About a year ago, I spotted a woman in the grocery store buying ingredients for cucumber martinis and I asked if I could crash her party. That was at the beginning of the asking experiment, and it was more or less an excuse to get over my inhibitions. (By the way: she said yes!)
Yesterday I did the opposite -- invited a random woman in the grocery store to crash mine. This time around, I wasn't the least bit nervous. And she also said yes!
In two weeks, you see, I'm hosting a blind wine tasting, where people are invited to bring any red Italian wine that's not a Chianti. Mr. A and I will supply the Chianti, and then everyone has to try to guess which is which. (We're no experts, so truly, it's an excuse to get tipsy.)
Last night I went to BevMo to stock up for Thanksgiving, so I decided to pick something up for the tasting.
I asked their wine expert for advice, since I wasn't sure which of their Chianti options was the most classically styled. She started telling me about roughness and currants and how she recently aced a blind tasting and various other things I know very little about, and by the time she made a recommendation I had an idea: what if she could come? to the tasting?
"So, this might be a little forward, and I imagine you're always getting asked to parties, but would you like to come? To this blind tasting? It's at my house -- it would be awesome if you could make it!? I hope you don't mind my asking..."
"No, I get asked to parties all the time. Sometimes they're more casual and I go as a guest, and sometimes I get hired to teach about wine."
"Would you want to be paid? Maybe I could arrange a contribution from the group, or I could say thanks with a bottle of your favorite wine? Basically, we just amateurs getting together and exploring, it's nothing very professional."
"Then no, you wouldn't need to pay me, if it's just some friends getting together."
"Yeah, it's a bunch of my friends. We do it every month, and different people come every time. So it would be fun if you could make it to this one -- next Saturday -- or one in the future. You could be our resident expert! What do you think?"
"Ok, sure! I'd be happy to talk about the Chianti, if that's what you want. Let me give you my number -- here's cell and here's work. Just call and give me the details."
With that, I left the store possessing one fine wine, and one very cool possibility. Hope she can make it!
