Bringing The Napa Valley Experience Online

Saying Jim Morris is one of my favorite people in the wine industry is an understatement. He has been one of my friends, neighbors, and even a client for a while back in the early days of this social media craze. Jim is known for over the top in-person fun, and bringing the same customer service attitude to Twitter.

Jim is also the Vice President, Estate Management and Guest Relations at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, in Napa Valley. The iconic Napa Valley winery is known for being Napa Valley's oldest wine estate, their grand estate, and some BIG bold Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Jim has been with them for over two years and was in charge of guest experiences. When the “experience” of being at the winery was not allowed during the SIP (Shelter in Place) order for California, Jim and the Charles Krug team figured out how to bring that experience online. They have been hosting Facebook Lives and connecting even more with their guests through their email newsletter.

How To Create Your Own Virtual Easter Egg Hunt

The shelter in place order here in the bay area of California is officially going through Sunday, May 3rd (as of right now) — which means that many families' Easter plans are having to change. 

We were planning on going up to the Sacramento area to my dad and stepmom‘s house, and spending Easter with the cousins, and second cousins. The plan was really going to be the first Easter that Rye was going to spend with other toddlers, doing a real Easter egg hunt, versus one in our own backyard. So needless to say, we are pretty sad that we won’t be able to do that.

My husband and I came up with some creative ideas, mainly, the idea for a virtual egg hunt where Ryeson can search for eggs at our own house, and we can still be connected to family, even if it is through video conferencing.

The idea of connecting with grandparents through Facetime isn’t new to us. Rye’s grandma & grandpa are in Long Beach, my mom is in Santa Rosa, and my dad and stepmom are just outside of Sacramento - so once a week or so we will get on Facetime (apple’s video app) to connect. Rye has shown them all pictures he drew, or read books alongside them, and even sang songs. You can use any video chat app to connect with grandparents or other family members - but I will say, from experience, it is harder for small kids to talk to each other. Each wants to be the one talking, and they have no listening skills - no matter how much you try!

So, setting up your own virtual Easter egg hunt may only work with grandparents, but if you have enough patience, try it out with toddlers in different areas!

Steps To Create Your Own Virtual Easter Egg Hunt: 

1. Collaborate with your family and friends about what type of virtual egg hunt you want each family to have. Plan out if you're going to do an egg hunt prize for each kid, or the one who gets the most eggs could get an online gift card to Target (this only works with older kids). Brainstorm other ideas that the kids could take part in together - all while on video chat.

2. Plan out a specific time that you want to video chat with your relatives. Figure out if you will be just talking to one household (which Facetime, Duo, or Facebook chat could work for this), or multiple homes, use the free version of GoToMeeting or WebEx (my personal favorite), or Facebook messenger. I want to mention it again. I DO NOT RECCOMEND ZOOM because of hackers, data selling, and other connectivity issues. Read more here.

3. If you are new to video technology, test out your video chat before Easter, to make sure that it works with your internet connection and technical skills. And if there are a few people that are new to technology like this, your best bet is probably Facebook Messenger because on their phones, it comes up just like FaceTime.

4. Hide all the eggs in your living room or backyard and have your kids search while you chat with family members through video or place your phone/computer on a table so everyone can see what's happening at your home. Your kids can show off their Easter baskets to grandparents in real-time and get excited to see their cousins stash also. Count all the eggs together and see who has the most. 

5. If you are looking to do these often, invest a small amount of money to get a tripod. This Arken Mount Pro Phone Stand is the one we use because it is sturdy, and the four-year-old cannot pick it up and run around the house. But there are also plenty of cheaper phone tripods that work well to keep your video stable.  

6. If you are looking for more than just a virtual easter egg hunt, try finding one recipe that you and your extended family can get excited about and cook it both in your own homes and compare over video. Even better - grab the same bottle of wine. While it obviously isn’t the same as being together, chatting while drinking the same wine can make you feel a little closer (and that is the point of these virtual happy hours when we cannot physically be around our loved ones and friends).

Get Into The Spring Spirit In Your Neighborhood with an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt.  

There are other ways to participate with members of your community, by decorating your front yard, and windows with pictures of Easter eggs, and walking around the block to see all the Easter eggs around your neighborhood. If you’re not already connected with neighbors through the Nextdoor app, I recommend checking it out. 

On the second day of our shelter in place here in the Bay Area, someone in our neighborhood posted about putting four-leaf clovers in their windows and having a St. Patrick's Day window hunt. Ryeson would get excited about finding a few four-leaf clovers around. 

I'm hoping there will be more Easter eggs because the whole neighborhood has more time to plan. <3

Virtual Happy Hour - Keeping People Connected through Video and Wine

I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually written down the story of how I met my husband 9 years ago… it was online. But not in a dating app, or even on Facebook, it was through a virtual happy hour. 

Yep, a virtual happy hour. 

This all started when my friend Ashley Routson, a.k.a. the woman formally known as the beer wench was living in Berkeley, I was in Santa Rosa, Baconator (aka Ryan) was in Austin Texas, Leilani in Napa, many other beer friends across the country, and Jeff (aka my current husband) was living in Reno.

Many of us either met through the wine or beer Twitter world of 2008/2009, either in person at Wine and beer blogger and conferences. And since we were all across the United States, Ashley decided to join everyone together with Skype calls where we could drink a beer or a glass of wine from the comforts of our home, but with some of our closest friends via video. 

Long story short, Jeff and I were both part of these virtual happy hours, and we simply connected. We met in person when he came to Santa Rosa to visit Russian River Brewery, and after three months, I got him to move from Reno to Santa Rosa. A few years later we were married, and then a few years later after that Ryeson was born, and the rest is history. 

Virtual happy hours during a pandemic. 

We are in a situation that requires us to stay at home so we don’t continue to spread the coronavirus. For people in the bay area, the shelter at home is mandatory, except for essential business (like working in certain industries or going out to grocery shop). 

And now that we are more secluded than ever, but I do love seeing is the sense of community. 

Wineries trying to do virtual tastings with their customers, restaurants, and food bloggers sharing live videos of them cooking, and herbalists doing webinars on food that can help boost immunity.  Read more about some creative ways brands are marketing during a pandemic. 

In addition, people getting together through FaceTime, or video conferencing tools to simply connect with each other through video, versus a “sup” text. 

It’s pretty easy to set up a virtual happy hour. 

1. Figure out a time that works for all of your friends (you can invite a select few, or open it up to everyone via a Facebook link). 

2. Open a bottle of wine or grab a beer. 

3. Invite friends to video chat through Facebook messenger (here is a great how-to video chat on Facebook article), or download a free video-conferencing app (my personal preference is not using Zoom, because long story short they have a lot of issues, and my husband works for WebEx, and they have a free version also, here are more details on how to download and get started). 

4. And chat for as long as you want. 

A simple video chat with relatives

I know from experience, being able to use FaceTime on my phone, or video messenger through Facebook has been so great for Ryeson being able to connect with all of his grandparents who live in different areas of California. During the last few days of quarantine, I think we’ve talked to each grandparent at least every other day. Mostly Ryeson has just wanted to show them artwork that he’s drawn over the past weekend. 

No matter how you do a virtual happy hour or video chat - what is important is connecting with loved ones and friends. And hey… if you happen to find a husband out of it, all the better!?!?!