As you read this, I am in Napa...tasting, nibbling, eating, smiling.

I love to drink. Wine. Gin. Good wine! Great gin. Wonderful prosecco.

I could go on.

But yes, today as you read this, hubbie and I have waved goodbye to the kids (think Adults) and we are on our own, tasting, nibbling.

We have a plan for today. The Mumm vineyard, tasting room and gift shop. Here, we are drinking (I hope) their rose, which I adore and cannot buy in Texas, darn it! Also, I am buying goodies from their wonderful shop as giveaways for this year to a few readers.

Mondavi's oak barrels! My pix from last year!

We'll also do the Mondavi vineyard and their tasting room for Club members. Sounds ritzy, I know. But it is very good and affordable, especially if you love great wine. At Mondavi, like the other vineyards here in Napa, to join their club means you not only get regular shipments of their wines year round at a discount, but also when you come to Napa you have the wonderful opportunity to come to their club rooms, sit, drink their very best wines and nibble marvelous h'ors.

I sound like a commercial?

I know. I know. But for those of you who have read my blogs before, you know I am a hopelessly addicted cook. And hubbie, bless his soul, loves to pair the best wines with my goodies.

So here we are!

Can you see us? Narrow your eyes.  There you go!

We're drinking to your health!

Places that wind up in my stories

Looking back at all the places I've lived and traveled, I KNOW so many of them wind up in my fiction (of course, my non-fiction, too...yep, of which there is A LOT).
(FYI: PIX here is mine taken from the corridor window of the Doge's Palace in Venice, looking across the Lagoon. Inhale. Appreciate. Dream.)
I thought for the hell of it, I'd list some of the places I've been, just for fun and reflection. Next week I am off with 2 other couples to a Shakespeare Festival in Utah (where I have never been before) and thought, hmmm.
Here's my list, if for no other reason, than my random day-dreaming and yours (not in any order, either!):
New York, Brooklyn, Long Island, Syracuse, Watertown, Binghamton
Pennsylvania: Scranton and Peckville, Lancaster, Phillie, Pittsburgh
Washington and all points north and south within 100 miles radius
BALTIMORE! Hated Charm City growing up and then they CLEANED IT UP and as an adult, I adore it.
Virginia: Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia Beach
London
Paris
sigh.
Florence, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Guistino. CAN I LIVE HERE, please?
Venice. Live here, too, please.
Bonn, Cologne, Munich. Ja vohl, Ich bin eine Deutsche Madchen. I need to return, reconnect to my roots. In September, I think I will!
Japan: Tokyo and Okinawa. Where I taught university level Chinese and Japanese History. Yes. I did. And I taught foreign army officers how to speak jargoned English.
Boston, Cape Cod.
Maine. York Beach. wow. I wanna go eat lobster. Want to come with?
Chicago.
Seattle.
Greece, Athens and Mykonos. Athens and Mykonos. Can I go back??? Soon?
Israel. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Inhale deeply.
Hmm. There may be more.
One note: I hate tours. (THAT IS IN BOLD.) Repeat with me. Too fast, too simplistic. your life is run by guides who have their own preferences--and sometimes their own misinformation! I can speak German and Chinese, but I can get along otherwise.
WHAT HAS TRAVEL done for YOU?
Changed your life, your thinking about who you are? What you want? How you live?
Mine has.
How? I live more and more with good food, fine wine, dining with friends who have marvelous perspectives on life, an education and intriguing careers and endeavors.
AND...
I LIVE for my annual (sometimes) bi-annual now, trips to Europe. AND I AM SAVING MY SHEKELS for China. And Egypt.
Ciao, bella!

Chillin'

The DH and I took an overdue weekend away. We stayed in NH and traveled into ME. What a wonderful time. The weather was in the 50s. The people of Maine must have thought it was a heat wave. They were out in their shorts and t-shirts. We witnessed people playing tennis and the parks were filled with children. It was refreshing. It was a sign that spring isn’t too far away.

We shopped in Kittery, Portland and Freeport. I haven’t walked that much in a VERY long time.

In Portsmouth we ate downtown at a place called Friendly Toast. I have to say the food was fabulous. It’s very retro. There was an old Superman pogo stick, the RCA dog, and board games from 30+ years ago hanging on the walls. An old Borden’s Ice Cream sign too. The DH and I kept spotting things and saying – look at that. I don’t think two dishes matched in the place. LOL

The wait to get in was out the door both times we went. Yes, we went back, the food was that good.

We hated to come back, but the kids were going nuts. By three on Sunday afternoon we were getting calls and texts asking when we’d be home. LOL We finally broke down and headed home around 5ish. It was nice to sleep in my own bed.

Tomorrow I go back to work and the DH heads out to OK for a business trip. I’m looking forward to the distraction. I have soooooooo much stuff that needs to get done, but no desire to do any of it.

I want to finish Sliding Home my newest M/M by month end. I’m about 3-5k away. Then there’s the last sex scene of Shea Manor. I thought I finished this book, but as I was editing it I realized I left out the most important fantasy for the heroine. DUH!

So hopefully I’ll get some writing done today. Happy Tuesday.

Oh and I’m on the coming soon page for Research Required at www.jasminejade.com. March 19th is my next release date! Yay!