here comes peter cottontail ...

Although I have had other things on my mind, I did want to post an entry about Easter. Typically, Easter is not a big deal to me or my family ... well, for the past few years anyway. When we were little, my mom would dress my sisters and I up in fancy (matching) Easter dresses, complete with gloves, and we would go church and put flowers in a cross. Then, we'd follow up our morning of religion with Kids Incorporated which my dad taped on the good ole' VHS. Awesome.

This year, Molly and Zach decided they wanted to host Easter in their new townhouse. My mom, Lindsay, and I thought that sounded fun so we agreed. However, what was originally a seven person gathering quickly turned into 20+ when they decided to include all of Zach's family as well. I volunteered to fly up on Thursday afternoon to help out.

When I arrived in Sacramento, it was pouring rain, but we soldiered on and went to pick up chairs from Zach's work, and then had dinner at Panera Bread ... yeah, we know how to party. The following day Zach got a hall pass, which included golfing with his buddies, so while Molly worked, I made two dozen edible bird's nests ... which we handed out as favors:

Molly had a long lunch so she and I went to Jack's and then ran some errands. After I dropped her back at VCA, I made two dozen red velvet cupcakes for Easter dessert. Needless to say, I was pretty sick of baking by the end of the day. That night, Molly and I originally planned on going to dinner and a movie, but after running some more errands, we decided to grab a Papa Murphy's pizza and stayed home painting her dining room, living room, and master bedroom. It was actually kind of fun.

The next morning, Zach stumbled home and fell asleep so Molly and I went shopping ... basically, I was her bitch in Old Navy running all over the store while she tried on different dresses in the dressing room. We came home and put second coats of paint on the walls, while Zach went to run errands. After some cleaning and arranging, Zach drove Molly and I, and his sister-in-law Jennifer to Midtown for happy hour at L Wine Lounge. The lounge was awesome, and we sat on the back patio which overlooks a large courtyard which was hosting the Second Saturday Art Walk. I don't know if it was the warm weather or the light-up hula hoops at the art walk, but was what supposed to be happy hour soon became let's drink five glasses of wine and eat dessert. Needless to say, when Zach came to pick us up, we were feeling no pain, as evidenced by the picture below, taken on our walk back to the car:

The following morning, we somehow rallied and were ready to begin hosting the day's festivities at 9:30am. We had TONS of food and lots of good company. In the morning, Zach's two nephews, Diego and Matteo, and niece Jillian decorated Easter eggs which was so funny to watch. They each donned one of Zach's plaid shirt (each with two pockets, not one!) to dye the eggs. Diego, being the oldest, was very patient and worked hard to dye the perfect egg, which Jillian would then pick up from the drying rack and dump back into another color :)

After the eggs dried, the Easter Bunny hid them and the kids had fun trying to find them all. Sadly, they thought there was an unlimited supply and wanted to continue hunting no matter how many times we told them there weren't anymore. After that, the big kids headed to the park for an adult egg hunt. Our eggs were filled with alcohol, condoms, Sierra Nevada ... and if you were lucky enough to win one of three golden eggs (which I was) ... candy and a $50 gift card to REI!!!

We then returned back to the house and eat until we were sick and played Wii. After cleaning up, my mom dropped me off at the airport, but I didn't stay for long. My flight was overbooked and delayed so I took the $290 Southwest offered and hightailed it back to Molly and Zach's where I feel asleep at 9:45pm. A perfect end to a perfect three days with my family!

goodbye maddie ...

Maddie's funeral was heartbreakingly beautiful. Both of her parents spoke, and I admire them for their courage in doing so. At the end of the service, everyone was handed a purple balloon - in honor of Maddie's favorite color and the official color of the March of Dimes - and on the count of three, we all shouted "Maddie," and released our balloons. Right as we let go, a gush of wind came up and took them all away ... it was a beautiful sight in honor of beautiful little girl who touched so many people's lives.

madeline alice spohr

Tomorrow is Maddie's funeral. I am going with two friends, and while I am excited to see everyone, wish it was under much, much, much happier circumstances. I don't know how I am going to react.

For those of you who would like to know more about Maddie, and her amazing parents, here is a link to a story that appeared on KTLA Channel 5 last night and a story that appeared in the Sunday LA Times.

Please keep the entire Spohr family in your thoughts and prayers.

the world isn't fair

During my sophomore year of college, my good friend Deanne was an RA in the same dorm, and on the same floor that we lived in during our freshman year. One of her residents was a girl named Heather, and I liked her instantly! We all did a lot together and she almost joined the same sorority as I was in, but instead, the DGs got her. One of the first things I think of when I think of Heather is that over the summer, she and I would use AIM to talk to each other, back when you had to actually log into AOL, and her screen name was "EatChowChow." Don't ask.

We eventually lost touch, but through the magic of MySpace, found each other. A few years ago Heather got married, and soon after that, pregnant. Her daughter Maddie was born three months premature, and struggled to make it out of the NICU. But she did, and was one of the cutest, happiest babies I've ever seen. I got to follow Maddie's journey through Heather's website and it made me smile.

On Monday, Maddie was admitted to the hospital with trouble breathing, which wasn't altogether alarming considering she had struggled with her breathing througout her 1 1/2 year life. When I logged onto Twitter this morning, I had a "tweet" that announced Maddie's passing last night. I immediately felt a wave of sadness pass over me and started crying.

No one in this world deserves to go through what I can only imagine Heather, and her husband Mike, are going through at this very moment. It's just not fair.

Heather was very active with the March of Dimes, and if you are at all affected by this story, perhaps making a donation in Maddie's name might make it hurt a little less.

wine + women = fun!

Two days after I returned home from Kansas City, I hopped in my Beetle and drove up the coast to San Luis Obispo for a Women & Wine weekend with my mom and our friend Becky and

Kathy.

For those of you who don't know me, from Kindergarten through 4th grade, I lived in Reno, Nevada. While there, my mom and Kathy became friends ... we think when they volunteered to lead our Brownie troop. For awhile, Kathy even babysat my sisters and I when my mom returned to work. Becky and I did a lot together ... even after we moved to Chico she and I would go stay with each other for a week in the summer. We kept in touch through letters ... the handwritten kind as I didn't know what email was until I was in college. I was in Becky's wedding (9 years ago!) however, as we each became busy with day-to-day life, our communication lacked. But thanks to the miracle known as Facebook, we reconnected and decided we needed to all get together ... and wine it was!

Day 1: Pismo Beach
We all arrived at the SLO Embassy Suites around 12 noon and honestly, it felt like no time had passed. We decided to head to the Splash Cafe in Pismo for lunch and yes, I had the clam chowder. The fog had not quite lifted, but we had fun anyway (that's my mom and I).

Day 1: San Luis Obispo

After lunch we decided to head back to SLO because none of us had spent much time there. I have been to Pismo and Paso Robles quite a few times, but had never really walked around SLO. It was a very cute town, which reminded me of Chico (but Chico is better!) and I did some shopping and as an added bonus was able to check another California Mission off my list. Above is a picture of the SLO Mission and a statue of Father Serra outside.

We also stopped by the Madonna Inn, in hopes of surprising a family friend, Brett Noble, who now bartends there. For those of you not familiar with the Madonna Inn, it is located just off the 101 freeway and is a novelty hotel known for it's themed rooms. It's been there since the 1950s. While we didn't find Brett, we did find the hotel dining room which was very gaudy and creepy. We also decided that unless we could book the cave room, it wasn't worth staying there.

Day 1: Tobin James
That night, we were able to attend a James Gang (aka Wine Club) dinner at Tobin James (thank you Adam!). Oh my god ... you haven't lived until you've gone to one of these. Tobin James brands itself as a "Cowboy Winery" ... and they have more wines than you can imagine. For the party, they had four tents set up around the property, in addition to the main tasting room, cellar, and outdoor performance area. Each area had a wine bar where you could taste whatever you wanted and a variety of food stations. Some of the standouts - Ahi tuna with wontons, grilled tri tip, gumbo, chocolate fountain, Firestone Walker beer, and gourmet marshmellows. We all drank and ate to our heart's content ... my mom and I even bought a case of sparking wine. Oh, and there was dancing - four bands to be exact - throughout. I will post pictures of my sweet moves once my mom sends them to me.

The next morning, after enjoying the Suites free breakfast, we headed up to Paso Robles to meet up with our Cloud Climbers Jeep tour guide, Randy. You may remember that I have toured the Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez wine country with this tour group so when I found out they now had service in Paso Robles, I was in. For $100, Cloud Climbers takes you to four wineries, provides you with a picnic lunch, gives you a free wine class, and takes you off-roading! I highly recommend them!

Day 2: Whalebone

Whalebone is a small, family-owned winery with a very interesting story which you can look up on your own. The winery takes its name from the large whale fossil found on its property. The nice thing about Paso Robles is that it is still a "friendly" wine region and we were lucky enough to have the owner of the winery, Janalyn, pour for us and her dog Tiffany (pictured above) entertain us. In addition to their fabulous wine - I was especially taken with the Bob Wine - they also grilled up some delicious tri tip for us.

Day 2: Opolo

Our next stop was Opolo, which I had visited last spring and really enjoyed. This time around their wines were still great, but because it was the Zinfandel Festival the tasting room was overly-crowded and they weren't serving up any free, homemade sausage. Our pourer was a volunteer and while he was very nice, he was so overwhelmed and not knowledgeable about the product. Example - I asked for a Riesling and in return, got a taste of something red. Hmmm ...

Day 2: Calcareous
Our driver recommended that we taste and eat our lunch at Calcareous Vineyard. When we arrived at the tasting room, we understood why. It is perched high atop a hill overlooking all of Paso Robles and the tasting room is almost full encased in glass. Once again the people were amazing and while the owner didn't pour for us, she was right next to us. My favorite was the Twisted Sister Zin (two of the owners are sisters) and I bought a bottle for myself and for one of my sisters. We also ate our lunch here and while it was chilly, the view was gorgeous and the food was delicious.

Day 2: Jan Kris

For our last stop, our driver took us Jan Kris which is a winery that has existed for some time, but recently got new owners. He admitted that their reds were "horrible," but that they had at least sparking wines to taste. The sparking wines were good - one was peach, one raspberry, and one almond. Because I do not like the Wilson Creek almond champagne that is so popular in Temecula, I was fairly certain I wouldn't care for their almond champagne, and I was right. The peach was very good though. The reds were in fact hard to stomach, which is perhaps why they were selling a case of Zin for only $50!

Day 2: Adelaida

After our tour was over we had Randy drop us back off at Adelaida - where the mustard was blooming like crazy! I am a member of Adelaida and there were having a members-only reception which we thought we would join. As always, the people at Adelaida were very friendly (Dominic!) and we tried a wide selection of wine paired with delicious appetizers. My mom befriended the house cat Sylvia and even found her a new petting perch.

After Adelaida we cut through to the coast and walked around Morro Bay and the famous Morro Rock before returning to our hotel - which was hosting a large gala in the atrium, much to our dismay so we headed back into SLO where we had a nice dinner at Creekside Brewing Company. The food was great and the location is pretty, sitting right on the creek - we all had beer as I think we had our fair share of win!. The next morning after breakfast we decided to head our separate ways as a large storm was approaching. Wouldn't you know it that I had a beautiful, sunny drive home the entire way (with no traffic!) and even stopped at the Kate Spade Outlet in Camarillo.

A perfect end to a perfect weekend ...

fame becomes me!

Last weekend I went on a Women & Wine Weekend to Paso Robles with some friends and my mom. A full post will be up soon, but for now ... check out some media coverage featuring well, me!!!

http://blog.plushpuffs.com/2009/03/25/plush-puffs-at-tobin-james-zinfest/#more-79

going to kansas city, kansas city here i come!

Last week, I returned to Kansas City for six days to attend the NCMPR National Conference. Regular readers will remember me going there for our summer board meeting in June, and being pleasantly surprised by what the city had to offer. This time around, I wasn't able to get out as much ... they work us hard during the conference ... but did manage to take a few shots. Surprisingly, the weather was in the 70s until the day I left!

Kansas City is home to the national World War I Monument. I visited it last summer, in the daylight, but this time around had a view of it from my room at the Westin Crown Center. The eternal flame was so pretty at night!

My friend Melinda, the President, had a view of the Hallmark Plaza from her penthouse suite. Each night they had ice skating and a fountain show, featuring the Hallmark theme music from their commercials.

One of the traditions we have at NCMPR is taking our districts out for a group dinner one night. FYI - there are 7 geographic districts in NCMPR, mine happens to be District 6. I partnered with District 3 and we hauled 65 of our attendees to Arthur Bryant's considered by many to be the best BBQ in Kansas City. It is located in the historic 18th & Vine District and while the ambiance isn't anything to write home about, the BBQ was SOOO good!!!

I don't have pictures of myself chowing down, but here is my colleague Cris from Fresno chowing down on ribs, pork, brisket, homemade coleslaw, baked beans, and french fries. And as if that wasn't enough, we finished the night off with HUGE pieces of apple pie.

After dinner, we attempted to walk off our meal with a visit to the Power & Light District, which was located near our hotel. It's fairly new, stil not 100% complete, but has quite a few fun shops and restaurants, including the Maker's Mark Bourbon House. It is attached to the Sprint Center, which hosted a portion of the NCAA basketball tournament, and the College Basketball Experience.

All in all, it was a tiring trip (above is a picture of the NCMPR board), but I did attend some fabulous sessions and even led one of my own (go me!). I don't think I will go back to KC anytime soon, but am glad to have experienced yet another part of the country. I was definitely happy to return home to California ... with her many mountains and green trees!