that is how long it took my chickens to lay their first eggs…

let me rewind a bit. about six months ago kristie and i finally realized our (relatively new) dream of owning chickens. we went to the feed store and bought 2 little baby chicks, both rhode island reds and named them claire and camilla. a few days later kristie went back and bought three more, two barred rock (cumin and coriander) and one ameraucana (an impulse buy named constance). we knew that they would take about 6 months to grow to the point of laying eggs, but also read that their egg laying can also be influenced by the weather, so we figured it would be march before we could expect eggs.

low and behold kristie was cleaning the coop yesterday and she found 3 eggs in 2 of the nesting boxes!

here are claire and camilla, our good little producers.

and let me tell you, the eggs were delicious. i have had all kinds of eggs, ones from the grocery store that range from the 99 cents for a dozen to the 4 buck a dozen “organic” variety, all the way to eggs from the farmers market, and let me tell you, they all get blown out of the water by the eggs i had last night.

i cracked the egg into the pan and it just sat there. it didn’t run! not at all…it cooked to bright white and the yolk, it was an amazing velvety rich almost orange color. and the taste, it was a more eggy egg, that is the only way i can describe it. i tried to compare it to something i had tasted before, but couldn’t pull a good association out of my brain….

so i am looking forward to many more delicious egg dishes from here on out. I will let you know how they go.

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You know you’ve worked with someone for a long time (in our case, nearly six years) when your wardrobes start to take on the same look. Case in point, here is a photo of me and Debi that Kym took this morning:

Unintentional matching happens quite frequently at the Merlot office. Sometimes a couple of us are wearing similar tops, or a few of us wear the same color combinations. Even yesterday, Debi, Brenda and I were all walking around with our black pashminas.

But today was different. Not just because houndstooth is a pretty distinctive pattern (in case you hadn’t noticed), but also because usually the outside public doesn’t have to bear witness to our matching outfits. Today, Debi and I had a PR meeting with River City Bank. In person. At their office. And it was just the two of us. People must have thought we were crazy as we came strolling into the lobby looking like a pair of patterned twins. 

We gave the client a nice chuckle, so we thought we’d share with the rest of you. From now on, we’re comparing fashion plans before the meeting.

Posted in Uncategorized, aka Jana "My name's pronounced 'John-uh'" Sanders Perry | 1 Comment »

Before the start of any design project, you always want to take a step back to outline the strategy, as well as,  determine how the success of this project will be measured.   Take a website for example.  We can track the success of a new website design and development by tracking unique visitors, bounce rates, click-thrus, SEO and much more.  But from an agency perspective, an important element to measure is the reaction and approval from the client.

Recently, we designed, developed and launched a new website for Wallace & Hinz Bars, craftsman of fine custom bar for commercial and residential use: www.wallaceandhinz.com

The response from the client…he posted this sign on his computer screen, took a picture and uploaded it to his Flickr account.

To us, this is the greatest measure of success and the best compliment!  You Rock Wallace & Hinz!

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yes, it is true, and i am definitely going to celebrate. I think my feelings can be summed up by stealing the words from the Tim McGraw song:

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done
Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears
And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, In my next thirty years

So yeah, that is pretty much how i feel. i like 30.

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Today is Robert Cook’s 30th birthday and at Merlot we like to celebrate! Nothing but the best for our Rob. Check out the chocolate chip mint ice cream cake we made…I mean bought him. Thanks for sharing with us Rob! You can see pictures of our little ice cream cake eating party below.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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We would like to announce that Julie Fraga has been working at Merlot Marketing for one year now. Julie is our Public Relations Account Executive and does a great job keeping our clients happy and promoting their products. We love having Julie as part of our Merlot team and look forward to working with her for many years to come.

Thanks for being a part of our team!

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Every year here at Merlot we have a pumpkin carving contest. This one started out like every other contest. A flyer announcing that we were having a contest, a reminder email the week before Halloween and another reminder email plus me announcing it out loud around the office the week of the contest.

So I had found my cool pumpkin and found a pattern I liked and carved my pumpkin. Granted, I carved it the night before the contest as I tend to put things off sometimes but once I was done I was very proud of my pumpkin and couldn’t wait to bring it to work.

I got to work early on October 30th (judging day) and set my pumpkin up on the kitchen counter with it’s candle lit waiting to see the competition. One by one the employees came in…empty handed. After the last employee walked through the door without a pumpkin I got very excited. Why? Because I was the one that bought the prize for the winning pumpkin and now knew that I was the winner of the pumpkin carving contest.

Sometimes it pays to be the Office Manager and buyer of the prizes, especially when I am the one that wins! And here is the winning pumpkin and carver!

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I would just like to announce that today is my 40th birthday. I feel 28 and look 32…or somewhere around that age so I’m told (ha! ha!). My peeps decorated my office, bought me lunch and we had a little celebration at the office with my favorite cake. Yes you guessed it, Sam’s Club Coconut Cake! Best cake ever!

Unfortunately three of my co-workers (Debi, Brenda and Z)were traveling so they didn’t get to celebrate in person with me but they did call and sing happy birthday to me while they were at the airport waiting for their flight. Needless to say they received some funny looks from other travelers. Jana is in Hawaii for her 5 year Merlot trip but didn’t forget and sent me a happy birthday text.

Ray Sanford called me out of the blue to wish me happy birthday (which made my day) and all my Facebook friends were typing away sending me birthday wishes.

I hung out with my husband, family and friends all weekend so I have to say, my 40th turned out to be a great one! Thanks everyone!

Here are some pictures of us celebrating at the office.

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Each week on Friday, our team gathers for a merlot tasting. It’s something we’ve been doing since we opened our doors in 2001, so we like to think our palettes are pretty well honed. To be clear, we ALWAYS taste merlot. No Zinfandel allowed in this bunch. After tasting, we score the wine and use this blog to tell you all about our favorites and our not so favorites (yes, they do happen). Below is this week’s result. If you have an opinion or a favorite to suggest, please leave us a comment.

Date: September 18, 2009
Wine Provided By: Merlot Marketing
Vineyard: Bonterra
Region: Mendocino County
Year: 2006
Price point: $11.99
Today’s high score: 15
Today’s low score: 8
Average score: 10.2

Stand out comments: “Best wine I’ve had since last weeks Fun Friday!” ~ Kym Preslar — “Dry and it has an intense after taste!” ~ Allison Barrett — “Dry but flavorful, a good wine to pair with a steak.” ~ Rob Cook

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Each week on Friday, our team gathers for a merlot tasting. It’s something we’ve been doing since we opened our doors in 2001, so we like to think our palettes are pretty well honed. To be clear, we ALWAYS taste merlot. No Zinfandel allowed in this bunch. After tasting, we score the wine and use this blog to tell you all about our favorites and our not so favorites (yes, they do happen). We score with 5 being the highest and 0 being the lowest score. Below is this week’s result. If you have an opinion or a favorite to suggest, please leave us a comment.
Date: September 11, 2009
Wine Provided By: Kelly Givas, Architectural Digest Magazine (Thanks Kelly!)
Vineyard: Mount Tamalpais Vineyard
Region: Marin County
Year: 2005
Price point: $28
Today’s high score: 14
Today’s low score: 12
Average score: 12.6
Stand out comments: “Nice legs!” - Jackie Taylor (Special Guest) ~ “Looks good until you taste it!” - Allison (Employee) ~ “After a glass of Champagne, this went down with ease and satisfaction.” - Kym (Employee)

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