Away in a Manger...Stables That Is! December 4, 2015

On December 4th the Women Who Wine met at the clubhouse at 3:15 to be chauffeured to Stables restaurant for a fun Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Debbie, our host for the event, handed out adult beverages in sippy cups for the ride down. En route, delightful Christmas music was played. During the ride back, the Christmas music was decidedly more raucous!

At Stables, the ladies exchanged a “homemade edible gift,” partook of holiday spirits and dined on local cuisine in front of a roaring fireplace. Debbie led us in a gift exchange game that was delightful and only slightly confusing but we managed to figure it out!

Debbie hands out sangria sippy cups for the ride!

LtoR Liz, Daryl Christy, Vicky, Debbie, Carole, Kelly, Ruth, Connie.
Cathy and Pam in the front
Sippy cups in hand...we're ready to go!

The ladies with their handsome chauffeur, Denny.
Terry, Denny's side-kick, is taking the picture.
Thank you gentlemen!

LtoR - Ruth and Vicky

LtoR - Judy and Liz
Liz, share your secret with everyone!

LtoR - Carole and Connie
According to Nicolas Fradet, Conversion Optimization Consultant to Fortune 500,  hand-rubbing indicates anticipation or relishing something to come. Carole and Connie can hardly wait!

Beep, beep! Don't back up Vicky, Daryl's got your back!

Connie has the last laugh!

Planning the Year Ahead - November 6, 2015

"Plan more than you can do, then do it.
Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.
Hitch your wagon to a star, keep your seat, and there you are."
~ Anonymous ~

On Friday, November 6, 2015, Carole hosted Women Who Wine at her house for harvest-themed treats and wine to sturdy our resolve to plan WWW events for 2016! Ten women were able to attend to jump start our new year off right!

Connie had the illustrious honor of kicking off our discussion for next year. Perhaps we should have served her more wine! Or perhaps an aspirin! We're looking forward to everything from a Toad party, Theatre outing, sparkling wine blind tasting, to Roadhouse Cinemas and Distillery Tour and Tasting and everything in-between.

Here's to 2016!

LtoR - Christy, Pam and Judy
Fabulous picture ladies!

LtoR - Debbie and Carole

LtoR - Cathy, Kelly, Debbie, Carole, Judy and Daryl
A Bevy of Beautiful Blondes!
Apologies to our Bodacious Brunettes who should have had their own picture!

Yet another blonde arrives!
LtoR - Christy and Ruth

Carole sets a beautifully festive table for us!
Check out the cutest party favors ever!
Colorful harvest baskets packed with candy goodness!

Do NOT block the photographer!
Oh wait, that's my own hand ~ Daryl

LtoR - Carole, Pam and Connie (Two of our lovely resident brunettes!) 

LtoR - Daryl and Connie

LtoR - Debbie and Carole
Is Debbie saying Doctor Who, Who, Who?

"Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it's a plan!
Doctor Who, Season 7, Christmas Special

Eat, Drink and Be Scary! October 19, 2015

'Tis now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out

Contagion to this world.

~William Shakespeare

On Monday, October 19, Christy hosted the Women Who Wine at her house to enjoy the spooky Halloween spirits. Nine WWW ladies enjoyed a delicious and, well, sometimes gross looking lunch in keeping with Halloween! Following sipping and supping, Christy quizzed us on our knowledge of Halloween. Apparently we know as much about Halloween as we do about white wines! Ruth, Mistress of the Dark, was declared the winner for wearing the one and only Halloween costume! Love the black and blue wig! Both Ruth and Judy won prizes for counting the number of rats, EEEEK!, in Christy's house!

Many thanks to Christy for sharing her Halloween House. Her decorations are to DIE FOR!

Following the festivities, Connie cut slabs of her delicious graveyard cake for our enjoyment. Who knew Halloween could be so much fun?!

Yummy Halloween h'orderves for devouring

Connie's delightful and gruesome graveyard cake

The sickest pumpkin you'll ever see!
Courtesy of Judy - Gross! (But tasty!)

Who's under that "Wicked" shirt?

Halloween decorations everywhere!

BEWARE!

Christy's festive Halloween table

Pumpkins and ghostly sandwiches

Witchy Woman Ruth!

Webby candelabra

LtoR - Vicky and Ruth
Both ravishing as always

Uh oh, did anyone check Ron's whereabouts?

Christy stumped us with a Halloween quiz!

Wh-what's that y-you say?
A quiz?! Who me?
(Daryl)

Connie's Confection!
De - lish! Who knew thumbs were so edible?

By the Pricking on my thumbs
Something Wicked this way comes!

Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand

Creatures crawl in search of blood

To terrorize y'awl's neighborhood

And whosoever shall be found

Without the soul for getting down

Must stand and face the hounds of hell

And rot inside a corpse's shell

The foulest stench is in the air

The funk of forty thousand years

And grizzly ghouls from every tomb

Are closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay alive

Your body starts to shiver

For no mere mortal can resist

The evil of the thriller

https://youtu.be/sOnqjkJTMaA

Scavenger Hunt - October 4, 2015

Godfrey: Do you mind telling me just what a scavenger hunt is?

Irene: Well, a scavenger hunt is exactly like a treasure hunt, except in a treasure hunt you try to find something you want, and in a scavenger hunt you try to find something that nobody wants.

~ William Powell and Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey

The October 4, 2015 Octoberfest Scavenger Hunt was co-hosted by Connie and Kelly and held at Kelly's house. Andy greeted everyone at the door with a goodie bad filled with beer goggles, beer stein bead necklace and Octoberfest rubber ducks. The day started with some refreshing cold beverages and nibbles followed by instructions, drawings for teams and the uber secret scavenger list.

As each team departed, we were each outfitted with an Octoberfest hat, popcorn snack and water by Andy. Kelly and Connie thankfully mixed up the questions so we didn't follow one another like an episode of the Keystone Cops but we did seem to show up periodically crossing paths!

The scavenger hunt took us far and wide across the community, from the Water Tower to the Front Gate and then whizzing through the Villas, the South Gate and all the facilities. Whew! To answer each question, we had to take a picture as proof that we didn't just hide around the corner and fill in the blanks! This was hard work! We all learned something new. Those trees by the Sales Office? They are Guava Trees! Who knew?! Not anyone on the teams at any rate.

The teams arrived at approximately the same time back at Kelly's house. Wendy, competitive young gal that she is, sprinted to the finish line with Ruth in tow, swooping in to arrive first! There are pictures of Marc getting smooched by the ladies..one of which has been shared!
This author is betting Marc made up this Scavenger Hunt question himself!

Debbie gives Marc a great big smooch.
Rick looks on in shock and awe!

Once the teams returned from the Scavenger Hunt, it was brats and sauerkraut, beans and chips and a few adult beverages all around. We all worked up an appetite during the afternoon so there were plenty of second helpings!

Once Kelly and Connie reviewed the lists and photos, they declared the winners of the Scavenger Hunt!

• 1st Place - Ruth, Wendy and Daryl

• 1st Runner Up - Pam and Bob, Vicky and Rick

• 2nd Runner Up -  Rick and Susie,  Denny and Debbie

Fabulous day with fabulous friends. What could be better?

LtoR - Susie and Liz
Enjoying a cold beverage before the scavenger hunt.

LtoR - Debbie, Connie, Vicky, Wendy, Ruth and Cathy

LtoR - Kelly and Connie
You have exactly two hours to complete your mission.
See these fingers? Two and only two!
Kelly is ready with the hat for the team drawings.
You can see she means business!

Getting our instructions.
Look! We CAN be attentive!
LtoR - Dan and Judy, Liz, Pam, Jim and Cathy

LtoR - Shhh! Ruth and Wendy, Ruth's lovely guest are already strategizing...

Christy and Ron

LtoR - Ruth, Wendy and Daryl - Team of 3
Got our scavenger list, check!
Cell phone for pics, check!
Cold beverage, check!
Popcorn snack, check!
We are prepped and ready to rock and roll!

Kelly tallies the scores!

Rick wearing his beer goggles. Do we all look better?

Christy and Ron

Judy and Dan

Pam and Bob

LtoR - Liz looking lovely in her beer goggles, Daryl and Susie

LtoR - Pam and Connie

LtoR - Vicky and Kelly have the giggles!

LtoR - The winners! Ruth, Wendy and Daryl
Wendy reminded us we should have listened to her!
If we had we might have gotten ALL the answers correct!

LtoR - 1st Runner Up - Team Pam and Bob, Vicky and Rick

LtoR - 2nd Runner Up - Team Rick and Susie,  Denny and Debbie

Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party. ~ Jimmy Buffett