Thursdays - the New Friday.

Last night we went out for dinner for a coworker's birthday at Uva in downtown Napster. I had a spinach salad (yummy) and the asparagus gnocchi. It was delicious but the pancetta was too salty and there was too much cheese. That's right, you heard *me* say too much cheese. I really didn't think that was possible! Maybe I was still full from the two MASSIVE slices of Filippi's pizza I had for lunch at the warehouse. In any event, yes, there was too much cheese.

A bottle of Etude Pinot, Elyse Zin and an Italian Barbera were ordered - they were all divine. The Pinot was smooth and delightful, the Zin was a kick in the shorts, but the Barbera was by far the best. At only $36 a bottle - it was a steal and more than worth the price. I'll have to see if anyone remembers the producer and find it somewhere.

We capped off the night at n.v. - which I think stands for Napa Valley. In SF, there's a club called Club NV so I always think of that when I hear people talk about n.v. in Napster. It was swank and mod - I dug it. And guess what - there's a Mervyn's in Napa! Why did I not realize this? It just seems random to me...and why can't it be a Macy's? Ok, or an Old Navy.

Cheers to finally writing about wine again!

I Love it Here.

I like coming to work. I never thought those words would escape my mouth. Ever. Not since my Video Droid days when life consisted of getting up at 10am, making a bagel and smoothie, watching Jerry Springer at 11 (keep in mind I was 21), heading to the pool at noon, laying out until 3 when it was time to get ready for work, starting work at 4, watching Office Space or Disney movies (they make the time pass extremely fast) or Swingers over and over and over, getting off around 10:30, heading to Friar Tucks or the 8 Ball in Cotati, staying up till 3am, go to bed, and doing it all over again the next day. Man, that was the life. I mean really, who wouldn't love that?!

But alas, I have grown up, and Jerry Springer doesn't really do it for me anymore. Now laying out by a pool, that's different. With this growing up thing, I have finally found a place that I like going to day in and day out, and I can't wait to get really settled.

As for the home life - nothing new to report. The frogs are still loud, even through the double-paned windows, though I haven't heard the rooster through the closed windows. Good thing, I might have shot him by now. The place is still a construction zone with some hazardous materials and conditions thrown in, but it has such potential! Of course, saying a house has potential can sometimes mean the same thing as saying that someone has a nice personality. You know what I mean.

Cheers to pool days and fun jobs!

What Is the Deal?

My life has been a whirlwind! Moving out of the condo completely, learning this job, moving, cleaning, moving, cleaning, setting up, taking down, eating at Chevy's two nights in a row...what a weekend.

I wanted yesterday to be the last day I was in the condo except to clean and then get my stuff out when I sell (please be soon...). Wenis came over and helped all day - moving and packing and moving and emptying. My realtor came over in the morning and we all went to look at the 2bdr/2ba that just sold. It wasn't as awesome as it looked online which is good for me! Around 1, Wenis and I went to the open house next door to mine (hope to crush the competition) and I proceeded to completely lie to the realtor. I told her I knew nothing of the complex, that I was just looking at open houses, the lies go on and on. It wouldn't be so bad except that she kept drilling me, and then I ended up giving her my full real name! What was I thinking! At that point, Wenis and I couldn't move more out of my condo because she'd see us, so we took what we had to the new Napa house. I'm a dork. Where's my t-shirt that proclaims that?

I decided to sleep in the Napa house last night for the first time. It was pretty cool, but the frogs are SO loud and a lovely rooster starts its open mic night at 6am. That was not a pleasant sound.

This morning, I started up the shower and tried to find clothes in the disaster zone that is my house. The water was cold. It wasn't getting warmer. At all. I realized then that no one ever changed the hot water heater back to normal - the previous owners had it set to "Vacation." "Vacation" does not give me a warm shower. My only option at this point is to throw on some clothes and head to the office, where there are showers in the bathroom. The only clothes I could find were the jeans I wore yesterday, complete with paint and dirt, and a zip up sweater with nothing underneath. Let me tell you - I was HOT. I got my hair done on Saturday afternoon, and she styled it like they do with lots of product, which by this morning looked greasy and dirty and mullet-y. I burst into the office, plowing past the receptionist and hopped in the shower.

Once again, I had to get ready for work somewhere other than my own bathroom. And the stories, they just keep a'comin'.

Cheers to showers at work, frogs and roosters!

Blogging. The Super Fun Pasttime. For me anyway...

My co-worker, C-Money, and I were just talking about blogging. I made a mental vow to blog more often. Since I'm passing out my blog URL more often, I want to be sure there's actually something for people to read. Though I'm sure that most people aren't as interested in what I have to say as I am, I know that I get addicted to other people's blogs a lot (like BlogMasterG's, my good buddy in NY). It's a glimpse into other people's lives, and even if you don't stay long or visit often, you know just a little more about that person, and you have an instant bond.

I dig it.

Cheers to blogging and more of it!

What a Week!

Highlights from the week:
~Had a meeting with some people from my favorite store
~Hung out with those folks and my team
~Stayed in a sweet hotel
~Sat in on a meeting with some folks from the a commission that is all about my favorite vegetable (fruit? vegetable?) that makes guacamole
~Moved my life from a condo to a house

Now for some details on the funniest happening of the week...
Tuesday we had a meeting with the buyers from a certain store that I love. If you know me, you know what this is! After the meeting, my boss and our sales guy who calls on this certain super store went to a dive bar to play some pool before we met up with those buyers and my boss' boss for dinner. Napa Valley Grille was not what I expected - very fancy pants given the name. The food was declicious and the conversation was hilarious and random. After dinner, we headed back to that dive bar for some more pool and bonding time. My boss and I played pool once the pool leaguers had headed out. It was the worst showing of pool I have ever had ever. I was crushed 5 times by my boss - unfortunately my review rides on my winning. I used to be a hustler - what happened to me? Time to buy a pool table.

While we were chatting, my boss' boss got me a room at the hotel nearby so I didn't have to drive all the way back to Sonoma. For the 6 hours or so that I spent there, it was amazing! If I had had time, I would have built myself a Duraflame fire, sat on the balcony, and taken a bath in the Jacuzzi tub. As it turned out, getting in at 1:30am, I went straight to sleep and woke up around 8am to shower and bolt outta there. I had to get to my favorite store to buy clothes and toiletries for work that day.

After checking out around 8:30am, I headed to said favorite store to get clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, and makeup. Everyone knows how high class I am, and this just proves it. Since I had already checked out of that wonderful room, and I was at the super store in my gross, smoky clothes from the day before, I pulled a perfect Walk of Shame moment.

I purchased the clothes and toiletries and headed for the super store bathroom. I changed into my cute new outfit, brushed my teeth, combed my wet hair, and put on the brand new makeup I had gotten. That's right - all in the store bathroom. Only three people came in and out while I was getting ready for my day, and only one gave me a weird look. I hope the people watching the security cameras got a kick out of my transformation.

I think I looked better than day than any other day at this job so far. Go figure.

Cheers to the Walk of Shame and sweet hotel rooms!

One Company Owns the World

Smoking Loon & Pepperwood Grove are owned by Sebastiani. Barefoot & Dancing Bull are owned by Gallo. Stag's Leap & Chateau St. Jean are owned by Foster's (Australian for beeeah). I find this extremely interesting...but I know it means that very few companies actually exist. It makes the world a very small, and somewhat scary, place. I used to love researching who owns who, and now it's not so glamorous. The wine industry is just like every other business - choices are made in the name of the almighty dollar. That's fine - I'm all for makin' a buck - but in an industry where obscure names take on a certain mystery and intrigue, knowing that a big guy owns what you thought was a small, fun label, sort of ruins it.

That said, I am learning that even though that may be the case, the big guys owning the majority of labels, the integrity of some acquisitions is maintained. Single vineyard still means single vineyard. The winemaker may have stayed on board and is still producing amazing wines, s/he just has a different ultimate boss. The label may stay the same, and though seemingly deceptive, it just good marketing.

Cheers to wine integrity!

PS - Can wine have integrity? Seems like a stupid thing to cheers to... How about this instead - Cheers to the bigger wineries who value the environment of a small winery - they're the reason I have a job!

My Blog, How Do I Miss Thee

It's been too long since my last post - a lot has happened and I'm trying to get my bearings! We closed on the house, signed the papers, and on Thursday the keys will be mine all mine. At the same time I'll be doing a little work on that place, I need to get my condo in tip top shape for a sale! Do I sound like an HGTV show? I should, it's all I watch lately!

We went to Mustards last week - it was very enjoyable. The food, the weather, the company - all perfect for a Friday. I certainly lived it up that day, going to Market with friends for dinner. Talk about delicious carbs. Of course I got the mac & cheese (very adult, remember?) and a side of cornbread. I like my food all the same color. We topped off that carbalicious dinner with some amazing s'mores (that's right, s'mores) and some brownie-ice cream heavenly thing. Did I mention I've gained a pant size since I started this job? It's a bittersweet fact.

Today was amazing weather-wise - it's definitely a beautiful thing to live in California. Days like today, with the sun up till 6:30 and the temps in the 80s, put a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I needed both of those!

Over the weekend I had some of The Show - it's quite yummy. The label is awesome, the wine is good, I'm a happy camper.