Amid vineyards and large barrels of wine, we congregate in the cold of winter.
Beautiful women with a desire, a need, to write and share our stories.
Carrying our hearts on our sleeves and flashy purses slung over our shoulders, we greet each other with sincere smiles.
Drinking it all in…the wine and the conversation.
Each one of us, different in a myriad of ways and yet so similar at the core.
Forging new friendships, hopeful at making a connection.
Greeting each other like long lost friends, yet we are meeting for the first time.
Hip hugging jeans and knee high boots…hey we look pretty darn good.
Inside this cozy room, conversation takes flight and laughter fills the air.
Just as a lull starts to take hold, someone breaks out in song.
Kids are nowhere to be seen except for in our eyes, hearts, minds, and of course iPhones.
Life has taught us a few things, thrown us some curve balls, and made us who we are.
Mothering is our common thread.
No story is quite the same but we can all certainly relate.
Our collective voices light up the internet.
Perhaps you’ve read us, perhaps you’ve been there, or will soon be one day.
Quietly into the night…no way, not us.
Reliving and writing about what touches and drives us, it is what we do.
Sisters in the written word.
This language of women, it is universal and spoken here.
Underneath the wit, humor, snark, and sometimes pain, our stories will come to life.
Vulnerability abounds just beneath the surface but is equally bolstered by our inner strength.
We are women…mothers, sisters, daughters, wives…and friends.
Xerox copies we are not.
Years will pass by and we’ll continue telling our stories, after all, we are the keeper of memories.
Zephyr like are we in mothering our children, and yet, our ability to transform into a tornado lies within, waiting to be unleashed should anyone or anything dare to threaten their well being.
This post was inspired by The Red Dress Club, which for my first time giving this a try…I am late to the party…sorry. It was also inspired by this past Saturday that I spent in Napa, a wonderful blogging event hosted by Nichole from In These Small Moments and Lori from In Pursuit of Marthapoints. I met some amazing women and they obviously inspired me to write this post. Lovely meeting you all. Keep on writing ladies.
*BTW, in case you’re curious, the challenge of this post as part of The Red Dress Club, was to write a 26 sentence piece, fiction or non-fiction, with each sentence starting with the letters of the alphabet in order.*
Awesome! Both the post, and your experience. So jealous you all got to meet IRL! 😉
Wow! I didn't even realize until the X what you had done here.
So one, great writing! And two, so glad that I got to meet you and hope to do it again!
You did a great job. I've done just a few of TRDC prompts, but I love it when I do Glad you guys met IRL… very cool.
So well written! You are a great writer!
Beautiful post! I am so glad that I got to meet you!! I think it's time to start planning the next event!
Wow, I not only loved this for the words you were spinning together, but for knowing what you were experiencing AND then realizing it was the A to Z post! Perfect!
I so missed all of you, but can't wait for next time. Having met Lori, Nichole, and Amy before I know you were in great company.
It sounds like you had a blast! I'm very jealous!
So lovely to meet your face in person!
Hooray for new friends!
Putting aside my near paralyzing jealousy, this was so lovely.
And why am I not at all surprised who the someone who burst out in song was?
You, me, BlogHer? Let's make it happen!
simply beautiful!
Oh, Melissa! You did such a beautiful job here!
Yesterday was entirely too much fun.
I'm so thrilled that we finally had a chance to meet and now? You're stuck with me!
Brava! Brava!
Standing ovation, and you make me feel like Helen Reddy. And in a very good way.
Women. I love women.
You passed with flying colors!
This is beautiful and touching.
Great job on the challenge! And the event sounds like so much fun. I'm jealous that I'm stuck in Florida!
A girls weekend? In Napa? With wine?
Sounds perfectly awesome! And I loved the way you tied it in with the A-Z meme.
So you…
A. got serenaded by Lori
B. met up with a TON of bloggers, and
C. wrote about it while following the letters of the alphabet?!?
You are 3 kinds of awesome, Melissa!
Such a beautiful post! And how fabulous that you got to have a meet up!
I'm glad to be your "sister in the written word." I really like that line!
I love this. I felt like I was there. I see my "girls" about once a year and what a time it is. I need to get out more! You are a great writer, and I hadn't even noticed the alphabet thing until you said it, which means you disguised it really well!
Absolutely beautiful post! You captured the sisterhood so eloquently!
So well written! I would love to go to a get-together like that. It's the best part of being a mom blogger.
Melissa, this is excellent!
This is absolutely amazing! Until you pointed it out that each sentence begins with a new letter of the alphabet I didn't notice – which means that this is a fabulous piece of work!
Beautiful!! Reminds me of my recent moms' trip to Vegas, though the scenery is clearly very different…but the connection is universal.
peryl @ http://blog.seattlepi.com/parentingadabsurdum/
Well done! I hadn't even noticed the alphabet until you mentioned it! Quite beautiful!
Beautiful! Like poetry!
What an incredibly creative post! Yes, we are sisters of the written word and keepers of memories. We do write quietly into the night…I'm so glad you had such a wonderful bonding experience with some amazing bloggers in Napa. What an excellent way to express your special meeting/conference.
I love this post. I just found your blog today! The experience you had with these other women sounds incredible. I would love to do something like that sometime.
It sounds like the Napa experience was a lot of fun, and you wrote about it beautifully. I am definitly looking forward to the opportunity to meet all of the great bloggers I have connected with.
I am drooling with jealousy right now. (the harmless, non-violent, i'm-happy-for-you kind.)