This past Saturday I hosted an event with another social group and it was a smashing success. For those who don’t know me at all, I organize a very, very large and very, very social group here in Dallas called Words and Wine. In short we are a group that reads a book (or not!) gets together at local venues and discuss the book over lots of wine. For those who do know me, well drinking wine in moderation usually starts off with good intentions, but you know……
We all met at a Caribbean restaurant in Addison. It is called the ‘Scarlet Ibis’. Now I am an adventurer in all senses, food, folks, words….etc… The jerk chicken I shared with a friend was lovely and had the right bite of heat to it. They also have this lovely dessert (don’t know the name) but it is made of carrots and yummy! If I can encourage the owners I may have some of these lovely little noshes at the event this Wednesday.
Speaking of the event. We are practically sold out, I have a few seats left and they are going quickly….what am I talking about? Well I had another brilliant idea and after some enthusiastic emails I was able to arrange a pre-screening for a movie that my group read called ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’. I am raising money for a local women’s shelter and invited my organization and others to join me in this event being sponsored by In Town Mix and Music Box Films. I am so excited. Although I did have a laugh when my Mom who was looking forward to coming to the event discovered it would be 2 1/2 hours of reading subtitles on the screen…she won’t do that, so now I have a seat open next to me! Any takers?
Two great events taking place in less than a week and I am overwhelmed. Excited. Nervous….no one understands the nervous part, but I have put so much pressure on myself to make sure that everything I do gets great reviews. I am still unemployed at this time and trying so very hard to make my dream come true. No, I am not made out to save the world or to even keep it organized. I was made to make others feel comfortable and I love hosting parties. So Event Planner is what my dream is along with a few other ideas still brewing. Silly to some. I can see that. But at the same time, what would you do if someone like me was not out there? Stay at home and watch re-runs? Well at least with my desires put in play, I get to introduce people to others, bring ideas alive and all in the sake of having joy in your life. But to be honest, I must admit, I am freaking scared out here without a net. So I pray my little prayers to continue to instill faith and confidence but sometimes it recedes and friends become concerned because the bubbles in my voice are flat….I don’t like it either, but in order to grow you must go through some growing pains, right?
I want to get to the fun part now. The event I had over the weekend was a book paired with wine event. I wanted to know what individuals in the group would share as their favorite book, author or even genre and what type of wine they would pair it with. Boy! I was incredibly impressed. Next time I am going to get a wine expert to join us and explain the types of wine in more detail and compare it to the readers interest in the wine. I tried some great reds….stayed away from the whites, just was not feeling it. But here is the list and if you are easily offended I must tell you one pairing has curse words, so you are formally warned.
Here is a list of what some of the participants brought, I am just typing what they wrote down:
- Mayowa: The Count of Monte Cristo Paired with a Riesling
- Carol: The Shack Paired with whatever was on the table
- Mary: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader paired with Famegar Portuguese White
- Jessica: The Fuck Up Paired with Bitch
- Christina: When you are engulfed in flames, I was told there would be cake, unaccustomed Earth Paired with borrowed wine (curious, I did not see this pairing in person)
- Katie: The Story of Miss Moppet Paired with Layer Cake Malbec (Yummy!) her note says ‘This book I read as a child over and over, to me it is a dessert read, just like the Malbec’
- Megan: Brave New World Paired with Furgue 3 Cepas (Delicous!)
- Grace: To Kill a Mockingbird Paired with Dragon’s Hollow Riesling
- Catherine: Everything is Illuminated Paired with Maperna Malbec (My, Malbec was quite popular and yummy!)
- Angela: Love Letters in the Sand Paired with whatever was on the table
- Francis: Talked, Drank, and Ate…….pretty good too!
- Belinda: No book but Paired her conversations with 2005 Riesling
- Robert: This Business of Music Paire with a good cup or two of Coffee
- Christy: Talked, Drank and Ate…..
- Cynthia: The Madame Paired with Wyland Super Tuscon
- Laura: Last Lecture Paired with Smoking Loon Pinot Noir
- Monica: Un Giorno in Pui Paired with Le Rose De Larcis Ducasse (felt like I was Italy for a moment)
- Angela W: Time Traveler’s Wife Paired with Beaujolais Nouveau
- Susan B: Still Alice by Lisa Genova Paire with Edna Valley Chardonnay
- Alix F: The Richest Man Paired with whatever was being poured
- Aurora A: The Great Gatsby Paired with whatever was on the table
- Michael: Gefluegelt Worte Paired with whatever was on the table (for a moment I got to go visit Germany)
- Me: Moveable Feast Paired with Big Sexy Red (or whatever Malbec I could get poured into my glass)
It was a lot of fun. You shoulda’ been there!
