The Jetsetter

Have you ever been somewhere for the first time, and you got so mad at yourself for not having gone there sooner? Experiencing my first mud bath at INDIAN SPRINGS in Calistoga was like that. As soon as I pulled up to the spa—with its charming Mission Revival historic…

I was invited to attend a five-day Portuguese wine tasting and education trip that was going to begin in Lisbon, and you can bet I was sure to fly myself out early. Lisboa, I really had no idea how cool you were going to be, and it’s partly due…

I have a history of heading to Los Angeles for New Year’s Eve, and when the opportunity presented itself again this year, yay, I scooped up a fellow former Angeleno pal, and off in my little Fiat we went. I don’t think I could have asked for a…

You can view my entire photo album here. Last October, after I finished a week with my father in Rome and visiting family in Calabria (pics here), we drove north together in our trusty Meriva. We were heading to our ultimately separate destinations: he was off toward Padova to visit…

April 2013, I was having the month of my life. I ended up coming up with my own personal theme for the year, “tiger by the tail,” because my life was on such a breakneck but wildly fun pace, full of travel. Sometimes you need to let yourself go, not…

When I was invited to visit Brazil to learn about their wines, like many people, I thought, “Isn’t it too damn hot to make good wine there?” Spoken like a true gringa. As we all know, Brazil is huge (it’s just about the size of the continental United…