SeaGlass wine and The Dark Knight Returns

Neither of which have anything to do with the other.

In my hunt for my favorite California wine, I tried another from the Santa Barbara area. This time, the SeaGlass Sauvignon Blanc. The description won me in a second:

Invigorating scents of lemon, lime, grapefruit, and freshly cut grass waft from the glass, while clean, crisp notes of gooseberries and tangerines awaken your palate. With a lively, slightly tart finish, our Sauvignon Blanc captures the free feeling of endless summer.

Who doesn't want that deliciousness?! But what I really found was a taste SO light that I might as well have been drinking water. And, for some, that might be perfect. But it really wasn't what I was looking for. I will definitely try something else from this group though -- there is a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir that look incredible. 

***

With all of the tragedy surrounding The Dark Knight Returns, I almost didn't want to bring it up. To be quite honest, I almost didn't want to see it at all. But that's letting evil win, and the people in that theatre clearly loved the franchise as much as I do or they wouldn't have been there.  So I went, no matter how nervous I was. And the movie was fantastic, like I knew it would be.  Christian Bale is the perfect Bruce Wayne / Batman, as far as I'm concerned. I like Anne Hathaway a lot - I wasn't sure if I would. And Joseph Gordon Levitt might have been my favorite.

I don't know if I can ever watch the movie again though. Because, as unfair as it is, it will always be linked to an event that caused so many people so much pain. And I don't know if I want to relive this tragedy.

Santa Barbara wine and Crazy Stupid Love

I guarantee this blog is not as exciting to read as the one I wrote while on tour... And by wrote, I mean, SUCKED at keeping up with and still need to update. I promise I will do that -- it will be one of the 8 million projects I want to do while I'm stuck in bed in the coming weeks.  But if you want to catch up before that happens, lifein2suitcases.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

I had a lovely and long overdue dinner date with my show husband on Friday. I guess since then he has been Bobby to my Amy, but he will continue to be my show husband forever. We shared a bottle of wine that I looooved: Terra d'Oro Pinot Grigio.

We had our bottle at a restaurant called Blue Moose. Its a small chain in Topeka / Kansas City, but I'm certain its available other places. Check out Terra d'Oro's website here: http://terradorowinery.com/pinot-grigio.php. OR, even better, go to Santa Barbara for vacation and plan to shop/eat/drink your way up and down State Street, see a show at The Granada, and enjoy the weather and sunshine (and wine). Just for good measure, memories of a lovely trip to SB from February. 

I finally saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. I OWN the movie and I finally watched it.  I. Loved. It.  If you are unfamiliar, its the story of a man (Steve Carrell) and his wife (Julianne Moore) who are getting a divorce. The babysitter for their children has a crush on the man, the son has a crush on the babysitter, the wife has had an affair with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon), and the husband, awkwardly, starts dating again -- with the help of a ladies man he meets in a bar (Ryan Gosling). And THAT man actually has feelings for a girl he meets in the bar (Emma Stone).

If you actually followed all of that -- good for you. It is not nearly as confusing as that paragraph made it sound. Its a hilarious story and the cast is fantastic. Its obviously not going to change your life, but its a fun watch. Check it out  - it may still be available at Redbox, but I'm sure its on Netflix. And if every movie rental place in your town hasn't closed by now, I'm sure you can pick it up there too.

Blueberry Gluten-Free Pancakes

I've said it before, I'll say it again... I've had A LOT of free time this summer. When I'm not in rehearsal, I am taking the time to do things I WANT to do, rather that HAVE to do. And this morning, I wanted blueberry pancakes. Sure, it would have been easier to go to IHOP and have someone make them for me, but where's the fun in that?

I've had a feeling for awhile that my body doesn't process gluten well. My aunt has Celiac disease, which is known to run in families. I don't think I have anything as serious as she does, but last summer the doctor told me to try to cut down on gluten and see how I felt. And I promptly got hired to go on tour and did no such thing. So I've been taking care this summer to cut down on gluten .. which is where the quest to find a good gf pancake mix comes in.

I ended up buying a brand called Namaste (http://www.namastefoods.com/ and found at Dillons). It didn't contain corn, which we probably all know, the body doesn't break down well. Gross, but I think you know what I'm talking about. I followed the instructions on the side of the package exactly but substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil. I also added a dash of nutmeg. Here is the finished product:

Bad news: it tasted AWFUL. Like disgusting. And then I saw it... the helpful little note below all the directions:

Sugar, Agave Nectar or Honey can be added. Ahhhh yes, mystery solved.

Fireflies in the Garden / The Amazing Spider-Man

I have never watched so many movies in my life. Well, that's probably not true. But I haven't had this much free time in ages. I'm also giving you raspy, raspy voice for the last few days so I'm trying to just take it easy, at which I SUCK. Hense, the large amount of movies I have watched since Thursday...

Fireflies in the Garden. I'll admit, I picked this one up because it stars one Ryan Reynolds. I'm fairly certain that it was never released into theaters... if it WAS, it was in 2008 and it didn't last long. The movie also stars William Dafoe, Emily Watson, Julia Roberts... but, most importantly, it stars Ryan Reynolds (have I mentioned that already?)

If you want to watch family drama and a brooding leading man for 90 minutes, this may be your movie. I wouldn't mind those two things as much if the characters were better developed. But there was not one character in this movie that I truly understood. I thought the potential was there, but right as things started to come together, the movie was over. And, really, none of my questions were answered. Overall, it was disappointing, when I really wanted to like it. Thankfully, it was a $1 rental.

Spider-Man. First of all, I'm not really keen on seeing movies in 3-D, unless I'm at Disney World and being offered Captain EO or Mickey's Philharmagic. Otherwise, why bother? Its more expensive and gives me a weird headache. So I saw Spider-Man in a regular ol' theatre where the only glasses I had to wear were my own. I've seen the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, and I liked them pretty well - I didn't really understand why they wanted to remake the Spider-Man empire when the other movies are less than 10 years old.  But I think Andrew Garfield is pretty great and Nora Walker (or Sally Fields, whatever) is playing Peter Parker's aunt, so you really can't go wrong.

The movie was really good - not too long, not too short. I know nothing about the land of comic books, so I had to ask the boys I was with why we had Gwen Stacy and not Mary Jane, but Emma Stone was cute and charming, per usual, where as Kristen Dunst was always fairly annoying. Andrew Garfield was a great Peter Parker, though I think I still love him best in Social Network. And no one turns on the tears like Nora Walker / Sally Fields, and she had plenty of opportunity to do so.

Like most other action movies, this is one you want to see on a big screen. It will definitely not be as exciting watching it at home on TV. Its worth the $12 - promise.

Saturday Night in the City...

Since its officially the "Summer of Leisure," I figured I should do something to account for the copious amount of time that I'm wasting. And by "wasting" I mean "enjoying every second of." So here we go: a log of the movies that are worth it, the wine that should be bought again and the projects that are completed...

What to do when its 106 degrees outside? Wine and movies with the roomie! The movie: Big Miracle (starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski).

 Generally, I hate movies where an animal may be hurt in any way. Movies aren't real, you say? Yeah, doesn't matter. I still turn into a sobbing mess. All the same, I was into this one for some reason. And it was cute. I probably wouldn't sit and watch it over and over again, but I enjoyed it for what it was.  Drew generally irritates me when she gets angsty and overdramatic -- there are a few instances of that in the movie. But they could be overlooked in exchange for watching John Krasinski be adorable for 90 minutes.

Nothing say "kids movie" like a nice glass of wine (or two). Tonight's choice: White Truck Pinot Grigio 2009. It's fairly cheap - about $12/bottle. I've had some of their other wines. I really like their Cab Sav. But this one wasn't my favorite. On a scale of 0 to Up All Night With Acid Reflux, this is probably going to be a 7 or 8. Super acidic with strong citrus flavors. That being said, this bottle was opened two days ago, so it may just be a wine that doesn't last long after its been opened.

Movie #2: Bride Wars. Snarky Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson never get old! And I've probably seen this one about 15 times...