Friday Frenzy

Hanging out with Hilary for Fill ins and Mrs. 4444 for Friday Fragments

1. Sometimes I wonder if I should be more strict with my kids about sleeping but I know I won't
2. A nap is very good to have
3. I got hugs and kisses from my hubby and kids today... and it makes life worth living...
4. My father in law makes the best apple pies

and now for my fragments:

I had a blast last weekend at the Charleston Wine and Food Festival... Friday, I got to tour the Grand Tasting Tents during the sponsors luncheon and then Wayne and I headed out for a fabulous date night at High Cotton for the Perfectly Paired Dinner - and I benefited from that fact that he doesn't drink to be able to indulge my passion for fabulous wine... and of course it was paired with delicious food...

Here's a picture of my favorite food from the tasting (they're ravioli)

and my favorite food from the perfectly paired dinner - Pan Roasted Monkfish with baby root vegetables, black truffle purée, coq au vin sauce (I tried taking pics myself but the ambient lighting made my pictures way too dark):

Photo credit: Maverick Kitchens

I also got to head out to the Pinot Envy Uncorked event with my friend Jennifer who blogs at Ooh La La... the wine was lovely as were the yummy "lambs and clams" tasting plates.. the only downside was that it was an outdoor event on the water on a day when the temperature hovered near freezing and I didn't realize that the event was going to be outdoors... that's my excuse for not taking pics there... when my hands weren't on my wine glass they were stuffed into my pockets to stay warm...

One of the most exciting things about the weekend was that Robyn babysat for us... and did it well, meaning that we can now impose on her to watch the boys again occasionally - more date nights in our future!

The rest of the week has been pretty anti-climactic... although I did get to post a cool giveaway from P&G and CVS that includes some fun hair care products and a $50 CVS GC! 

One sad note was that one of my favorite country/comedy Canadian music icons passed away this week - for those of you who've never heard of Stompin' Tom Connors, here is a small taste of his work:


The kids have been enjoying having Nana and Papa (or Papi as Erik has decided to call him) visiting for the past few days... it's amazing how much more wound up they get and by the same token how much better they sleep when the grands are here!  It's also great for this mama's mental health - I had a whole morning to myself at home today... it was weird, but so nice!

Well, I'm off to catch some early zzz's since that is one thing the kids still do well - get up early...

Hope you are having a fabulous Friday!