Wine Club: We Eat, We Drink & We Celebrate Babies

Wine Club is celebrating our NINTH YEAR, which is spectacular. It's arguably the most enriching part of my life, a sisterhood that meets monthly to share food, wine and laughs. This summer, we also enjoyed a baby shower for our sister Stacie, who just became a mama! For dinner party and baby shower inspiration, scroll on. 

Steak Night

At the start of the summer, we had a Steak-Grilled-to-Order night at my house. Everyone brought their own cut of steak for Sean to grill, and a rose of their choice. We had:

• Whispering Angel: The OG classic. If you haven't had Whispering Angel, have you even had rose?
• Juve & Camps Pinot Noir Rose: Notes of fresh red apple, strawberries and toasted almond
• Mulderbosch Rose: This beautiful South African rose has notes of pomegranate and berries
• Champs de Provence Rose: A classic dry rose that tastes of red berries, citrus and orange blossom
• Apothic Crush: Obviously not a rose, but our go-to red blend wine when in doubt. 

It's rare I get to bust out all my pretty tableware, so forgive me for indulging in a beauty shot.

The menu for the evening...

I also served a strawberry watermelon rose sangria that was so refreshing and delicious.

I finally had a chance to do something I've wanted to try for a while: make compound butters! I made a red wine shallot butter and a straight-from-Pinterest recipe for "cowboy butter." Both were delicious.

A shot of Ashleigh's bloody steak, mustard slaw and mac and cheese. We ate every piece of that mac! 

Summer Wine Night

When Lauren hosted Wine Club, we decided to have summer-inspired labels (sometimes the theme doesn't fit the wine we have in our fridge, hahahaha):

• Charles & Charles Rose: Delicate floral notes of strawberry and watermelon
• Sea Salt Sauvignon Blanc: A tart grapefruity, crispy sauvignon
• Muir Wood Chardonnay: Tropical, citrusy chardonnay that we enjoyed — a rarity for this varietal!
• Lagaria Pinot Grigio: A crisp Italian wine with notes of apples, pears and white flowers

It would be a mistake not to admire Lauren's inspiring porch planters. She's an artist with plants!

She set a beautiful table with classic Blue Willow china paired with buffalo check napkins. So sweet.

We devoured her food so fast I barely had a chance to snap a pic, but this balsamic-marinated chicken is about the best thing on the planet and you should make it yesterday.

Stacie's Baby Shower

What a thrill to welcome another little lady to our sisterhood! We joined Stacie's friends and family in July to celebrate her babe. They did an INCREDIBLE job creating the perfect baby shower and we were blown away by all the special details.

Everyone received a favor of a scented salt scrub, all personalized with a floral motif they integrated into all the decor.

We played some fun games, including the classic "Don't Say Baby" clothespin game, "guess how many kisses" game and some games that challenged us to come up with baby items starting with the letters that begin the words, "baby shower."

We had a gorgeous brunch spread, including two types of quiche, hash brown casserole, fruit, granola parfaits and so. many. delicious. pastries. They also had my partytime favorite — champagne and pineapple sherbet. Heaven!

Stacie received many gorgeous gifts, including this handmade quilt from her sister-in-law. Her baby is here now and we couldn't be happier!

Savannah in the Summer 2018

Summertime is almost over and I'm finally sitting down to remember some of it! In June, Bret, Ashleigh and I set off for our annual trip to Savannah and Tybee Island — one of my most treasured traditions these days. Here's a peek at what we enjoyed for our 2018 sojourn in the Sav:

We decided our trip would be dedicated to Cocktails and Caftans and kicked off the trip accordingly: with a beach photo shoot celebrating our caftans via Amazon Prime. 

One hundred percent worth $20 to look this glamorous on the beach.

As is our tradition now, we spent our first night at Tybee Island Social Club, one of our favorite spots for cocktails and snackies. We'll always have a soft spot for their Scientist cocktail. 

The next morning, we spent a few hours completing crossword puzzles and then hit the beach with tumblers filled with cocktails concocted from Ketel One Grapefruit & Rose, St. Germain and Pamplemousse La Croix. We basic, we bougie, we cool with it.

After a day at the beach, we gussied up for a dinner/cocktail crawl with our high school friend Justin, starting with apps at Treylor Park, drinks to go from The Public Kitchen & Bar, and an absolutely fantastic dinner at a new spot called Emporium. 

Emporium was the perfect blend of old and modern decor, with a beautiful bar, gorgeous tile and soft mint ceilings.

I had the delicious Perry Lane Daiquiri — rum, maraschino liqueur, lime, pineapple, absinthe and bitters. I love a good old-fashioned daiquiri in the Hemingway tradition.

For Ashleigh and I, the main attraction was the burger served tableside with sizzling raclette melted right onto the burger. It was one of the best burgers of my life and all my raclette dreams come true.

From there, we headed to The Grove, where I enjoyed a champagne-soaked blackberry popsicle on a rooftop. I'll have to cling to that memory when I'm having a rough day and feeling sorry for myself!

The fearsome foursome conquering downtown.

We kicked off a day of shopping downtown with a stop at Collins Quarter for the iced Vietnamese Coffee we've spent a whole year dreaming about. Truly good to the last drop! The restaurant is gorgeous and this flower arrangement has me itching to pull out my watercolors and get to painting.

Iced coffee of our dreams!!!

No trip to Savannah would ever be complete for me without a stop at arguably my favorite store, Paris Market & Brocante. It's beautiful just to explore, even if you don't plan to buy a thing.

We finished with our traditional Southern supper at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room and said adieu to another beautiful trip to Savannah. Until next year!