I can’t believe it’s already been almost a year since our first harvest party at the vineyard, but October will mark twelve months since we hosted our inaugural fall celebration. Since we’re getting ready to host our second harvest party in just over a month, I’ve been looking back and reflecting a bit on what we did right, places to improve, and brainstorming new ideas with the team to make an even bigger impact this year. I can’t wait to spill the beans with you soon! First, a little context on 2018.

The weekend before our harvest party, my mom had a major surgery (hysterectomy, appendectomy, and multiple lymph node biopsy) to remove a massive ovarian cyst that had grown rapidly and turned into cancer over the course of the previous month. When she went into surgery, we weren’t sure what we were dealing with, but her incredible surgeon confirmed that it was cancer as my dad and I completely crumbled in the hospital waiting room. He was optimistic that they’d gotten it all and that she might not need further treatment based on what he was able to tell so we clung on to those words for the next few days. Thankfully, later that week, we received the news that she was stage 1A (!!!!) and no further treatment was necessary, but recovering from such a major surgery was going to be difficult. We were absolutely ecstatic at the news, but knew we needed to focus on her getting better. Her post-operative delirium was terrifying to say the least and she needed 24-7 monitoring by my dad and I following the surgery. We took turns sleeping, him usually at night, while I took the night shift to make sure she didn’t try to walk around by herself or put strain on her healing incision getting in and out of bed.

The week leading up to our harvest party was more physically and mentally trying than ever before in my life. My mom has always been my rock, but has been an even bigger sense of help and stability in the years since acquiring the vineyard. Being a caretaker for her that week filled me with gratitude for how lucky we’ve been as a family in terms of health, but was also crushing knowing that so many families don’t get that same prognosis. Every single day and moment is a gift. What kept me going that week was knowing that every chance we have to connect people with our mission to help make the world a better place, by funding clinical trials for other women fighting diseases, funding meals for children fighting hunger, funding fire re-build efforts and more, should not be taken for granted. This is what we were going to be doing at our harvest party – highlighting worthy causes that needed our help.

Our first Harvest Party was absolutely stunning, totally moving, and went off without a hitch! I’m SO excited for round two this year and I’m thankful that my mom is here with us, healthy, and will be bringing her talent to the table once again 🙂 We have so much to celebrate in 2019!

I’ll be sharing more details soon, but in the meantime, take a look at last year’s event! Since it was our first harvest party, we kept things simple with heavy apps and fairly simple and economical decor (lots of greens and fall foliage, simple bud vases with seasonal florals, bowls of seasonal fruit to be snacked on or repurposed after the event – one of my favorite event decor hacks). Let me know what you think! Cheers!