It is Wednesday, which means, it is time for my weekly post…

Today, I have something different for you.  No wine reviews. No tasting notes. Nope. Nada. Instead, I would like to share with you what has shifted in me since the Wine Bloggers Conference last month in Lodi, California.

I came away from the conference having had an amazing time.  Connecting with friends I see once a year, getting to taste fantastic wines, learning a thing or two about how to improve upon my blog.  But more than anything, I came away thinking – thinking about what it is to be a wife and a Mom and a wine blogger and a wine student, etc.  To be honest, I have so many things going on that I don’t feel I am able to focus as well as I would like too.  My daughter will be 6 years old next week and I know I am going to wake up and she will be 16. Very cliché, but time is flying by and I want to slow it down as best I can.  I can only speak from my truth and my truth is that I feel out of balance.  I am so thankful for the WBC16 this year and what I learned from it…I am making adjustments.  I want to be ‘present’ for my husband and our daughter – these two people matter the most to me – they deserve it and so do I.

To begin, my GirlsGoGrape posts will come out twice a month on Wednesdays. My ‘one post a week’ platform has been working but I am choosing to bring it down to twice a month…I may write more than that but, for now, I am going to try it this way.

Also, I registered for my Master Level Champagne class in February 2015 and I have until February 2017 to complete it…my success was not looking good.  So, I teamed up with two great women and we have formed a study group – strength in numbers and keeping each other on track.  I have learned that I suck at distance education.  I will never take a ‘web’ based class again – now I know.  I am a great student when I show up to class every week, ask questions and stay engaged.  So, our study group helps me hone in on my study skills to complete this course.

To add another level of insanity to my life, I signed up and registered for the Italian Wine Scholar program which would be 6 months of school.  I was psyched and totally on board and then I realized that if I was feeling scattered now, I would only dig myself into more of a frenzied pit if I went ahead with it. My Italian Wine Scholar will have to wait until I complete my Champagne Level exam.  Exhale.  I felt my shoulders visibly relax from around my ears where they have been hovering for too long.

Something exciting come up – I will be starting another blog or adding onto GirlsGoGrape with my other main ‘takeaway’ from Lodi.  I am a hardcore Chardonnay fan – a banner waving, card carrying, preaching Chardonnay maniac – and I love it.  Chardonnay makes me excited and interested in learning everything I can about it. So, stay tuned for my next blogging chapter!  It will launch in 2017.

For now, thank you for being a part of this wonderful wine journey I am on.  It continues and so do I – just with more focus on what really matters to me.

Thank you,

XO
C