How do you decide what to do your first night out after popping a kid out? You have a few options, ya know:
- Go to a hotel with overstuffed pillows and a fluffy comforter… to sleep. All-night-long. Without interruptions. Without a tiny human in your bed. Heck, without your husband if you don’t get down on the cuddle.
- Go out with the girls and drink yourself into an oblivion… not because you are a lush, more so because you haven’t had a stiff anything in 9 months.
- Go out to dinner and enjoy a warm meal, consume said meal with two hands, and actually savor the flavors instead of woofing it down like you belong on Orange is the New Black.
- Go to a wine and chocolate tasting and enjoy quality libations and chocolates. You know, like a responsible adult.
My first night out after having Maverick was a wine and chocolate tasting event at Gayle’s Chocolates with Elie Wine Company. I am sharing the details of my night and giving away a chocolate bunny as part of our partnership.
In case you were wondering, I left Maverick with his dad for my evening of deliciousness. What’s the worst that could’ve happen, right? Well…
Nothing!
Unless you consider me realizing that I need to get out more if I ever want to hold an adult conversation that doesn’t include feeding schedules and bowel movements a bad thing. I like to think of it as my first step back into society. I might have gotten sloshed the first time I went out after Michael, but I was able to drive home from my first chocolate store after Maverick.
Let’s just say aging is doing good things to me… like a fine wine. Ba dum tsk!
Elie was our tour guide for the majority of the evening. He helped us navigate from Navarra to Port, with pit stops at Arribes, Rioja, Coteaux du Layon, and Pineau des Charentes. All of which were delightful on their own, but I thought only a few were worthy paired with chocolate.
Speaking of chocolate, did you know you should smell your chocolate before taking a bite, like wine? And, you should let chocolate melt in your mouth (not in your hand!) before chomping? And, there is an optimal temperature for storing chocolate, like wine?
How’s that for knowledge? If you’re not learning, you’ve probably croaked!
I was literally a kid in the candy store. I mean, I was pretty stoked seeing how it was my first time. And there were chocolate dinosaurs, chocolate shoes, chocolate cameras, cases of truffles, and a giant chocolate bunny. A bunny so large it requires its own seat on a plane! For real. Imagine a chocolate bunny chillin’ in the window seat of your flight. That’s a massive bunny!
Oh, and because I think you guys are the coolest cats in town, I am giving away a 2.5 pound chocolate bunny. That isn’t a typo. The prized bunny is two.five pounds. Pounds like lb. You know, 40 ounces.
Happy Easter, you silly rascals!
CONNECT WITH TWO FABULOUS MICHIGAN COMPANIES:
Gayle’s Chocolates: There is a real person named Gayle who loves chocolate. Thirty-five years ago, Gayle’s Chocolates was one saucepan on one stove in Huntington Woods, Michigan. It all startedwhen Gayle wanted to find an intensely rich piece of chocolate. She couldn’t find what she was looking for in any store, and decided to make them herself. She wasn’t planning on starting a business, but the rest is history.
Elie Wine Company: Elie started the Elie Wine Company more than twenty years ago, after years in the wine trade. Since then, he has traveled extensively to find new wines, learn face-to-face from the seminal producers of the Old World, and to bring that information and those insights back to Detroit.
*NOTE: You will have just a few hours on 3/25 to confirm your prize. I will be selecting the winner IN THE AFTERNOON so I can send the information to the sponsor that evening. May your fingers be nimble!
