*Mom's Anniversary*

December 5th was the one year anniversary of my Mom's passing.  Interestingly enough, the two night's before I had a dream about her.  I was able to hug her in the dream, hold her, cry and and talk to her for a little bit, telling her I loved and missed her so much.  She was trying to be strong but I saw how much it was breaking her up to see me this way.  She said she had to go and that it was her time.   I didn't want to argue with her although so many of us believe something so very different.  And then it was over.  I'm sure this was her way of letting me know she was ok but I just can't help but feel a part of me will forever be missing.  That's what made that Monday the 5th, so special, that my friends have continued this past year to help fill that void, and I'm so appreciative of all of them.

Drinking Palmina Wine from the last trip to Solvang the family made with Mom!  Thankful for the wonderful
gals in this photo and everyone who stopped by that day, reached out, has checked in throughout the year, and
more.  I couldn't be as strong as I've been without your support and love.  My Mom is smiling down on the fact
I have such wonderful friends and family.  She'd really be proud <3

I set up the day with a morning walk, and then relaxing, food, Champagne & wine, cheese, dessert, movies, my girlfriends, and memories of Mom.  A special thank you to Kristina (all that amazing wine & Champs), Emily, Giana, Carolyn, Rachel, Lauren, Courtney, Fern, and Kenni whom stopped by, brought flowers, special gifts, Wisconsin cheese, wine, or hung out (thanks to my Improv crew for excusing me for the day), and to Nick for the beautiful flowers and thoughts from Wisconsin, my family for their special tribute, and all of my friends that said prayers, sent texts, messages, and more.  They were so greatly appreciated.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Beautiful flowers from Rachel, Nick & Giana :)

It was truly the best day it could have been, barring the circumstances and I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.  I read the Eulogy I read at my Mom's funeral; it was the first time I had read it since the funeral, and there was not a dry eye in the room.  We shared funny stories about my Mom, and just had a girl's day, the way Mom would have wanted it to be.  Even if she would have taken a nap in the early evening before the movie started.  We closed out the night with 'Pretty Woman,' one of my Mom's favorites and before I knew it, the day was over, and it was just another day in December.

Mom...the hugs, phone conversations, love, funny jokes, memories or thoughts never cease to exist, and I wish I could have a million more shared with you.  I'm actually surprised I've been able to go on at all because this was the most difficult thing I've ever gone through, and I know I'm only able to because of the strength and compassion you have instilled in me.  I end this blog with a quote I posted to my Pinterest.  "For the rest of my life, I will search for moments full of you."  It's amazing how I feel your prescence and all of a sudden you're there, and then you're gone; but I will forever live for those moments knowing you're walking beside me, except when it's too hard for me to walk, you will be the one carrying me, and that set of footprints will become one <3

We miss you every day, Mommy!

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my Mommy you'll be.

Mom & Dad's September Visit to LA! Part 2.

After spending a wonderful couple of days in Carmel with family, Mom, Dad and I headed to Solvang to spend a couple days there!  It was just a couple hours from Carmel to Solvang but I was really bummed there were no Football games being broadcasted on AM radio in California!  How was I supposed to get my Sunday Football fix?!

Thankfully, after we arrived in Solvang and checked into The Hadsten House (where Mom and I had stayed this past May) we made our way to Los Olivos to check out a couple wineries before the day was over.  We were able to catch the tail end of the Packer Game, and lucky for us, they pulled off a win, after a huge deficit!  We really liked the wine at Arthur Earl & Alexander Wayne.  They had lots of options to choose from and we were able to tailor it to our taste.  We even bought some dips and hot sauce at these tasting rooms!  

First Wine Tasting in Solvang at Daniel Gehr's!

We did start our day at Daniel Gehr's since it was where my incredible Port came from!  I picked up a bottle of Pinot Gris from there while Mom and Dad decided on a Late-Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Alexander & Wayne.  Thankfully we were sharing tastes at these rooms and that gave us all a chance to taste different wines.  As we walked back to the car we saw the Carhartt Winery.  What?  Could it be a Winery that Dad would actually like and be excited about?  The Tasting Room was small with just a couple stools and there was Led Zepplin on the radio...I loved it!  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for us in there so we went to the back patio where there was plenty of room and beautiful furniture.  We ended up moving back into the Tasting Room after some people left because the owner was there and just more friendly than our server was.  I ended up getting a Syrah from there and we found out throughout the day Mom actually liked Syrah's & Malbec's.  It just had to have certain components that appealed to her taste buds.  She likes more earthy reds that have a quick finish while I prefer the more fruity reds and full-bodied whites.

Banana's Foster.  Amazing.

That night we went to Dinner at Checco, and the only positive thing I can say about the restaurant was that the Caprese Salad was good.  It was really disappointing and the service was some of the worst we'd ever had.  Not to dwell on that Mom and I went to grab dessert at Hadsten House and had the best Banana's Foster I've ever had.  It's not something I would typically order but the way the Bartender described it, sold us, since we wanted something that would fill us up.  This dessert was so perfectly sweet and prepared I can't say enough amazing things about it!  Even if you're not a banana person, this dessert was incredible!  You just have to try it to see.

The next morning after a nice breakfast at the Hotel we went to Lucas & Lewellen where they have some sweeter white wines and then we checked out Tocatta, their sister Tasting Room.  I really liked the wines at Tocatta, and they had a Sweet Red Wine, that we ended up getting two bottles of.  One for me and one for Mom & Dad!  We walked around Solvang and checked out some of the shops and then went to the Chumash Casino so Mom could gamble for a little bit.  I came out $25 ahead so that was good enough for me and Dad and I enjoyed some refreshing cocktails at the bar until Mom was left penniless ;)

Dad & I hanging out at the Casino Bar...just waiting for Mom ;)

We did stop in Santa Barbara to check out a couple of the Tasting Rooms there.  We shared these as well, and couldn't even finish them because they were very red-heavy and I think at that point, we were all wined out!  We got to LA in the early evening and all ended up crashing early after such a long weekend!  More about the last part of our trip in Part 3!

Mom's May Visit to LA! Part 3.

We did so much during the week that Mom was out here in LA!  She got to come to work with me, see me play the Wicked Witch in Wizard Of Oz, we took a road trip to Solvang, and capped off the week with her seeing me Host at Afterbuzz TV!

On Tuesday morning we had a yummy breakfast in the Dining Room at Hadsten House and then decided to spend some time in downtown Solvang.  We walked into the shops and candy stores.  I hadn't seen Rock Candy on a stick since going to Wisconsin Dells when I was 12!  The candy stores had all the old candy I remembered as a kid; it was crazy.  We ended up buying some fudge that was fantastic and had to take a picture in front of the windmill.

Bridlewood Winery & Vineyards

We decided before making our way back to LA to stop at one more winery in Santa Ynez, so we went to Bridlewood, as I had researched and the pictures were just gorgeous.  As you make your way into the winery, the driveway is tree-lined, and there are different types of flowers everywhere.  The Tasting Room was actually on the vineyard so after doing our tasting we were able to take a tour of the grounds.  Once again, this winery had a Red-heavy menu and were more earthy than fruity so they weren't our favorites but I would go back to this winery purely for the view.  The great thing about this winery was how beautiful it was and how immaculate the grounds were kept.  We got to go down to the horse corral, and then walked to the pond area, where you could picnic and oversee a good part of the vineyard.  This was so different than anything we had seen so I was glad we were able to stop here on our way home.  As we made our trip back to LA, we also stopped in Santa Barbara and walked along the pier.  We went into some of the shops and both of us picked out some earrings in remembrance of our little road trip!

Mom by the Pond & Vineyards at Bridlewood

I was Hosting both of my shows at the Afterbuzz TV studios that night so Mom was my guest and got to see how I spend my Tuesday evenings.  We started off watching Real Housewives of New York which is a show she's never seen, and the reality show I do with my Co-Hosts.  There are four Hosts, Ashley, Courtney, Stephanie, and myself for that show so we tend to have a longer discussion with lots of opinions and ideas and normally have a guest calling in to the show which is great!  This week's episode was true to form with lots of drama and plenty to talk about.  Next up, it was Supernatural my CW show that's on it's 9th season and I Host with Tom and Travis.  We have a lot of fun talking about the show and usually have some good laughs when we're chatting or giving predictions.  Mom really enjoyed watching us do the show together and seeing the studios.  She said she didn't realize how big the studios were when she was watching our recaps but that it was really awesome to see me doing my Hosting job in-person and live.

With my Co-Host, Courtney, at Afterbuzz TV, for our Real Housewives of New York After-Show!

No trip to LA would be complete for Mom without some Yogurtland, so we did that on her first and last day here in LA, except it was Menchies on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday morning, Mom and I made a stop at Panera for an early Lunch and then I dropped her off at the airport.  Even though she was here for a week, it felt so much shorter with how much we had going on this whole time.  Hopefully she'll come and visit me again soon because I miss her already :)

Thanks for everything while you were out here visiting Mom...love you lots <3

Mom's May Visit to LA! Part 2...The Wine Adventure.

After a fun-filled week in LA it was time for Mom and I to take a little road trip to Solvang to spend a couple days relaxing, eating good food, and drinking great wine!  I had looked up some Wineries on Sunday night to prep us for the following couple of days and get some good ideas before we got there.  Yes, I'm a planner; I try to be spontaneous but it's nice to have good options over nothing!

We left on Monday morning and checked in at Hadsten House in Solvang and made our way to Los Olivos to start our Wine Tasting Adventure!  In addition to our stay at Hadsten we had our choice of over 20 wineries with complimentary tastings and most people find they save as much money as the cost of the room just by using that discount.  Awesome!  Our first stop was Daniel Gehr's Winery which I'd read on Yelp had an incredible port that everyone must try.  We liked most of the wines we tasted there, but really enjoyed the Riesling and of course, the Fireside Port.  I loved this winery and how friendly everyone was; I felt happiness as soon as I walked in the door, and as soon as we mentioned we were from Wisconsin, we chatted with a fellow Packer fan who works at the Tasting Room and has season tickets to the games!  We bought the Port and were on our way to the next Winery.

Our first stop on our Wine Tasting Adventure was Daniel Gehr's Winery :)

It was just a block and a half away to Coquelicot, and our server, was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.  Their menu also gave descriptions of wine and key words, using comedy to explain which definitely comes in helpful after a couple stops.  My favorite wines at this Winery were the Back Seat Blonde and Back Seat Brunette.  I loved the lime and mango flavors in the Blonde but really enjoyed the Blackberry in the Brunette.  Mom liked the description of the Brunette which made our decision easy, especially since we're not Blonde.  We bought the Red and then took a little walk around Los Olivos.  There were probably 15 wineries in this four block radius so you really had plenty of options but I was so happy with both of those I was ready to get closer to our Hotel.  We did stop at one more and shared the tasting but since they were heavy on the Red Wines and Mom prefers White we didn't buy anything because nothing stuck out to us.

Daniel Gehr's had given us complimentary tastings to Lucas & Lewellen in downtown Solvang so that was our last stop of the day.  I loved this winery because you had a choice of a Red Tasting, White Tasting, Sweet White Tasting, or Mixed.  I chose the White and Mom got the Sweet White.  We enjoyed both of our tastings but after a long day of drinking wine, I wish we would have saved this for the following morning.  I do remember how good the Viogner was, and we actually bought two bottles, so Mom could take one with her!  This will only ensure I'll be back again to try the wines and buy more on my next visit.  Once again, they were very helpful here and happy to answer any questions we had so I look forward to stopping by again soon!

After hearing so many rave reviews about the chef at Hadsten House we decided to have Dinner there.  I started with the Lobster Bisque which had a puff pastry shell on top and was absolutely amazing.  Mom got the Warm Spinach Salad which was just as good as my soup.  They were out of the Braised Short Ribs which is what Mom wanted to order so she chose the Chicken Marsala and I got the Sea Scallops which had a Parmesan risotto and white truffle oil.  They were the best Scallops I have ever had, perfectly cooked, and paired so well with the risotto.  I was really impressed with my meal!  We still had dessert left so Mom got the Apple Pie with a house-made caramel sauce and I got the Creme Brulee that was really good too.  Overall, I was really happy and glad that we decided on that for Dinner!

Entrees & Dessert at Hadsten House in Solvang...thanks Mom!!

Since we had spent most of the day drinking we took a little nap and then went over to the Chumash Casino to do some gambling.  I knew Mom was looking forward to this for days!  We spent a few hours there and for the time we were there I didn't lose all that much, so it was kind of fun to do something I don't get to do very often.  And just spend time with Mom too :)  We had gotten upgraded to a spa suite when we checked in and there was no way I wasn't going to use that giant jacuzzi tub with fireplace and flat-screen TV before we left, so we took a little dip in the tub and watched some 'Sex In The City' before bed.  Talk about an awesome day!

The Wine Adventure and Road Trip continues in Part 3!