wine among much more! Jeff and I were pretty excited about that because we want to learn more. We would love to have a bed and breakfast winery some day. So, we figure what a great way to start learning how it all works.

She told us all about what grapes grow best in Texas but also said that Texas is still trying to figure it out. We have such crazy weather here and that can really make it difficult for the growers. You can even tell what grapes have been damaged by hail because the hail bruise them leaving black streaks on the grapes. All the grapes I saw were perfect. 

They have to also worry with wild pigs, deer, raccoon, and other pesky critters that want to harvest the grapes for themselves. They have to use electric fencing in order to keep them out. 

We ended our tour in the crushing room. Its where they crush the grapes up to be placed in the barrels where they will sit for several months before bottling. It was nice and cool in there on this hot June day. There, we were able to get a taste of the Blanc duBois. She asked us to to smell the wine and swish it around in our mouth to try to determine what fruit was in the grapes. Mr. Lucas immediately said green apples and he was correct! He should have won a bottle of wine. Meanwhile, my dad was cracking jokes and having a good time. It was pretty cute. 

After the tour we went back to the store front and listened to live music while we sipped on tastings of wine paired with cured meat, cheese, fruit, and nuts. We all got a list of the different wines they make there an picked our top 5 to taste.

After we finished the wine tasting we couldn't stop there and bought a bottle of Tres Uvas. This wine has made me appreciate white wine so much more. This was so much fun which was really needed for everyone.

In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much we all became members of their wine club! Every other month for wine club members you go pick up 2 bottles of wine at discounted prices. On the pick-up day they have a party! Yep, that is my kind of wine club. We also get invites to special events, are the first to taste new wines, and receive free wine tasting and can bring up to 3 friends with us among so much more. This is going to be fun I think.

Cheers!  

Austin, TX

Austin is such a great city here in Texas. It's only about a 3 hour drive for us so that's a bonus. They have a great music festival there every year in the fall and we have been going for a while now and look forward to it every year! It has been a few weeks since we got back but as usual had a great time with friends and saw some great bands too...and there was one really awful band with a consistent pattern of explicatives. That was unexpected and even more unexpected that they scheduled that band to go on next to the kids stage. I think the children watching what was going on at the kids stage may have added a few new words to their vocabulary.

We found a great studio apartment that we rented which was walking distance to the festival. That beat years past for sure. So long La Quinta, you will no longer subject us to high transportation rates with a reckless driver leaving me wondering if I will survive the ride.

The food at the fest is always excellent. Tim Love represented too. I got down on that Love Shack burger. Of, course we can never resist a Boomerangs Guinness steak and potato meat pie.

Pies sooooooo good they require several trips to the register. Go to their website now and order some. It will be more than worth it. Plus, come to think of it, come on down to Fort Worth and go to one of Tim Love's restaurants.

Well, enough about food. The weather was great. In Texas, the weather is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. It rained on Saturday with a brief...yet heavy...down pour. Other than that It was really nice.

On Saturday, we left the fest a little early. Our dear friend that was at the fest with us is a Sommelier and just recently passed his test for Advanced Sommelier. He is pretty fantastic and can sniff or sip a wine and tell you what frigging year it was made. I am pretty dumbfounded about that one but yet he says it's easy. Anyhoo, his friend that passed the certification with him just opened up a very cool wine cellar where we spent the evening.

We also celebrated our anniversary that weekend. We stayed in Austin a few extra days after the fest to relax and enjoy the town.

We went to 24 Diner for lunch. It was delicious! Jeff had Chicken and Waffles, yum.

I had the pulled chicken breast sandwich. It had goat cheese on it. That's all I needed to know.

We walked up an down South Congress which has tons of shops, restaurants, quaint hotels, and coffee shops. There is the coolest antique store called Uncommon Objects. We were in there forever. They had tons of cool and strange things. I had to resist the urge to take pictures because of all the "no camera" signs. I saw other people do it but I guess I am too by the book, darn it. I just imagine sirens going off and the authorities tackling me if I do something bad! Ha!

We happened across a great hat shop called Goorin Bros. Jeff picked up a spiffy new hat.

This store is awesome. The minute you walk in it is like you have walked back into time. I could picture myself shopping for a hat in the early 1900's in there. I love how they wrap the hats up too! Check this place out folks!

We also happened across The Impeccable Pig. Super cute store! I got myself a nice new winter coat.

All the shopping worked up a thirst so we stopped at Jo's Coffee. Best coffee ever folks! I haven't had someone make coffee that good since I was a barista at a little old coffee shop in my under grad days called Coffee Haus. Word.

Then, it was back to the studio for a little relaxation to end our vacay and to crack open the bottle of wine our Sommelier friend gave us 2 years ago on our wedding day. Ah, the simple things in life!

 Thank you Austin. You delivered as usual.

Cheers!

Fun Weekend With Friends

Typically, I like to just stay home and work on various projects around the house during the weekend. But, come on folks, there is only so much of that one can do! This weekend, was full of fun and friends. It is always healthy to get out and do things with those that you love the most. I feel very privileged to not only have a great family but great friends too. In the work that I do, I know that not everyone has that which makes me cherish it even more.

Every month during the late spring through early fall Fort Worth hosts an even called Friday on the Green. I started going with a good friend of mine a few years back. Now that Mr. Lucas is out of school and not working at the Bucks anymore, he was able to go this time! What is First Friday? Well, it consists of some great local bands that get together and put on a free concert. It it like a mini music festival that is family friendly. There are always 3 bands that play starting at 7p and ending about 10p.We have a few friends in a few of the local bands and tonight, The Apache 5 were playing. There are also food trucks too so all you need is a blanket...the food, wine/beer, and music are ready and available. 

Saturday, a few of us girls got together for sushi and fun! We went to Piranha's which is a local favorite. The sushi is melt in your mouth and the environment is so festive. So, Martini's and Sushi all around! 

Then, off to Pete's Piano Bar we went. I have never been before but it was tons of fun. We even got a table right up front! The entertainment was great...and talented! 

Cheers!