Working In Wine Is Hard

Brian and I spent our week on Seneca Lake NY at a wine conference. We drove up, so that we could spend a couple of days in the city after meetings. The first day we were busy with tours of local wineries. The rest of the week was lectures and ceremonies. The week was full of vino rojo, blanco y rose. Needless to say, it was marvelous.


The two days in the city were interesting. The first night we spent with our close friend Jason and had a fabulous time. It made it worth the extra 5 hour drive. The next day we visited the MET and went to our favorite restaurant. By the next morning we were ready to leave. I guess we have had our fill of NYC over the years. Now that I am so heavily involved in wines I don’t really care to be any further than 1 hour away from a vineyard.

Because of our new direction in life we have already planned our trip next summer to SF for the Ring Cycle and a week in wine country. We are both very excited about it and having our close friend from Charlotte, Dan, join us for touring ads to the joy of experiencing wine. Life is good.

My next trip is somewhere without wine, but it is full of temples, which is my second love. I am taking my mother and my close friend Mark to the Yucatan for 2 weeks. It is going to be full of climbing, hiking and relaxing on the beach. A good break before hitting my third semester of school.

Guest Room Before

Brian and I bought a second house in Elkin, NC. It is close to my school and only 10 minutes from Raffaldini, where I work. It is a little fixer-upper in the heart of wine alley and is our little slice of heaven (well, will be once we are finished renovating). We are 30 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway, 5 hours from the beach, an hour from Charlotte and 30 minutes from Winston-Salem. We are surrounded by 33 wineries and vineyards...and the buen teimpo.

I am in my second year of school and truly happy. I have found my calling in wine and have decided to focus on wine making. I was able to work a judging with the HEAD of Enology from the University of Bordeau and have decided to work towards becoming a certified sommelier. It is going to be a long journey, but well worth the travel.

I have taken on my first class in Spanish and have my first test today. I think I am going to enjoy these classes, but they might not come as easy as the other classes. If I can keep up with at least a B-C in the class, I intend on taking at least 4 classes and possibly double majoring in Spanish Translation and Enology and Viti. Whew, it makes me tired just typing it.

Guest Room After

Holidays Are Over

I made it though the first semester with flying colors. I managed to get myself on the Dean's List. This is the first time in my life that I can say "I am a good student." I am running full speed ahead with my second semester. I feel confident that I will do just as good, if not better, this semester.

This is Matloch (AKA: Matlochness Monster). Street turned House Cat. Yes, he spends his evenings at Raves, so he sleeps his day away on the bed. Cats. You can't live with them, you can't live without them.

Brian and I are closing on a house in North Carolina on the 12th. This is just in time for my birthday on the 13th. He told me a couple of weeks ago, that he wants to move up here and leave with me. We are going to do a little work on the new house and move our other home up here by the end up March. The plan is to have a rental company take care of our Athens place. It will be nice to have a little income coming in from the rental. It is hard to think about moving from Athens, but the journey is continually moving forward and Athens isn't in the picture.

I have a new line of accessories and this little hat is an example of them. I make them from recycled sweaters. They are all handmade and unique. This was the first kiddo accessory I have done and I think it turned out great. The women's are just as sassy (for the little girl in all of us). I have also been making scarves, but they are so time consuming that I am not sure they will be worth anything other than gifts for friends (but the women are loving them).