About Me
- Amanda
- Amanda has been a hockey fan since her beloved Whalers were still where they belong, Hartford CT. When her team defected to the south, she transfered her allegiance to the Bruins. She maintains that you can be a Bruins and a Yankees fan at the same time. Her likes include Milan Lucic, fights (which are synonomous with Lucic) the word "wicked" used as an adjective and foam bear claws. Her pet peeves are punks that push her at Joe Louis Arena and having to have two forms of ID just to buy beer at the Garden
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Favorite Thing #14: Amos Lee
One of the great things about ITunes is the suggestion feature. back in December, I had a $15 credit to use up in ITunes and I was kind of lost as to what I wanted to get. At the time, I had been listening to John Mayer's newest album, Continuum, pretty much non-stop. I love the bluesy, relaxed feel to the album and the fact that you could listen to the whole album and every song flowed right into the next until the cd went silent, and you started it over again. So I searched for albums like John Mayer's Continuum and was referred to Amos Lee. I bought the album without listening to any of the clips and fell in love! It has a great folk meets blues meets jazz feel to it. Like the John Mayer album, I can listen to this all the way through without wanting to skip a single song or even noticing how much time has passed. I need to get the rest of his albums, but I have been resisting because his debut album was like magic for me, and I'm afraid of ruining it.
I tried to be technologically savvy and load a music player, but it was too much work, so on the toolbar on the right I loaded a clip thing from Amazon that you can check out. My favorite song has to be Arms of a Woman, but the clip Amazon has isn't the greatest. Hopefully, I can get at least one person to love him as much as me.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Favorite Thing #13: Rust En Vrede Estate Wine, 2003
Some other interesting facts that I pulled off the Rust en Vrede website:
- President Nelson Mandela selected Rust en Vrede to be served at the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize dinner in Oslo, where he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- In 1994, Rust en Vrede received the South African Export Achievement award from President Mandela.
- During 1996, Rust en Vrede hosted the King and Queen of Denmark at an official lunch in the manor house on the estate.
- The 1998 Rust en Vrede Estate Wine was named the best blended red wine at the World Wine Championships in the United States.
- In 2000, Rust en Vrede became the first South African winery to be named in the prestigious, “Top 100 Wines of the World” by US wine magazine; Wine Spectator. This was followed up in 2001, 2002 and 2003 where the estate again made appearances on the esteemed list. Thus making it four years in succession that this milestone was achieved.
They also have an awesome underground cellar where they store all their wines while they bottle age them. It "was the first of its kind for a privately owned South African estate. Designed by renowned architect Mr Gawie Fagan, the perfectly controlled environment is of invaluable benefit to the production and bottle maturation of our unique wines."
Back to the actual wine itself, it is delicious! I tried it at the estate when I was there and balked at the price (R320, the equivalent of 40-45 dollars). The rest of the wine I purchased at various stops was all under $10 a bottle so I was unwilling to pay 4x the amount for one bottle. But, the wine was so delicious that I regreted not buying it for the rest of the trip. I was extremely excited to find it at Thames River Wine and Spirits one night and recently opened it while on our trip to Martha's Vineyard. I was pleased to find out that it was as delicious as I remembered it. It is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Shiraz, and 10% Merlot and aged for 23 months in new American and French Oak Barrels. The bouquet was not as strong as I expected for a predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon blend, but it did have a subtle hint of berries to me. The palate was wonderfully smooth but still full bodied and very slightly fruity. I think that it would probably age really well, so I'm hoping to go back and buy a bottle to store for a few years (if I can resist drinking it).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Favorite Thing #12: Michael Phelps
His record breaking ability is amazing.
I remember 2000 when he made the US Olympic team at the age of 15 for the 200m fly and came in 5th overall, which is a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a kid who had only been swimming 8 years compared to the decades some of his competitors swam. Just 5 months later, he became the youngest swimmer ever to hold a world record, again in his specialty the 200m fly.
Fast forward to 2004 and his 6 gold medals and 2 bronze which tied him for the most Olympic medals of one type in one Olympics. He raced in 8 events, and was on track to match Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in one Olympics when he was beaten by two other swimming greats, Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo) and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband. Then the 4*100 freestyle team took bronze and the 4*100 medley team was disqualified due to a false start.
Fast forward again to 2008 where he becomes the greatest Olympic Athlete ever by holding 11 Gold medals (with 3 races still to go). He is once again on track to beat Spitz's record of 7 Golds in one game.
He is built for swimming
Like most good swimmers, he is tall (6'7") but what is even more impressive is that his arm reach is three inches longer than his height, which helps him pull through the water and also gives him the advantage of being able to touch the wall that much sooner. It also helps that his size 14 feet act as flippers...
I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his remaining three events (100m fly, 200m IM, and 4*100 medley) Hopefully he can fend of his main competition (Ian Crocker, Ryan Lochte, and the Australian team) and get the 8 golds he needs to beat out Spitz's record.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Favorite Thing #11: Vintage Clothing
Old time photos are fun
Rob may be handsome but my dress is hot!
I have also added a 40's pinup style bathing suit to my collection from Ester Williams line of bathing suits. This suit (along with the one Amy got) is very flattering to people who aren't built like twigs. Plus, its super fun to wear. I'm really hoping they go on sale so I can order a different print.
This photo could have come out of the 40's
Another great site we have discovered lately is Daddy O's (http://www.daddyos.com/) which specializes in 50's, rockabilly and swing clothes for men, women and children. I ordered a great two piece number today that I am totally stoked to get. My only regret is that I forgot to orderthe awesome cateye sunglasses to go with.
The crowning achievement of my growing collection is the vintage dress I picked up at Aequinox on the Vineyard this weekend (http://www.vintageclothingmv.com/). It is my first actual vintage dress. Although Noe thinks it looks like a Mrs. Cleaver dress, I think it is swell. I haven't gotten a chance to wear it out yet, but I did take a picture of it, which doesn't do it justice. I can't wait to hoodwink Katie and John into inviting us back so I can visit the store again and hopefully find another great piece for my collection.