Good morning fellow bloggers,

Since the last blog I posted was subject to some discontent I decided to first apologize…

So, sorry to you folks who I offended.

Secondly, I thought that I would take a step back, straighten up my laces a bit and talk to you one on one.  With that being said, please make sure your seatbelts are fastened and your tray tables are in their upright and locked position while we take a look at what’s cooking in Mia’s Kitchen.

I graduated in March of 2008 with a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount. After Loyola I decided that I wanted to check out the world, learn a few things and delay having to grow up as much as I could. I decided to travel and travel I did.  I took three major trips one in my own backyard, another to Asia and another to Africa.

Almost a month after graduation I went on a road trip with my boyfriend.  Living out of the Mia’s Kitchen bus we hit 24 states in one month and returned with a healthy collection of pocketknives and fire works.  It was nice seeing America and oppose to some preconceived notions we did not return broken up or married.

The second venture I took was a 4-week trip to Thailand where me and a team of 12 built 2 houses in 2 weeks.  In those 4 weeks I had the opportunity to ride bareback on elephants through the Thai jungle, play with live tigers who were suspiciously mellow, and molded a 10 foot cinderblock wall, most likely the only cinderblock wall that I will ever build, but a wall none-the-less.

The third, final and most exciting venture came in January of 2009.  My boyfriend and I took a semi-permanent move to the Paarl Valley in South Africa.  We worked the harvest together at the Glenn Carlou.  I was in the tasting room and he was in the cellar.

Something clicked in South Africa.  It could have been something in the water or the poor excuse of a varietal that they call Pinotage but something worked.  Something in me really began to appreciate wine and winemaking.  Perhaps if my father was the president of Jack Daniels or Budweiser I would have appreciated my family heritage a bit earlier, but it was there that I really took a liking to it.

And now here I am, living out of my brother’s pool house and learning about the family business.  I have to say that I am enjoying things and everything’s coming on really easy.  Mia’s Kitchen has really come on full board and I am proud of where it is and excited to where is going to go.  And its to everyone here at DS&S to thank for their patience and willingness to teach a 22 yr old liberal arts college kid the ropes of the business world.  So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Happy blogging!