Currently Sipping: After having a procedure done on Friday, wine and I are taking a little break. So instead, I'm going to take this time to share with you one of my favorite wines. Over the holidays, I was given a half case of Fess Parker red blend and I have to admit, I am in love with this wine. It’s big, bold and spicy, which is what I adore in a wine. It’s the perfect blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache. You’ll buy yourself a bottle or two if you know what’s good for you.

While on the topic of wine, here's the perfect Valentine's Day gift for the Rosé lover in your life. Or for yourself. Get on it before it's gone!

The past couple of weeks have been insane. I’m not going to complain about being busy because being busy is a good thing. It’s 1:13 in the morning, I should be sleeping, but it’s a rare quiet moment while my husband is at work and I can do whatever the hell I want. And right now I want to drink hot cocoa and waste time on the internet. Sleep is for the weak.

It seems as though we’ve been on the never ending home search for the past two and a half years. Water is a big issue, as in, if the drought continues there may not be any. That’s fine and dandy for people who enjoy living in the city, but I’m drawn to the country life. The only noise I want to hear in the middle of the night is coyotes howling, crickets chirping and my husband shooting at some vicious creature trying to eat our horses, cats or dogs—I don’t want to hear police sirens, drunken idiots hooting and hollering from the street while they’re on their drunken adventure home or my neighbors arguing over their screaming baby. House hunting is difficult. Especially when I have needs. Like a built-in wine cellar.

Yep. I’ve been sitting here for the past two hours drinking a glass… okay, a bottle of wine looking at house plans on the internet. We’ve all at least started a “dream home” board on Pinterest, pinning useless things that completely useless or completely unrealistic and unachievable financially unless we’re amongst the worlds 1%. I don’t know about you, but my husband and I are certainly not. 

The idea of building a home was actually something our awesome real estate agent had suggested a while ago. Just think about that: building your dream home. If you could start from scratch, what would you want? Dream entertaining kitchen? 1,000 square feet of covered patio to enjoy year-round? I’m pretty sure I need a wine cellar (to house my babies, of course) and a kitchen with ample room for dance parties. You mean you don’t dance when you’re cooking?? Well, if you don’t listen to this song and tell me you weren’t dancing by the end of it. If not, you can leave. No, wait, don’t do that. We can still be friends, right?

• Over at Retro Housewife Goes Green, Lisa provides some great arguments for downsizing when shopping for a new home. 
• Mental disorders can sometimes be a taboo subject, but Julie over at The Journey of Imperfection goes where many of us are afraid to. 
• The Champagne Supernova has recently become one of my favorite blogs. This week, she shared a hilarious post about dealing with crazy people. 
• As we’re nearing the end of January, I’d say many people have decided their New Year’s Resolution of working out isn’t working out as planned. Say goodbye to your treadmill with The Bedford Wife.
• My friend Katie over at Love My Messy Messy Mess has chosen her word for 2016. What's yours? And while you're at it, if you have a Cabernet Franc that she should try, let her know. She's my sister in dry red wine. ;)
• Being a California girl, I love salsa verde so this salsa verde chicken and rice soup recipe from Half Baked Harvest was right up my alley. Short of salsa verde chicken soup recipe I get from my father's employee (who refuses to give me the recipe), this is the next best thing.
• Has anyone else been loving Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? 

So tell me, what have you been up to this week? Find anything on the interwebs that just need to be shared? Besides LCD Soundsystem, who else should I be dancing around my kitchen to?