Where does the time go? It seems the older I get, the quicker it goes and the more blurry it becomes (no, that's not just my deteriorating eyesight, thankyouverymuch). So, here we are at the end of another year. I'm trying not to make any hardcore "resolutions" because they will just be broken come, oh, January 15th. Instead, I thought I'd take a quick look back at this year in order to acknowledge its passing and in order to look forward to the coming year with excitement and anticipation.
I'm extremely grateful and thankful that this year has held such good experiences and that my loved ones are healthy. My daughter is growing up more and more with every passing second and is the joy (and exasperation) of my life. In the past year I have reconnected with two friends that I had lost touch with over the past decade. I have spent time with dear old friends and made a few new ones. I've spent a lot of time with my family, including two large, crazy and fun extended family get togethers. Here are some of my highights from a very good year:
I'm extremely grateful and thankful that this year has held such good experiences and that my loved ones are healthy. My daughter is growing up more and more with every passing second and is the joy (and exasperation) of my life. In the past year I have reconnected with two friends that I had lost touch with over the past decade. I have spent time with dear old friends and made a few new ones. I've spent a lot of time with my family, including two large, crazy and fun extended family get togethers. Here are some of my highights from a very good year:
Travel: Our summer vacation in France. We spent a week in the Loire Valley in a 200 year-old stone cottage. Jason's mother and father joined us there from England and we spent the week touring the Loire Valley, visiting chateaux, wine tasting and befriending the resident peacock. We spent the following week in Paris where, despite the torrential rain (every day), we had a wonderful time sightseeing and eating and drinking and visiting with friends and relatives.
Food: In a year filled with very good meals (in France and Mexico especially!) one experience stands out head and shoulders above the rest: dinner at the French Laundry. After maybe half a lifetime of dying to eat there, Jason finally made the dream come true. The entire experience (it was so much more than just a meal) was something I will always remember. If you'd like to read the details of our amazing dinner at the French Laundry, I blogged about it here.
Friends: Social media isn't called that for nothing! Through the power of Twitter, I have met so many wonderful new people. They all share my passion for wine and food and fun - what a great way to meet new like-minded people! I have plans to meet several more of them in the coming months. How cool is that? Meanwhile, in real life, two of my dear friends are expecting a new baby girl. I can't wait to kiss those fingers and toes and smell that new baby smell. We met some great new friends at a wine dinner a few months ago and look forward to getting to know them better. I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in about 10 years while on "Safari" in Santa Rosa, of all places, and we have had a great time reconnecting. And thanks to my girl's school and sports, we continue to get to know great people from our community. I am blessed!
Wine: Where to start? This past year I have really explored and expanded my love of wine. Once again, Twitter has been instrumental in putting me in contact with amazing winos and winemakers alike (the two are not mutually exclusive). We made several visits to wine country (I'm thankful we live so close), have found some amazing new wines and wineries and continued to enjoy old favorites. We really stepped out of our comfort zone and have tried a ton of new wines this year - new varieties, new countries, etc. I absolutely feel like my tastes, and my knowledge, have grown exponentially this past year. In fact, I just received some great news for the end of the year: I passed (with distrinction, I'm told) my WSET certification exam. I took the 16 hour class in November (I highly recommend Discover Wine and Spirits of San Francisco). It was an intense, 2 day class, with 42 wines tasted. I had fun and learned so much. The thing is, I have the bug now! I'm wondering how soon I will take the WSET advanced course....being a wino is a slippery slope! This year I have rediscovered a love of white wines (which makes Jason very happy), although, alas, I have still not met a Chardonnay that I've loved. I have discovered some amazing new varieties of both red and white wines. And one of my favorite wine experiences of the year has got to be the incredibly fun Mollydooker winemaker's dinner in San Francisco.
As you can see, I've had a great year and have so much to be thankful for. This year has been so good, I wouldn"t change a thing and I'm looking forward to more of the same in 2012. More time with family and friends, more travel, more good food and especially.....drinking more wine! Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. So to my readers (all three of you), from my family to yours, we wish you peace, love, health, happiness and fine wine in 2012. Cheers!
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