The Time Has Come...

...to address the elephant in the room.

[image pulled from http://tinyurl.com/adcqtq]

But first, some history:

Approximately two months ago I received and email from my sister informing me about Murphy-Goode's hiring of a Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. Who is Murphy-Goode and what is a "Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent?" Murphy-Goode a family run vineyard in Sonoma County, and their ideal candidate for a Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent is someone who knows how to navigate Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media in order to tell the world about their wines and about Sonoma County Wine Country.

What does this have to do with us? Well, according to my sister in this email, this job was made for us, and upon learning more about the position, I couldn't agree more. With my food and wine knowledge and her successful media networking track record we knew that together, we could really bring something to the Murphy-Goode table. It's a six month project that would allow us to move to Sonoma and do what we love and do best: eat, drink, blog, learn, laugh and of course here comes the best part: Have the opportunity to share it with all of YOU.

The problem? She lives and works in NYC with her husband, and I obviously live here and work in Portland with mine...oh, and did you read the fine print that mentions we'd both have to leave our jobs and our families for six months? Well, that's just one reason why we thought it would be ideal to tackle the project as sisters.

Growing up we've always remarked on our differences. One's short; the other is tall. One's got Mom's looks (dark hair and brown eyes); and the other has Dad's (lighter skin and blue eyes.) One of us (ahem) tends to be a bit more timid, disorganized, laid-back, and just so happens to be a really good cook. The other is the spark plug, whose brain produces new ideas in rapid fire succession, and who undoubtedly seems to be born to help people connect.


Despite our differences and the obvious distance and time zones separating us, we've remained the closest of friends, always knowing when it's best to keep our big mouth shut, or when to tell the truth, even if it's going to hurt like hell. We cannot help but feel like we are the ones who are supposed to fill this position. Finally our differences and strengths would no longer act as an infringement, but would rather be the perfect compliment of one another. The "yin" and the "yang" finally coming together to make something whole, complete, and most importantly, balanced. Not only that, but after living more than 12 years apart from my best friend, we are more than ready to call the same place "home."

The biggest part of the application is a 60 second video, where you have to tell Murphy-Goode why you're the best candidate for the job. Upon reviewing your application and video, the Murphy-Goode team posts the video on their site, and then opens up the voting to the public. Fans are asked to type in their email address and then to confirm their submission via email response.

Please allow us to explain, the competition for this position is FIERCE. Like beyond Tyra Banks fierce, and more like The New York Times fierce, where the listing for this job was actually posted (oh yeah, and in the La Times, you catchin' our drift?!?) Early this morning our video was finally posted on Murphy-Goode's "A Really Goode Job" website, along the other 400 people who submitted their applications around the same time as us. Other candidates have had their video up for weeks (we were a bit late in the game applying) and are consequently ahead of the pack. The voting process ends in SIX days. Which means we only have six days to catch up with the leaders. Oh, and did we mention our application is #1096?

That's where YOU come in. We need your vote. We need your friends' vote. We need your fans' votes. We need your coworkers' votes. We need the world's vote. Part of this "competition" is showing off your social media networking big guns and this is us, pulling out ours. We need your help to prove to Murphy-Goode that we gots the goods to make this a Partnership Dream Team.

And now for the elephant in the room:

What about the Little Red Bike Cafe?
What about "Evan and Ali" (Those two names that rarely seem to part from one another)?

Well, here's the gist of it:

No, this is not the end of the Little Red Bike Cafe or A&E, just another chapter of the journey. The cafe is at the point right now where most of the work I do personally, revolves around blogging, networking, menu planning, and recipe writing, much of which I already do from home and which can easily be accomplished from a laptop in Sonoma. Besides, this position is temporary, and will only last for six months (I'll be back before you can even ask what new ice cream flavors I'm churning).

In regards to Evan and I, and our personal relationship, as most/all of you know, we are long-distance dating veterans, and after enduring four years in a long distance love web that spanned several states and countries and even crossed trans-Atlantic borders, six months seems like a flash in the pan. Not to mention the fact that we consider an hour's plane ride away (in wine country, no less) and living in the same time zone amenities. Evan's only hesitation in supporting this dream is the impending arrival of our new puppy, LaLa in July. For some time now, we've realized that our working schedules would have to be opposite given the fact that this new puppy will require quite a bit of training and attention during her first few months home. That said, Evan has kindly requested that he keep Zeus here with him, and that I bring "the baby" down to Sonoma with me. Consequently, Tara and I have committed ourselves to creating the first volume of our book, "Potty-Training in Wine Country" (coming soon to a bookstore near you!).

Warning! Cute Puppy Alert!
That's a 5 week old LaLa in my hands, slated to come home in July!

So there it is, Folks. The secret is out and you can finally put an end to any of those rumblings or rumors you may or may not have heard about me leaving Little Red Bike Cafe for a new job. This Really Goode Job is merely a six month internship, and an incredible and genuine "once in a lifetime opportunity" at that, and we would REALLY, REALLY appreciate your support in making this dream come true. Not only that, but the true intention of this position is to get the word out about living the "goode" life, and we would love nothing more than to share our experiences with all of you the best way we know how, the way we've already connected with you: the Internet. Tara and I already have tons of ideas on how we can make the most of this position not only for the people down in Sonoma, but for all of our friends, family, and loved ones back home. Please endorse our goal.

So if you could kindly take a second and vote for our submission we would be forever grateful. (And if on top of that you can send this request out to all of your friends, fans, followers, and family that you'd think you be down to support us, then we'd really owe you one.)

The folks at Murphy-Goode have made the process really easy.

Please watch our Application Video here.

All you need to do to vote is type in your email address and then be sure to CONFIRM your submission once they email you a response. Unfortunately, your email won't count until you confirm the link they send you.

If you're interested in following our journey down this road, or want to learn more about what tricks we have up our sleeve, please check out our new blog: Know Thy Goode Neighbor. And while you're at it, why not cast your vote in the poll we got going on over there which asks: What's your favorite way to learn about wine?

As always: Thank you, thank you, thank you. The power of the web never ceases to amaze me and I know all of you can help us get out there in the World Wide Web and get our voices heard. XO