Girls' Weekend Sonoma Style

About a month ago I caught wind (via Facebook, of course) of a girls’ weekend in the making involving some good high school friends from Pittsburgh coming out to San Francisco.  Of course, having no pride or concern for others’ personal space or plans, I promptly invited myself along, being that I’m now just up the road in Sonoma.  “Come on up to Wine Country for the weekend,” I suggested.  And they did, and what a weekend it was!

Katie, Kathleen, and Nancy showed up on the Hill in Kathleen’s fancy car on Saturday afternoon.  After pointing at each other and laughing and hugging (“Oh my god, it’s Emily Belo!”  “It’s Kathleen Weng!!!!”  “And Nancy!!!!  And Katie!!!!!!!  I haven’t seen you in, like, 15 years!!!”), we got down to the serious business of a girls’ weekend—gabbing, drinking, laughing, gabbing, drinking, crying, laughing, drinking, and so on.

The first order of business was hitting some Sonoma wineries.  Gideon, being the gent that he is, volunteered to be the designated driver for our wine tour.  He brought his California Bar materials along with him and spent the entire day driving us around in our little Honda, putting up with four cackling girls, and being cordoned to the car to study in winery parking lots.  Yea Gideon!!!  Glad we could help you with your studies!

Stop one was Matanzas Creek Winery.  My darling sister, Polly (aka Rosemary), joined us at the winery and had arranged for a special tasting with tasting room manager, Chris.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted like royalty and whisked into a private tasting room.  Check it out!

 

 

Chris treated us to an hour and a half private tasting of splendid Matanzas Creek wines.  He had the not-so-challenging job of breaking Katie out of her boxed wine habit.  He was the picture of grace putting up with five rambunctious, wine-guzzling women.  He did a magnificent job, and without a doubt will be hearing from me again when other guests come to town (hint, hint, come visit me).  I left with the Matanzas Creek Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc, two outstanding wines.
 
Next up was the two-for-one tasting room of Ty Caton and Muscardini wines, where again we were treated to fantastic Sonoma wines and stellar treatment by tasting room diva, Jennifer, and the wine makers themselves, Ty Caton and Michael Muscardini.  I am a big fan of Ty Caton’s Malbec and Cabernet, and of Michael Muscardini’s Syrahs.  Try them out if you can find them!

Here’s a funny aside:  Ty Caton happens to be one of the lone men who attends the Cardio Jam aerobics class with me at Park Point Fitness club.  I couldn’t help bringing this up to him at his tasting room, much to his chagrin.  But, lo and behold, he couldn’t help busting into a few Cardio Jam moves with me.  I love it!
 
By the time we rolled into the Mayo tasting room at 5:30, our teeth were stained purple and our walks were more than a little bit crooked.  But Miss Courtney, of the Mayo family, a friend and Pittsburgh native, heard we were coming and welcomed us with open arms.  We proceeded to close down the joint, and probably scared off the last customers with our antics.  But we left with some fantastic Zinfindel, Port, and Chardonnay.

 

  

 

From Mayo, Gideon escorted us to Polly’s restaurant, Meritage Martini and Oyster Bar, for dinner.  Of course, my sister had arranged a most amazing evening for us, with a special wine and food pairing menu designed just for us.

Polly, Nima, Sunny, Saul, and Carlo, the owner, all treated us like the superstars we thought we were at that point.  The food was phenomenal and the drinks were over the top.  Here’s a little sampling of the ruckus we created at Meritage.  I’m sure we made Polly proud.

  

 

After a S-L-O-W morning recovering on the Hill, Gideon led us on a hike and taught us about the various mushrooms he’s been finding in the woods around here.  It was a good cleansing dose of fresh air for us; unfortunately, my friends all took turns falling down and getting hurt on the walk.  It could have been the mud on the trails, but more likely it was the lingering effect of the day before.  Just kidding ladies—I hope you are fully recovered at this point… from everything.

 

After lunch, I taught the girls how to play Mexican Train, the new domino fad that has taken over all branches of my family (thanks Duke and Tracee!).  Maybe I didn’t explain the rules clearly, as Nancy blew us all away with her score of 241 points!  That would be great if it the high score won, Nancy.

We wrapped up our weekend at Kathleen’s condo in Berkley where we amused ourselves with more food and wine.  We also enjoyed dog tricks and shockingly appropriate Tarot readings, thanks to Madame Kathleen.

 

Oh ladies, thank you for a most fantastic, unforgettable weekend.  I haven’t laughed so hard for a long time.  What I loved most was getting to know each of you again as adults—each of you unique, strong, loving women.  It felt good to laugh about old times, consult with you about the present, and plan for our future girls’ weekends.   Cheers to you!  And thanks for letting me crash your party!

P.S.  Thanks for sending photos, ladies!
P.S.S.  So, I was wondering why I was the only one with horribly wine-stained teeth.  Apparently, Nancy had a ShamWow in her purse that she used to clean off her teeth.  I think she must have shared her trick with Kathleen and Katie and they're all probably still laughing at my purple teeth now.

We get snow out here too... so there.

So, I got an email this morning from my Aunt Donna out on the east coast, who, with a detectable note of exasperation explained that it has snowed every day of the new year in Pittsburgh.  I have heard all of the gory details of the hours upon hours spent shoveling the multiple feet of snow from the driveway by my folks in Lexington, VA.  Oh, and how my poor mom  in PA had to rearrange the garage after work one night this week so she could squeeze the car inside to avoid scraping the snow off each morning.  And, darn you all in Washington, D.C. getting "the greatest snowfall of the century" or something like that.  And I'm sure my pals in New Hampshire are just buried until May under the fluffy white stuff.
No, I'm not bitter out here in sunny California.  Actually, yes I am.  I LOVE snow.  I love the cleansing affect it has on the landscape; the hush it brings to a city like Washington.  I live to romp in the snow, and of course, to ski.  And I love snow days.  Even when I'm not teaching.
At the moment it is pouring down rain on the tin roof above my head.  The first few nights of rain-on-the-tin-roof was kind of romantic and quaint.  Not so much anymore.  Now it's pretty much just loud.  But, it's okay.  I really shouldn't complain because we DO get snow out here... perhaps the same kind of "snow" they recently got in Disney World, but still, it DID snow out here last month. 
Snow in this area is a pretty big deal, so we all bundled up (especially Shelby, the dog who loves any excuse to wear her plaid doggy jacket), and set out for a walk in the snow up on The Hill.  Here's a photo journey of our romp.
BONUS:  We got a photo of our adventure in the paper.  It's the group photo just below.  Here's a link to the article:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091207/NEWS/912079998

Polly reenacting the "blizzard" of '09

Cavedale Road... home sweet home

Miss Montana

Rompin'

Josie doing her famous two-legged snow walk

Proud Shelby with her proud papa, Aaron

Polly at the Lookout

"Shelby, how do the piggies go?"

"Oink, oink."

"That's right. Oink, oink! Now show me how the piggies eat."

The Great Snow Chase

Now, I bet you don't have snow-covered persimmon trees back East...

Heading home for hot chocolate

One more picture of Josie, just 'cause she's so darn cute.

Have Yourself a Tacky Little Christmas

What is this sickness that makes one want to throw party after party? Whatever it is, Polly and I both have a raging case of it.

Right after cleaning up from our Thanksgiving Day fondue party and traditional feast, we set our sights on Christmas. Was there a party to be had? Oh, yes, there was: A Tacky Christmas Party on the Hill! Visions of tacky Christmas sweaters, cheese whiz and Ritz crackers, and tinsel, lots and lots of tinsel, filled our party-planning heads.

In an instant, the party preparations were in full swing. Invitations were sent out. The house and Mom-cabin were dolled up with twinkle lights and tinsel. And a menu of tacky finger foods was drawn up.

An unexpected boon to our party planning was finding the “Twinkie Cookbook” at a local Sonoma shop. Oh, the things you can do with Twinkies! The tackiness factor is breathtaking. Choices had to be made and we decided on Twinkie petite fours, Twinkie kabobs (with fruit and marshmallows), and… wait for it… Twinkie sushi!

Another featured food was a take-off on the classic gingerbread house: the Salami Roll-up House! Polly and I put Gideon to the task of constructing the house, a task he took to with the aplomb of a Swedish architect. I was his labor force, rolling perhaps hundreds of salami rolls, which he attached to a Styrofoam, cardboard, and foil frame with a calking of cheese whiz. The roof tiles were bright orange carrot slices. The house was completed just after midnight the night before the party and set in the refrigerator to chill. The next morning, we opened the refrigerator and to our horror, found that the carrot tiles had slid right off the house and were decorating the shelves and condiments in the frig. Architect Gideon had a meltdown and laborer Emily took control of the situation. Globs of cream cheese smeared all over the roof did the trick and kept the roof tiles in place. The moment the roof was fixed, the salami walls began tumbling off in great chunks. Not to worry, more cream cheese smear was all that was needed. Salami Roll-up House done.


Now, for the tacky outfits. Aaron was easy. We just shoved him in a Santa suit. Polly found that a Christmas tree skirt makes a stunning cape, and accessorized with silk poinsettias glued to her shoes, and a feathered Christmas tree stuck to the top of her head. (After running the Christmas tree hat into the door frame one too many times, she had to switch to a giant poinsettia barrette.)

Gideon found Christmas pajama bottoms and a silky vest at the Church Mouse thrift shop. I could not find a tacky sweater to my liking, so I decided to fashion my own. A clearance sweater from Target plus a few elf-shoe appliqués sewn to my chest just so, and a trim of red boa feathers, plus a pair of candy cane stockings put me squarely in tacky territory.


But the prize for “The Tackiest Guest of All” went to three-year-old guest, Ella, who set jaws dropping with her red velvet bustier, gold leather mini-skirt, leopard-print stuffed brassiere, and over-the-top make-up. Ella’s mom, Lisa, was real proud of her tacky little protégé. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…





With the food and outfits done, we just covered the place in tinsel, busted open the beer and wine, and welcomed our tacky friends to the party. The invitation said the party was from 2 to 6 pm, but we partied until midnight, along the way exchanging white elephant gifts, noshing on Twinkies, salami, and Christmas tree-shaped peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches, and singing all the Christmas carols, 80’s songs and show tunes we could come up with around the fire pit. By the way, if you really want to get to know a secret side of your friends, get them boozed up and have them start singing around a camp fire… You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn which of your friends are closet show tune buffs, who’s been holding out their operatic talents, and just how many of your friends couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.


To say a good time was had by all would be an understatement. The tackiest time EVER was had by all! And we can’t wait to do it again next year!

I hope you had a very merry Christmas and here’s wishing you and yours a happy New Year! I hope you find time to enjoy the tackier things in life in 2010!