New Starts

Tomorrow, my partner in crime, Cornbread, makes her debut into the WoW (that means World of Wine for those who haven't read my very first blog posting).

I just want to say that I am so proud of her - I know how much time, dedication, frustration, disappointment, excitement and craziness surrounds the job hunt. She powered through, with encouragement from all sides, and tomorrow is the start of her new life in Wine Country.

According to my first few posts, I was starry-eyed for soooo long, and I miss that feeling. I still love my job, though with days like today, I long for my eyes to go starry. Maybe I was so starry-eyed because I drank a lot of wine.........ok, no. I know it was because I had worked my bum off for a chance to work in wine, and I had finally accomplished that. I hope that Cornbread remembers her first month; the way it feels when you walk through the doors on that first day, not sure if you're going to get along with coworkers, or that you're wearing the wrong thing, but then realizing that everything worked out - your coworkers are awesome and your clothes didn't matter. I hope she remembers for a long time the way it sounds when you tell people you work for a winery - their reaction and your passion when you explain what you do. I know she'll remember it - I do, constantly.

Cheers to getting this far - you've earned it! An extra CHEERS for doing what we love, day in, day out, and sharing those experiences everyday.

Things That Are NOT Rad, Chapter 1

False advertising
Being a sucker for false advertising
Beans
A rock in my shoe
Mashed potatoes
When a pen runs out of ink
Doing dishes
Gardening
Car problems
Doing dishes
Wet socks
Bad music
Doing dishes

Soccer Mom? I Think Not.

Ok, maybe a little. Unfortunately, I have turned into what some may call a soccer mom. I know it's a little premature, considering that I'm neither a mom, nor do I have anything to do with soccer these days. I do, however, drive the right car for a cool and sporty mom of 2007:


...and on Sunday, I bought one of these:



What's so funny about both of these is that 1) my first crock pot meal sucked and 2) I'm not all that into my car.

Details on 1:
My dinner really, really did suck. Now when I say I can't cook, I mean I can't cook....not even in something as simple as a crock pot. The chicken was dry, the rice was mush as were the beans. How can you screw up a crock pot meal? I'm not really sure, but given the lack of my cooking skills, I did it. I am such a bad cook that even my crock pot won't work with me. I will not surrender to the power of the crock just yet, but I vow to understand it's power and use it to my advantage.

Details on 2:
I thought I was being so practical when I bought my Murano (see post about my new fridge), and I was. The thing rocks in a lot of ways. On the other hand, it is anything but sexy. At my age, the ripe old age of 29, I need sexy. I need a head-turner. I need a wind-through-the-hair, five-speed, turbo-charged wonder car that makes my heart race and head spin, like one of these:


I also need a bit more spice in my life...and by spice I don't mean basil and oregano (reminder: I can't cook.) I need to be eating gourmet meals:


...with a lovely dinner companion, like:


or:


or:


or:



It's not quite New Year's, but I am making a resolution that I will spice up my life...I'll throw caution into the wind and get a sports car, be excited and thrilled to meet new people, go on more dates, eat gourmet food, put on some heels and strut the new me. I swear on my life that I will not be her:


Not yet, anyway.

Cheers to being thrilled!

Things That Are Rad, Chapter 1

Fuzzy socks
Red wine on a cold day
Fireworks
Dancing
Ironing a shirt into utter crispness (ok, I'm only domestical right here, right now)
Finishing a project
The ribs at The Grill
Red wine on a warm day
Meeting new people
Karaoke at Rita's
Throwing parties
5-minute speed networking
Photography
Toasts (and toast of course)
Road trips
The beach
Dessert

Cheers to things that are rad!

Me, Myself, and My Dad

My dad can fix anything. Anything. My dad likes wine. I don't think he cares so much what it is, just that it's red and comes in a wine bottle. Now that I am basically a wine pimp, I give my dad wine for helping me with house stuff. Like putting a fridge in the back of my car.


If anyone has wondered what my dad looks like, here are he and my mom last June when we went to Costa Rica:




If you wanted to know what my dad looked like maybe 15 years ago, it may have been something like this:


Ok, fine. That's me having fun at the Halloween store. It was just too funny to keep under wraps, and though I know that most of the peeps who read my blog have seen these pics, they're still funny. Really funny. And a little scary.


Cheers to my dad!

Props to the Murano

As much as I want a new car, I do have to give mad props to the one I have. I bought a 2004 Nissan Murano last December in an effort to be practical. Working on the condo and then the house allowed me to justify the extra space in a crossover SUV. At the time, I had wanted to get a tiny sports car, manual, convertible, basically as impractical as possible, then also get a $3k used SUV for working on the house. I regret not making that decision because one year later, I am now looking to get that impractical little fun on wheels with a back up work horse.

That said, my car is pretty cool. It has a bumpin sound system, is pretty zippy, has tons and tons of leg room, fits backerboard perfectly in the back, and, I found out yesterday, can hold a refrigerator. Yep, a refrigerator. I went to Best Buy, saw an open item fridge, decided to get it (it was a steal), and then in the rain, we loaded into the back of my car. A Mini just can't brag about something like that.




Cheers to my Murano (for now)!

Hilarious.

When I was messin' with my profile (he started it), I decided to update my profile. I didn't write much, but blogger has this cool feature that asks you random questions and you answer them. I know what you're thinking on that one, when a question is asked, usually someone answers it. Thanks, Ms. Obvious. Anyway, this is the random question I received, and the answer I gave. I just think I'm so flippin' funny, that I had to post it on my main blog and not leave it buried in my profile for no one to see.

You can punch a hole in an apple using a straw. How do you think that makes your milkshake feel?

I think my milkshake is ok with it because it brings all the boys to the yard.

Cheers to my milkshake and whatever that means!

Reason #73525183.7 That I Need a Guy

I just spent the last FIFTEEN MINUTES trying to open a teeny jar of Classico pesto sauce & spread for the pasta salad I volunteered to make for the baby shower at work tomorrow. I tried the bang on the lid to break the seal trick. I slammed the bottom of the jar with the heel of my hand trick. I busted out the blue rubber glove I use for washing dishes* trick. Nothing. Nada. Not even a budge! I tried them all once more. After the last rubber glove try, I went back at it bare-handed. With red, raw fingers and sore hands, it popped open and I was able to retrieve the delicious pesto sauce that my pasta was craving. I loosened it for me.

Cheers to FINALLY opening the pesto! Uncheers to not having a guy to do that crap for me.

*I HATE washing dishes. Hate it. Hate it more than ironing all of my clothes and textiles, including socks, undies, towels and sheets. Hate it. That's all.

Really? A Post-It?

I thought I'd continue with the Wine & Food Adventure, but I had to blog about something I saw today that leaves me with a true shocked face. Someone TYPED a Post-It. I saw it with my own eyes.

1. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a Post-It's true function? Correct me if I'm wrong, but a Post-It was designed for scribbling - with your hand - a quick note with a pen. This is a way to remind yourself to take care of something, or to let someone else know where you are, when you'll be back, or what have you. It's short, sweet, and informal. Ok, sometimes it's not sweet - like when Carrie was broken up with by Post-It on Sex & the City.

2. Who uses a typewriter?!? With the invention of the personal computer, aka PC, typing a quick note via email not only saves yellow Post-It paper, but can also be received on Crackberries and other smartphones immediately. Of course, this option isn't nearly as funny.

I could take a photo, by camera phone, of the typed Post-It and send it to the intended recipients so that they receive it instantly on their Crackberries and know that they need to reply, but that's a waste of camera phone text money and time. Granted, I already did waste my money sending myself two photos using my camera phone just for this blog entry. It was worth every penny.

Cheers to the joy that a typed Post-It has brought into my life!

The Affair That Wine & Food Had This Weekend - Part I

The Wine & Food Affair. This event is my favorite of the Wine Road events - wine, food, wine, food. My mouth loves it, my waistline hates it, but that's a separate blog entry. My girls and I headed to Healdsburg for a weekend of amazing wines paired with delicious food. We paid a whopping $60 for this event this year, and expected great things...

This isn't a pic from the weekend, but man, looks good eh? Maria Manso restaurant in San Rafael. If you're curious.

Winery 1: J
We usually end at J, but decided to change it up a little this time. Guess what? Not impressed. Not even a little. Normally my friend A loves J, but nothing jumped out at even her! The Pinot was boring, the sparkling was dry (how I like it if I'll ever drink sparkling again) but unappealing, and my girls said that the Chard was just bad. The food portions were small and unappetizing.

Winery 2: Rodney Strong
Walking over to Rodney from J, up the stairs, we followed the signs and I get carded. Carded. On the Wine Road. Should I be flattered since I'm almost 30? Maybe. Was I? No. The pretentiousness that we never find in the Russian River/Alexander Valley/Healdsburg area wineries was too apparent for the first hour. It was discouraging. Extremely. The first wine we had was great - an '05 Reserve Cab. Yum. Paired with the smallest piece of steak on the ittiest piece of bread with the tiniest dollop of cheesy goodness, the wines were good. Good, but not great. They moved you too quickly from wine station to wine station, so fast that you didn't even have time to down the first taste before being moved along to the next one.

Our thinking at this point: J & Rodney Strong need event planners and FRIENDLY customer service training for their staff. Like all great events, when they get too big, they lose the fun! Think Halloween in the Castro. Think New Years in Tahoe. We hoped for the best on the way to the next round.

Cheers to the first hour of Saturday! Cheers to more wine reviews (finally)...coming soon!