My Favorite Beers {Updated}

Alright Cats and Kittens, here's THE LIST!  Updated to reflect some changes.

Allagash Curieux

This 11% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Style Tripel is truly heaven sent.  I watched at the bar as it poured a beautiful golden orange, with a fleeting foamy head.  The nose is filled with clove, light honey, sweet floral orange blossoms, Belgian yeast, and sunny grain and wheat fields on a hot summer day.  Yes, it is that complex and wonderful.  The flavor matches the amazing scent - with an added bonus of a faint bourbon alcohol heat surrounding your taste buds, but no where near overpowering them.  Dear Allagash, I wish you were in California, not Maine, so I could come thank you in person for brewing this gem of a beer.  Cheers!

North Coast PranQster

Ah, PranQster, you devilish trickster, you marvelous con artist.  You make my taste buds giggle and my spirits laugh out loud.  PranQster is a Belgian style golden ale with a flowery nose, a fruity and ever-so-slightly sour flavor typical of Belgian style ales, and very smooth mouth feel.  This 7.6% ABV session beer is my everyday after dinner beer and I can’t imagine my life without it.  Using a wide mouthed goblet (my New Belgium goblet was best until I broke it {boo!}, so now I use my Duvel tulip goblet), pour most of the beer, swirl to release the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, and then pour the rest.  Pair this beer with anything you eat – it’s that good.  Perfection.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch

King Midas was the man.  His recipe, dating back to the 8^th century BC and recovered by a molecular archaeologist, is craft beer perfection.  With flavors of white Muscat grapes and smooth saffron and a delicious sweet honey aftertaste, the only reason this beer falls at #3 on my list because it retails for about $13 for four 12 ounce bottles.  But this kingly nectar is worth every penny when you’re feeling the need to spoil your taste buds.  For best flavor, pour this heavenly 9% ABV golden ale into a wide mouth goblet (I prefer it in my Duvel Tulip goblet).  Allow it to sit for a few minutes to shake off the chill and let the flavors warm.  This beer makes me wanna dance!

Affligem Noel

Let's not forget about my favorite winter ale!! Affligem Noel is the ultimate Winter Warmer and is truly a treat for me in the cold winter months.  I get ridiculously excited when I see it on the shelf for the first time in the winter. It is a complex, malty 9% ABV treat that warms the body from head to toe.  The cork and wire 750ml bottle makes it perfect for sharing (or hoarding for yourself!).  Despite its depth and complexity, Noel is an easy drinking dark copper colored ale with hints of sweet dark fruit and brown sugar.  Some winter ales are too spiced up for me, but Noel has mellow hints of spice that are complimented by a smooth warm alcohol taste.  I suggest using a tulip glass to savor the holiday spirit of Affligem Noel while wearing fuzzy slippers and a warm robe fresh from the dryer.

Schneider Aventinus and Eisbock

These beers share a spot because they go hand in hand.  Aventinus makes me want to wrap myself in a soft blanket and curl up by the fire with a giant slab of dark chocolate and a vat of Belgian pot roast.  This deep, hazy brown colored doppelbock casts a long shadow on American doppels.  At 8.2% ABV, this beer will warm your heart with scents of dark fruit and flavors of dark clove and banana, with a deep caramel malt character and silky mouth feel.  Also try Aventinus’s big brother, Eisbock.  Eisbock is made when Aventinus is frozen and the ice is shaved off, leaving a 12% ABV powerhouse.  Eisbock tastes similar to Aventinus, but with a warm brandy alcohol essence that enhances the flavors of dark stone fruits and brown bread.  Pour this beer into a snifter and prepare to melt into your sofa, folks.  

Tripel Karmeliet

This crystal clear Belgian golden ale pours like pure gold.  Like most beers of this style, flavors of cloves and Belgian yeast are forefront, with hints of banana and honey, and a dry and lightly hoppy citrusy finish.  This easy-drinking beer surprisingly weighs in at 8.4% ABV.  Use a Tulip glass, you won’t regret it.

Anderson Valley Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale

Brother David’s Triple is a citrusy, mildly spicy version of a Belgian style golden ale, though a little darker in color than most golden ales.  It has a hint of clove and the classic Belgian sourness and a nice, dry finish.  At 10% ABV, this is a beer that I reserve for weekends and special occasions.  I apparently like beers that are best served in a wide mouthed goblet.  Good thing I own several!

As a self-proclaimed beer semi-connoisseur, I reserve the right to add to, reorder and/or change this list at any time.  

Speaking of which... I need to revisit some old favorites to see where they rank in this list!

Cheers!

>^..^<

Final Flight of NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour

Better late than never...

On September 21, 2012, the space shuttle Endeavour made its final flight, and made a loop over Sacramento during its farewell tour of California. We went downtown to the top of a parking garage that I thought would have a good view. It was really cool experience to view this historical event.

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Merry Christmas from Phineas!

Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway :: Ends November 15, 2012

The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder, and the holidays are coming up quickly! That means it's time to start CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! There was a year that I was done, totally finished, with my Christmas shopping by Halloween! Can you imagine?! That's definitely not happening this year, and I have a long list of shopping to do...

Just in time, Melissa & Doug's Terrific Twenty List is here to give us some gift ideas for some awesome toys! The list compiles the *best of the best* holiday gifts for the 2012 holiday season, and is a great way to find a special something for every kiddo on your Christmas list! 

Lily would LOVE one of these awesome Trunki portable (and ride-able!) toy suitcases!

Isn't that just the CUTEST?! What an awesome way to hold all of the goodies she'll be getting for Christmas!

To celebrate the holiday spirit, Melissa and Doug is hosting a “20 Days of Terrific Twenty” Giveaway on their Facebook page! Every day they will be giving away one item from their "Terrific Twenty" list to at least one lucky Facebook fan! Head over and enter to win NOW!

Melissa and Doug is hosting a giveaway right here on Wildflower Sunshine as well! Enter via Rafflecopter below.

And if you're interested in even MORE giveaways, head over to SIMPLE starting on Sunday - we have over 40 giveaways launching over the next 2 weeks during our 12+ Days of Christmas Event!

connect with Melissa and Doug :: 
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A WILDFLOWER SUNSHINE GIVEAWAY!

One lucky Wildflower Sunshine reader will win a Trunki Kids' Travel Trunk valued at $39.99 from Melissa and Doug! Here's how to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I will be compensated with product as a thank you for running this promotion. All opinions expressed are my own*

Thankful Heart Thursday {3} :: Laughter and Ladybugs #tht

Thankful Heart Thursday is upon us again, and today I have been thinking a lot about my daughter. I worked all day, and then had a meeting this evening, so I only had an hour to play with her today. Therefore she was on my mind much more than normal (is that even possible?).

I'm so thankful to have a healthy and happy child. She laughs and sings and dances and tippy-toes. She loves her animals, hugs trees (literally), and kisses her family. She plays in dirt and water (sometimes at the same time), and climbs on everything, and picks tomatoes from the vine, and spanks me cause she sees me spank daddy playfully and thinks it's hilarious (oops!). Her sense of humor is mind boggling - she laughs at things that are funny, and she's not even two! This may be normal, but it absolutely floors me that she is so intuitive at this age.

I am thankful that my child is intelligent and curious. She can count to ten (but she usually skips 4 and repeats 8 and 9 twice), she knows her colors (red through purple, plus pink), she has a huge vocabulary, and she understands everything we ask of her (even if half the time her terrible two answer is NO!). I just feel so blessed to have an intelligent child who is interested in reading and playing make believe (what an imagination she has!) and is so interactive. She held her first ladybug today (she was wary of them until this morning).

Speaking of that ladybug, I am thankful that we found a beautiful bell pepper with 5 ladybugs in their little "cocoons" (pupae) at the Farmer's Market last weekend, and we were able to watch them hatch in our home this week. One hatched yesterday morning, the others this morning. Lily was fascinated, and wanted one on her hand. It was fantastic. I'm so happy that she is so brave.

What are you thankful for today?

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Thankful Heart Thursday {2} :: Autumn #tht

Time to slow down and take a few minutes to count my blessings. Today has been a whirlwind, so it's nice to have this weekly "deadline" of recording the things that make me thankful...

My office decided yesterday that they wanted to order pizza for lunch today (I love when they plan ahead). That meant I didn't have to pack myself a lunch this morning and had a few extra minutes to tickle Lily. It's the little things.

Fall/Autumn is in the air! As much as I love Summer, I'm totally ready for harvest festivals, cool days and sweaters, bike rides on cool afternoons, falling leaves and pumpkin spice everything - lattes, bagels, bread, cupcakes, oh my! Bring it! I have several harvest events on my calendar, and I hope to go to every one because I want Lily to really feel as connected as I do to the feeling of seasons and what makes them special. For me, harvest time is about working hard to prepare for winter and celebrating the bounty of the harvest and the last moments of mild weather, then tucking in and winding down for the long cold season full of indoor crafting and hot cocoa {and AWESOME seasonal beers!} and holidays. Fall is exciting and exhilarating, and I just love it.

I have a lunch date scheduled with a very dear friend tomorrow. This crazy life we lead keeps us from hooking up for girl time as much as we'd like, but I'm thankful for the times I do get to meet up with her because we are brain-twins and it's just so easy and effortless to be with her. We totally think on the same wavelength.  Our hubbies joke that we share a brain (and we don't argue!).

On that note, I am VERY thankful to have so many friendships that are solid regardless of how long it has been between phone calls or visits - when we eventually see each other, it's like no time has passed at all. Those are the friendships worth keeping, and I cherish them with all of my heart.

Cheers!


*linking to Thankful Heart Thursday on The SIMPLE Moms*

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Just Write {3} :: Sometimes Real Life isn't as Romantic as Daydreams

Remember how excited I was to take a bike ride on the river bike trail this past weekend?  I imagined riding past lush river greenery, spotting some geese and maybe some quail, waving at other cyclists and families as they rode past, watching the rays of sunlight as they filtered through the trees and illuminated flecks of dust in the air as we rode along the sun-dotted shady path... what a romantic and picturesque day I had planned in my head...

REALITY CHECK.

First of all, it was 95 degrees in the middle of September when most of the foliage and grasses have dried to a papery straw color, so there was not a lot of greenery to absorb the heat so we absolutely baked in the sun.  Plus, there is much less shade than I remembered - the areas that did have a canopy of trees overhead were few and far between, but quite welcome when they appeared.  Because it was so hot, the river animals were hiding deep in the underbrush.  We did see one grey squirrel who just barely avoided my front tire when he darted out in front of me (OK, it wasn't THAT close, but he did startle me).  By the time we got home, I was torridly shaky and parched and had to go directly into a cold shower to cool off. I gulped water from the shower spray to ward off the heat stroke that was coming over me and could feel the heat pouring off me as the cold water was warmed by my body heat by the time it hit my feet.

And while we did see several cyclists and a few families along the trail, we also saw several groups of homeless people and druggies (doing drugs out in the open, so I'm not just labeling them randomly) and the skinny dogs that accompanied many of them.  Across the river we could see homeless camps set up under an overpass.  In a few places, the few green plants and bushes had been trampled flat by river people as they wore a path from the bike trail to the water's edge.  It was both sobering and saddening to see so many destitute and hopeless people along one 6 mile stretch of road.

Ultimately, we had a fantastic time at the brew fest - I truly enjoyed having some "adult" time with my hubby and we tasted some great craft beers, saw some good friends, enjoyed awesome cheeseburgers from one of the local gourmet food trucks, and had some good laughs.

But that 12 mile ride along the trail will stick with me for some time.  It made me thankful that I have a good job, a supportive family, and healthy living habits.  It reminded me not to take my way of life for granted, and to count my blessings every day.

*linking to just write*

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