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.
Um...fun. Looks like you guys had a complete blast. Now I just need to get on a project out West so I can come visit :) Also...in the one picture of Gideon coming out your door and the pack of dogs in the foreground...is there a dog peeing on your house? Need to know.
ReplyDeleteHehehe... that was a little special something for those with excellent powers of observation. Yes, that is our friends' dog Wolfie peeing on the house.
ReplyDelete