As a kid, I shared a bedroom with two brothers and my sister. The room cluttered quickly so mom was always on us to pick up our clothes and toys and books and shoes and everything else one would imagine piling up. Being pulled away from my favorite cartoons (Thundercats Ho!) to clean my room was certain torture. My brother endured the same agony. 

I don't know whose idea it was. Maybe that magical blanket was already on the floor, stretched out beneath the rubble. But the universe spoke to us one Saturday morning. Why not just pile the entire mess in the center of the blanket and wrap it up? We looked at each other silently and nodded, We came to appreciate a little known fact: under a bed or in the back of a closet, a blanket stuffed with toys and other nonsense looks just like a blanket. No questions. We admired our genius. We called it "The Bag of Tricks". 

Mom was surprised to see us back watching cartoons so soon, and went to investigate. When we didn't hear from her again we knew our stratagem was sound. This became a regular scheme. The funny thing was, we would eventually require certain things from the "Bag of Tricks", be it a spare pencil sharpener or a matching sock and, as the week progressed, we'd gradually deplete and, by default, put everything in the B.O.T. away. Perhaps it wasn't that different than the actual closet. Life lesson. Also, looking back, I'm 99% sure mom could give a damn how the room got cleaned up. Not having to see our mess was enough for her. Maybe she had a bag of tricks too. Well played, mom.

Put your troubles in a blanket and stuff them in the closet. You'll get to them in good time. Come out to OAKLAND YARD for our weekly flights- taste and enjoy some delicious wines and explore and connect with us.

TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! We have a great line up of stony and dry Loire Valley whites and some stellar Spanish reds. Flights just $12 from 4-8pm. All wines in the flights are 10% off tonight!

SATURDAY: Wines of Sicily (part II). Frappatto, Nero D'Avola, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio. Sicilian Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm!

SUNDAY: Austrian Flights! Crisp, mineral-driven Gruner Veltliner, Dry Riesling, and Blaufrankish. Tasting Flights from 2-6pm and other delights by the glass. 

See you soon,

Daniel