A week alone to ponder, a glass to savor

I have never blogged. I have read my friends blogs, watched movies about blogs, and read about blogs. I like many have thought, "Why would I blog, I have nothing to say that others would find interesting." Plus, I have a less than positive attitude towards my writing skills. Then last week my lovely boyfriend worked out of town. Now this has happened before, but for some reason I found myself needing to evaluate my goals in life. This is also not new, at least every year I have one moment where I think, what am I doing? Why am I fighting for these things? Am I fighting hard enough? At these moments I want something that makes me happy. The easiest thing that does this for me is an exceptional meal and a glass of red wine.

So I went to the store. Target to be precise.

Some basic things to know are:

1. I live on an island.

2. My boyfriend and I only have one car.

3. My bicycle was recently stolen.

4. I really enjoy walking.

5. The closest options to shop for wine are, Target, Safeway, and a liquor store (I have never bought wine there, this will be something I check into and blog about later)

I was making salmon with grape and caper salsa (which I changed the recipe for as I was making it, but it was still going to be salmon)

As I was standing in Target in front of the wine isle, looking longingly at the various more expensive brands, I reached for Barefoot (a good quality 5 dollar bottle that has seen me through some tough financial times)

* This is an important note!! - I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Barefoot. For 5 dollars you can't get much better, and frankly I have had some really bad 9 dollar bottles that made me wish I had Barefoot's Pino or Cab instead. That being said, yes for a few dollars more, there are many wines that are much better. However, I still can't hate Barefoot and I never will.

But, back to that day in Target, staring at the 5 dollar bottle I thought, Why? Why can't I drink a 9 dollar bottle? There are so many wines in existence and yet I limit myself to 5 to 6 dollar bottles, and for what. I enjoy wine, I have had more expensive, I have been to wine tastings, I have books on wine, why do I limit myself on this one item. I then thought about finances.

Things to know about my finances:

I am a student,

I am mostly broke,

My boyfriend and I live paycheck to paycheck

I have started cooking meals at home on the weekends for lunch during the week

I am also trying to live healthier so I have been limiting my ice cream consumption

We love good food

Based on these things and our average weekly consumption of various alcoholic beverages I determine right there in the store that we can cut back on beer and such and still afford a few dollars more for our wine.

The plan swings into action and I buy, right then and there, a bottle of 8 dollar Cabernet Sauvignon and an 8 dollar Chianti. I head home.

I tell my plan to my boyfriend Nick and my friend Mickey, I am going to start drinking 8 to 11 dollar bottles of wine and widen my tastes and love of wine. I am also going to blog about it.

The goal and summary:

Each week I am going to try a minimum of one new wine in the price range of 8 to 11 dollars a bottle. Then I am going to blog about the wine, what I liked, disliked, what I ate with it, what I would eat with it again, etc. Hopefully through this, I will have a greater appreciation for wine, and you my friends will try some new wine with me.

Happy Vino,

Kris