Summer Reading Challenge!

It's summer and that means it's time for another reading challenge!  Summer is just another season to me (I don't get time off) but with the hot weather, I plan to spend more time by the pool or river and will hopefully be taking a couple short weekend vacations.

The challenge is with the same blog I did the challenge with last summer, Semi-Charmed Kind of Life.  The rules and categories are below.  I've also included my thoughts for what I will read (in blue).  I would love input from any of you on my choices or if you have other recomendations for books I've overlooked for some of these categories.

Rules:

• The challenge will run from July 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on July 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on September 30 will count.
• No re-reads (unless specifically stated)! I want you to experience new books with this challenge.
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audiobooks are fine, as long as the print versions meet the page requirements.
• A book can only be used for one category. If you want to switch the category later, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.
• The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will win a featured/guest post on Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. Good luck!

The Challenge:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book you'd like, as long as it follows the above rules. :) —Veronica by Nicholas Christopher
5: Read a book that is less than 150 pages long. — Don't know yet, open to suggestions.
10: Read a book with a color in the title. — Someone recommended Red Azalea, by Anchee Min to me, I have no idea what it is about, but ill probably give it a try!
10: Read a book that is not the first in its series. — So many options, I'll have to decide between: Insurgent, Crossed, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Requiem, The Scorch Trails, or Shadow of Night (apparently I suck at following through with series)
15: Read a book it seems everyone but you has read! — The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
15: Read a banned book.—The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Tiger Eyes.
20: Read a book written by a celebrity. This can be a memoir or a fiction book published by someone who was already famous by another means. — My Life in France by Julia Child or something by Steve Martin
20: Read a non-fiction book that is not a memoir. It can be pure non-fiction or narrative non-fiction. — Again, a couple options: How to be a Woman, What I Wish I Knew When I was 20, The US Women's Soccer Team, an American Success Story, or Three and Out.
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American. — My Losing Season by Pat Conroy (South Carolina)
25: Read a book that is at least 400 pages long. — I'm not sold yet, but thinking about Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name.** —  Misery by Stephen King or Then Came you by Jennifer Weiner 
30: Read a book written by an author who was born in the same year as you.* — At first I couldn't find anything but this website was recommended and I found exactly what I was looking for! I have options: Legend by Marie Lu, Purity by Jackson Pearce, or Wake by Amanda Hocking

If there are some others of you out there interested in participating head over to Semi-Charmed Kind of Life and join in! Time to get reading!

Wine fun in Washington!

Since moving to Washington State I've learned that I live in the second largest wine making state in the country!  Those stats don't lie, there are wineries EVERYWHERE! It's amazing.  Even though I moved here before RoB, I checked out a few wineries on my own (which can be awkward, depending on the place, for example, Hamilton was great about it).  But I did get to try a LOT of local wineries during the spring barrel weekend. Some of my coworkers decided to get a limo for the occasion (for one day) and for other two days of the weekend a couple of us hard-core tasters checked out some others.

Spring Barrel is a special weekend in the spring when wineries let you try some of the samples straight form the barrels (as well as regular tasting, obviously).  Many of the wineries are on a passport that we bought.  These magical passes meant we didn't have to pay tasting fees for any wineries in the passport (not that it's a big deal since most wineries will refund a tasting fee if you buy a bottle) and if you get stamps from at least six wineries you get a commemorative glass!

For the best recap I will link to all of my yelp reviews for the wineries we went to!  We started at Airfield (even though it was bigger, still fun!), then went to Thurston Wolfe (great), and Gamache (meh).  These three were all walking distance from each other and there were a lot more within walking, but they weren't on our passports so we saved them for another time.  Next we headed north to Barrel Springs (a bit off the beaten path but beautiful and very friendly) and we ate lunch there because it was so nice!  Last stop in Prosser was Kestral (a bit snooty for my taste).  The limo made a final stop in Benton City at Chandler Reach before taking us back the starting point which was conveniently enough in the parking lot for our final winery of the day, Thomas O'Neil.

That was only day one of the weekend, the next day we went to Kitzke (a bit uppity), Goose Ridge (great wine, big estate), and Kiona (love!).  Then, on day three we went to JBell Cellars, Two Mountain, Wineglass Cellars, and had dinner out in Yakima.  We could decide which place to go since there were a couple listed in our wine passport so we just had appetizers at two places, 5 North and Second Street Grill.

I'm glad I got to taste so much over the weekend, but in general these special weekends aren't the best to go tasting.  For most people they are just out to drink, not out to try some good wine and learn about it. In general I wouldn't say the weekend passport is worth buying since almost all wineries refund your tasting fee with a purchase and I tend to purchase wine almost everywhere I taste.  I also prefer to go when the wineries can pay more attention to each individual person.  I have already checked out many other wineries and hope to share some of my favorites soon!

Currently

First, lets check in with my monthly blog goals:

• Reviewed 2 (here and here) of my unreviewed 12 books (I need to step up)
• Sent 1 review to Jagged Edge (I need to contribute more)
• Completed 1 link up with the.book.chat (Characters)
• Still need to complete my personal posts (I have 3 of them)

And now onto some fun things.  This is a weekly link-up with siddathornton, and I thought it would add some fun to this post!  I am currently:

reading: The Maze Runner and loving it, I'm only about a quarter of the way through but I have a hard time putting it down every night.
writing: Lots of yelp reviews, those will be included in an upcoming post!
listening: To the upcoming soccer match, GO USA!!
thinking: About all the fun things I will do when my parents come to visit.
smelling: The dinner RoB is cooking, I come home to deliciousness every day (I don't know what I'll do when he gets a job)
wishing: I was better at volleyball (we played in a pick up game last night and I was one of the worst out there)
hoping: The weather will be perfect for the weekend...
wearing: Boots and a raincoat. I was told it didn't rain in the desert but someone lied to me.
loving: That I got to play volleyball last night and soccer tonight!
wanting: The USA to beat Honduras tonight.
needing: A library card
feeling: Cold, the rain plus the strong AC at work has kept me chilled all day :(
clicking: A new way to read my blogs, since google reader will be going away very soon, I haven't found one that I love yet...any suggestions?