do you like to color?

Did you ever go to Disney World as a kid and tour the offices where grown-ups get to color all day? (Did anyone else think of Charlotte Yorke just now?) Pretty sure they were filling in stills for Pocahontas when I was there, which just made me feel really old. I remember touring those offices and thinking this is totally what I'm going to do when I grow up. Best. Job. Ever!!!! 

I always loved art coloring when I was young, and when I got old enough my parents would drive me to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art (which is now conveniently walking distance from my place) so I could sit around and draw/paint for hours. Since then, I've made a point to visit some amazing art museums like MoMA and Hess Collection (which was a little out-there for my taste), but haven't done much in the way of art myself.

So when my friends found a Groupon to the Hook Gallery for a BYOB painting class, I was obviously all in. Have you been to one of these "cocktail and canvas" events that have popped up around the country? If you haven't yet, I highly recommend. They are a blast. If you're nervous because you have zero art ability, you will be surprised at how artistic you are when you get a little wine and a lot of moral support. Like our instructor said, "you'll go through a period of depression when you think the painting will never turn out right, but it will all come together in the last 10 minutes." And it did!

There are few things more daunting than a blank canvas. Except being sober staring at a blank canvas.

Supplies.

Face painting. This is when the ADD and wine started kicking in...

the making of a masterpiece. :)

The girls with our works of art. Everyone's was so good, and unique to their style!

My hilarious friend Kristen (who's birthday is today: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!) became buds with our instructor and correctly guessed his original artwork from all the pieces on the gallery wall. The instructor was so impressed that he gave the piece (on the left) to her! 

The final product: Kansas City skyline.

what's in a name?

Hi guys. Remember me? The girl who was awesome at blogging in August until a few days ago? Yeah, about that.

what i used to do at night

It's not that I've had a lack of interesting stories to tell or pretty things to share. Quite the opposite actually. But there have been a ton of things to wrap up and tie a pretty bow on, figuratively, this week. Stuff like finishing a book, emptying my dirty laundry basket, a Fantasy Football draft (and the studying up to it!) and a trip to the Ozarks with my high school friends.

going on 12 years of friendship with this crew  ♥

So I thought I'd take a few minutes to blog about something I've never addressed on little miss finer feelings before (because my blog is a girl, ya know). The name. How I got it, where it came from, and other options I considered.

I wanted to start a blog about six months before I actually did. The main reason for the wait was that I worked ridiculously long hours at a company that sucks the life out of its employees. Yikes. The other reason was because I couldn't decide on a name.

My favorite option when I was brainstorming a blog name was "Bordeaux in the Bedroom". Because I drink a lot of wine. In bed. I've knocked the glass off and spilled wine on my carpet a time or two at every place I've lived at since Senior year of college. I've broken a glass the next morning as I launched it from my bedside table trying to turn off my alarm. My side of Blue Eyes' white comforter is speckled covered with red wine spots from a similar alarm-induced spill. Call me a lush, but there are few things I enjoy more than sipping on some wine while reading my Kindle or browsing on my laptop.

Bordeaux in the Bedroom got the ax when I brought it up to Blue Eyes and he said, "Sounds like bored in the bedroom." That was that, no more BITB.

The other options all had something to do with feathers, gold, glitter or lace. But there were already a bunch of well-established blogs with hundreds of followers with similar names. Obviously I started following them all and have fallen in love with the content, but I knew I'd need to get a little more creative to find a title that would stand out.

So I'm listening to one of my favorite bands on my iPod one day and up pops the song Finer Feelings. By this point, I knew I wanted my blog to be something that makes people feel good when they're done reading it. And I figured "fine" was a perfectly suitable synonym for good. It also didn't put limitations on my content, since you might feel fine after reading something about fashion, hearing new music, looking at pretty pictures or when I'm poking fun at myself.

There you have it. That's how finer feelings was born. Now go out there and enjoy your Labor Day weekend. I will be in Manhappy tomorrow, cheering on the Wildcats!

corked

So I've mentioned a few times my love of wine. I like it. A lot. To the point where an entire bottle on a Thursday night won't give me a headache the next morning. Not only do I love the actual drink, I love the packaging too.

I use it as decor. 

As an extra savings account. 

As furniture.

via biancamiraglia @ Etsy

KIDDING! But seriously, how amazingly weird cool is that chair?

fascinating life

via

Speaking of art, I went to a wonderful little art gallery/restaurant/wine bar at the Lake of the Ozarks over the weekend. Check out my Yelp review for the deets if you are ever in the area. I can't wait to go back!

Please excuse the short post this morning as I am slammed at the office. But, wanted to get this pretty little quote out and wish you all a happy hump day! 

need a wedding gift? look no further...

Alright party people, it's almost wedding season and you know what that means: most of the discretionary income you earn over the next couple months will be spent on shower gifts, bachelorette shots, travel, new dresses, bachelorette gifts, new shoes, wedding gifts.... omg you know the drill.

Now, I freaking love weddings and I also really like giving gifts. Most times it's easy to pick out something you know the couple wants from their registry. But what happens when everything has been purchased except the dinky $5 spatula and the KitchenAid blender? Or when you want to give something a little different to a great couple? That's where this little Etsy shop will come in handy.

These are my go to gift. The Copper Poppy over at Etsy is where it's at. She can make these charms with any words on them! Gift a set of 6 along with Riedel wine glasses and you're good to go!  I promise this isn't sponsored, I'm just one very happy customer!

trip highlights: napa wino weekend

Happy hump day! As promised, here is the recap of my wonderful weekend getaway to Napa with my girlfriends!! If you are not at all interested in reviews of places to eat, wineries to visit or the other lovely amenities Napa has to offer, skip down to the pics..... But fair warning, you should be interested. Napa is amazing!

First item up for discussion: The Vineyards

We trekked to nine wineries over our three-day stay. My favorites were the ones tucked away in the mountains where the GPS lady would say our destination was only 6 miles away, but it took 25 minutes to get there due to the windy roads hugging the cliffs. Of course there wasn't a single vineyard that was less than enjoyable, but my two favorites were Barnett Vineyards and Outpost Wines. These had the best views, excellent ambiance and my favorite Pinot Noir and Grenache, respectively.

The other *wonderful* wineries we visited were Cade, Alpha Omega, Cliff Lede, Hess, Robert Mondavi, Grgich Hills and Darioush. I could seriously write an entire post about each of these experiences they were so great.... well except Cliff Lede, where I was more than a bit hazy after 3 wineries and a visit to Pancha's (make sure you have cash and have decent knowledge of Dire Straits for this little gem!). So I guess I need to go back to give Cliff Lede a real chance next time.

Here's the view from Barrnett Vineyards:

Can you believe this gorgeousness???

Second item: f00d!

Like I said in my previous post, we had all of our tasting fees waived, and did I mention we had all of our accommodations taken care of, too? Seriously, my friend is a big shit in the wine industry. So we decided to spend all our funds saved up for the trip on food!

My no-contest favorite meal was at Redd, where I enjoyed scallops, fried bone marrow (that was a first) and the most amazing steamed pork buns I could have ever imagined. For real. We all enjoyed the pork buns more than our expensive entrees.

Other restaurants on the must-visit list were Mustards Grill and Bistro Jeanty. Both fabulous for foodies and non-foodies alike. I unfortunately fall in the non-foodie category since I'm on the picky side, but I'm trying to get better!!

OK, third item: Pictures!! Enjoy :)

at Outpost

K-S-U!

We all met thanks to Chi Omega, whose mascot is the owl. Hootie hoo!

Barrel room at Mondavi

via my Instagram (monicarosekc)

Darioush

We had so much fun!!!