Hello FTC!

Bourbon, Bourbon, Who’s Got The Bourbon?

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

{A Weekend Getaway – Part 2 of 2.  Part 1 here.}  

[I know, I know.  I said that I’d post once a week during the summer… but this adventure was two parts.  My blog, my rules to break at will.]

After taking time to enjoy Shaker simplicity, we hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  Yes, there is such a thing.  You didn’t know that?!!

•  First we went to Woodford Reserve.  It was the only distillery to charge admission.  This might be in part because it was a very commercialized, modern place.  There were tickets & lines & audio headsets & a short bus ride & a long-winded presentation.

Our one small taste of Woodford bourbon was smooth & delicious, but the tour was not what we expected.  The whole experience had a “keep it moving” vibe to it.

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•  Next we went to Four Roses.  This distillery was about as mellow as the product they were selling.  Our tour guide was a young & friendly guy with an amazing knowledge of how the bourbon was made, the buildings in which the bourbon was made– and the charming family history that underscores the brand.

At the end of the tour our complimentary tasting included three different types of bourbon with suggestions of which ones to use in mixed drinks & which one to drink straight.  This tour was more of the experience that we had expected.

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•  Our third and final tour was at Maker’s Mark.  This distillery was by far the most personable and well-organized of the three that we visited.  The tour started in the refurbished home of the company’s founder, walked us through the distillery grounds, showed us the fermenting vats, the oak barrel storage facility & the bottling line where the bottles are hand-dipped in the famous bright red wax.

This tour ended in a laboratory-type setting where we each had four generous tastes of bourbon.  Our tour guide talked us through each glass telling us how the different Bourbons might taste to us– and why.  This was the experience we had hoped for along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

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[Hello FTC!  As you may recall I do not take any money or other compensation for my opinions about any products that I discuss on my sweet little bloggy.  I tell you this again in case you’ve forgotten that fact.  We good, my friend?] 

Yes, Yes, But NO!

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

THE RANT

•  Yes, it is wonderful that the home accessories & furniture that we purchased from Pottery Barn & L.L.Bean arrived on time or 4 days early.  And that all items were packed PERFECTLY… allowing for the inexplicable delivery incompetence that followed.

•  Yes, it is wonderful to know that $800.00 worth of merchandise can sit in our driveway in front of our garage door ALL NIGHT IN THE POURING RAIN without anyone or anything in our neighborhood stealing or destroying it.

•  But NO!, it is not wonderful to find out that UPS thought it was acceptable to leave said merchandise in our driveway without telling us that it was there.

THE EXPLANATION

In what is yet another example of the subtle irony that infuses my life, confuses my mind and exasperates my soul, Zen-Den got home from work some time before 6:00 p.m. last night.  [Rather unusual, but he knew that I was making scallops + orzo for dinner– and that boy is a nut for scallops.]  If he had come home later, as is his wont, then he would have stumbled over the boxes in front of the garage.  But, of course, that is not what happened.

I’ve had merchandise left in the driveway before, but in those situations the delivery person: 1) rang the bell;  2) knocked on the door;  &/or 3) left a post-it note attached to the sidelights around the front door so that it would be noticed from inside the house.  NONE of those things happened last night.

Instead, here’s what happened.  UPS delivered the merchandise some time after Z-D got home.  We know not when.  Both of us can testify that no one came to the door to alert us to the fact that our stuff was here.  Plus, being the reasonably prudent people that we are, we even opened the front door before going to bed to make sure that our new stuff wasn’t sitting on our front stoop or that there was a note stuck to our front door.

THE CONCLUSION

We were lucky that when we found the water-drenched corrugated cardboard boxes this morning at 7:00 a.m., they had held tight so that our two lamps + lamp shades AND three side tables DIDN’T suffer any irreparable damage.  However, I’m NOT HAPPY that my stuff was left out in the rain all night.  Would you be?

All of which brings me to the point of this rant.  UPS CAN DO BETTER.

And that, my friends, is all I have to say.  Thank you for listening.

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[Photo on the left from Pottery Barn: Sutter Adjustable Lever Lamp + Linen Tapered Drum Lamp Shade]

[Photo on the right from L.L.Bean: Black Painted Cottage 2 Shelf Side Table]

[Well hello there FTC!  Very long time no see.  I haven’t been specific in my posts of late so there’s been no need for me to add this sort of disclaimer.  But today’s post is different, so let me assure you that I was in no way compensated for my opinions about the above items & situation.  We good?  Take care then.  See you later, no doubt.]

We Went To Florida

/ Ally Bean / 15 Comments

… which is a really wonderful place to visit in the middle of a gray midwest winter. 

Our vacation was fast and varied.  First, we spent two days in Orlando.  Instead of visiting Disney again like we did last year, we went to Universal one day– and to SeaWorld the next day.

To be honest, we found Universal Orlando [which includes two parks: Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure] underwhelming.  It was expensive, crowded and disorganized.  Even though I was able to buy this wonderful Grinch + Max stuffed toy at Universal Studios, overall both parks weren’t very compelling.  To us, Universal Orlando seemed like a Disney wannabe.

On the other hand, we enjoyed SeaWorld Orlando which was a place with its own sense of style.  It was organized, filled with intriguing shows– and had plenty of places to sit & chill out.  I’d go back there in a heartbeat, happy to see the various animals and gardens over and over again.  It was enjoyable.

After Orlando we drove south, stopping in Sarasota to have lunch with my aunt and my cousin.  It was fun to see them and we finally got to see my aunt’s condo.  We would have loved to stay longer, but Z-D’s conference in the Sanibel Island area was starting in a few hours, so we said goodbye and continued driving south down I-75.

While in the Sanibel area we stayed at the Sanibel Harbor Marriott Resort & Spa [which is technically in Punta Rassa, not on Sanibel Island, and has a Ft. Myers mailing address].  It was a beautiful, old-fashioned property with the friendliest staff we’ve met outside of Hawaii.  Our room was pretty & comfortable– with a delightful view of Sanibel Harbor from our room’s balcony.

During the three days that we stayed at the Sanibel Harbor Marriott, I explored the pools, the beach, the dock, and the boardwalk.  In fact, it was the weathered dark aqua boardwalk that charmed me the most.  It connected the main hotel to the tennis courts and spa– and allowed me to walk over a pond and around the picturesque native swamp without getting my feet wet.

The last day of the conference finished at noon.  So Zen-Den and I got into our rental car, paid a $6.00 fee and drove across the bridge from the mainland to Sanibel Island.  This photo, taken from the dock at our resort, shows the simple, sleek bridge in the background.

Sanibel Island was a revelation to us.  Neither one of us had been there before so we didn’t really know what to expect.  It is a long narrow island with one way on and off.  There were lots of quaint looking shopping/food areas interspersed with long expanses of wildlife refuge and bike paths.  Every once in a while there were signs for public beaches.

The bellhop at the hotel had suggested we go to Bowman’s Beach, so we did.  It was lovely, not crowded with people, full of shells and very clean.  Below, in the center background, is a photo of an osprey’s nest built in one of the trees that thrive beside this blessedly under-developed beach.

As vacations go this was a really good one for us.  We usually try to go to one place and stay long enough to see most of it, but this time we did a more hodgepodge approach to travel.  Come to find out, seeing three different parts of Florida in one week is the perfect tonic for the mid-winter blues.

[Hello FTC!  Just to be clear, I have received no money or other compensation for any of the above endorsements.  These are just my opinions about my experiences.  Nothing more.  We good, FTC?]

Come Inside, Come Inside

/ Ally Bean / 13 Comments

“Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.  We’re so glad you could attend.”

~ Emerson, Lake & Palmer. “Karn Evil 9.” Brain Salad Surgery.

•  We awakened yesterday morning to snow.  We’d taken down our outside Christmas decorations over the weekend, so we were happy to see it.  It was the first snow of the season and as such, looked delightful.  Just a dusting that sparkled– and provided a unified color scheme for the outside.  A perfect conclusion to the holiday season.

•  Looking back on events I realize that this year during the holidays we got together with all sorts of different people.  We had a party here at the house that went okay.  [If we decide to make it an annual event, next year I’ll know better what to do: more beer & carbs/less wine & healthy.]  We met friends for breakfast, lunch &/or dinner at various restaurants all over the city.  We went to the Zoo & the Art Museum;  we shopped at outlet stores & a huge, unique, locally owned grocery store that specializes in foods from around the world.  In other words, we had some low-key, middle-aged, inexpensive fun.

•  We’re not ones to buy each other Christmas gifts per se.  Instead, in the month of December we tend to buy some things that we each have wanted during the year, but never got around to purchasing.  So our “gifts” this year were some Le Creuset coffee mugs in a variety of colors;  a new [“virtually indestructible”] Swiss Diamond skillet to replace our previous Swiss Diamond skillet that I destroyed;  and a Roku for our un-bedroom (aka the upstairs sitting room).

•  There’s really not much more to report from here.  I’m feeling rather mellow today.  No issues to discuss.  No events to explain.  No reason for me to keep babbling.  So I think that I’ll just say Happy New Year to everyone– and be on my merry way.

[Hello FTC!  Just a note to let you know that I haven’t received any sort of compensation for writing about these products.  But you knew that already, right?  I mean, have I ever been paid for anything I do here on this blog?  Heck no!  That’d be the day….]