A Fun, Simple Wine Night

The other night, we had a few friends and family over for some wine, apps, and…ghost stories?

It all started when our friend Sayle (who lives in NYC but is originally from our town) text us a few weeks ago and said she’d be coming in to visit her mom and would love to get together for wine and apps if we’re available. Now the thing about Sayle is, she founded/teaches a wine education class called Wine Savvy NYC (if you’re in NYC, you should definitely reach out!) where she shows you how to drink, smell, pour, and experience wine the way it should be. She’s kind of a genius and we try to get together with her any time we can to catch up on life and watch her do her thing, because watching her in her element is such a fun sight to see.

(Sayle, Dixie, and Blair)

Through Sayle, we’ve met her good friend since childhood, Blair, who also came over. She lives right here in Cleveland and is like a breath of fresh air in a small town like ours. Thomas’ mom and sister stopped by and our friend Dixie was here, too. We were surrounded by some of our favorite women for a night and couldn’t have been happier.

Sayle and Blair brought over a bunch of different types of wine and we all took turns trying them. No surprise, they were all delicious. We kept our glasses separate and could tell whose was whose with cheeky wine glass markers (that you can see in the corner of the photo above) that we actually got this past Christmas at a secret santa party (with Sayle at Blair’s house!). They’re little men in speedos with hilarious, jocky names on the butts like Chad and Cody. People always seem to love them!

We made a simple charcuterie board with small, salted pepperonis, peppered salami, aged cheddar and gouda cheese, grapes, and Triscuits. We also made spiced cupcakes with cream cheese icing in case anyone had a little sweet tooth. Sayle brought some guacamole and hummus with blue corn tortilla chips, and Blair brought a delicious Caprese salad.

It was all very informal and almost last minute-like. We all just shouted out what we’re bringing in our group text with replies like “sounds good to me!”. When there’s good friends and good wine, you don’t really need anything super fancy, right?

The fur babies were wandering around the house all night, constantly asking to be held or loved on. Thankfully none of us minded too much :).

As the night got later (and we had more glasses of wine), we started trading stories about spiritual encounters with the other side. We took turns sharing our thoughts and beliefs on the matter (do you believe in ghosts?!) and even listened to a video on Blair’s phone that she couldn’t explain and gave us all chills.

It was fascinating to hear everyone’s perspectives on things like religion, church, God, spirits, and beliefs in general. We know it’s supposedly not right to discuss things like that at get togethers (it’s a good recipe for arguments!) but it never once got heated, thankfully. We all listened and took everyone’s ideas and thoughts in and, for the most part, we were all on the same page. When it was all over, it actually felt like we had just gone to church! Sometimes, late night conversations with friends can feel like that, don’t you think?

We can’t thank Sayle and Blair enough for spending their evening with us this past weekend, and we can’t wait to do it again! But we really want to know, do you believe in ghosts? And have you ever had an experience with one?!?