Spring is Here, and so is the Sangria

For most people, Friday evenings are a day to unwind after a hard week at work.  I'm no exception to that.  In fact, when the weather is warmer, I like to open a bottle of wine when I get home, get my newest issue of "Entertainment Weekly" that arrives on Fridays, and sit in my backyard to enjoy the outdoors.

I'm glad that Spring is here!  

Linda came over a couple of Fridays ago, and I ordered pizza and pasta.  I had designated the night to be Sangria Friday, so we made Sangria and lemon bars.  Jenn called while we were baking, saying that she would be in the neighborhood, so I invited her to join in on the fun.  Being the generous person that she is, Jenn is unable to show up at a gathering empty-handed, so she decided to make Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cookies and brought ingredients along with her.

I had never made Sangria before.  I knew that the recipes call for the mixture to be chilled for awhile, and found one that didn't need overnight chilling (because I was just too tired to go to the grocery store and make the stuff on Thursday night).  I bought some Tortuga Bay spiced rum and Turning Leaf Merlot, as was suggested (not the brands, but the types of liquor -- the wine was suggested to be Blackberry Merlot) on allrecipes.com, where I obtained the recipe.  I'm not necessarily a fan of Merlot, but when I tasted it, it was very smooth and yummy.  That's a good thing, because it took me a while in the store to find a merlot that specifically contained blackberries, and then when I found some of them, I couldn't remember which ones actually l wanted to choose from.  

My first taste of Sangria was when I was in Spain on a choir tour.  I like the fruitiness of the drink.  This particular Sangria was deliciously smooth.  It just tastes like a sweet wine at first, and then a little bit into the second glass, the alcohol hits.  Whoa.  It was gooooood, though.

Cheers, Ladies!

So we enjoyed our meal, our lemon bars, and our chocolate cookies, accompanied by the scrumdiliumptious Sangria.  Jenn showed us some funny as well as inspiring links on YouTube.  Then we decided to take a walk, and ended up at the shopping center near my house.  Most of the stores were closed, but Marshalls was still open, so we went inside.  Since I was the only one who had brought her wallet, I offered to buy whatever if we found stuff we liked, and they could just reimburse me.  Not yet 2 minutes had passed, and I hear from Jenn: "Sher?"  She had found a cute set of patio furniture.  I agreed that it was cute, and asked if she wanted to buy it, not thinking that maybe we'd need to carry it home (we walked, remember?).  Then I thought, "Well, how are we going to fit that into her little sports car?"  Jenn decided that she'd just come back to buy it on another day.  While Linda looked through the plethora of purses, I tried on a dress and decided to buy it. 

We walked home with me happy about my new dress.  I had more Sangria while the other gals rested a little bit before going home.  

Thanks for the great time, gals!  I wonder if Jenn went back to Marshalls for that table.  I wonder when I'll get to finish the last of the Sangria.  I know I'll be making it again.  Linda has requested it for Margarita Friday, in case she decides that she doesn't like margaritas.  What?!  Oh, OK.  Twist my arm. ;)