Wine and Women

A wise person once said that our friends are the family that we choose. It had to have been a woman. As women, we support each other, celebrate our successes, and mourn our losses. Luckily, I have good friends. And together, we have decided to bring back the happy hour.

Yesterday, in the late afternoon, my friend of thirty-five years, Paula Eller, met me at the house of a third friend, Laurie Austen. Originally from upstate New York, she has become a dear friend since meeting her through her employment at a local college. We always have a great time whenever we get together, and seem to learn something new.

There is another component of our soirees as well; the wine and food! Paula is famous for her cheese ball; a creamy, chocked-full-of-tiny-bits-of-stuff concoction that is rolled in finely chopped nuts. Divine! Luckily she prepared one of those, some mini quiches and spicy nuts. Laurie made real empanadas, those spicy meat filled pies that require a specific dough that she gets at a specialty food shop in Winston-Salem, about fifty miles from here. I brought homemade chicken salad using only the white meat. So good! Laurie and I brought wine, so we had several to choose from; French white, Vouvray; an Italian red, San Andrea in Colle Chianti; and an interesting California red wine blend called: Sexy Wine Bomb, and subtitled, ‘blends have more fun’!

We started with the Vouvray, and moved on to the California red. The chianti will have to wait for another gathering.

We are celebrating my first writing successes at this party, but they also have ideas for me. Paula has someone in mind to help me with the old/new computer issues and Laurie has downloaded information on speakers visiting her college who are writers and publishers. What fabulous support! They are excited for me as I have been for them throughout their adventures and new endeavors. It is the truest spirit of friendship. Any problem can be solved, any victory celebrated, around a table of food, wine, and women!