Even in the darkest of days, it cannot always be night

 

Photo credit: The Van Gogh Gallery

This weekend was tough. There isn't any way to sugar coat it. Saturday morning I said goodbye to a student. He passed away back on January 18th but his visitation and funeral were held on the 29th. Even though he was a high school student I was still use to seeing Christian every morning coming through my office because he was a VICC student which meant their buses arrived early enough that they had to be admitted through the middle school doors. You see the middle and high school buildings were all on the same campus.

Paint Nite - Joyias Tapas

Yesterday evening I enjoyed another Wine/Painting event (Paint Nite) down in Tower Groves at a restaurant called Joyia Tapas. I made sure to get down there at least 30 minutes before the event started to make sure I was able to get a good seat. The restaurant was very nice and I made sure before we started at 7pm to have a glass of moscato and a sprite on deck to enjoy.

Eventually 7pm comes around and our head painters along with, I think, was the owner of the restaurant introduce themselves and inform us that during this wine/painting party servers would be around to bring us drinks and food which was definitely a nice and welcomed difference from the other previous two wine/painting parties that I have attended.

After all of the introductions the head painter starts the class and we see an example of the painting that we will be doing for the evening.

Name of Painting: Reflection

 So we start our paintings with a blank canvas and start to do solid colors across and blending the colors as well.

Throughout the evening I'm making some small talk with some another lady at my table and after we paint up to this point, we take a small break to let our canvases dry before starting on part two of paintings, which is to painting bushes, and you can imagine the funny jokes that were had about that.....lolol

So I started off painting my bushes and tree trunk in the color black as the example painting but when I started to makes the leaves for the trees something in me decided to change it up and go in a different direction. So I decided to make my tree a deep dark green and follow it up with a slightly lighter green in the middle of the leaves.

 

 After I was done with my first tree, I flipped my canvas upside down and proceeded to make my reflective bushes (in green) and tree. Yet while we were painting, we were treated to a belly dance performance.

So while the belly dancer was giving some wonderful entertainment, I was bobbing my head to the middle eastern music and started to make my reflective tree and again decided to make it different and painted the trunk brown and gave it the leaves a fire orange and red tint. The bushes were green and to finish the look I made the stars on one side white with a white moon and on the other side yellow stars a blood red moon. I was very proud of my masterpiece;)

After I was done, I took some pictures to remember the moment but unfortunately they didn't have any metallic sharpies so I didn't sign my name yet to my masterpiece. That shall be rectified soon;)

 Overall I had a great night, I can honestly say this has been my best wine/painting party to date. Probably because of the location, atmosphere and the positive ambiance of the place and staff. If you ever get a chance to experience +PaintNite , enjoy yourself. You won't regret it;) and if you are able to experience it at Joyia Tapas, definitely prepare to have a good time! I plan on coming back to try out the food!

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

My Birthday Weekend in Recap: Feb 16th

So on Sunday I was very excited because I had signed up for another Wine/Painting event but this one was being held in Kirkwood at place called Art on the Vines. I held off signing up because I wasn't sure if enough people had signed up so they wouldn't cancel. So I contacted the owner and they emailed me back stating that they had the minimum people signed up and that I could still be a part of the class. So I went on their website earlier this week and registered for a spot. 

Before making it to my destination I went by Dierbergs in Brentwood and picked up some "essential items", by that I mean a bottle of wine, fruit, fruit dip, and some crackers. I must also make note that while debating on a bottle of wine to bring I saw an interesting bottle that I will have to make sure to buy in the future.

The only reason I didn't buy was the top was a cork and not a screw on top.

So after making my purchase I make my way to the Kirkwood shopping district. I park and with twenty minutes to spare I setup at my table and wait for the other participants to arrive.

So after setting up I made sure to take a few pictures of the place.

I also took some pictures of our instructor of the class while she was prepping our painting canvases. She just started working at the Art on the Vines just a few days ago but she informed me that she came from the previous location where I was for my first Wine/Painting event back in January. I found interesting that at this location they actually trace out the picture so all you have to worry about is just painting the picture. Very cool indeed.

Our instructor, Elizabeth doing some prep work.

Right around 2pm the other 4 people show up for the class. They were actually 2 couples, the boyfriends surprised their girlfriends with the event. I told the guys they did a good job.

So shortly afterwards we are settled in our seats and we proceed to Paint....and drink...occasionally. I also happen to nibble on some fruits and crackers as well. The picture below is the main painting that our class was being based on that day.

So here was my progress.....

Wasn't too thrilled with the strong white line I had going down my vase.

So mad I messed up my guitar! I was drawing the strings on it and accidentally smudged some black paint onto the guitar I had to use the white paint to cover it up and then had to paint over it.....

Finished product

So afterwards we took some pictures as a group then I took a picture with our instructor.

So after we finished our paintings we chatted around for a little while and I will say the two couples were awesome. They had me laughing pretty much the whole time. They really enjoyed themselves and I told them, once you have done one of these events, you are hooked:) After we left I was contemplating dinner so I decided on Texas Roadhouse which was just 5 minutes down the street (by car).

The place was packed so I decided to eat at the bar. I had the BEST bartender/waiter and he helped me decide on a Kansas City Steak. It was hands down one of the best steaks I have had in my LIFE!! The flavor, the cut, I could just go on and on....everything was great. Was super-duper pleased..Also was watching a rerun of the USA vs RUSSIA hockey game which was awesome to beat them by shootout:)

Raspberry Lemonade

Believe it or not, there is a steak underneath those sauteed mushrooms and onions.

I still love my Applesauce with Cinnamon

Afterwards I went home and dealt with the issue of no Uverse service. Had to call AT&T for a service call which they wouldn't be able to deal with until Monday. Sooooo it was a long night just staring at my ceiling...but overall had a great day.


Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

Pinot's Palette - An evening of art, wine, and friends

Last night I had the opportunity to do something that I have been wanting to do for quite some time. A friend of mine had posted on Facebook about a wine/painting party and it was free! So I decided to take advantage of the deal and even reposted out to some other friends. So I have to say thank you to my friend Caprice posting to my friends news feed so I could see the event and to the TV show Cougar Town for picking up the tab!

So after registering for the event and forwarding it to my friends, I made sure to put it on my calendar. When I tell you I was actually counting down days to this, that should tell you how excited I was. Monday night I made sure to put two bottles of wine in the fridge to have them chilled and also had prepped some fruits as well. So then the morning of the event I took my special insulated roll-a-way bag and stocked it with my items and put it in my trunk.

After work I went to a memorial service for an acquaintance and then afterwards made my way out to Chesterfield for the wine/painting party. The email I recommended being their by 6:30pm even though the event didn't start until 7pm. I got down there by 5:40pm because I knew traffic was going to be a nightmare so I decided to grab some dinner before making my way over to Pinot's Palette. I was the first to arrive for the event and got myself situated. I took a few pictures of the place.

Samantha, who was one of the instructors greeted me at the door and informed of where I would be sitting as well as showed me an area where I could put my personal items. She also told me that everyone that came was also getting a free swag bag with some goodies inside.

 I also had to make sure to get in a picture of my cute roll-a-way bag as well.

My cute roll-a-way bag

So shortly after arriving my girlfriend Cassandra shows up and we are chatting away until the event starts. We also meet another young lady by the name of Devin who happens to also be friends with Caprice. Caprice shows up shortly and we are just chilling until the event starts there are about 20 folks there. Another one of our friends was suppose to come but unfortunately had to cancel (I have a quick story about that at the end of this blog post. lol)

So we finally get started and Samantha introduces herself and informs us that she will be covering the first part of the painting lesson and then another lady by the name of Jennifer will finish up. She will still be there but will be going around to assist. After that she presents the painting that we will be doing.

Here is Samantha

This painting is called - Wine with Jules

 She also informs us that this event was sponsored by the TV Show Cougar Town. So to them I say THANK YOU very much.

Now we are finally start on our blank canvases, overall the project took about 2 hours. I really enjoyed it along with the music they were playing in the back ground. People were laughing having a good time and of course the wine was flowing along with the snacks that people were nibbling on. Cassandra's painting is on the left and mine is on the right.

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I also made sure to take pictures of Caprice's masterpiece as well.

Then afterwards we took a big group photo which I was trying to find on their website and then a few photos of lil group.

A few more pics of my masterpiece:)

Now last but DEFINITELY not least...remember my friend that canceled? Well Cassandra and I found out that not only had she signed up not once but TWICE for the event, but what made it really funny was that on their print out sheet they had her by her correct name but at the table where she would have been seated TWICE, they had spelled her name wrong. So in honor of my girlfriend I will show you her before and after of her painting(s).

Before

After

Overall I had a BLAST and I plan on going to more events at this location and some other ones located around Saint Louis. I found a great article that actually does give locations of other wine/painting parties.

Click here for the article.

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz