As a little girl, I grew up with a mom who frequently traveled to faraway places. She was often gone for weeks and months at a time, to remote third world villages in India, Africa, Central and South America. At the time, I really didn’t know what she did but knew it was important. She would return from her trips exhausted but excited to share her stories. 
One time, she came home and gave me a smaller version of this image that I soon prized and examined it closely from my kid bunkbed. For what seemed like hours, I made up stories about each face: Who was she? What must she be thinking? Where was she going? This beautiful cornucopia of faces represented women of every color, size and age imaginable from all parts of the globe. I later discovered that Mom’s working colleague LaVern Phillips created the montage in 1971 and it served as a program cover for Global Women’s Forum events, held mostly during the United Nations’ Decade of Women. The montage kept me intrigued and centered. And, it set me to wondering, too. How
will I and other women in our time link up and make a difference
in the world?

Mother returned from trips for what seemed like just enough time to do laundry, grab a meal and then go back out into the world. However, she was careful to share stories about her travels with her three daughters during Monday night family gatherings--
meeting women like these faces in the art form, experiencing their cultures, seeing their limited resources and learning how they got to the heart of issues facing their families and
communities.

For example in El Bayed, Egypt, it was the village’s women who persisted and demanded clean water. A parasitic liver fluke in the Nile River ravaged the villagers’ health, resulting in highmortality from Bilharzia/ Schistosomiases. Three things had to be dealt with (1) installing Villages latrines, (2) picking up the host snails of the flukes and burning them weekly and (3) digging for clean water wells, since water from the Nile River was polluted. It
was women who organized and encouraged everyone to tackle these not-so-easy solutions.

A few miles north of the equator in the Pacific on a small atoll called Majuro, Mom witnessed women create a preschool for their children and for their future nation’s self-reliance. They understood that exporting more smoked coconut (copra, their only export) would never be enough to launch a new nation. These women worked together to create a preschool for their children. News of the preschool in a corner of copra warehouse on
Majuro quickly spread to outlying atolls and islands. Villagers came and watched. The preschool was duplicated miles away in half a dozen locations. Creativity ignited. More options for training future leaders began. Today, preschools are more common throughout the nation called The Republic of the Marshall Islands (as of 1994) and a community college is located on the Laura islet of the Majuro Atoll. As ocean waters rise, the Marshallese call upon their creativity for survival again.

In our own country, I take pride and am grateful that an additional 100 plus women serve today in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States. Having more
women participating and leading in government and in all sectors of business and community continues changing our world into a more respectful, productive, innovative and inclusive space in the universe. I’m reminded of the words from a song: “She changes
things she touches and everything she touches changes . . . “

On this International Women’s Day, I pause in celebration of all of the women who came before us, live among us and continue to shape who we are and who we want to become. While I am not entirely sure what compelled my mom to be of service in her way,
I am so very proud to have witnessed her compassion and drive to support other women making positive and meaningful differences in their lives, so they in turn can do so for others--a legacy that I hope to continue during my lifetime.

How ironic is it that March is Women’s History Month AND Washington Wine Month!? They are both topics we love!  Sip and Ship supports and brings these endeavors together by highlighting two of our favorite local winemakers who also happen to be badass women and entrepreneurs.

Fifth generation Walla Walla winemaker  Anna Schaefer  influences every aspect of the wine making process of AMaurice Cellars. From her 20 something beginnings, Anna’s first vintage was featured on the 2006 French Laundry Wine List and today her artwork can be seen on two of our favorite estate varietals; Syrah, “Fred,” and  Malbec, “Amparo.” Sip and Ship is proud to feature Anna and AMaurice Cellars - her values of curiosity, quality and creativity not only make amazing wine but solid business sense.

Mother of two and Seattle SoDo's only female winemaker Jody Elsom of Elsom Cellars. Jody focuses on partnering with local farmers throughout Washington to help them supplement and sustain their family farms,  where she harvests a variety of small batch grape vineyards to create her unique wine flavor profiles. Elsom Cellars recent new releases Mourvedre and Grenache are Sip and Ship top crew picks!

We invite you to learn more about these amazing women and enjoy their spectacular Washington wines!  The idea of sharing a story about a woman in history who has influenced your life (with or without a glass of wine) is a great conversation starter at any dinner table or water cooler.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Diana and Your Sip and Ship Team
#womeninwine #womenentrepreneurs #womeninhistorymonth #washingtonwinemonth #conversationstarters #onestopshop #sipshipshop #sipwine #sharewine #shipwine

Sparked by the creative mind of Amy Poehler(aka Leslie Knope) on the tv show Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day is February 13th. A day dedicated to honoring and celebrating girl-power and the beauty of ladies supporting ladies. Platonic relationships that give us strength, fellow bad-ass lady bosses that ‘get’ each other, goddesses that are unafraid to share and shine their light with female rising stars or who just appreciate the awesomeness of your gal-friends! This day comes with a few funny quotes from “Leslie Knope” to tickle your funny bone and maybe inspire a few quips of your own to jot down in a love note to your special gal-pal(s) this Galentine’s Day.

“You know my code: hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses…Ovaries before brovaries.”

“We need to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn’t matter, but work is third.”

“I am big enough to admit that I am often inspired by myself."

Don’t forget this week, Sip and Ship has a small curated collection from female Seattle artist Amy Healy. Tiny art embellished onto cards for you to see at the Ballard Sip and Ship. Stop in this week to sip coffee with us and send a card to your favorite gal-pal and other super-powers in your life. Amy will be featuring more of her artwork in her second pop-up-shop on February 14th from 10am-2pm.

We look forward to seeing and sharing a giggle or two with you over our coffee and mailing counters

Sincerely,
Diana and Your Sip and Ship Team