Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Hiatus Quelled: let's get reorganized!

I have to apologize, I'm not really sure where most of January has gone. Week 1 started off pretty strong, week 2 was all about the link up, and week 3 I fell off the map completely. I felt defeated.  Then last week work sent me to a conference on direct to consumer wine shipping (sounds terribly exciting right?). A funny thing happened there during the social media session, while it happened to be least helpful from a professional standpoint; this segment became the most insightful from a blogging standpoint.

The segment spoke about planning and organizing your content and how to keep things fresh, even when you're writing a bit in advance. They handed out links and advice on programs that can help you stay organize and what to do with a series. The ideas poured onto my conference notes, new ways to brainstorm, new stories to tell and how to stay on top of it all. A few of the things they suggested were even all-around tools. To do lists, mind maps, and even easy (and FREE) Photo and video editing software.

I am getting up to speed on these amazing new tools and will share the highlights as I find them. I thank you for sticking with me during my hiatus and hopefully I'll be back in stride soon.

What tools do you use to stay organized?
What was the last unexpected source of inspiration/motivation?

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Welcome to Sunday Social

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social!



1. Top 3 favorite kinds of food
Only 3? Hah!
a) Fancy Cheeses, I really love a good cheese board.(here's a way to make a great one: Anatomy of a Cheese Board)
b) Pasta my favorite is tossed with tomatoes, basil, olive oil and cheese. This may be worth a shot soon: Zucchini Noodle
c) Grapes (fermented!) well not just fermented actually, fresh and frozen are often part of my daily snacks.

2. First 3 things you do in the morning
a) let the dogs out
b) drink water
c) fire up the Keurig! mmm coffee



3. Last 3 things you do at night
a) stretch- these are great: Bed Time Stretches
b) drink water
c) put the dogs in their bed


4. 3 TV shows you NEVER miss. forget to DVR.
a) The Walking Dead, b) Parenthood, c) American Horror Story

5. 3 places you want to visit  
(again only 3?)
a) Australia
b) Italy (again so I can take Princess)
c) Africa

6. 3 people you can always count on
a) My momma -to make me a better mom
b) The DJ - to keep me from going batshitcrazy losing sight of what's important
c) James- for a cocktail, history lesson, or giggle

 If you repost please be sure to link up with the girls above. Part of my Sunday morning is now dedicated to couch time while reading all of these! Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday, January 17, 2014

You wanna prowl, be my night owl?

So sorry I haven't been here much this week. Work and Little P's first Post-Holiday week back have been taking their toll on my 'down time'.


To join these ladies for this link up be sure to visit: Natasha, Darci, April, and Christina. I'm sharing a little YouTube love this week.


*1*
So tonight, we're going out. Which is long overdue and much needed. I live near this glorious city known as SF. Frisco, the city by the bay or simply San Francisco. A place filled with music, hippies, artists, and the occasional *cough* street person. Not to mention amazing food and some really fantastic nightlife. We have plans to go "owwwwutt tonight", which is long overdue. Ruby Skye here we come. Will have to share some pics and details next week. As a result I cant help but hum this all week:



*2*
 This was passed around work this week and is quite funny. I would loooooose my mind, but it's fun to see someone else get scared.


*3*
This made us laugh so hard we cried this week. I can't quite explain why sister and I looked this up to begin with, but imitating the martians have been part of our conversations this week ever since.  



*4*
This was of huge inspiration to me this week. Although she's a little more artsy than I could ever imagine myself being ?full-time? she certainly makes some great points about the nature of people and how to get your needs met on your terms.  



*5*
Lastly; We also went to see Frozen last weekend, so this has been stuck in my head and sung out loud by Princess all week. If you haven't yet, GO SEE IT! Now, or tomorrow. Now would be best


Happy Friday, promise to be back to the blog world in full force next week!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sunday Social... You know I love a link-up

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social! (I know I know Link-ups are becoming a habit... they're just so fun)
New Year lets introduce ourselves again :)
1. What is the name of your blog? How long have you been blogging?
 Wild Wine Country Wonder and just restarted this blog in September, but on and off for 4 years.

2. Why do you blog?
 To share a little more of myself and my life, I've always liked to journal because I can look back and re-experience things, blogging helps with that too. I also live in the Napa Valley and have way too much fun sometimes, I feel more people should get to experience this.

3. What is the first blog you ever followed?
 MY Peacetree was and still is one of my favorite blogs by a single author, she is such an inspiring soul. The collection of submissions from the blog over at Hooping.org is another favorite daily stop.

4. What is your favorite post you wrote in 2012?
THIS ONE, sharing the Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn I made for P's class for her birthday. So fun.


5. What are your blogging goals for 2013?
Taking more pictures to share and try to incorporate hooping. There's just not enough hoop love among blogs

6. Top 3 favorite blogs to follow?
Liv With Roses
 Katie Did What
Live Simply-Live Well

Now go steal these questions and link up with one of the ladies tagged above. I want to know more about you too!

Have a delicious Sunday.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Fantastic Fabulous 5 on Friday


Since I don't want this to be all soul-searching and guilt tripping. I'll finish off the week with a link up. Go check out the ladies listed on the logo for more 5 on Friday fabulousness!

*1*
*1* We took down the Holiday decorations at work and wanted to start something for Valentine's. How cute are these:

You can find the full pattern at: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/28/crochet-heart-garland/

I'll have to share when I'm done, which I hope will be soon.





*2*
*2* This is a blog post I'm totally torn between loooving and being annoyed with the fact it needs to be labeled. The fact that a Curvy Hooper needs to be considered a separate category stings just a bit. We're all hoopers, we all love what we do, why does dress size matter. I appreciate her sharing and commenting on the fact
that she points out how many people comment on her size, but it hurts a little that its even an issue. Regardless I love her attitude and hooping and general sharing overall and that she calls out all curvy hoopers to put themselves out there for the world to see their amazing talents! Check out Lissa full post here:  http://www.hooping.org/2014/01/curvy-hoopers-video-challenge-2014/


*3* This happened on my Facebook this week: 
*3*

My sister joked that it since Toy Story 3 we all just want to see lost toys returned to their owners. So they don't go all dictator Lotso on a pre-school

*4* Part of this weekend will be dedicated to breaking out one of P's Christmas Presents: a build your own fort kit! Yes, awesome I know, I'm super excited. I'll have to share what we come up with but it looks like this:
*4*
You can find one HERE for the wonderful kids in your life (to come see when they visit you).
*5* This was passed around the office this morning... it sufficiently took up a solid half hour of distraction.



I'll think I just finish things there. Cheers!



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Sunsets and Fireplaces

I apologize ahead of time for the ramble:

Picking up P from daycare is always a little chaotic there's usually a handful of other parents, kids tracking down shoes and jackets, and anxiety about getting home. There are constant wheels turning, dinner plans forming, laundry loads being considered, and an overall reassessment of the day. We pop off encouraging remarks in an effort to hurry the kids along, so we're a step closer to the car, to home, to working on all the chaos we think about. I alwasy give P a quick hug, but not much more, we hold hands on the way to the car and talk, but its constant chatter, constant thought, and quite a few distractions.

Today a father walked in shortly after I did, that made me rethink the pickup circus. He came in quietly and stood at the back of the room. His daughter (8 or 9 maybe)  saw him, and immediatly walked over to hug him. Not a quick squeeze, a real solid 10 second embrace. A true I missed you  kind of hug. They had me captivated, even in the chaos among the other children, the scattered art projects, and the noise, they took those 10 seconds to really greet eachother. She gathered her coat, he signed her out and they left just before us.

I chatted with P on the way to the car about her day, tomorrow's field trip, and dinner. We passed the same father and daughter quickly. They were sitting on the bench out side of school, watching the sunset. The sky was a brilliant pink today at 5:20 and there they were, honestly enjoying it. There were a few comments, it's not quite Barbie pink and it would be wonderful to draw something like that. But not much more. They sat in silence, without the dinner timer ticking, without the rush to get home, they just sat and enjoyed. As we pulled away I was jealous and disappointed that P and I weren't sitting there. That by the time we took the 4 minute drive home, it wouldn't be the same sunset, that we were missing it.

I don't want to miss it. The sunset, the greeting, any of it. I want to be calmer with P, less of the working mom that can't slow down for fear of losing pace. I want to sit and not miss the perfectly pink sunset and hear what P thinks of it. Tonight we sat by the fire. No TV and I even kicked the dogs out and just sat there. I didn't ask her questions or prompt her opinion or get out the art supplies so I could force encourage her to express herself. (Not that I'd ever do that).

We sat and she talked and I listened, she talked a bit about her day, the story they read, what she liked in her lunch... then she talked about the fire and the flames. How it licks the top and the little pieces sneak out beneath the wood. She was observing and exploring. This made my  heart swell and hurt a little at the same time. We should do this more.

I've talked about mom guilt before. The realizing you can do better and seeing another parent do things better, the twinge of not being the perfect parent you always wanted to be. I have a great distaste for it, and the lingering questions it makes run around in my head. However on the other foot I have always thought that there is much to be learned from others. That we should observe and mimic habits we appreciate. So, even with the possibility of feeling like a less perfect parent, I wanted to share this sporadic thought process. 

I hope you watch fires, and sunsets, and let the children in your life explain what they see and feel. Its a beautiful moment that I hope to have more often.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Taco Trucks, Stuffed Penguins and NFC Playoffs

Hello, can you believe it's MONDAY? Where did the time go this weekend?

I'm actually keeping up with my challenge and have been quite proud. 4 Days strong! Friday Artimus picked me up for lunch... mmm taco truck! (Is that just a California thing?) I spent the 20 minute wait hooping in the parking lot. Which was fine until I missed a toss and almost hit someone else's car. Well at least it was a light hoop.

We planned to spend Friday evening taking down the rest of Christmas (it looks so bare), at the very least the tree. Our local boy scout troupe comes by and collects trees for a donation and they were scheduled for Saturday Morning. However I got a text from a lovely friend about 7 asking where I was. I thought we had plans Saturday rather than Friday... texting miscommunication. So like the loyal drinking buddy friend I am, I dropped everything, touched up my eyeliner, and headed downtown for a glass of bubbles to celebrate her arrival to 28. Artimus dropped me off because I can get a little carried away when I drink bubbles, and when I'm with Jaimee, so the combination did not forecast me driving myself home. ha!

We took on Napa's downtown with a mission to catch up and enjoy some of the hot-spots. I met her at the Thomas (Negroni on tap), then we moved on to 1313 (bubbles and small bites), and Morimoto's (Cucumber gimlets, sushi, and smore). Then we stoped at a local dive for a cheap beer while we waited for our chariot. I super love the Thomas in it's old-world awesomeness, Morimotos is glamourous but a bit snooty and 1313 was worth a shot but not somewhere I'd really head back to. Although they do get brownie points for putting a birthday candle in our mac'n'cheese bites.

However, we did find an adorable penguin hanging out on a table unattended. He almost became Jaimee's birthday present but she turned down my thoughtfulness. 

Saturday was spent cleaning and with a trip to costco, I was feeling like old mother hubbard over here and am now much more satisfied with a full pantry. My honey went to work from 4 to 11 so I pigged out on pasta with my sister and Netflix. Hooping happened around 5 for almost an hour as I watched P ride her new bike from Santa.

Sunday's hooping was in the garage again, because that was warmer than outside. It limits some tricks though with the ceiling. I felt good about getting it in before we settled in to watch the 49ers beat the Packers for the NFC Wild Card slot in the Playoffs.

It was a delicious weekend.... although a little more expensive than I would've liked. Damn Costco! Hope you're all as well rested as these two:
Does everyone have Taco Trucks or is that really a California thing?
Have the Holiday decorations been taken down?
What was the best thing you drank this weekend?

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Starting 2014 off with a challenge

I don't make resolutions, because to be frank I never quite take them seriously. I'm always amazed that so many people seem to. Many of the bloggers I read did a 'wrap up' of last years goals and how many they accomplished. I was in awe, and just like so many other things lately, I thought, "if they can, maybe I can to". 

30/30 Hooping Challenge
So this is my start. However a year seems like an overwhelming amount of time to commit. So I'm starting with a 30 day goal, well joining a 30day goal. Hopefully they'll grow from there, but this seems much more feasible. I hope you take a minute read more about the Hoopy New Year Challenge and consider joining. No time like the present to become a new hooper!



So starting tonight, I will hoop at least 30minutes a day for 30days in January! The hooping.com community hosts these a few times a year so I'm looking forward to joining them. I'll keep you all updated throughout the month and may even add extra little goals, tricks I want to learn or a number of new places to hoop.  I'm looking forward to staring the year off on a good hooping rhythm!




What are some of your goals for early 2014?
Are you a resolution-er or very anti?
Have you ever picked up a hoop?