Wine of the Moment::Tarantas Rose

So the nights here in Atlanta are just cool enough to sit outside and enjoy the sunset...soon enough it will be 90 degrees with 12,000 percent humidity, so I need to enjoy outside while I can. Of course, I can't enjoy outside empty handed and i want something as crisp and refreshing as outside...so let me introduce Rose to you.

Of course, at first I was hesitant to Rose. The faux wine snob that I am have a very strict no pink wine rule. However with the introduction of Rose to my palette has changed that (now that rule is a strict adherence to no sweet wine). However a very nice Rose is just dry enough to satisfy me.

That is where the Tarantas comes in. While it does have some fruity under tones that match the nice pleasing raspberry color of the wine, it is well balanced and dry. You never have that sweet taste, but it is there in the mix to quench your thirst. Don't let the dry scare you though...it is light enough to enjoy in the middle of the day with a salad, pasta or grilled fish. Also, for my taste I enjoy it ice, ice cold, it adds to the crispness of the wine.

So next time you need a wine on a summer night, grab a rose. I don't think you will be disappointed.

The Reality of a Disaster

First I must confess, I watch reality TV, a moderate amount of it, but my recent addiction is Jon & Kate Plus 8. I will even admit that I am not new to the JK+8 bandwagon. Oh no, I discovered it on Comcast On Demand while home from work a while back. So whenever the husband is not in the room I will find an episode and turn it on. So I was a fan before the recent explosion. The mom in me watched in pure amazement of raising 8 children.

On the flip side, I am a marketer, I get to peek behind the curtain as to how our modern day entertainment is crafted. I know that there is nothing “real” about reality shows and that they all employ writers and producers to come up with the entertaining scenarios portrayed for our viewing pleasure. The marketer in me was impressed with how they leveraged their family dynamic for a Gymboree sponsorship, free trips and even great photo shoots.

Then it all blew up.

I read with somewhat disbelief (considering the source) all of the tabloid reports of the couple and I am not here to take a side nor condone anyone’s behavior. However, after watching the previous 4 seasons in a marathon over the weekend, it became a focus group in how fame can change people. Jon and Kate made the decision to do the show to “chronicle their children’s lives” – I take that to mean provide for our large family. I mean can you really blame them, a production studio will pay them upwards of $25,000 - $50,000 per episode (this is their rumored salary) to follow them to the grocery store, through the travails of potty training, and taking the kids to their first day of school.

Over the 4 seasons you can see them change, you can see Kate’s domineering taking over in every armchair interview they do. You see them only talk about the kids, never to one another and about their relationship or common interests. You see Kate take on the role of “mom” expert and offer advice. You see Jon get himself in shape and get hair plugs. You see them both take to fame – Kate more so than Jon. There was an episode on this weekend that had Jon taking Kate shopping talking as to how she had no sense of style. Flash forward 4 years and you see her in oversize sunglasses, with a spray tan and fake nail tips talking about how she only eats salads.

My point here is to say that the decision these parents made “for their kids” seems to be the decision that ultimately spilt the family apart – not really in the kids best interest. They could never have predicted the fall out from how the beast of entertainment would grab hold of all of them. This season premiere was very sad and at times hard to watch. I was hoping all of the tabloid reports were a big ruse for ratings and this season would kick off with a big “surprise”. But no, what they gave us access to over the last 4 seasons is a chronicle of how loosing yourselves as a couple when you have kids multiplied by the current flash in the pan will ultimately tear you apart.

I am sorry we had to witness this. I wonder if everyone now views these episodes and watches them wondering “is this the moment that broke them.” But truly I am sorry for the kids, I am sorry that they can know first hand what happened to break their family apart, some things need to be kept private, but the machine has swallowed Jon & Kate up have spit them out separately. Is the fancy house and fleeting fame really worth all of that?

I am not sure if I will watch the show anymore, there is enough misery in the world that I really don’t need to DVR someone’s pending divorce (purely my opinion, no one knows the status of their relationship but them). However, if they are really doing this for their kids, which has clearly left their minds a long time ago, they would bow out of this season and keep their personal fight behind closed doors – for real.

OK, that's it!!

So we all have those moments right? You know the moment, you catch a glimpse of your back side in the mirror, your "fat" jeans feel a little snugger today than last week. But the worst horror of all, someone asks you when you are due, when you are not even preggers.

OK, so the latter did not happen to me, but it is really time for me to do something with myself before that happens. So after much hemming and hawing, I have finally motivated myself to loose weight and get fit. Since all my online mama friends have found support with one another or our vast web of the world, I don't feel so alone in my battle of the bulge. So I am following the Shredheads. I am a couple of months behind, but that is Ok, I can learn from what they have experienced. What I really like too, is that I can get fit with relatively little financial committment, which is nice.

I weighed myself, took all my measurements and all that fun stuff, but I am not ready to share all that yet. I will say that I did my first workout yesterday so I am that weird woman walking around with the stiff thighs and sore shoulders...hopefully there will only be about a week of that.

So join my on my mission to slim. Oh yeah, my goal is to not be embarrased of myself in a bathing suit at the end of June for our annual family beach trip.

So here goes to a slimmer me:)

Sesame Street as a Grown Up

Ok, so we are all of the age that we remember watching Sesame Street as a kid right? I mean we learned about death when Mr. Hooper died; knew all the lyrics to "Sing, sing a song"; and as we got older the show bumped right up into Electric Company to take us on our next adventure in learning. But now that I am a parent, I look at Sesame Street through grown-up, parent eyes and not the eyes of wonder of my childhood. So with that, here are a few recent things I have learned now that Sesame Street is back in my viewing rotation:

One caveat, while this list may seem simple, I have not ever watched this program with my grown up intellect until recently.

1. The monsters and puppets - Cookie is blue, Oscar is green, Big Bird is Yellow, Elmo is red, Grover is purple...yes, the monsters cover all the primary colors so we can learn them together. They also each have a specific trait we can learn whether grouchy, shy, curious or hungry we get to learn to express our feelings too. As a kid I just thought they each had a funny voice

2. The diverse make up on the block - seriously if a "muppet" family moved in on my street I would be a little concerned. I mean what do you take them as a house warming? When do they ever rest? Clearly the humans on Sesame Street are well versed in human/puppet relations and don't find felt people in their 'hood strange at all.

3. What about the Puppeteers - I really, really want to see a taping of Sesame Street to see how close the puppeteers are in the shot. What type of slick camera work must you know to work with both people and puppets. Does the puppeteer wear a mic? There is so much Behind the scenes that I am dying to know

4. Snuffleupagus is no longer Big Bird's imaginary friend. Yes folks, you heard it here Snuffy is no longer "invisible." Now the kid in me thinks this is a travesty, because everyone knows he is INVISIBLE. But the grown up in me thinks FINALLY, all these years and you did not see the furry, elephant sized person next to the eight foot yellow bird?

5. Maria is really Sonia. Ok, this one is the most disturbing. Now I know they are actors but Maria's name is not Maria? Gordon is really Roscoe Orman.....really. I would like to start a petition that if you have spent the better part of 30 years educating children, can you please just change your name to your "character". It would be easy on all of us.

6. Letters first and then numbers. This formula is tried and true for many, many years. First they set the plot point on the street; then we learn the letter of the day; then we learn the number. I mean come on, South to drop off people.

7. I don't care if Ernie and Bert are gay.

8. Elmo's World is the last 20 minutes of every episode and regardless of Lexie's mood I know I can have 20 minutes of peace while he is on TV.

Thanks Sesame Street for a whole 'nother experience!

Potty Training, really???

So as a working mom, there are some days that I really cannot fit one more thing to do into my day. We all know the drill...too many things not enough hours yada, yada, yada. So let's introduce potty training into this mix. That is "stop-whatever-you-are-doing-and-put-Lexie-on-the-toilet-every-30-minutes" training, and I gotta admit, I have been pretty lazy about it.

There are a few things we have done OK - 1) Lexie will completely talk to anyone, anywhere about poo poo going in the potty. 2) She will ask you if you just poo poo'd in the potty if you are coming out of the bathroom. 3) She is completely enamored with Dora Pull-Ups. 4) Yes, she will unravel more than she could ever possibly need from the TP roll. 5) She is even into washing her hands afterwards. So you see we have all the steps except for the actual using the potty part. Now she will tell me right after she has used her diaper that she tinkled, but I really am not enforcing the tell before.

I think maybe I thought my brilliant child would get this concept in 2 weeks. There I would be bragging to everyone else that she figured it all out in no time, genius child that she is. Mensa would let her join purely on her ability to quickly grasp the idea of potty training alone. Uh, no. Yes, I really need to work on this with her more than I expected. And I keep delaying it because she is not even 2 yet, so I keep thinking I've got more time. Why cant we just have fun and play in our limited time together, do we really need to spend the better part of our time sitting in the bathroom?. Why do I need to add one more item on my never ending to-do list? I mean don't kids just one day hand you their diapers and say "I am all done with these, may I have Abby Cadabby panties please?"

So now I am going to completely obsess over research on the whole potty training idea and see just how quickly we can get this whole thing worked out. I mean at least I plan on researching potty training, just after i have cleaned out my closet and written that new pitch deck for work. Good thing my wifi is strong in the potty, as I will be spending lots of time in there keeping Lexie company.

Miss Independence

So how is it your kids know just what you need at the moment you need it? After coming off a week and a half of hell at work and another funeral of someone I cared for, I was absolutely spent. I felt that because of how I was spinning, i was out of control, yet my family is great and can keep on keeping on when I don't even pay attention.

It was mid-week this week when I was finally able to have a normal night, meaning home before 7 and able to have dinner with Husband and Lexie. My desire to be domestic with the family let my eyes wnader to the dying bananas on the counter. And yes ladies, what do we do with brown bananas, we make banana bread. But this time it was different, Lexie wanted to help. And not just watch what I was doing, but get her hands in the batter, literally. So she helped me mash the bananas, break the eggs and mix the dough. we even had our inaugural lesson in licking the beaters of the mixer.

So then cut to tonight, after another crazy day like all the others, I could not bother to cook and with the husband out of town, out to eat it was. But not kid food, I wanted a meal. There Lexie and I were at Outback Steakhouseand we had a great time. We sat in the same side of the both, i helped her color she helped me with my drink and we had quite an enjoyable dinner, just the two of us ( for parents of Toddlers that means no fits, throwing or screaming throughout the entire meal).

Why are these 2 scenarios so different than normal? They are the first few times that Lexie is truly my big girl and wants to help an, do and see with me. We have conversations and talk about our day. She wants to be hands on in experiencing what I do. She is growing up. It is these moments that really let me forget about all the craziness outside our front door and enjoy why I became a mom.

So thanks Lex for showing me how our future will be. I can't wait!

For my Gram this Mother's Day

I recently lost my Grandmother which makes this mothers day hard while I have a great celebration with the husband and Lexie. So in honor of her and all she did for me, below is the speech I wrote for her funeral.

I have been incredibly blessed and lucky to have Ruth Ventura as my grandmother. She was the embodiment of what grandmother means to me, she is my definition of the word.



Some of my fondest memories are from when I was 6 years old, living here in Terre Haute with my mom. I would get to spend nights with my Gram on the weekends and for me there was no other fun to have. We would have tea parties, and not just “play” tea parties either. She would get out her china and we would brew tea in the pot and sit and drink tea all morning. After that we would play my favorite game “jewelry store”. We would spend a lot of time setting up her TV trays as the store and then I would display all of her jewelry on them for her to buy back from me. I had prices, I had my sales pitch and she bought all of my wares – at a pretty reasonable deal, I might add. We would then spend the early evening making dinner, she would let me help and shared with me her love of great food. Finally we would end the night saying our prayers, she taught me the lords prayer line by line to say every night before sleeping. I am so thankful to my parents for making sure I had this time with Ruthie and these memories that are still very vivid to me today

Now that Ruthie is gone and there are no more tea parties to be had, I see her everywhere and I think about her throughout my daily routine.

For instance, whenever I see a Granny Smith apple I always think about her. She loved putting them in salads as a special touch.

I am not a big coffee drinker, unlike Ruthie who would have a steaming hot up of coffee many times throughout the day. But the smell of coffee brewing is so comforting to me, because it reminds me of her.

Food and cooking – Ruthie was an excellent, excellent cook. Her dinners and spreads could have been photographed for magazines. I love to cook, it is one of my favorite hobbies, and my passion for it is 100% Gram. But I also like to entertain, cook for people and have them over. This is due to Ruthie, and it inspired my cousin as well. One of these days I am going to spend an afternoon learning to make her Chicken and mushroom crepes, but I doubt I can come close. However, if you come by my house after thanksgiving, I always have a tettrazini, made with Ruth’s recipe, following her tradition of making one after the holiday.

Tulips, especially yellow ones, remind me of her and I think that is why I love the flowers so much.

Always take care of your teeth – Gram always shared this. So yes, even flossing reminds me of her.

She was a single mom before that phrase was ever coined – and she was a fabulous one. She raised my dad and aunt to be very successful in life who have also done the same with me and Melissa. Now that I am a Mom and a working Mom at that, when it gets hard to balance my life, I think of Ruth. Because she made it look effortless.

We Venturas, all 4 of us, are very dedicated as a family. And while we are all type A’s who have ups and downs, we are incredibly strong support for one another and there is not anything we would not do for each other. Ruth was all about her family and that is why we are so close. While others may say this Ruth lived it. From her side table in her apartment filled with family photos to cooking a huge spread when you were “popping” in for a minute, she devoted herself to all of us. I take this devotion to my own family with Craig and Lexie.

So Ruthie, thank you. Thank you for being a perfect grandmother and thank you for all your support and inspiration. There is only one way that I can ever give back a small portion of what you give me and that is why I named my daughter after you. It’s selfish of me really, I will always have a Ruth near me to keep inspiring me. I will pass along everything you gave me to Lexie so she will know why she is a Ruth, and why that is so special.

I love you gram.

Lexie::21 months

Well Lexie 21 months, you are almost 2 and I cant believe it. This month your independence is really starting to show but in big, big ways. You don't want to be carried anymore, you will hold my hand where ever we go. You will hop in and out of the car and get into your seat all by yourself, at least you still need my help with the buckles. No more high chair, either at home or in a restaurant - the high chair at home has been in a closet all month , in case we need it but we don't. You are great at brushing your teeth and washing your hands.

Your conversation is great and I think you can talk like someone twice your age. You tell mommy to "Watch your fingers" when I shut a door, tell us "I'm sorry" if you drop something and your manners are impeccable with your please and thank you's. But you are quite the conversationalist, and i think this is the most fun, because i have someone to talk to. At dinner one night, you said to Daddy: "I like Cous Cous. Do you like Cous Cous? Mmmmm." It was absolutely the cutest thing.

You are so aware of your surroundings. I think you know almost every animal now and can name them or ask to see them if you want - this month the Panda bear is your favorite. You can group like themes such as numbers, letters and colors. Gamma asked you to point to an "a" on a sign and you easily did. You can do many, many puzzles now and it is easy for you to get the shapes into the right place on the board.

While it is all very sweet and fun, you are still exploring the early stages of terrible twos. You will whine to try and get what you want, the video below explains it all.

I cant wait to see the discoveries in the next months as we head into becoming a 2 year old!

Love Mommy

Wine of the Moment

So now that spring has sprung, I have decided to switch from my standard red wine to something light, crisp and refreshing. May I introduce Prosecco to you. For those who may not know, Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine, created by grapes of the same name.

I don't happen to follow the conventions of white with chicken/pork and red with beef, I drink what I have a good taste for. I discovered this wine in the aisle of Whole Foods while planning my meal over the holidays and wanted a different treat. We served it as a toast at the beginning of the meal and it was excellent. I grabbed it again for Easter, again it was a nice with our holiday meal and it made quite a refreshing Mimosa with some fresh squeezed OJ.

Now I am not a big champagne drinker, but this sparkling wine delivers. It has a crisp, refreshing taste and is not too dry or too sweet. It is affordable enough to stock up and not just save for special occasions. On nice spring days, I have poured myself a glass and enjoyed for myself while sitting outside. So if you want to try something different yet refreshing that can be served at a special event or just because, grab a bottle...you won't be disappointed.

To find more info, check out Riondo Prosecco