Blogger Meetup, October 2011

Last Wednesday, I met up with 9 other Chicago bloggers to attended my first Blogger meetup. I Wish put on a wine and cheese pairing class for us at a small, cozy Lakeview wine bar called Fion. Thank goodness it was cozy inside, because the wind was howling outside, and the rain was coming down at all angles! Shari of The Daily Dish organized the event, and did an amazing job getting everyone together. Thanks, Shari!

(L to R) Kelly of The Pink Apron, Maris of In Good Taste, me, Katy of The Gluten Free Girl's Guide to Chicago,

Lara of Simply Irresistible, Tess of Tea Time with Tess, Cara of City Girl Chicago, Cait of Cait Hates Cake,

Shari of The Daily Dish, Hannah of A Little Big Life

We tasted four wines -- two white and two red -- and four cheeses. The wines were interesting, with the Cabernet Sauvignon being my favorite. I'm not a big fan of cheeses (I stick to cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan... boring, I know), but the other girls tasted all of them. The sommelier instructed us to taste the wine first, then taste the cheese, and end the pairing by placing a small piece of the cheese in our mouth followed by a sip of wine. Since I just returned from a trip to the Napa Valley, I was able to pick up on a lot of the different notes in the wines as we tasted.

Once the tasting was finished, we stayed at the bar to enjoy another drink and talk about our blogs and who we are outside of blogging. Some girls enjoyed another glass of wine, but I went for the Pumpkin Pie Martini that was Fion's fall specialty. As with all pumpkin flavored treats, it was yummy.

It was so nice to meet the other bloggers in person. Being new to Chicago, it was especially nice for me to meet others that have recently moved to the city. We chatted about meeting up again before the holidays (and picking a day when the weather is looking a but nicer!) Thanks again to all of the girls that made it out to the event! If you haven't stopped by their blogs (listed under the group photo above), I encourage you to do so!