So, I Won This Contest on Pinterest… (Part 2)

March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 charleneaross14 Comments

As promised here is the Day Two recap of my trip to the 2013 Wine Sisterhood in Napa that I won on Pinterest. (If you missed Day One you can find it here.)

Jennifer is a good travel partner because she is an early-riser like me so when I wake up at o’dark thirty I don’t have to worry about disturbing her. We actually had a wake-up call for 6AM. (Yes, we are freaks.) She wanted to run and I wanted to hit the 7:00 Zumba class. She discovered the quiet early morning streets of Napa on foot and I put on a coin skirt and shook my booty (in a very uncoordinated-Kate-Gosselin-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars kind of way).

There was a gorgeously delicious breakfast buffet in the conference room at 8:00, but after our workouts showers were quite necessary so we didn’t make it down to the conference room until about 8:50. There was still plenty of food, but I missed out on morning socializing.

At 9:00 Terry Wheatley, our organizer and hostess extraordinaire gave opening remarks that were emotional and quite inspiring. She spoke of her vision for the Wine Sisterhood and quoted Walt Disney when she said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Terry Wheatley Wine Sisterhood — Terry Wheatley talks about big dreams

Then Terry gave a shout out and congratulations to a Pinterest winner…

named Katie

Katie brought her husband to the girl’s trip with her because he is her best friend blah blah blah.

What the… What about ME?! I’m a Pinterest winner too! ~~Who loves to be the center of attention~~. Don’t I get a shout-out or a crown or something?

Katie of Hems for Her — Curtis and Katie at the flapper party at Raymond Vineyards

Katie obviously got the shout out because she is younger and cuter than me and the fact that she brought her best-friend-husband is just adorable right? Whatever Katie! (I’m just kidding – Katie is awesome. And she has a beautiful fashion blog called Hems for Her. You should check it out.)

Wine Sisterhood Pinterest winners — Two happy Pinterest Winners (I think I look drunk in this photo, but afterall it was taken at 11:30 AM!)

At 9:30 we listened to our first keynote speaker, Digital Diva Aliza Sherman, talk about all the fabulous phone apps that are available right now. Aliza is a great speaker and had fantastic information. Some of the apps she told us about were Drink-u-lator, an app that helps you know how much wine to buy when you’re planning a party (hint – it’s not a bottle per person!); Trover, a sort-of Instagram meets Trip Advisor; and Foodspotting, a sort-of Instagram meets FourSquare. I learned so much from her. Mostly, that I have a really lame phone. (I actually already knew that.)

At 10:30 (yes in the morning) it was time for Bubble University. Translation: Sparkling Wine Tasting. (Now we are talking!)

The bubbly Leslie Sbrocco guided us through our tasting. (Yes, that pun was intended!)

Leslie is an emmy-award winning television host and Today Show Contributor and my new girl-crush. Leslie told us about getting the HUGE tattoo of a glass of rosé sparkling wine on her calf, the different types of sparkling wine, what food to pair sparkling wine with (in her opinion all) and showed us how to saber a champagne (or sparkling wine) bottle. (That means pop the cork with a saber. It’s super-cool. Check out a 6-second video posted by Girlfriendology of Leslie sabering a bottle of sparkling rose here.)

After the sparkling wine tasting we broke off into two groups: Mischief Makers and Drama Queens – named after two of the Middle Sister wines and boarded luxury mini-buses for food and wine tastings aplenty. I was in the Mischief Maker group. (Oh don’t act all surprised by that – I am totally not a Drama Queen!) The groups would flip itineraries the next day.

The Mischief Makers went to a restaurant called Bistro Don Giovanni’s for lunch. It was Oh-my-god-I-feel-like-I’m-in-Italy delicious! We were given a four-course meal and a white and a red choice of Don Giovanni’s own estate grown wines. (So what if I chose both – be quiet!) One of the many things we talked about during lunch was the importance of a great wine label. We loved the label for Gio, Don Giovanni’s Sangiovese.

Don-Giovanni-Napa — Good times and great lunch with some winesisters – Lisa (@belvinowinery) and Sue (@kaysyrah) at Don Giovanni

After our lunch we waddled onto the bus to head to our first winery of the day.

Chappellet

Our tour of Chappellet Winery was given by their Director of Hospitality, Candice Pannetier. Candice gave us a tour of the barrel storage room and vineyards and told us the history of the family-owned winery and its owners, Donn and Molly Chappellet. Founded in 1967, the winery is located in Pritchard Hill and was one of the first wineries to pioneer high-elevation hillside planting. I don’t know what any of the means, but whatever it is they’re doing over at Chappellet, they are doing it right – this wine is crazy good. The winery is now run by three of the Chappellet children, but we had the privilege of meeting Molly Chappellet. She was an extraordinary woman with such a warm and lovely presence about her. She was so gracious and sophisticated and beautiful it felt like meeting royalty. (And I’m sure in Napa she is akin to royalty.)

Tastings at Chappellet can be booked here and start at $25.

Chappellet-vineyards — Beautiful Chappellet

Chappellet wine pour — More wine please Candice!

Wine sisterhood at Chappellet — Time for more wine!

Molly-Chappellet — Napa royalty, Molly Chappellet tells us about her beautiful winery

During lunch and the bus ride and walking around the Chappellet, I got to know some of the women in my group a little better. One of the best things about this trip was the amazing women I met from all over the country. Two of them were Debba Haupert of Girlfriendology and Beth Robeson of Healthy Kids Fast. Debba and Beth were both smart and interesting and funny. (Love them! Do yourselves a favor and check out their websites.)

Quintessa

Our next stop was Quintessa Winery. When Agustin and Valeria Huneeus purchased the property for this winery in 1989 it was one of the few estates in Napa Valley that had never been planted to grapes. (I met Dave in 1989 and loved that Quintessa was established the same year we were.)

Our tour was given by Gwen McGill, their Director of Marketing, who showed us their beautiful grounds that includes a lake, five hills, a river and two forests. Not only were the grounds beautiful and the wine fantastic (we tasted the Illumination Sauvignon Blanc ($40), their Quintessa 2009 ($145) and Quintessa 2008 ($150) – hello!), but the vineyard is farmed entirely with biodynamic and organic techniques. We also tasted three different cheeses including this Seascape cheese from the Central Coast Creamy that was so ridiculously good I’m seriously considering having some shipped to my house even though it’s $17/pound. (Yes, it’s that good!) I was swooning over Quintessa.

Tastings are $65 and can be booked here.

Quintessa Gwen McGill — Gwen McGil pours Illumination Sauvignon Blanc

The Kitchen Door

Next we headed to The Kitchen Door for dinner. (You know, because we were so hungry.)

The Kitchen Door is located in the Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa and is definitely a must-visit destination. The restaurant was closed for our party and chefs Todd Humphries and Christoper Litts made a special menu for our dinner.

First appetizers were passed around – Gourgeres Stuffed with Spinach and Mornay Sauce (think creamed spinach stuffed into a little bite-sized pastry), Deviled Eggs with Wasabi Tobiko (um, yum!), Salmon Pastrami with Sauerkraut on a Rye Crouton (ridiculous!) and Demitasse of Mushroom Soup (best mushroom soup I’ve ever had). Is your mouth watering yet? We still had three courses to go!

1st course
Spinach Salad with Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese, Shaved Apples, Toasted Walnuts and a Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Entree
Pot Roast – Whole roasted center cut beef shoulder with garden vegetables and fresh grated horse radish.
(a vegetarian option was offered, but who wants that?)

Dessert
Bettermilk Panna Cotta with Sour Cherry Compote (Oh. My. Gawd. So good!)

Wine
2011 Tablas Creek, Patelin de Tablis Blanc, Paso Robles, CA
Unti, Rose of Grenache/Mourvedre, Dry Creek, CA
2008 Six Sigma, Tempranillo, Lake County, CA
2010 Bonny Doon, Old Vine Field Blend, ‘Contra’, Santa Cruz, CA

I chose the Bonny Doon ‘Contra’. It was excellent.

Our hotel was only two blocks away so the buses left after dropping us off and when we finished dinner we all walked home. I don’t think the walking home, the morning’s Zumba class, or all the walking we did around the vineyards was nearly enough to keep this food and wine from sticking to my middle-aged middle -but who cares? I was in foodie-food and wine-snob heaven. So different from my $7-Costco-and-fake-it-like-you-made-it-Trader-Joe’s-frozen-dinner regular existence.

Kitchen-Door-Napa — The Kitchen Door – you MUST eat here when you are in Napa

Stay tuned for Day Three. Could it be any better? Maybe…

An Easy Week Night Dinner with Minute Rice

March 10, 2013March 10, 2013 charleneaross2 Comments

#LoveEveryMinute of this easy (and delicious) dinner

Friday night my dad and step-mom (in town from Texas) and my two brothers with their families came over for dinner. Awesome yes? Yes!

Except…

My dad, one brother, and (of course) my two kids are picky eaters. Like ridiculously so.

Add the fact that I am making a concerted effort to make healthy meals and I was placed with a bit of a dinner dilemma.

I could have barbecued except:

a.) My barbecue is down to two burners and I was serving 10 people

b.) I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my family and as little time as possible cooking. (It’s hard to hang with the family when you’re stuck outside flipping chicken and everyone else is inside drinking wine.)

So I made a rosemary-lemon-garlic chicken dish I found from my friends Google and Rachel Ray, added green beans and broccoli, a simple salad (made with iceberg lettuce due to picky eaters… sigh…) and some easy-peasy Minute® Rice. FAB!

Okay, in truth I made one dish of the awesomely delicious rosemary-lemon-garlic chicken and one dish of plainish-tiny-bit-of-lemon-even-tinier-bit-of-garlic-chicken for aforementioned picky eaters.

rosemary-garlic-lemon-chicken — Picky eaters – your chicken is on the right

I prepped everything before my guests came over and once everyone arrived popped my chicken in the oven. After the chicken was in the oven for 2o minutes I started the veggies and the rice and dinner was ready in 30 minutes. I loved that I didn’t have to fuss over anything. This dinner was a hit – even for the picky eaters. My non-picky brother had 3 plates full! This will definitely be making its way to my table again.

Here is the recipe from Rachel Ray and the Food Network:

2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves stripped from stems
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (I used Montreal Seasoning) or, coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

*For picky eaters eliminate the rosemary (boo!), and cut the garlic and lemon zest in half.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange chicken in a baking dish. Add garlic, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning or salt and pepper to the dish. Toss and coat the chicken with all ingredients, then place in oven. Roast 20 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer then remove chicken from the oven. Place baking dish on trivet and serve, spooning pan juices over the chicken pieces.

Minute® Rice is so quick and easy to prepare and is great pantry staple. When meal time seems like a hassle, Minute® Rice is a go-to ingredient your whole family will love and allows you to have more quality time doing what your want with your loved ones.

Leftover rotisserie chicken or veggies from a meal earlier in the week? Minute® Rice can easily be paired with some of your leftover ingredients to make a quick, easy and wholesome meal your whole family will love in just a matter of minutes.

Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ to create a great main meal or side dish for your next family get-together or potluck.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.

Home

March 7, 2013March 7, 2013 charleneaross4 Comments

Last night I returned home from a 4-day girl’s weekend. (Well, it was a Sunday – Wednesday, does that make it a week beginning?)

It was a fabulous trip to Napa that I will be writing about all next week to fill you in on my decadent wine and food gluttony, but for now, I am just happy to be home, back to the normalcy of my house with Dave and the kids.

Even though when I walked into my bedroom I was greeted with this…

laundry-hamper — Guess what I’ll be doing today

And then I went to the kitchen and found that all the sports water bottles I washed on Saturday night and left in the sink were still there. Because apparently I’m the only one who knows how to put them away. Funny, everyone seems to know where to find them in the cupboard when they need them. (I would have put them away myself before I left, but I had an early flight on Sunday morning.)

At the beginning of the week I was making new connections and meeting new friends. I was tasting wine paired with gourmet food and cheese starting at 10:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night and eating four-course five-star meals (and have the extra five pounds to prove it). I had a king-size bed and four big pillows All. To. Myself.

wine-and-food-pairing — I could get used to this!

And it was all so wonderful.

But today… that glamorous life is over.

Today will be filled with unpacking and laundry. Cooking and cleaning up messes. Catching up on my work and fighting over Marley’s homework.

It’s back to the grind. Back to normal. Back to my real life. (Did I mention the laundry?)

And though it doesn’t make sense on paper (or computer screen), as wonderful as Napa is, it seemed a little bit like Oz.

And like Dorothy said…

There’s no place like home.

How to Avoid Homework in the Digital Age

February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 charleneaross8 Comments

Yesterday Marley was “doing homework” in her room. We bought her a lovely Crate and Barrel desk (well, the original owner bought it from Crate and Barrel – I got it and the almost-matching-Ikea-chair at a yard sale for forty bucks a couple years ago), but she prefers to use her desk as a place to store dirty clothes, books, old homework, candy wrappers (even though she’s not supposed to have candy in her room) and god-know-what-else on it (she uses her floor to store the overflow that doesn’t fit on her desk) and do her homework on her bed.

(Wow! That was an 92 word sentence – I know I write obnoxiously long sentences, but I might have set a record!)

Anyway, I walked in her room to check on her and she was reading a book. She’s reading Eighth Grade Bites, the first Vladimir Tod book by Heather Brewer. I love to read and she claims that she does not like to read, so it brings me joy that she is reading a book. She also needs to read books and then test on them at the school library to get points for her Language Arts class. (Why is it called Language Arts in middle school, but English in high school? Just wondering.) She needs ten points by next Friday and Eighth Grade Bites is worth seven, so she will have to read another book after (and Ninth Grade Slays is almost twice as long) so she does need to read.

But. I would still prefer that she do her reading last. She’s a fast reader. She can read on the weekends.

She had to do nine math problems, study bones for science (did you know that 1/4 of the bones in our body are in our feet?), and write over 20 vocabulary sentences for Language Arts. I know this because all of her homework is online. Yes, the digital age makes it possible for even non-helicopter moms like me to know what their kids are supposed to be doing.

“You’re doing your reading first?” I asked her trying to sound upbeat and chipper instead of disapproving.

“Yes, I’m almost done,” she answered. “I only have a few pages left.”

“Okay,” I said and handed her an index card with her homework assignments written on it. “Finish up and start your math.”

“I know, Mom,” she said in that lovely tween voice that lets you know they know. (Everything!)

A half an hour later I popped my head in her room to let her know I found a cool website with some math games for percentages. She’s been struggling with percentages and I’m great at percentages (probably because in my mind percentages equals buying things on sale), but I’m not great at teaching her percentages. (Probably because she’s not great at listening.)

She was still reading her book.

“I thought you said you were almost done.”

“I am,” she answered.

And then I noticed the glow on her face. It was not a metaphorical glow that lights up your face because you are reading words that inspire or enlighten you. It was a physical glow. A bright glow that reminded me of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

And it was coming out of her book.

She was the modern day version of a kid in class with a comic book stuck inside of a text book.

“Hand over the iPod,” I said.

“But Mom,” she whined. “Listening to music helps me concentrate. Even Dr. Robin said it’s a good idea.”

“Yes, well listening to music may help you concentrate, but having a mini computer stuck in your book does not. Hand. It. Over.”

And after a few “That’s not fairs” she did.

And then I went back to my laptop and got back to work. After watching a short film on YouTube. And commenting on some Facebook status updates. And scrolling Twitter. Because Marley has nothing on me when it comes to being distracted.

(And if you’d like to be distracted even further, here is the film on YouTube that caught my eye.)

This is What Happens When Your Teenage Son Gets His Drivers License

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 charleneaross7 Comments

16-year-old-with-drivers-license — One proud mama!

Chandler got his drivers license two weeks ago. It is wonderful and frightening at the same time.

He passed his driving test the first time he took it. (Unlike me, who flunked it three times before I passed. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh. I’m used to it. I’ve been getting shit about it from my family for 30 years. Whatever. And BTW – I’m not a bad driver. I just freeze up and get very nervous during manual tests. I swear.)

I think it helped that he had a driving lesson three days before the test and they took him on the driving test route several times and I took him several more. He felt pretty confident. And he should have. He’s a good driver. For a 16 year old.

When he got his license the woman at the DMV congratulated him and then said, “You think you have freedom now, but the truth is now you’re going to be your parents’ slave. You’ll be running errands for them all the time.”

“I laughed and said, “You got that right!”

The first time he drove alone it was three days after he got his license. He went to buy a gift card for a Sweet 16 birthday party he was attending the next night. It was dark. And raining. I posted this on Facebook:

And then I thought, “Oh god. What if something does happen? And I posted that snarky comment. What the hell is wrong with me?” (What is wrong with me is I’m the queen of using humor at inappropriate times to mask unpleasant feelings. It’s one of my many, many charms.)

I spent the next 17 minutes being very unsettled until I heard him come through the front door.

A week after Chandler had his license we asked him to run to the market to return a video to Redbox. He looked at us and said, “When the lady at the DMV said I’d be running your errands I didn’t believe her. I didn’t think you’d be that kind of parents.” Oh you are wrong about that my son. Very wrong indeed.

Yesterday we went to a Super Bowl party and for the first time Dave and I could both drink (or rather both drink a lot) because we had a designated driver. Hooray! I’m not sure if we’re being responsible parents or irresponsible parents by drinking too much at a party and having our teenage son drive us home, but I’m going to say responsible parents. (Right?)

It’s so weird though. Watching your child grow up so fast. And I know it’s cliche, so please forgive my lack of cleverness and originality. Everyone with older kids says it to me and I say it to parents of younger kids. And we are all right.

It. Happens. So. Fast.

How is it possible that the tiny little 7 pound 6 ounce baby I held in my arms for the very first time 16 years ago is driving a car? He’s got car keys in his hand and one foot out the door. I know that he’s ready but I’m not ready. It leaves me unsettled. I want him to come back through the front door.

How (Not) to Wrap a Present

January 28, 2013January 28, 2013 charleneaross13 Comments

Chandler went to a Sweet Sixteen birthday party at a swanky hotel in the city on Saturday night. We decided to give a gift card to a trendy local shop that all the teenage girls seem to love because I believe it’s important to shop local. Also, because Chandler has no idea what to buy a girl. And I don’t know the girl so I have no idea what to buy her either.

I asked Chandler if he needed help wrapping it. I have little boxes and adorable girl wrapping paper. Nope. He had it covered. He had a tin from a gift card he received at Christmastime. Of course it was green and red and not what I would choose, but I’m walking that fine line between having my kids do things independently and teaching them the proper way to do them.

“What about a card?” Dave asked as Chandler was heading out the door to buy the gift card. (Yes, Chandler has his driver’s license now. But that is a blog for another time. I’m going to have to take a few swigs of freezer vodka before I can work up the courage to write how I feel about that!)

“I have something,” I said. I have a stash of gift tags and generic cards. Because while I’ll give Chandler twenty bucks to buy a gift card for some girl I don’t know so he can enjoy his childhood and maintain a semi-cool social status by going to cool birthday parties, I draw the line at spending $3.49 for a birthday card every time he heads to a party. (Sorry Hallmark, your wit and sentiment is for my friends only!)

Although, now that I think of it, it would be rather entertaining to see what kind of card Chandler would pick. (Oh to be a fly on the wall while that’s happening!)

Before Chandler headed out the door to the party I asked him if he needed a card or a gift tag. He told me no. And then he showed me this:

How-to-wrap-a-present — Name blurred to protect the innocent!

Yes, dear reader, that would be masking tape on the bottom of a Christmas gift tin. All I can say to Chandler’s future wife is I’m sorry. I really have tried. But this boy is hopeless.

Top photo by asenat29 courtesy of Creative Commons

My Vision Board… My Dream Board… My 2013

January 16, 2013January 15, 2013 charleneaross16 Comments

vision-board-dream-board — My visions of 2013

Yeah, I made a vision board this year. (Or dream board as some people call them.) Some of my friends think I’m lame for doing this. They see no value in it. It’s a time waster. A little too new age. Too hippie.

I don’t care. I love doing it. It inspires me. And when I invite my (new age hippie) girlfriends over (and throw in some yummy brie and $10 wine) all the better.

When my girlfriends got to my house I told them I was already finished and showed them this board….

They really (really) liked that vision!

Then we got started for reals.

What is a vision board? It’s a collage made up of pictures and word or phrases of your vision of the future. It can be anything you want it to be. You can do a vision board any time, but I try make a new one around the start of a new year.

My vision boards always seem to be sort of similar. There is always a woman smiling and having fun. There is always coffee and wine. The words “inspiration” and “dream” seem to be forever present.

But this year I’ve added some new words. Some new phrases.

“The Joy of playing it un-safe” – because I always seem to play it safe.

Vision-Board-taking-chances — Doing scary things!

“Breaking out of your comfort zone” – that definitely needs to happen this year. And it actually already is. I’ve started putting myself out there this year in ways that I haven’t before.

“Author” – not writer, but author. Author. This is the year I shop my book.

There is a picture of New York City. (After all, when I sell my book I’ll have to go to New York to see my publisher won’t I?)

“Metamorphosis” – this year things need to change. I need to change. Doing the same things over and over (and over again) will not net me new results. I think I (finally) get that now. (I hope I do anyway.)

And yes there is my smiling girl having the time of her life (with the hair that I covet but can never have thanks to my cursed widow’s peak), the woman doing yoga, the woman who is strong and fit, and the woman in an outfit that I know would look awesome on me.

vision-board-happy-girl — I want to feel like this! (And I want that hair!)

There’s a photo of Bradley Cooper, but not because I love him (though I do), but because I can see him playing one of the characters in my book ~~if it were ever~~ when it’s made into a movie.

There is a hammock at a beach. (Yes please.)

Some beautiful pictures of nature.

The word “romance.” It would be nice for Dave and I to have some of that this year. I’d really like to work on that.

“Be inspired”

“Imagine all Your Possibilities”

“Eat Drink Read”

“What if…”

What if…

What if this year turns out to be everything I want it to be?

What are your visions for 2013?

I Think I’ll Write a Travel Blog

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 charleneaross17 Comments

I think I’ll write a travel blog. After all, last week I was traveling. Alone.

That’s right, just me and my (not so) little carry on. (You’re all jealous aren’t you?)

I didn’t go anywhere glamorous, but maybe if I started writing a travel blog, I could start going to glamorous places.

Maybe I could make the URL of my travel blog Suburban Mom Dumps Family to Travel to Glamorous Places dot com.

No?

There is a travel blog called Adventurous Kate written by a fabulous 20-something (named Kate, duh) who travels the world solo and writes about it. She made it into her job! ~~I hate her.~~ I want to be her. Why wasn’t the internet invented when I was 20-something and adventurous?

Since I am not fabulous and ~~young~~ 20-something and adventurous – wait, that’s not true, I may not be 20-something, but I am fabulous and adventurous. Well, at heart anyway, just not currently in practice… let’s start over…

Since I am not 20-something, if I had a travel blog to write about my travel “adventures” I would probably write something like this…

Last Week I had an early flight to Virginia. I was excited because I was flying Virgin Airlines for the first time and didn’t have to worry about anyone but me. I had a cup of coffee on the way to the airport, but I got there early enough to buy another at Starbucks. (I figured since I got up at 4AM I earned it!)

As I was walking down the long hall to the plane I must have jerked my arm because the coffee came flying out of the cup and right onto my shirt. Crap! I was meeting someone at a restaurant right after I got off the plane. And I HATE having coffee stains (or any stains for that matter) on my shirt.

I HATE IT!

My luck turned around because the flight wasn’t very full and I had a whole row to myself. Score! I like to sit on the aisle because I have to get up at least two or three times on long fights to pee. (Everyone who knows me well is nodding their heads right now.) But I also like to sit at the window so I can see what we’re flying over and lean up against the wall. With the whole row to myself I could do both. Holla!

Inside Virgin Airlines plane — TV screens for every seat and a whole row to myself – sweet!

So as soon as that fasten-seat-belt sign turned itself off I hopped right up and hightailed it to the bathroom. I tried blotting the coffee stain with a wet paper towel and got nowhere. So, since the stain was near the bottom of my shirt, I stuck it under the running water and rubbed some soap on it and rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed (you would not believe how much you have to rinse to get a tiny bit of soap out) and now had a shirt that had a six inch by six inch sopping wet area. I took a bunch of paper towels and squeezed out the excess water as best I could, buttoned my sweater over the spectacle of it and returned to my ~~seat~~ row.

The shirt felt cold on my skin so I put a paper towel between my stomach and my shirt. (That paints a pretty picture doesn’t it?) Then I ate half the sandwich that I brought for breakfast. And blopped avocado on my shirt. Huhhhh (That is the sound of me taking a deep breath and trying not to scream the word SHIT! on a quiet plane.)

I got back up, went to the bathroom and repeated the whole stick-the-bottom-of-my-shirt-under-the-running-water-process. When I got back to my seat I put my Pashmina under my shirt and wrapped it around my shoulders so I would stay warm, but didn’t cover my shirt so it could dry. Thank god I had the whole row to myself and the plane was dark. If I had a seatmate, they’d probably think I was mental.

(Travel tip: always travel with a Pashmina type scarf – so much better than the nasty travel blankets they ~~always run out of~~ have on the plane.)

scart — This is what I look like in my Pashmina when I travel! (Hey… sexy lady!)

A couple hours later I went to the bathroom again (look, I drink a lot of water) and noticed a third stain on my shirt. WTF?! When did I become incapable of wearing a shirt without getting it dirty? I was like a toddler in desperate need of a bib. This time I just took the shirt off and put it in the sink. A bit more soap, a bit more scrubbing, a lot more rinsing, and a lot of paper towels to squeeze it (semi) dry. (I wonder if Adventurous Kate ever used an airline bathroom as her own personal washing machine.)

I know what you’re all thinking – I had a carry on. Why didn’t I just change when I got to the airport? Because I wanted to wear the shirt I was wearing, that’s why. (She says with a foot stomp. See acting like a toddle above!)

I returned to my seat and resumed my classy position of shoving my scarf under (but not on top of) my shirt and around my shoulders. I arrived to my destination with my shirt clean(ish?) and dry. But I don’t think I’ll be ditching my family to write a travel blog any time soon. (Unless you think there might be a market for How To Use An Airline Bathroom As A Washing Machine dot com.)

*Pashmina photo “borrowed” from http://womenclothingtoday.com

Happy Thanksgiving

November 22, 2012November 22, 2012 charleneaross2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Today (and everyday) I am thankful for so many things… good friends, laughter, music, books, wine, coffee, my blog readers (all 10 of you – thank you so much!), living only 20 minutes from the beach, waking up to watch the sunrise every morning, beautiful sunsets, and our wonderful Southern California weather.

But above all, I am most thankful for this…

Family under Hollywood sign — The loves of my life

What are you most thankful for?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Work That Pole (Hey, Why Not…)

November 8, 2012November 10, 2012 charleneaross7 Comments

Tuesday, for the 2012 Presidential Election, Dave and I did our civic duty by working a local polling place. It’s something we’ve always talked about doing, so after receiving a robo-call asking for volunteers, and offering us a generous stipend of a whopping $105, we figured “Why not?”

I’ll tell you why not…

We were at those freaking polls from 6:00 AM until 9:30 PM. Yes, you read that correctly – 15 1/2 hours! Of course, we each did get a 45 minute break so we could grab a bite to eat and go vote ourselves. (I don’t like to vote by mail – I like to go into the booth and get my sticker dammit!) I should be fair and admit that we were both offered a second break, but did not take it – the polls were busy and ~~we like to act like martyrs~~ we were actually enjoying ourselves.

So yes, we popped out of bed at five o’clock, took quick showers, ate a fast breakfast, sucked down some coffee and headed to a polling place a few miles away.

Pole Worker — Work that pole! (Photo credit: Susan Pascal)

We lucked out because we had an awesome and experienced inspector and she and her husband had set up the booths the night before. All we needed to do before opening the polls at 7AM was set up the outside signs, take the voting box out of her car and set that up and take our oath.

I volunteered for the job of Street Index Clerk and crossed off the addresses of voters on a master and second copy and then rotated it with a third copy every hour. (And would have to quickly update the 3rd copy.) The reason for this is so poll watchers can check the list to see who’s voted and go knock on doors or make phone calls and encourage people in their party who haven’t voted to vote. Of course this only happens in cities of swing states. Not in California. Especially in the suburbs. Even though there are way more Republicans here than I ever imagined. WAY MORE!

One woman I know was registered as a Republican and kind of stood there for a minute holding her ballot and looking a little dazed. I asked her if she needed help. She turned to me and said, “No, I just need to take a deep breath and convince myself I can do this.”

I’m not sure if that meant she was going to jump party lines and vote for Obama because she wasn’t very happy with the men in her party telling her what she could and could not do with her body or she was going to vote for Mitt despite those same reasons. Of course I’m just speculating. Maybe she was on the fence between writing in Ron Paul or voting for Rosanne Barr.

As a poll worker you have to remain neutral and not become engaged in or even allow any kind of political discussion. Even when someone (Republican) shows you his ID and you say, “I don’t need to see your ID” and he says, “Well, you should have to,” or when someone (Republican) comes to vote at 5:30 and asks if it’s been busy and you say, “Yes, we’ve had a steady stream all day,” and he turns to his wife and says, “Yeah, all the people who don’t work.” Sigh…

Of course I’m sure there were some obnoxious comments made by Democrats, but I’m an obnoxious Democrat (the worst kind too – total bleeding heart liberal), so if there were I didn’t notice.

Receiving I Voted sticker — Here’s your sticker. Thanks for voting! (Photo credit: Susan Pascal)

What was great though, and what Dave and I enjoyed most about working the polls, was watching the pride and pure joy that people seemed to get from voting. Everyone was in a good mood. We were lucky because even though we were consistently busy all day, nobody ever had to wait very long. But if they did, they really didn’t seem to mind. Some people came to the wrong polling place and weren’t upset when we directed them to another one. And truly, the best moments were seeing someone vote for the first time. Families came in together to bring their son or daughter to the pole to vote for the first time and had them pose for pictures with their “I voted” sticker. Naturalized citizens came to the polls excited to cast their first ballot in their newly adopted country.

Sometimes it actually choked me up. It made me proud to be an American. (Even when those first-time voters were registered as Republicans.)

It made me think that I might actually do this again in four more years.

(Hey, why not…)

Charlene Ross

Category: Life… and its Little Slices