DIY Wine Shelf

When we redid the kitchen we knew there was a chance we would lose our wine cabinet over the fridge.  We attempted to reuse it but our new cabinets were slightly wider and it ended up not fitting/nor was it really worth modifying in order to save it.

So, I decided we would do what any logical people do and just build one...you know, we hadn't had enough DIY lately ;)

The concept was simple, I wanted a shelf with a solid back and dividers to hold bottles.  Simple enough.  

We had built similar shelves that live behind our dining table and we constructed it in a similar fashion and added the slots for the bottles.

Supplies needed (depending on your span)

(1) 3/4" x 4" x 8' board 

(1) 3/4" x 12" x 8' board

long screws

power screwdriver 

stain

We measured out how long we wanted the shelf and took into consideration the width of wine bottles in order to determine how much wood we needed.  We had Lowes cut our boards down to the sizes we wanted.  I believe those are the board sizes we purchased but I could be slightly off.  You could certainly make the dividers shorter but we wanted to be able to stack two bottles in each slot.  We wanted the base and sides to be approximately 12" deep to line up with the adjoining cabinets.

Assembly:

Once the pieces were cut, I stained them all front back and sides and let dry.

Once dry we took the two larger pieces and held them together so they formed an 'L' and drilled those together.

Then we attached the side pieces.  Drilled those from the back and the bottom to make sure they were secure.

From there, after some math skills, we placed the next divider in the middle of the remaining area and then divided those sections equally.  We used two screws for each of these boards to drill through the back.  We also screwed one up from the bottom so that the dividers did not wiggle.

From there we measured where on the wall we wanted the shelf to hang (far enough above the fridge but not so high that I couldn't reach it!  Gotta be able to reach my wine, duh!!

We love the way it turned out!

Sans waiting for the stain to dry, this was a very quick DIY with a big impact.  I love the contract of the rustic type wood next to our new cabinets.

Besties + Wineries = Heaven

This past weekend we traveled to Southern Illinois to spend the weekend with college besties.

It does my soul a lot of good to be surround by my favorites.

We had the most fabulous time and were able to see beautiful Illinois wine country.

I had no idea there were so many pretty pockets of wine country in the south end of Illinois/Missouri.

On Saturday we rented a party bus, loaded up and checked them out!

We hit a handful (plus a few fingers) of wineries and breweries across the state.  All while enjoying the most beautiful day filled in with bus dance parties.  

 This brewery was in the middle of absolutely no where and the literally make everything from 'scratch' and things they've foraged.  How cool is that?!

And that concludes another weekend of adventures! 

Swirl, Sniff and Sip

One of my bestest friends, Maggie (and her husband Jon) own a fabulous wine and gourmet food store in Indianapolis.  Their store is full of all things delicious from the food to the wine, there is nothing in there I do not love!

And you guys are in luck because Maggie is here today to share some of her current favorite wines and also how to appropriately enjoy said wines.  With a little help from their adorable bulldog, Ellie.

Take it away, Mags!

____________________________________________________________________________

Somewhere between learning that a zinfandel is a red wine and not a sweet white, and my first trip to Napa, I started to learn how to appreciate wine.  I used to think the drinkers swirling and sniffing their wines were full of it. When I sniffed, I would take long deep whiffs and get a nose full of alcohol. A tour guide in Napa recommended we sniff just like a dog sniffs your hand – in short small bursts (much like Ellie pictured here sniffing the fresh air)

This changes everything. Instead of a waft of alcohol, you will start to smell the layers of the wine, which really gets your mouth watering and preps you for the sip.   The swirl before hand gets all that oxygen in there and opens up the wine. The sip, well, that’s pretty self explanatory.

Here are some wines we are loving for their outstanding value right now:

Heavyweight Cabernet $12.99

Flaco Tempranillo $7.99

Gran Passione Rosso $11.99

Bel Crème de Lys Chardonnay $10.99

Perlage Pinot Grigio $12.99

Salt of the Earth Flore de Moscato $10.99

And for a special night in (because, let’s face it, it’s horrible outside) try Farm Collective $34.99

___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you Maggie! And Ellie! I definitely know I need to take some cues from Ellie on my sniffing habits.  I'll make sure to practice that tonight ;)

Drink the Good Stuff

In the midst of having our kitchen floor redone I took down all the wine bottles from the rack above our fridge.  I didn't know how intense the tearing up process would be and I didn't want my precious bottles falling and breaking.  (Can you imagine?!)

As I was doing this I realized we have a lot of bottles of wine that we've been saving. 

Some nice bottles, some that we've gotten as gifts and some that we've picked up from various places.     

But I thought to myself, 'saving for what?'

'What major life events are we waiting on?'

'Why not just drink the good stuff?'

This doesn't mean that on every Tuesday we need to drink a super expensive bottle of wine or eat $75 steaks for no reason. 

But, as cliche as it is, life is short and I feel that it should always be enjoyed to the fullest.  

And if that is a glass of a fabulous red from a bottle a friend gave you on a Friday night then let's do it.

I think instead of waiting for a momentous occasions to occur, let's celebrate the little stuff too. 

A great week at work.

Or great friends and great relationships.

Or making progress on home projects.

 Or progress at the gym- that deserves to be rewarded as well.

Or a marathon of your favorite show on Netflix (currently Scandal- we are so obsessed!)

I think this goes for food and even products as well.

I have a tendency to save my good hair products or my nice make up or new clothes.

Again, for what? I don't think I'm going to a ball any time soon that I need to save an entire bottle of Bumble and Bumble styling lotion for.

If I paid for those items, why not use them? I bought them for a reason didn't I?

And in maybe the best news ever, Caitlin told me that truffle oil will go bad if you don't use it quickly enough.  So use it up! Use the good olive oil!  

That also means a lot more popcorn is going to happening in our house! 

So, let's enjoy life, celebrate it and #drinkthegoodstuff!

Weekend Wrap Up: Spring Weekend

Just a heads up, it's going to be a Floyd-tastic week here on the blog.
The star of the show around here has a birthday later this week and we certainly can't miss out on celebrating it!

My weekend really started on Thursday when I had Bethany and Autumn over for snacks, dinner and wine. 

Gotta love some girl time.
And Cupcake Red Velvet wine, why is it SO good?

Friday: I ran for the second time this Spring (after not running AT ALL since last Fall) and was able to do about 2.6miles!  This coming from the girl who couldn't run a lick last Spring.  I'm pretty sure it was the new JT album that got me through it.  Thank goodness I finally downloaded that gem.  All I have to say is that Jessica Biel is one lucky lady.
#amiright
#cantstoplisteningtomirrors

Saturday was a beautiful day in Cincy and we spent it running errands and doing things around the house.  We also took Floyd on a birthday trip to the park.  He mostly sniffed every inch of the park.  Playing wasn't really on his agenda, until, of course, we were about to leave then suddenly he was all about it. 

Later that evening we had a delicious dinner with Katie and Derek and then went to visit our friends that just got a new bulldog puppy!
His name is Lou and he's beyond adorable!

Sunday was a lazy day.  A little Spring cleaning and a little napping on the couch with Floyd.  Nothing too exciting.  Unless you count our weekly dinner of rotisserie chickens that we are now obsessed with having on Sunday nights.  We started getting them a few weeks ago at Costco and they have become our go to on Sundays.  You really can't beat it for $5 and we get a few meals out of them.  Floyd is a fan of this new tradition. 

How was your weekend?
Did you watch Mad Men?! I'm so excited it's back on!!

Linking up with Sami, Leeann, Carly and Molly

A 2nd Tutorial by Mister

You guys are in for a treat today - Mister is back with another one of his tutorials.
(and usual commentary...in italics)

We all know that I love wine.

But getting into my beloved bottles can sometimes be a problem. (It shouldn't be).

We were kindly gifted a rabbit wine opener for our wedding.

Problem is, I can NEVER use that thing. (Which is baffling).

Every single time I do I end up shoving the cork back into the bottle.

This actually causes quite the mess and can splatter wine all over your apartment ceiling.

Not that I speak from experience or anything.... (We lost our deposit).

Well turns out I'm not the only one with this issue. (Oh, well then...)

I have spoken with quite a few girlfriends that also have an issue using that dang thing.

And I knew that if my IRL friends were having issues, chances are my blog friends are too.

Let's just say thank goodness my mama got me an electric one for my birthday.

#lovethatthing

Well Mister thinks that it is ridiculous that the girls and I can NOT use the rabbit opener. 

So he is here today to give us a detailed tutorial on how use that dang contraption ridiculously simple tool.

Take it Mister.

It has come to my attention that there is a rousing discussion between Sarah and some of her friends regarding the wine rabbit and its ease of use.  That such a discussion exists, is in a word, interesting...

Alright, I'm not trying to be condescending or anything, but it's not that hard.   
As such, I'll be giving you a step-by-step tutor--- I can't believe I'm typing this out.  Ok, just look at the pictures and follow along.  It's four steps, five at best.  No, check that, it's four.  It's four steps people.

1.  You get the wine rabbit out of the drawer.  This is critical.  I can't stress this enough: the thingy that opens the bottle needs to be present before proceeding.

2.  You clamp the rabbit on to the neck of the bottle with the lever back, and the corkscrew up.  This seems fairly self explanatory, but don't want any of you just smashing the rabbit into the bottle mercilessly screaming "gimme gimme gimme!," now do we?

3.  You push the lever (and thus the corkscrew) down into the cork.  See?  Still with me?  Great.

4.  You pull the lever back up.  The corkscrew will pull the cork out. 

Then you drink the wine. (Ed. note: with your mouths).  That's it.

Thankkkks Mister.

I think in order to make sure these steps work, I better try it on a bottle tonight.
What do we think?
Does anyone else have an issue with the rabbit? Please don't tell me my friends and I the only ones!

If you missed Mister's first tutorial on the DIY canvas, check that out here.

Weekend Wrap Up: The Color Run

Dear Color Run,

You were AWESOME!

The girls and I had the best time!

We successfully completed the race and

were successfully covered in color! 

I can't put into words how much fun it was

so I will just let the pictures do the talking.

(stole this one from Elise :) )

After the run

(and naps)

we lounged at the pool, girl talked,

watched a lot of Olympics,

and just had a great time together!

And ate of LOT of Fire Crackers.

We stayed with one of my besties, Maggie,

and Saturday night we had an in-home

wine tasting. 

Maggie's husband Jon owns a wine store, Tasteful Times

and put together a special tasting for us.

It was so FUN!

We had 4 whites and 4 reds.

We tasted the wines, guessed the varietal

and the Jon would tell us more about the wines. 

Cheers to a fabulous weekend with the besties.
How was your weekend?

Weekend Wrap Up: Busy & Giveaway Winner

Monday, here you are again.

Boo.

Let's chat about something more fun.

How was your weekend?

Mine was great!
Busy but great!

And this week is the week of the Color Run!!

Eeeee!

But first, here is what I did this weekend.

Friday after work I headed home to hang out with my 

mama for her birthday.

We chatted, had dinner and prepped for

some new furniture that was coming from my grandparent's house.

While cleaning out the garage we found some gems from my childhood.

Heeey childhood memories.

Saturday we moved the furniture

(well we had other people move the furniture, ha)

and went through some boxes.

I inherited some really cool pieces and memories

from my Mamaw and Papaw.

I can not wait to show you guys what I got.

That is a post coming soon!

But as a teaser...

there may or may not be a lot of Mason jars involved.

 Saturday night I headed back to Cincinnati

and the Mister and I took it easy

with a Mexican dinner and margaritas.

Sunday was spent cleannnning our house,

pooling it, errands, naps and watching our Sunday shows.

Bachelorette finale...

eeeeek!!

I discovered this wine and it was perfect

to have during the finale.

Go getcha some.

It is almost champagne like-very crisp!

This week will be spent prepping for the COLOR RUN

counting down the days until I see the besties on Friday!

 Linking up with the girls for Weekend Update!
Go check out Sami at Sami's Shenanigans, Leeann at Join the Gossip and Dana at five30three.

 Oh!! The button giveaway winner is....

Becky from Cupcakes and Rubyslippers!

I'll shoot you an email, girl! 

Congrats!! 

Have a great week, friends!

Cookout Recipes & a Review

Here are the yummy recipes I promised you yesterday.

Summer Shandy

(makes one pitcher) 

-1 2 liter of seltzer 

-1 can lemonade concentrate (thawed)

-1 beer (preferably a lager) -per person

-ice

1. Mix the seltzer, concentrate and ice in a pitcher.

2.  Fill 1/3 of a pilsner glass with the seltzer/concentrate mix, fill rest of glass with beer

3.  Enjoy on the porch on a summer evening

Yes we have Yuengling. And yes it's delicious.
Come visit me in Ohio and I'll share some with you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars
adapted from food and family

-1 package devil’s food cake
-1/2 cup butter, melted
-2/3 cup cold milk, divided
-3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
-1 jar (7oz) marshmallow cream
-2 squares semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

 1.  Heat oven to 350.
 2.  Mix cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup of milk until blended. Press 2/3 into bottom of 9x13 pan. Bake 12-14 minutes until center is almost set. Cool for 3 minutes.
3.  Mix peanut butter and remaining milk; spread onto crust. Top with spoonfuls of marshmallow cream and remaining cake mix.  Sprinkle chopped chocolate, press gently into cake mixture.
4.  Bake 18 minutes or until center is set. Cool before cutting into bars.

These were messy, but SO good!

We also had buffalo burgers with blue cheese topping via Rachael Ray

I switched up her recipe a little and used ground chuck instead of turkey-as she suggests.

 This Rachael Ray cookbook showed up on my door step about a week ago.

It was from Amazon but there was no indication of who it came from.

And I knew I hadn't ordered it.

After a few texts and interrogations I narrowed it down to my mama,

she's a gem!

It has already been put to good use and I can't wait to try every single burger!

And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't have a review of the Skinnygirl wine for you?
Verdict: Yummm!

 I took 2 wine classes in college...dream classes you may call them.
Oh you want me to drink wine for a class?
Oookay.
Rest assured I got A's in both classes.

Anyyyway,  I like this wine.
It's a red blend which are typically my favorites.
It is pretty light but has a good, simple flavor.
The flavor isn't too complex which is fine by me for a wine that I am sipping on before bed. 
And for 100 calories per serving* (the bottle says per 5 oz serving
{honestly who only drinks 5 oz??} ) you really can't beat it.

I'd venture to say that I like this wine better than I like her other mixes.

Has anyone else tried this wine??

What I'm Loving Lately

There are a few things that I am excited about

and loving lately and figured I should share them with you guys!
It would just be rude if I didn't, right?

That's what friends are for after all!

1.  Countdown to the weekend

 I am heading to Chicago on Thursday to spend the 

weekend with all of the besties.

I can.not.wait. 

Excited is an understatement. 

(and, hey, who doesn't love a Friday off work?)

There will be lots of girl talk and celebrating going on.

This forecast isn't too shabby either

I'll be back after the weekend with a photo dump to the max.

2. New Sunnies

 I was able to score these Prada sunnies at a 

special sale this weekend for 25 bones!

3. Getting pulled over

WHAT?

Let me explain!

I got pulled over on Saturday while going home to visit my mama.

Why am I loving it?!

Well, even though I probably was going too fast

I only got a verbal warning.

Probably didn't hurt that I had a floppy ear basset with me.

 I mean, how can you give that face a ticket?? 

4.  Cupcake Red Velvet

I have been obsessed with this wine lately.

 I usually like to try different wines every time I go to the store 

but this one keeps making it way in my cart.

And for less than $10 you can't beat it.

You can bet a bottle of this has already been purchased for the weekend!

 5. Instagram

Guys, I can not get enough of instagram.

It has become my go to for updates

(with Twitter being a close second)

 This was my Saturday night via instagram:

Snuggling with the pup and movie watching with my mama

Follow me: totalbassetcase

What have you been loving lately?

Are you already counting down to the weekned?