Drink Up…For Heart Health & A Great Cause!!

Winemaker Daryl Groom has been a fixture on the Sonoma County wine scene for 20 years. The Australian native was the longtime winemaker for Geyser Peak and, before that, was chief red winemaker for Penfolds in his home country. He currently has his own brands, Groom Wines and DXG Wines.

But Groom’s newest wine project is intensely personal. To coincide with February’s American Heart Month, he’s launching Colby Red to raise money for heart research. What makes it personal is that his 12-year-old son, Colby, has undergone two open-heart surgeries.

Colby was born with a hole in his heart. Although that resolved itself, doctors later found that he had a deformed aortic valve. When he was 8, doctors at Stanford attempted to repair it, but the procedure wasn’t successful. A few months later, he required another operation, this time to implant a heart valve developed by the St. Jude Medical Foundation. Since then, his father says, young Colby has been “on a mission to raise money for heart research.”

But they decided to do a small project together to raise some money. One thing led to another, and soon Groom was talking to Walgreens about the company becoming a retail partner. Treasury Wine Estates — parent company to Beringer as well as to Groom’s old employer, Penfolds — got involved, to  and 25,000 cases of Colby Red were produced. The wine is being sold in more than 4,500 Walgreens stores, in restaurants and online.

 All profits from the wine, which retails for $12.99, will go to heart research, with the bulk of it going to the heart association.  

PICK SOME UP & GIVE BACK DURING COCKTAIL HOUR!

I LOVE THIS PROJECT AND HOW IT HAS EVOLVED!!! 

The Least You Can Do…..

Every person reading this knows someone who is deployed in Iraq.  If you do not directly know someone then ask around…trust me there are more people right in your neighborhood that are working for our country than you might think.  Whether you personally approve of where or what DOES NOT MATTER!  What matters is that those people joined the branches of the military for OUR COUNTRY!  Load up a care package box!  Toiletries ( Q-TIPS, baby wipes, toothbrushes, sunscreen, lotion) , snacks (hard candy, gum, fruit snacks, juice boxes, Oreos), magazines, puzzle books,  Nerf , battery operated fans that mist water…Pretty much the comforts of home, sans the chocolate as it will probably get melty!  Load it in a box and send it out!  It is really the least anyone can do and this is a great thing to do with kids!  Explain where this is going and let them pick out the fun stuff!  I sent out 2 packages this week for a young lady age 21 and a young man of only 19 whose parents are members of our church and school.  I almost cry at the thought of how young they are and I know that I would never have made it at that age.  This is a great way to give back…after all I know you can spare 10 minutes to put a box together…during the commercial of Jersey Shore!  

Snack Day

All I hear these days is….It is your snack day for just about everything.  Last week alone I had to provide 6 dozen cookies, 2 2-Liters of soda, and snacks for 2 classes for movie day!  Maybe I was completely oblivious when I was little but I am just about positive that my parents provided snack for just about NOTHING!   If I am not bringing snacks for the hockey teams, class rooms, or some kind of NEW HOLIDAY then I am buying food at every snack bar we pass on the planet.  My youngest son has been known on many early mornings at the hockey rink to order himself a belly buster serving of SNOT & CHIPS (most of you know this as nachos).  At this point, I literally almost gag at that congealed cheese slowing sliding down day old chips…but the kids inhale them!  Of course they also have eaten plenty of any kind of gross body parts on a bun (also known as the HOT DOG).  Just add ketchup and stuff in mouth!  I have literally spent a small fortune!  A few times for the younger kids I have tried to send something kind of good like Cheese Its…all of a sudden you are like the uncool, alien mom who tried to poison everyone.  And those of you who have tried veggies as a snack…I am even laughing at you!  Maybe I should read Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook…apparently she is a genius of “slipping” healthy items into almost anything!  She clearly lives on planet BULLSHIT!

 

Giving It Up For Lent

I am always amazed at this time of year.  Giving up your absolute favorite thing for 40 days is really asking a lot.  One of my girlfriends had a great idea!  Giving up the thing most of us love the most… giving up the hubby and kids!  The only problem there is finding someone to make sure that they survive!   If you chose alcohol then you risk sanity and ruin St. Patrick’s Day.  If you chose coffee you again risk sanity and in some cases the lives others.  If you chose chocolate you really risk sanity and should probably make sure your husband has life insurance.  It is a tough choice!  Good luck to everyone on this endeavor and this time of quiet reflection.  May you exchange one vice for another.