All and Nothing

All or nothing.

Sometimes you go all in, whole hog, and practically nothing else can compete for your attention. So has been this last year or so. The last of the six WSET Diploma exams, although still haunting my sleep, now over. Books are closed and binders chunked into the closet. Now it's time for some decluttering around the house, online, and in my head. Oh, and it's also sublime to just drink and enjoy a glass of wine without silently (or not) visualizing what an acceptable tasting note would be in order to gain maximum marks on an exam.

Pass or fail, I'll take my own advice that I give to others. Tests can be retaken, enjoy the process. Although in my case it involves getting on planes (which, you know, ick), sleeping in hotel rooms (begging for a quiet spot in the building), and renting cars. This is all in addition to the resit fees, wine samples (if a tasting is involved) and time. So passing the first time is more about economics than ego, really. I'm cheap like that. Val just wants to get it done and not drain her bank accounts for the sake of booze. So, it's done. Pass or not, we'll figure it out in September whether I dive back in this winter. For now? It's time to shed some baggage, and this blog has always been a great place to unload it.

I came back to this space to tidy it up, clear some clutter, and reconnect - with you, with my creative side, with my peace that came from being here. As I trolled through the reading lists in the dashboard I was happy to find some of you still here, but more often than not the many blogs I've interacted with over the last six years were gone or littered with farewells. Click. "Goodbye." Many had last posted in 2013. 2013 must have been a bad year for bloggers. However, more thrilled was I to see those of you who've relocated to your own domains, published your books, and have just moved on to other things. Some lives have become too public to air the laundry we've aired here over the years. It's amazing that the more public your occupation, the more you value your privacy.

Some of you have stayed in touch over the years as my travel became less of my life and my life was less about travel. Some of you know it's been, however, ALL about the wine - so much whole hog that sometimes I think I smell bacon, even after I've showered. I thank those of you that have kept in touch here and there, Michele, Carol, Sara, Chrissy, Trinista, Sam, Sam,  and ... Sam.

There were brief concerns about this space. I mean, I lived in a fishbowl for the first half of my life. It was like being in a box (hence, the name of this blog seven years ago) where everything I did seemed to be under scrutiny by those above me, my peers, and my troops. So by choosing to become a wine media maven and host a podcast show that's growing like crazy, am I putting myself back in a box? Well, I hope not. I treated myself - and some listeners who actually dig a good rant - to an epic rant a few episodes back about dirty ice. OOooh. And, AND? I believe I said "shit" while admitting to podcasting in a sports bra & drinking at 1030 in the morning, because that's when we started recording and we are, after all, a drinking show. I'm classy like that, as you may remember.

But we are also about trying to keep it classy, attract fabulous guests to impart their wisdom, and wine education, but also real for people who want to try new things. We're careful not to yuck anyone's yum, but we are trying to give our listeners some help in choosing their next bottle for maximum enjoyment. There's that fine line, however, that has to be walked between not drink shaming anyone and giving our opinions and not coming off as snotty ... or unprofessional. That fine line is slowly trying to form a box. Well, nobody puts "baby" in the corner ... of a box with her sports bra and $10 Spanish rosado at 1030 in the morning!

For a second I thought maybe this blogspot space has run its course as many others have. Maybe I should keep all my musings over at my sparsely populated Vino With Val blog. But that's more of a business space. The podcast blog at Wine Two Five is mostly show notes and links to our guest's wines or pages, or whatever we were talking about that week. It's meant to be a helpful resource more than anything else. The expression mostly happens in our voices as we banter back and forth about whatever's going on in the wine world.

This is where the realization is clear that I need a space to return to where I can just kick down the walls of that fucking box and write. This is the realization that I do not need to purchase yet another domain name. Nevermind, I just did, just in case. But for now it's OK to leave this obscure blogspot space as it is, as a refuge and a place of freedom at the same time. This is Val Unboxed where my inner snark, political incorrectness, and wine-soaked thoughts can play. Kind of like the cover of the Why Cats Paint book - that image just popped into my head when I think of what this space represents to me ... except there should be a wine glass somewhere near by. This is where I can color outside the lines for my own sanity.

Photo Credit

Disclaimer: I owned cats (actually, they owned me) for 20 years and I never saw them paint. However, having done a few of those "drink wine and paint" social events I am quite sure that my cats could have out painted me. Regardless, this picture, assuming the cat is having a great time, is how we should all approach life as long as doesn't mean being an asshole to other humans around you (many in today's society forget that part).

Bottom line - I'm back, bitches, and I've made several decisions:
- the blogger space stays
- silliness is king
- nostalgia is queen
- and here, I get to be the princess.

It's all about the little things, but nothing could mean more right now.


Peace, love, and drinking wine in sports bras,

Val