Day 5 & 6: It’s All Greek To Me

Tags

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Greek, Houston, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, NANO, Nia Vardalos, October Wine & Write, Published, Short Stories, The Original Greek Festival, Wine, Write, Writer, Writing

It seems the weekends are going to be a bit of a trick for me, at least on the blogging side.  Although I did stick to my goal of getting some writing done last night (only about 400 words unfortunately), and I  did have a glass of wine (finished off the Chateau Ste. Michelle), I didn’t get around to blogging about it.  My typical Saturday is dedicated to big household chores and spending time with friends, so when I got home last after spending an evening at a friend’s engagement party, I enjoyed a nice hour sitting in lawn chairs with my fiancé, feeling the breeze float over my body and enjoyed that big Texas sky.  It’s been a while since he and I have had a nice evening just to relax, look at the stars, hold hands and chat about silly things.  It was nice.  And I soon needed a blanket.  Typical Texas weather.

Today was another perfect day indeed.  The first weekend of October in Houston means The Original Greek Festival presented by the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.  It’s everything Greek you can think of: music, dancing, arts, crafts, ouzo candy, coin skirts on kids, and some of the best Greek food this side of the Mediterranean.  Opa!  It’s the only church festival in the city that has an official beer sponsor. And for that we say, Go Greek!  A lot of people attend the festival because it is a great way for the church to raise money while sharing a bit of culture, but most of us go for the food.  Upon arrival, my fiancé and I, along with some friends made a bee-line for the food tent, where we picked up a dinner plate consisting of pastitsio, tiropita, spanakopita, keftedes and salata.  It’s some of the best eating I get all year.  Usually when I go to outdoor festivals like this, I tend to stick with water to keep myself properly hydrated.  However, I broke with tradition this year and bought a bottle of wine instead.  It’s Wine & Write month for me, after all, so why not try a nice bottle of red with my delicious meal.  I picked up a bottle of Nemea, straight from Greece.  It’s a little dryer than my usual liking.  It mixed well with our lunch, but I’m interested in finding other food parings with it as I finish the bottle this week.  I paid $25 for the bottle, which as we know the prices are always inflated for outdoor festivals.  I’m interested in going to one of our better wine stores in Houston to see what other Greek wines they carry and try out another red or two that’s not so dry.  I lost my taste for reds for a few years, and now that I’m back on reds, I’m always interested in finding flavorful new ones.

After coming home, and digging through our box of baklava, I felt a sudden need to watch a Nia Vardalos movie.  I popped in My Life in Ruins and vegged on the couch for 2 hours while sipping a cup of afternoon tea.  I highly recommend this movie.  It has all the great humor of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and a little eye candy in the form of Poopi Kakas.  Watch it, especially for the beach scene.

For my writing tonight, I completed roughly 1000 words, but more importantly, I finished my first chapter in my nine chapter goal!  Opa!  I’m making progress, so I consider it a productive weekend.  I’m ready to keep up the momentum as we make it into another week and another bottle or two.

Opa!

Wendy