Time Out For Lunch

I took time out for a long lunch today with a friend from exercise classes at the Y.  We met a few years ago while waiting in the hall waiting for our class to start.  She had just moved back to North Carolina from Switzerland.  We do a lot of the same classes including Zumba.  If you haven't heard of Zumba, it is half dance and half aerobics done to Latin-style music

Anyway, we get together occasionally for lunch, and today it was La Botana, located just off Hanes Mall Blvd. about a block from Jonestown Road.  It is a small place with friendly staff, good service and very tasty food.  They serve up a variety of Mexican fare.  We both had the chicken enchiladas verde.  Tender chicken rolled in tortillas covered in a piquant verde sauce, served with rice and salad on the side.  I can't elaborate on the rest of the menu, as the lighting wasn't great and I didn't have my glasses, but if this is any indication of the rest, it is definitely worth a return visit.

It was nice to just sit and talk for a while and a great way to de-stress in the middle of an otherwise busy week.  If you like good Mexican food, and you haven't already tried La Botana, you should check it out.

Raffaldini Vineyards

Wanna be a winemaker?  Raffaldini Vineyards in Rhonda, NC invites you to come and blend your own red wine each weekend now through December 6.  Sessions will be held 1-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.  There will be a tasting of several single varietal wines led by owner Jay Raffaldini, and then participants will mix their own blend.  Each blend will be tasted by the winery, and the best one will be chosen to be the next Bella Misto blend.  The 2007 blend won a gold medal at the Lodi International Wine Competition in Lodi, CA.

Cost is $15 per person, and sessions are filling up fast so call 336-853-9463 to make your reservation now.  Who knows, you could be the maker of the next Bella Misto.

Please see website for directions and more details.

There's a New Restaurant in Town!

Let's celebrate the grand opening of Senor Bravo, located at 241 S. Marshall Street in Winston-Salem (former South By Southwest location).  Senor Bravo is owned and operated by the same folks who run Las Estrellas on Silas Creek Parkway.  I understand there is about a 60% overlap between the two menus, and the larger kitchen at Senor Bravo will allow a wider variety of authentic Mexican fare.

While I haven't had the chance to eat there yet, I've read good things about it, and I'm looking forward to checking it out.  To make it even more tempting, there is a coupon in today's Winston-Salem Journal good for 15% off on your next visit.  Please leave a note in the comment section if you go.  I'd love to pass the word!

Quote of the Week

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.

- Mary Engelbreit

I think this is something we should all take to heart.  I know I should because no matter how much I know something is what it is, and I can't change it, I still waste way too much time and energy fighting it.  This is, in fact, not healthy either mentally or physically.  How we think about things can make a difference.

A Dreary Weekend

It is already November - can you believe it? I'm telling you the older I get the faster time seems to fly.  Now the years are shorter, and the days (and nights) never seem to have enough hours in them.  Alas, there is no formula for slowing down time.  If there were, some one of us would be richer for it.  Still, there are days we may not want to slow down.  

Anyway, I should get on with the point of this post.  I used to write poetry, or at least I dabbled at it from time to time.  Still do when the spirit moves me.  I wrote one a long time ago about a gray November day.  Now we rarely have snow here in November, but it can still put a chill in your bones.

November Gray

Cold and windy, bleak and gray
What more can you ask
Of a November day
Snow clouds and chickadees
Creep in and settle down
Ore the mountains and valleys alike
The last of the leaves
Crinkled with age
Are carelessly blown astray
Gentle flakes begin to fall
And blankets the earth in
Snowy white
To everyone, tall or small
It brings peals of laughter and delight
And adds some warmth to a
Dreary day dressed only in
November gray