Sonoma Country Life

Noelle's Big Night - Petaluma Businesswoman and Women's Initiative Grad Award Winner

Three huge cheers for Petaluma's own Noelle Marshall of One Planet Global Handcrafted Fair Trade Store who scooped a major award for women in business from the Bay Area Women's Initiative - Marin County.

Noelle, a graduate of the ultra-educational, motivational and ultimately empowering Women's Initiative Program was recognized at a special red-carpet ceremony at Marin's R.A.B Motors, along with eight other outstanding North Bay Women in Business, including the Book Passage's Elaine Petrocelli, Bernice Baeza of Larkspur's Lark Theater, Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell of Equator Coffees, Kim Juarez of LOLA, Lydia Kindheart of Lydia's Organics and Lydia's Lovin Foods, Mary Loveland of Indigo Healing Arts, Molly Robbins of LicenZing and Serena Dugan and Lily Kanter of Serena and Lily.

The evening's presentation highlighted North Bay women in business at the plethora of successful entrepreneurship within the community alongside fledgling entrepreneurs such as Noelle, who share a common ground of embracing business models that give back through job creation, mentoring, innovation and visionary community outreach.

To shop for the holiday season from Bar Area Womens Initative member businesses, check out the wi orange pages  and help create quality jobs for future Women's Initiative Graduates by boosting the ability for current business owners to continue to inspire and mentor thousands of new members looking to establish new businesses each year. 

Noelle is readying for a busy holiday shopping season, as more and more of the community look to Fair Trade goods as a more meaningful way to gift and to recieve. Stop by to congratulate Noelle and have a browse goods from more than 20 developing countries at 4 Fourth Street in historic downtown Petaluma.

Harem Scarem Pants

Just had to post a plea to the fashion press, please, please, please will ya cease to promote the season's new runway darling of the return of the horrible Harem Pant?

Now I do have at least one fashionista of international media acclaim who occasionally peruses my posts. If you are reading this today Ms P, I'm begging of you to blast the harem scarems to wardobe kingdom come and don't let these saggy pants get even the slightest look-in on your new season's fashion pages.

I have been following the fashion predictions for the coming year in a few of my favorite mags and it seems that the classic new catch-phrase out there in the couture fashion world is "there's a credit crisis, not a creative crisis" (thanks due to Dior's John Galliano for inspiring every editor's letter of '09 to urge the clothes-loving public not to give up & shop entirely at Target).

If that's the case, and we're going all out for a brighter, more affordable, less bling-based fashion future, why, ohy why, bring the harem pants back now?

Yes, I know I don't have to wear them. No one will force me out for lunch with the girls at Della Fattoria decked out in the latest, jewel-hued harem style, but the real problem lays in the simple truth that I don't even like to look at them. In magazines, on svelte-up-to-the-minute teens, on old men of appropriate religions. Ban the harem pant. At least here in the United States. Please?

And in the meantime, do you suppose that J.Crew ever dreamed of the potent combo of company fan Michelle Obama and this current credit crunch being the biggest PR opportunity imaginable for its clothing line as cult status? Every single fashion feature I have perused in the past few months has made mention of J.Crew as the go-to line for in-filling the designer duds. Now, most of us don't have quite such a dilema in our every-day closets. "Jean Paul Gaultier today, or a tidy little signature Crew twin set?" Still, it's a good thing that the lofty couture writers are getting real, whilst at the same time, preserving high fashion as an art form with an undeniably inspirational, trickle down effect. Just leave the harem pants out of it. Did I make my point?

Will Cash-Strapped America Embrace a Top Shop Invasion?

Ironic timing for Britain's 30-year-old TopShop to launch its first ever non-franchised mega store outside of the UK. Though I suppose if I'd spent upwards of $20 mill on a flagship store, I'd fancy my chances in the fashionista haven of New York's trendy Soho.

Credit crunch or not, this could actually be the best timing to introduce a new wave of everyday fashion at affordable, high street prices.

After all, American girls have finally had the sense to say "enough's enough" with the sky-high ticket price of so many trendy designer labels. Either that, or their credit cards are maxed and Mom and Dad have pulled the plug on footing the bill for any more bloated shopping bags.

Kate Moss, supermodel and de facto TopShop designer certainly can't hurt the store's image much here in America, and though she openly admits in the press that she's never been trained to draw a dress, her pretty little, boho summer frocks will undoubtedly fly off the racks at 478 Broadway come opening time, Mid-March.

With plans to open a second store in New York and additional shops in Vegas, Boston, Miami and LA, it can reasonably be assumed that a TopShop will be coming to San Francisco at some choice point in the near future.

Following hot on the heels of H&M and Zara, a refreshing, young Euro look and price range is really starting to make an impact on the US fashion scene.

As for me, I'm a bit long in the tooth for TopShop these days, having tripped around the store's cheap T-shirts and belt racks as a teen, though my two very well-dressed (younger) sisters still cut a fine figure in their frequent Top Shop finds.

Weddings the Petaluma Way

Researching for an upcoming Petaluma Magazine story on summer weddings and how modern, young Petalumans are planning for the biggest day of their lives is a rather cheery assignment when it comes to some of the grittier stories I have had to write over the past year.

Everyone loves a bride, after all. And so it was that I found myself popping in for a few minutes at Petaluma's first all-local Boutique Party and Wedding Faire this past Saturday.

Produced by Kelin and Vanessa of Petaluma-located eco-chic Clemetine Eco Events , (pictured here) the bridal faire filled Petaluma's Women's Club on B Street with a tastefully sumptuous array of SoCo options for the more sustainable party planner and bride.

From organic catering to downtown boutique wedding gowns, handcrafted gift tags, and the some of the loveliest of locally created custom cakes, some thirty or so vendors were out in their very best bib and tucker to show how stress-free and affordable an in-town wedding or event can be.

Kelin and Vanessa are paving the way for a phenomenal local consortium of super-talented Petaluma-based photographers, floral designers, hair salons, boutique wine vendors and more to gain momentum in a move toward scaled-down, though often incredibly creative nuptials.

Gone are the days when Macy's ruled the bridal registry. There are plenty of Petaluma retail emporiums offering splendid alternatives to out-of-town purchases of big ticket items in the traditional wedding gift arena. i Leoni had a lot to do with helping launch this first local faire.

There is a handy vendor's list available for those who missed out on Saturday's event. Contact Kelin or Vanessa at 707.290.6723 or stop by i Leoni at 113 Kentucky Street to request a copy if you're planning any sort of large (or small) scale festivities during the coming year.

First Ever Holiday Shopping Crawl

Brainchild of super-savvy community man-about-Rivertown John Crowley, Petaluma's first ever Holiday Shopping Crawl is on the calendars of the hip and home-town-minded for Saturday, December 6th, 2008.

In the spirit (minus the boozy part) of Crowley's epic Aqus community Pub Crawls, this all-new incantation of a locavore's holiday shopping marathon is a match-made-in-heaven for the sidewalks of iron-front Victorian downtown. 

Dozens of local merchants are lining up the goodies and holiday open house treats for local shoppers to load up on all sorts of boutique-style gifts for friends and family.

And if that all sounds a bit frenetic, don't fear, for the fine folks at Aqus Cafe at Foundry Wharf will kick-start your Holiday Shopping Crawl experience with steaming hot cups of coffee. Pick up a rubber-stamp-filled crawl card at Aqus to locate participating merchants.

Pub Crawl aficianados will undoubtedly appreciate the moral support of fellow shoppers in parting with the proverbial holiday stash of cash. It's all about the spirit of giving after all, and giving your holiday shopping dollars to local merchants is a mighty magnanimous plan for this particularly precarious season. 

Check out tommorrow's post on Petaluma's first ever fully-dedicated Fair Trade Store.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Email

Last summer's innovative Ghosts of Olompali living history event offered the opportunity to time travel back to the Gold Rush days of California, during which women's rights were at the forefront of this incredible period of American history.

Never before had the acceptance of women's rights been more critical as bold and empowered pioneers blazed unfathomable trails towards a bright new future for all. 

To think that the blood, sweat, tears and toil of this unrivaled era of American evolution could be washed down the drain by a daring Republican 'maverick's' ruthless nomination of an extremist Vice Presidential candidate, is not being taken lightly by the great, great granddaughters of the American West (and East).

Emails are shooting across the country with Winchester-rifle-precision, blasting into the inboxes of women of all generations, race and religious denomination.

The latest sent to me today most eloquently quotes Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston, of the Women Say No to Sarah Palin Campaign, which calls us all to immediate action:

"Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms.Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the
librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet."

"We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so
demonstrably benefited from."

"First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly."

Send a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation. Include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence. womensaynopalin@gmail.com. Responses will be posted on a national blog called "Women Against Sarah Palin." Palin as VP would be history in the un-making. Wave your banner online.

Out of the Closet

There are so many birthdays in my family in September that the calculated round of timely and appropriate gift buying, meticulous wrapping and air mailing at extortionate expense is the perfect dry-run for the fast-approaching holiday season.

I am tempted to implement a swift pact with international siblings and overseas grannies for a 2008 group effort at furnishing an entire African village with swine, goats and dairy cows.

For this afternoon's foray downtown to the various inviting boutiques and 'giftie' stores which have so far weathered the current, on-going economic storm failed to unearth a whole lot of anything worth buying that can fit in a bubbly envelope, at least.

I can't allow myself to buy for the sake of buying. No one wants a gift which merely adds to their own mounting 'regifting' stash. It's a shame to spend good money on a load of rubbish. And so I ended up in Copperfields, my favorite, hometown bookstore, where I never, ever leave empty handed, and nearly always score an author-signed hardback fairly bound to please. 

Coming home to rifle through my muddle of gift wrap and sticky tape supplies, I took a notion to narrow the aforementioned glut of 'regifting' potentials down to merely the prettiest of papers and tags. Taking a big, sturdy brown paper carrier bag (which I've probably had in the bottom of my closet for centuries), I threw caution to the wind of thrifty possibilities and dumped an enormous pile of baubles and bangles and bright shiny things I'd been keeping for a rainy day donation to an auction or a friend with debatable taste.

Because I really don't have any friends with debatable taste, the 'regifting' concept has been spared from flight. And I'm officially swearing off the hideous trend by piling it all into the back of my car for a bumper donation to Alphabet Soup.

Stroll by my favorite thrift store later this week and you'll likely see my loot, baring its soul for a dollar a piece.

According to Wikipedia: "Regifting is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift."

The term apparently originated on an episode of the NBC Sitcom, Seinfield, called 'The Label Maker'.  Several rules of regifting etiquette include rewrapping the gift, not using the gift before regifting it, and not giving the gift back to the original gift-giver. Well hello!

Should you be a fan of this thrifty practice, Money Management International has reportedly named the Thursday before Christmas "National Regifting Day." Another variant introduced in Seinfield is that of degifting - which refers to the act of demanding a gift back from the receiver. Somehow I am not surprised that one didn't take off.

Sunday Morning Shower at Beautiful Bartholomew Park

Great friend and neighbor and a heavily preggie Patti (second from right, above) of Petaluma's much loved Patti Lou Designs (Farmer's market and more) was showered with gorgeous, baby girlie gifts as we gathered for Sunday brunch under the shade of lovely old oak trees at beautiful, fascinating  Bartholomew Park Winery, Sonoma.

According to Bartholomew's colorful history, the first recorded planting of wine grapes on the  property was in the early 1830s. Hungarian nobleman Agoston Haraszthy bought the land in 1857, originally christeneing it "Buena Vista." Many consider Haraszthy's first vintage the birth of the California wine industry. More of a visionary than businessman, though, the Count wasn't able to keep the property financially viable and was forced from this incredibly stunning property in 1867.

The land became a country estate of the wealthy Johnson family before being willed to the Catholic archdiocese, who in turn sold it to the State of California. In 1920, the property was renovated into a State Farm for Delinquent Women, housing prostitutes, drug addicts and "wild women." It's widely believed locally that the continuous objections of Sonoma citizens fizzled out when the house burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances some years later. The subsequent winery building became an annex for the local "Home for the Feeble Minded" and later the Sonoma Valley Hospital, before it's most recent incarnation as Bartholomew Park Winery.

Founded in 1994 by the Bundschu family, Bartholomew Park Winery produces excellent handcrafted, micro-lot Sauvingnon Blanc, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvingnon. Though the winery is only fourteen years old, which is fairly young for Sonoma County Wine Country, the Bundschu family has been growing grapes and making wine on their Rhinefarm Estate in Sonoma Valley since 1854.

Despite the property's reputation for accommodating wild women, we were a pretty civilized bunch at the picnic benches this morning, thanks to the sublime hospitality of Patti's pals Julie, Elle and Heidi (also pictured above).

Wonderful hiking trails weave for miles around these scenic vineyards and by the time we had finished our Sunday shower brunch, there were all sorts of strapping hiking types setting up alfresco luncheon camps on all sides. Must head back over there with my boots next time!

 

Winner Takes it All

If you did not have the good fortune to have grown up in Europe of the 70s and 80s, you will not have had the ABBA experience that some of us naturalized citizens have to draw on in their impressionable years. And trust me on this, an ABBA upbringing in the pre-teen stage is something which stays with us for life! We're not just talking 'Winner Takes it All' on the radio, we're dealing serious Eurovision Song Contest Saturday night memories. Highlight of the season, in for the evening with a bag of crisps and a can of coke, a couple of younger siblings on the sofa for good company, not to mention the older brother probably siphening off the parents' whiskey supply while we were glued to the tele for Abba's amazing outfits and choregography. Come on now, you have to admit, there's been nothing quite like it since. I particularly appreciated the platform footwear and those dainty little crotcheted skull caps the girls wore, just spectacuar against the substantial hairstyling of the times!

It comes as no surprise to hear that ABBA's greatest hits is back on top of the music charts in the UK following the release of the blockbuster movie, Mamma Mia. Only the Brits would make the effort to buy the original recording and put the ageing Swedes back at top of the pops. Though American audiences have been most responsive to the movie version of the stage show smash hit. It took me a while to get down to the movie theaters to see Mamma Mia on the big screen, though I'm happy to say that I did, for the feel-good emotions this all-star summer flick evokes were so much more uplifting than anything else on offer at the movie theater this month. Didn't bother to bore you with the fact that I fell asleep in the middle of the mega-miserable Bat Man II. Needless to say, ABBA is undoubtedly a shameless, grown-up, girl-power movie. Don't even think of taking the boys.

And as my movie-date Suzanne so aptly asked: "Wouldn't life be so much sweeter as a musical?" Throw in a supporting cast of the wonderful Julie Walters, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnan, Why ever not? 

A Party for Miss Cherry Vanilla Lollipop

Let's just say that the tea flowed, the pink champagne bubbled, the jam and jellies wiggled and the Mom-to-be was well and truly in her element as P'Town's popular Mouse in the Pantry's Mel was made comfortable for a brief bit of bed-rest respite in the vineyard! And yes, the lemon curd splodged just a little over-enthusiastically from the midst of this traditional Victoria Sandwich tea-time cake! The naming game proved the most entertaining, seeings as our Mel was born and raised out in Bolinas. Dolphin Sparkley Jewel (current favorite of Little Miss Courtway's five year old brother) was unanimously usurped by Cherry Vanilla Lollipop. It was all to do with the initial requirements and maybe a bit to do with the pink champagne!