A Party Weekend with Friends.

Recently, we celebrated a friend's birthday with a daylong tour of several wineries and vineyards in the Paso Robles area. A party bus was involved with a stripper pole running the length of the ceiling, as were "Redneck Wine Glasses." Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

This was my first visit to a vineyard, outside of that time I nannied for a crazy family and they took me to their vacation estate in Napa, but I left early because the kid got a concussion while he was in the mom's care and it's totally something I don't even like to acknowledge because that mom was one of those TYPE-A LOCO MOMS and why do you always make me talk about things I'm uncomfortable with?

The day started out when Eric and I joined up with the rest of the group at Donati Vineyard. We got there a tad late and I spent most of the time catching up with friends whom we hadn't seen in a while, Unfortunately, not much tasting was had here. Fortunately, they have a really great lawn and gazebo area off to the side of the property where you can set up picnics, BBQs, etc. Which is exactly what we did. And you know how much I like eating.

The staff at Donati was totally cool about letting me leave my car here overnight while we continued on way to Blackoutville. They also also allow dogs in their establishment. Yay for Donati!

Next on the itinerarie was Jada Winery and Vineyard. The owner of Jada was a really nice guy who gave us the whole backstory behind the vineyard and it's name and how it's a family-owned establishment that began with a conversation in Sicily. He gave us a full tour, which was pretty informative.

 Baby grapes: The distance between each sprout is approximately the size of a fist.

Retrieving samples: The owner explained that they use red wine to stain the middle section of their barrels as a sort of design. Apparently in the wine biz, the look of a wine barrel is a good indicator of how well the vintner takes care of his wine.

The purpose of the dark brown wood going around the edge of the barrel is to attract wood beetles to that specific type of wood, and not to the actual barrel itself. This way, the beetle works its way through a throw-away piece and the barrels stay pristine. Interesting! 

The birthday boy is second from the left. 

 A cheese and wine tasting- sooo good! There are two options for the cheese and wine pairing; both come with five wines and five cheeses. I'd highly recommend.

Again, Jada's owner was a super nice guy and they also allow dogs in their establishment. They even have their own winery dog named Ginger. Yay for Jada!


Last on the itinerary was Villacana Winery and Vineyard. By this point, I was starting to get a little bit of a headache and decided to take it easy on the tastings. Instead, I rehydrated with water, while enjoying the beautiful weather.

The stains left behind on the side of the glass are referred to as the wine's "legs."

This particular winery also makes vodkas, limoncello, and brandies. I decided to try the limoncello since I've had it before and I know it's basically like a lemon drop candy. I was the first one to go in for the kill and, like an asshole, I totally choked all over the place. Smooth.

The grassy area outside of Villacana.

From there, we rode the party bus back into the main part of town and ate dinner at Villa Creek. I got the salmon with legumes and Eric got the roast chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Both were excellent. So excellent, in fact, I ate equally from both plates. BECAUSE I LIKE TO EAT, OKAY.

Low lighting = unappetizing photos. They were good, trust me.

After dinner, everyone was pretty much wasted. The fake mustaches came out and next thing I knew, Mario and Luigi had joined the party.

Blurry, but you get the idea.

The party bus ride back to the party cabin was, like, my worst nightmare. I'm pretty sure the driver was either tired of us assholes or had also been wine tasting all day because it was basically the bumpiest/ rockiest/ curviest/ fastest/ dizziest/ spinningest/ barfiest ride I've ever had. Plus, our cabin was way out in the middle of nowhere, by a lake, and the ride was a torturous 45 minutes long. Mark my words, party bus: NEVER AGAIN.

Some of the partygoers were hurting the next morning. But at least they were hurting in a totally rad cabin. 

One of the views. 

The second floor deck. 

 

Zabaglione with fresh pomegranate and blueberries for breakfast. Mmmmm.

The kitchen and dining room. 

The party cabin. 

The birthday group! Minus me. Wah-wahhh.

The whole weekend was such a great time, I wish friends has birthday parties every weekend!

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Coffee with Mark.

It's always sad when someone you know passes away. Especially when it happens out of the blue and there's been no time to warm up to the idea of saying goodbye.


This past weekend I went to a funeral service for a friend I met while in college. His name was Mark and he was a goofy, awkward guy who always had a sneaky smile on his face, like he'd just played a practical joke on you, but didn't want you to find out. Kind of the way you'd picture your best friend's pesky little brother. There was more than one occasion when I found myself huffing and puffing for him to leave me alone while I attempted to finish my homework. He was funny as shit- always reliable to say something awfully inappropriate- and I remember having lots of laughs with him.

We worked together in the campus admissions office for two years. Over that period of time I got to see what a sensitive, caring, thoughtful, sincere person he was. And I don't mean that in a blinded, superficial way- like when a girl is talking about her boyfriend who's clearly a jerk, but she insists that he's really a "sweetheart." I mean it, genuinely. Mark was THE "nice guy" and everyone who met him could see it plain as day.

He was always doing really thoughtful things, like coming into work with baked goods that his mom had made. I remember one time in particular, he brought in two loaves of banana bread. One, he gave to the emplyees in our department. The other, he gave me personally, so my roommates and I could have plenty for ourselves.

And when it came to working, Mark gave it his all. Even though we were student employees, he took his responsibilities seriously. My friend Melissa worked down the hall in a different department, and she even admitted to bringing the "difficult" parents to Mark because he had a calming and reassuring way about him. There was one dad in particular who was a real asshole... Mark never even batted an eyelash at him.

After I graduated, I didn't see Mark anymore. We never ran into each other around town and it had literally been years since we'd been in contact. Randomly, two months ago, Melissa ran into him at Target. They caught each other up on stories related to people they both knew, myself included. That same day, I found a message in my Facebook inbox. The message said "Ahhhhhhhh-HAAAAAA! Found you." Of course. It was Mark. We messaged a few times back back and forth. And although my initial reaction to seeing the message was "Pesky Mark again..." it was actually a really nice surprise to hear from him. I had always remembered him as being a funny, sweet guy, so it was nice to hear the same goofiness come across in his emails. Upon finding out that I was unemployed, he quickly sent me advice on how to find paying blog gigs. He had also caught himself up on my personal blogging efforts and said that he was happy to hear about my "new butt."

In one of those messages, he mentioned the possibility of meeting with him and his girlfriend to catch up over coffee.  I dismissed it, thinking it was just polite smalltalk. Looking back, I wish I would have taken him up on his offer.

His service this weekend was a somber event and any attempts I would have made to hide my sadness would have been pointless. I imagine that after crying for the past hour, my puffy face and melted makeup looked like a cross between Jocelyn Wildenstein and Joker Cat. Soon enough, the time had come for guests to give their condolences to his family. I didn't really know what to say, as I was sure that pretty much every other person there meant more to his family than I did. When it got to my turn, I gave my condolences, introduced myself, and told them how I knew Mark. His parents seemed genuinely happy and even said "Oh! I know you!" when they learned who I was. They said that Mark would have been very happy to have me there. I don't know if that was just the polite thing to say in a situation like that, but it made me feel good. I was glad that I was able to go to this event for Mark and I was glad that I had the chance to meet his family.

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I'm sharing this story not to get sympathy, but as a reminder of how fragile, and sometimes unfair, life is. And knowing that Mark was a fan of writing and storytelling, I think he would truly appreciate this post.

I know he is in a better place and I look forward to the day when we'll get another chance to catch up over coffee.

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