That was fun, I think.

When I was in journalism class sometimes we'd have to cover an event and then turn in the assigned story by midnight the same evening. I remember part of the challenge of the assignment was finding the story because things like three-hour school board meetings aren't always terribly interesting. I am challenged today to report on the story of the events of last night. Not because nothing really happened, but because I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. Yes, the wine show was in town again. It was my third year of attending and apparently I still don't know how to do it properly.

I went out for pizza at lunch with a friend from work who was also going to the show. She suggested we load up on the carbs in preparation for the night of boozing. I had two pieces of pizza with lots of crust. I felt crazy full for the rest of the day. When I got home I was not hungry. I went to my mom's and dad's to get ready for the night and still was not hungry. Not that I really left myself any time for eating anyway. So my mom dropped me off at Amara and Christian's place with nothing but a fresh baked cookie in my tummy. You can clearly see where this is going.

"Mandatory coat check! Ladies and gentlemen, please head to the coat check room over this way before going in," a volunteer woman instructed us as we waited in line to get in. I had scored a cute new blue dress for the ocassion. It was a bit rainy/drizzly out but I just wore a large black cardigan because I don't have a trench (totally on my must-buy list). I checked out the other girls in line and saw a lot of jeans. I mentioned this to Amara but she told me not to worry, the fashions would show up soon and then I'd be glad I dressed the part. I followed my group to the coat check room and chose to ignore the lady when she said, "Ma'am, s'cuse me ma'am in the black sweater, you don't need to check that. It's okay, it's very cold up there. Ma'am?"

The coat check was free and um, hello, she clearly did not understand that this dress was not meant to be covered up. I handed my sweater over to the person on the other side of the coat check table.

"Are you here for the wine show?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Christ people, when did fashion become the crime?

I looked around the room when we got in and was satisfied to see that there were some people who embraced the opportunity to bare some leg, some arm, some chest. We've been enjoying some great temps and an early spring in Winnipeg this year, I thought for sure everyone would be excited to pull their spring frocks out of storage. Sadly, there was a lot of black. Last year the colour was purple but I think I was in black.

Right at the entrance there were a number of ice wines and champagnes/sparking wines. I'd say this is where my troubles began. From there, I just remember looking at the time on my cell phone and realizing that after only about an hour I was corked.

Amara had snuck in some packets of old white cheddar so she gave me two. Her dear friend Gwen offered me a granola bar from her purse and instructed me to make sandwiches with the cheese and the free slices of french bread. It was no use. My entire head tingled. I felt like I had just come from the dentist. They organize the wines alphabetically; Rosemount was my last drink.



We walked to the E&C for a post-sloshing meal. Christian ordered beer. I can't remember if everyone else did too, but when the waitress got to me I said, "Can I have some tea?" and she nodded at me sympathetically.

We ordered standard pub fair--nachos, fish and chips and wings. I noshed and started to feel better. Chad, Gwen's husband said to me, "you're way better this year than you were your first year, Jill." I don't know about that. There is a bit less of me now than there was two years ago. I think I ate some cheese and crackers for dinner that year and it was enough to keep me going through the whole show.  When I got home I thought to myself, I think next year I want to go and not even really drink (not that I want to think about drinking at all in the near future right now). I just like the part where I get to dress up and go out with my friends.