Exploring and Making Friends Through Wine

Wow! It has been quite a long time since my last blog. During my unemployment I have started my own freelancing business. It’s slow to start, but I’m keeping the faith. As I’ve previously mentioned, my husband is an avid motorcycle rider. During his unemployment, he’s been able to focus on one of his loves…riding. He attended MANY trackdays as a rider and a coach, which took him away for most weekends and several weekdays. Once that ended, we needed to get back to doing things together. One thing I LOVE and he enjoys is wine tasting. New Jersey has 34 wineries and several wine events all year long. Here are two of the great things we discovered in our wine explorations: people and places.

New Jersey isn’t all that big, but so diverse in people and landscape. Our wine travels have taken us all over the state. From South Jersey to the mountains of North Jersey and West. I’ve lived here almost all my life and would have never seen some of the beautiful landscapes of the different areas of New Jersey. We’ve tasted wines in beautiful large log cabin type places to barns with stable of horses. From the shoreline to gorgeous farms and orchards.

Now for the people. I never realized how wine brings people together. We’ve met twenty-somethings and Senior citizens, bikers and yuppies…all at one time. Everyone (mostly everyone) is outgoing, fun and friendly. You do encounter the occasional wine snob…but you quickly move on from them. What a great way to meet people, mostly in a casual atmosphere, with the same interests. Then there are the “winetenders”, those knowledgeable pourers of wine. Most are fun and take the time to help you learn and really enjoy the wines. All in all, I highly recommend this sort of “activity” to my wine drinking friends. Visit www.newjerseywinegrowers.com for a list of wineries and events. Cheers!

Unemployed – It’s a good thing…right?

Here I am again in the unemployment realm. I feel a little more confident this time, and somewhat excited. I think my biggest issue with any job I’ve had is the fact that I can’t make my own schedule.  I’ve never been able to find that perfect work-life balance.  Now I think I’m headed down that road. With the help of a great contact (who’s turning into a good friend). I’ve decided to branch out on my own.

Everyone who knows me (or thinks they do) all say that I have a great personality for PR. I’ve always wanted to do this but have seemed to be on the outskirts of this path. I’ve done the Marketing and Events part, with a little PR, and have enjoyed it all. Now I think I can put them all together, of course with the help of all those great contacts and friends I’ve made throughout my career. I’m also not giving up on my fledgling acting career, which hopefully this new foray gives me more time to explore. So here it goes, here’s to a successful freelance career! I’ve spoken of the “Journey” before, and it continues.

Will this be my spark?

Yes, it’s true, the Jersey Shore has been blasted once again by Ol’ Man Winter! My husband was lucky enough to escape this latest blast of snow by heading south to Daytona to help some friends out at Bike Week. I always enjoy a few good days of solitude. Especially as I prepare to start my new job on Monday.

I have also been battling a cold (the second one in two years!). My energy level has been zapped and I have zero motivation for much. I think I’ve realized the reason.

I have been so miserable at my job that when I come home I’m mentally drained. I’ve realized that I need to concentrate more on our future and use this new job to ignite something within me…to wake me up! I’m also inspired by these amazing Olympic athletes as the Winter Olympics come to a close. So I will take these last few days of solitude, the Closing Ceremonies and the hope of a wonderful new place of employment and look to the future!

Bring on Spring!!

Blizzards and dreams

We are digging out of from blizzard #2 of 2010 here at the Jersey Shore. Great timing as I was on furlough this week. I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped, but I got to live inside my head for awhile…and it wasn’t such a scary place.

With my resignation coming in 2 days (yaaay!) and my new job beginning in 2 weeks (double yaaay!), I am super excited about the future, immediate and long-term.

With this time off I was able to dream a little, get back to yoga/pilates routine and back to healthier eating. Not a bad nine days off.

So thank you blizzards and furlough for giving me much needed decompression and self time.

One step closer

Congratulations to me! I went ahead and got myself a new job. Well…same job, but somewhere else. This job will give me additional experience that will help me long-term and more money, so for that, I am grateful. Although it’s scary, I know it’s something I need to do for the present and the future.

On another note, my friends seem to think I should blog about my healthy cooking and my road to vegetarianism. I’m still contemplating this. But I have so many different things that I’m passionate about: healthy, sustainable, locally-grown, organic foods and wines (food and wine in general), Yoga, Pilates and living a more eco-friendly life. I wouldn’t know how to separate out these things. But I am on “furlough” this week, so maybe I’ll start. Who knows…I’m getting more excited about the future =)

Bump in the Road

So, I’m still muddling along with all the steps I’ve put into place. But, my husband just lost his job. I can either look at this as motivation, or a bump in the road. Neither are really bad.

My husband is a jack of all trades, and very good at anything he sets out to do. So I have no worries that he’ll find a job soon…but may not give him the flexibility he needs.

I on the other hand have taken this as an opportunity to search even harder for a new job.

The journey continues and there is never a dull moment!

My journey!

I am not going to use this space to introduce myself.  I think I did a pretty good job of that in my description.  This will be used to chronicle the highs (and hopefully very few lows), of my journey to start mine and my husbands new life in #California.

We have pretty much settled on the #Ventura area for our #relocation.  This is for various reasons, i.e. My husband is an avid #motorcycle rider and racer, both dirt and street.  I love all things California – the beach, the weather, #organic/locally grown food and wine.

Our goal is to move when my step-son graduates (2014).  So these are the steps I’m currently making to get the ball rolling:

- Finding a new career path that would most suit the life, economy and career resources of that area (I am currently a Marketing/Events coordinator)

- Continue researching the area to narrow down exactly where we want to settle (we try to make at least 1 visit a year).

- Slowly paying down debt and getting the house ready to sell

It may not be the most interesting story or journey, but I think it will help me de-stress…along with Yoga and meditation…LOL.

Here’s to wishing myself a happy journey!