I remember heading to a shopping center called The Scottsdale Quarter this day. The Quarter is an absolutely beautiful [as seen below] luxury, upscale, open-air shopping center in Scottsdale. We had a balloon friend in town visiting, Chad Cassell. He needed to stop by an Apple store and there just so happened to be one at The Quarter. I heard or read about another self-pour wine bar in this very shopping center, so I thought why not kill two birds with one stone!! While Chad

So I know that a wine friend initially told me about this wine bar, a place where you can pour your own wine tasting, but I am not 100% sure exactly who that was. I think it was another traveler I was working with at Banner Thunderbird, Jenny Moran, but both of our contracts were getting ready to end so we didn't have time to go. Plus, Shawn and I were getting ready to leave for the summer and there just wasn’t enough time to go check it out. When we got back into Phoenix, [J

Let me introduce you to my good friend Barbara Hampton. Barb was a Pre-Op/PACU nurse when I met her while on an assignment at Core Institute Specialty Hospital. [affectionately known to those of us who have worked there as CISH] I would always tell Barb that she “takes me places… I’ve never been.” [country song by Mark Wills] She would find the most beautiful brunch and lunch places for us to meet up, some of which have become my favorite spots!! I’m thankful for all of the m

Ok guys, dig deep now… do you remember when my sister, Lisa was visiting last year and we did that epic loop drive that included a wine...

Hey y’all!! Still here in Woodinville, at our third and final stop of the day… O Fidelitas. Isn’t it crazy how you can have almost...

Hey guys, welcome back to Woodinville, Washington!! Now that we have last week’s winery safely behind us, we’re not going to be traveling...

I had always heard that the quaint little town of Woodinville had many wineries in which to choose from. Come to find out, the wine...

As I’ve said many times in the past, I usually “just happen” to come across most of my wine tasting venues, but I honestly have no...

As with many of my winery adventures, I found The Wine Shack completely by accident. You see I heard about this amazing 9-mile beach in...

Hello from Kalispel, Montana!! As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we are visiting my #pilotwife friend Deb, and her family… also known...

Welcome back to Enumclaw, Washington for the summer!! This time I landed myself an assignment a little closer to “home” in Tacoma at St...

I really can't start talking about Jamie’s Wine Bar without first telling you a little bit about Wrigley Mansion. [the place where...

How totally awesome is it to find out that in a shopping center [Desert Ridge Marketplace] where we [Shawn and I] have been going for...

Welcome to Portland!! If my memory serves me correctly, we have a pretty busy day ahead of us!! Thanks to my extensive and genius...

Our first [winery] stop as we’re heading on our Portland/ Multnomah  Falls/Mount St. Helens Road trip is Edgefield Winery. It is actually...

Welcome back to Vashon Vashon-Maury Island !! I thought it would only be fitting, since we were exploring Vashon Island, that we stopped...

I have always loved exploring new areas and trying new things, but when I have visitors in town, I really take the role of tour guide...

If you can believe it, I almost forgot all about this little winery and our trip across the ferry!! Thank goodness for Facebook and all...

Ok, so I mentioned a "particular hot air balloon flight" last week, and the fact that I have Shawn to thank for finding The Farm Shed....

First off... can you tell me why Bordeaux is so hard to spell!? I mean it is not at all spelled like it sounds, and I also seem to...