Alexandria, VA (USA)

[after a normal work day, started with a short happy hour at Vie de France (per usual) - Kelly drove several of us over to Old Town for our first Winesday at Whole Foods - the grocery story does a great job getting you in the mood to spend money: for $5, you can taste five different food-wine pairings (based on a particular theme) - this week's theme was "Loire Valley" (Food / Wine - Fennel & Orange Salad / Pieter Cruythoff Chenin Blanc; Vichyssoise Soup / Sierra Cruz Sauvignon Blanc; Chicken Fricassee / Quail Creek Pinot Noir; Eggplant Tian / Legado Cabernet Franc; French Apple Tart / Hogue Late Harvest Riesling) - had great conversations with the group all the way through (and enjoyed talking to the servers) - when we got done, we hung out for several more hours with potential work colleages and customers at the bar in the wine section - overall, a great time (will have to do this again...) - walked back to Metro quite late and home later]