Champagne for the Soul

Specifically sparkling white wine from Spain makes a woman happy.
I think this has to happen more often.
I'm listening to my writing music while downing a bottle of Cava and it is amazing. I feel 20... Which is pretty fantastic considering that's a ten year difference.
Maybe it's just alcohol in general, but I believe each has its own special flavor. Hard liquor is the kind of thing I drink when feelings are intense. Beer is a drink of friends and live music. Wine is a drink of dinner and sophistication. And then there is champagne.
Yes I know champagne is a word reserved for French sparkle, but let's be a little less anal.
Champagne is beautiful - glittering, rising in a delicate glass. It is the epitome of celebration and happiness. The conclusion is that we, that is everyone, should drink more champagne. Despite sugar contents etc, I'm sure I can make that happen. What about you?

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Basque Food - A Bad Idea - Adventures in Bako

Okay people. I don't know whose bright idea it was to conspire against unsuspecting newbies, but it's not cool. I am here to attest to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Bakersfield Basque food sucks.

If you want overcooked vegetables, cold spaghetti, unsalted over fried french-fries, rubbery shrimp, and chilled cheap wine, then by all means, go eat Basque. I personally don't want to pay $20 a plate for parmesan cheese from a Kraft cheese container on my pasta.Even the flan was rubbery and flavorless. This, my friends, is impressive. The level of fail was so complete, it was unbelievable. I would NEVER EVER take a friend to a Basque restaurant. And this, is not even discussing the amazing and infamous pickled cow tongue. Yeah. Try and imagine if freshwater eel, vinegar, and rotting beef were put together. That is the texture and flavor. So if you're into that, sure - eat it. But for my part, I'll stick to steakhouses.

I am warning you so you don't make the same mistake I did. Don't believe the people who say this thing is so delicious. It's just not true. You'd get higher quality and better prepared food at a steakhouse. Honestly.

And guys, we went to the BEST Basque restaurant, supposedly, in Bakersfield. We went to Wool Growers.  This is the place Barbara goes to when she comes to town. In fact, she comes to Bako specifically for this restaurant. I guess when you have millions of dollars, paying $20 for bizarre less than diner quality fare doesn't bug you. For me, I'd rather go elsewhere.

So, for the love of GOD, don't do it. Just don't. It's not worth it. Unless you have Monopoly money.

The Fly and The Wine - When Bugs Kamikaze & Other Superpowers

Christian, like me, has some "superpowers." One of his is his attraction to bugs. I don't mean he is interested in checking out every single spider and beetle (Although he does stop quite often when there is a particularly interesting specimen on the sidewalk!). Rather, bugs love bugging Christian.

I have never seen someone have more problems with insects than Christian does.

On at least two separate occasions I've seen a bug dive-bomb his eye, land, crawl under his lid and proceed to explore the area. This, understandably, causes Christian to stop whatever he is doing, bend slightly at the waist, wave his arms around and yell, "GAH! There's a bug in my eyeball!!"

Usually, the bugs die or get caught in his lashes, rather than marching around on the whites of his eyes. Often times on hikes, clouds of insects will hover around Christian's head and completely bypass my own. Flies almost always settle on Christian's skin, while they avoid mine entirely. It is a strange phenomenon, which we can only guess has to do with his pheromones, poor guy.

Last night, as usual, a fly was attracted to Christian. We were in a nice restaurant off Stockdale in Bakersfield, and had purchased a bottle of delicious Petite Sirah. Throughout the course of our meal, the fly would requently buzz around Christian's head, and because of my proximity, it made several passes around my plate. Eventually, much to Christian's disappointment, it became attracted to his wine glass, and then, it happened. In a flash, the fly flew headlong into Christian's half-full wine glass. This caused Christian to say flatly, "Well, that's disappointing." We watched as the fly swam around the wine, refusing to die. We decided to help it out by using a spoon to fish the thing out - not thinking we could have been comped if we had left it there. After the fly was out, it cleaned itself for about thirty seconds straight, and then, in another flash - flew away.

Apparently some flies enjoy a robust red wine from time to time. This one in particular had good enough genes to last for quite some time before being fished out. It was a strange thing to see it swimming so strongly, get out, and fly away like nothing had happened. I guess even flies have superpowers.

Feminist Fashionista - Dynamo Coco Chanel

Chanel in the 20s

Most of the time we think of fashionistas as shallow, frivolous, and perhaps even ditzy. The "best" stereotype of the fashionista involves arrogance, snobbery, and condescension.  Thing is, fashion is more than just the mindless flippancy of the Legally Blondes of the world.  It is a statement and dictates more than just culture.  It is a means to liberation or bondage.

This past week on March 8, International Women's Day came and went.  I was thinking about it all week.  How women have come such a long way during the 20th century and now we're facing some serious steps back with things like quiverfull women, redefinition of rape victims, and the systematic war against reproductive rights.  It makes me wonder what is going on in people's minds that they could even suggest these ideas, let alone discuss rewriting law or completely reshaping their lives to accommodate perversions of sacred texts.

But let's get back to something small that impacts women daily and frequently goes unnoticed - fashion.  Clothing says something about a person.  Now a woman can wear anything she likes.  Her options are open.  If she wants to dress in clothing fit to play contact sports she can.  If she wants to wear clothing that reference days when clothing was an extension of female repression, she can. More than any one woman, Coco Chanel paved the way for the woman's ability to choose how she would live.

At first changing how she herself dressed was something she did for her own comfort. She did this even though it blatantly flouted the convention of her day. When she began her fashion house, she really transformed the nature of clothing for women.  No longer were women forced into debilitating and painful clothing.  They could breathe.  Their internal organs could stay in the place nature intended.  She referenced working class patterns, fabrics, and designs rendering them elegant and eye-catching. Things that had been looked down upon were given artistry and beauty.  Even the simplest things could become elegant statements of feminine expression.

Though fashion now is considered something of a luxury relegated to celebrity and wealth, the roots of modern fashion facilitated the increased freedom of women and allowed for subsequent cultural transformation.  It's worth watching the movie Coco Before Chanel (I recommend the special features as well). Take a minute to raise a glass of Champagne to one of the most important women of the 20th century - here's to you Coco!

Cheap and Romantic - The Best Valentine's Day Plans

I should have started planning months ago, at least if I was industrious and thought I would have options I would have. As it was, my mind was occupied with other things.  It's for this reason I've only recently started thinking about it. 

That's right.  After February 6, I have another celebration I have to plan - Valentine's Day.  I've made Christian come up with plans too often in the past and I think I'm long overdue to come up with our celebration plans.  Seeing as I have a limited budget with which to work, I have to be a little more creative.

This will be our sixth Valentine's Day together, and our third as a married couple.  The last few V days have involved anything from watching the sunset from the Santa Ynez mountains complete with wine and cheese, to dressing up and going to a movie theater where they serve dinner in several courses.  This year I think we're going to have to do something different.  Because Christian has been making the plans, he's largely tried to do things that would impress me, sweet as he is.  I guess this year it's time for me to return the favor.

In the urban Northeast, where I grew up, there were very few people who went camping.  Sure, I went to summer camp.  Summer camp consisted of a week along a finger lake in upstate New York with a single night in a sleeping bag under the stars, the rest in cabins with full bathrooms. I had fun, but I wouldn't say it was roughing it by any means.  I haven't really done any kind of tent camping ever.  Having a pop tent in your basement with all your stuffed animals at the age of four doesn't really count.  So you can imagine my reluctance to allow Christian to take me camping.  Unfortunately for me, he went backpacking with some friends a couple years ago which required him to get some camping gear.  Since then, I've warmed to the idea, at least for short outings, if not full months in the wilderness armed only with anti-microbal underwear and a camping stove.

So what will we do this Valentine's Day? Well, we'll go camping of course!  Wine, aged cheese, some veggies and dip, and a little fire under the stars.  The cost will be minimal and we'll be able to do something nice - getting away in a beautiful place - which is perfect considering the resources at our disposal.  While this may have seemed unappealing three years ago, now, it sounds like the perfect way to celebrate my husband and my relationship this Valentine's Day.

Games and Wine - A Recipe for Friends

"It's only supper and cards, but we shall have some laughs." Pride and Prejudice

Recently one of our friends started having a weekly game night at her apartment.  This is one of those kinds of activities which is useful for two reasons.  Firstly, anyone can play board games.  It's not like baseball.  If my friends wanted to band together and form a baseball team, I simply couldn't play.  I am that bad at that type of hand-eye coordination.  Secondly it requires some time out of everyone's life is scheduled to hang out with friends (in our case, to make more friends).  In a day in age when you have to pencil everything in because of mix-and-match schedules, its nice to have some time set aside to be with people you really like to be with (as opposed to co-workers who you may or may not like).

Beyond the usefulness of a game night, there are other implications.  We are officially late twenty-somethings.  This is an activity I distinctly remember my parents participating in when I was little (which would put them in their early thirties).  Their game nights primarily consisted of Trivial Pursuit death matches.  Ours include a wide swath of games from Apples to Apples, to Uno, to The Game of Things, and we continue to discover new games.  Oh yes, and food, and wine.  Lots of wine.  I think the wine we consume effectively rules out our ability to compete in a game like Trivial Pursuit.  However the hilarity at our antics might be well worth it.

Every stage in life has its set of things people do.  There are reasons why game nights tend to attract late twenty-somethings.  As younger adults unencumbered by babies or children (of any age really) we are able to drop what we are doing at a moment's notice.  We don't have to worry about a babysitter for our cat for a few hours.  It's not necessary.  We're not interested in going out binge drinking or clubbing to pick up random and generally skanky people.  We're happily married.  We just want to hang out with friends, talk and laugh, and enjoy some fun and some food while we do it. 

As a person who is actively attempting to foster friendships and seeing what works and what doesn't, I would suggest to anyone looking to make some more friends to start a game night.  It's low pressure and games give you an opportunity to talk about any number of subjects in a comfortable environment.  It's the perfect friend making environment! What can you lose?! So invite some people, have them bring their games (and invite a couple other people), make some stew or pasta and have fun! You'll be glad you did.  I know I am.