2010 Smith-Roberts Annual Letter

To our family and friends: Another year...gone already?! How is that possible? We appreciate the friendship and support that we have shared through the year. Time seems to move faster the older John gets....personally, I just refuse to age. 2010 brought us two significant events: Ann had a milestone birthday and we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

As you may remember, in 2008 we started a new tradition at the holiday party by asking our friends to contribute to a local charity in lieu of gifts. Thanks to YOU we have raised over $7200 for local charities. That is an average of $1200 per event. We really do appreciate your help in making a difference locally! Our charity of choice for our Winter Holiday Party is the YWCA's Domestic Violence program. We know that times continue to be difficult for everyone but we appreciate any contribution that you can make. In addition, if you have an old cellphone to recycle we will collect those and send them to an organization that "recycles" them for victims of domestic violence.

There were no significant job changes in 2010. Ann changed positions within LexisNexis and is now a Product Manager bringing more new challenges. John is back to having one job, was promoted to Vice President, and is still traveling quite a bit. Ann will be looking for more opportunities to piggyback on his trips.

A recent realization is that we seem to be in a travel rut of sorts...although it is definitely not all bad. In April, we celebrated Ann's birthday (and Rodney Player turned 50) with friends in California starting with tattoos in San Francisco followed by wine in Sonoma County at the Passport to Dry Creek wine event. Read more about the wineries that we visited. We had a private dinner at Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen in the Reserve Wine Library. Read more about the spectacular meal and wine pairings. Needless to say, we had a spectacular time and are planning a return to Passport to Dry Creek in 2011. Let us know if you are interested in joining us! In July, John and I headed to NYC to celebrate our Anniversary. After picking up our new Droid X phones at the Jersey Gardens mall in Newark NJ, we headed for Ocean City to visit with Ann's family. Then we headed to NYC where John Germroth also joined us and I blame him for the oppressive heat that we experienced. As usual, we had some wonderful meals and our theater experience for the trip was seeing La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge. Believe me...go...see it...spring for the cabaret seats. Thanks to a business trip that Ann took, we were back in NYC in early October where the weather was MUCH better! John was delayed arriving because of weather but it was still nice to be in NYC again. In December, we are heading back to San Francisco for John's company holiday party followed by an extended weekend in Napa. We are taking advantage of our Dutch Henry wine club membership and staying in their guest house. One of John's co-workers and his wife as well as Mr. Germroth will be joining us. It turns out that Lambert Bridge winery is hosting their wine club holiday party that weekend! We are going to use the weekend to explore northern Napa wineries. If you've got a recommendation for that spectacular, little known winery, please let us know. We made a very quick trip to see OK Go in concert in Columbus with Julie and Ben. WOW!! It has been a really long time since I was at a concert...really long!
Our travel plans for 2011 include NYC in January with a stay at the Standard Hotel where "every room has stunning skyline or Hudson River vistas." The hotel is located in the Meatpacking/Chelsea district right on top of the Highline Park. As far as I can tell, January is the only month I have a chance of affording a room. And, of course, we are heading back to Passport to Dry Creek again this year with friends. Have you seen a pattern here...not that it is a bad pattern. So we are adding a 2011 trip to somewhere we've never been before. Current leading idea is Vermont for a cheese tour. Another pattern emerges...food and wine!!

Thanks to John's unwavering support, Ann continues to be active in the community. The big event was chairing Masquerage 2010. Often referred to as "Dayton's Best Party," it is an important fundraising event for AIDS Resource Center Ohio. There are an unbelievable number of person-hours that go in to pulling off an event of this magnitude and the staff and volunteers are the reason this event comes off without a hitch (or at least a noticeable one). We had record attendance for Masquerage 2010 with over 850 people attending...and would like to hit 1000 in 2011. Mark your calendars now for Masquerge 2011 October 15th. In addition, Ann continues to chair the K12 Gallery for Young People board and is involved in Dayton's 100+ Women Who Care. Unfortunately, the 100+ Men Who Care group that John belonged to decided to support some controversial organizations and John no longer participates.

With a sense of holiday spirit, it is time again to celebrate family and friends! Our annual celebration will be on Saturday December 18th. We hope that you will join us and lend whatever support that you can to the YWCA Domestic Violence program. The YWCA Dayton operates Montgomery County’s only shelter for victims of domestic violence. It serves over 400 women and children annually and several hundred more are receiving post-shelter follow-up services from the HouseKeys Program. In addition, the YWCA co-sponsor and staff the 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline providing confidential services 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, free of charge to victims, their friends and family members, and other professionals.

The Victims

• One in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
• Women experience more than 4 million physical assaults and rapes because of their partners, and men are victims of nearly 3 million physical assaults.
• Women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner (30%) than men (5%).
• Women ages 20 to 24 are at greatest risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.
• Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her partner.

The Families

• Every year, more than 3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes.
• Children who live in homes where there is domestic violence are also victims of abuse or neglect in 30% of 60% of such cases.
• A 2005 Michigan study found that children exposed to domestic violence at home show greater symptoms of trauma, including more illnesses.

• A 2003 study found that children are more likely to intervene when they witness severe violence against a parent – which places the child at great risk for injury or even death.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2011!!!

Ann and John

Day in the Life Photo Diary Reincarnated

Now that I have my new and amazing Droid X phone with its 8-megapixel camera, it seems like a good time to attempt this project again. So the 2010 Day in the Life Photo Diary starts today. Let's see if I can do better!

Visit Noumena12 Day in the Life Photo Diary

NYC- Day 3: Shopping Day

Sunday and it is shopping day. We head up toward Park and 60th. Oops its Sunday and nothing opens til noon. So we decide to walk to Thalia (50th and 8th Ave) to meet John G and his cousin for lunch. Had a great Lobster Benedict and tried Mixed Berry infused Sake. Then headed to Soho for some more shopping.

Dinner was at Rose Water (Park Slope) in Brooklyn with Molly and Skooter. It was great catching up with them. Had Fried Goat Cheese, Grilled Polenta, and a nice Rose.

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NYC - Day 2: Another Hot One

Oppressive heat is the theme of this trip! Have I mentioned how much I hate the heat. Actually it isn't the heat I hate, it is sweating that I hate!

Started the day at PIGALLE for brunch. I had the Smoked Salmon Club sandwich and a Mimosa. This Sandwich is right up there with Meadowlarks Fried Green Tomato sandwich.

With some time to kill before the theater matinee (a way to avoid the afternoon heat) we walked over to the International Center of Photography. Really enjoyed the civil rights movement photography exhibit. Still some time remaining so we walked over to the NY Public Library. I just don't get John and John G's fascination with the place. So now that it is time to head back toward the theater it is miserably hot again. We wander through Bryant Park then stop back by PIGALLE for a cold beverage before the show.

Next stop is the Longacre Theater to see La Cage aux Folles. This was the best play I've ever seen in NY. Kelsey Grammer and Donald Hodges were fabulous. And "Lilly" did a great job warming up the crowd. If you go you definitely want to splurge on the caberet seats!

A quick stop back at the hotel to change clothes and we were headed to dinner at BLT (17th between 5th and 6th). It is a great seafood restaurant. John and I shared the Pink Snapper. It was a giant whole fish and we put a good dent in it. The desserts we shared were wonderful. The wine list was huge but we ended up with a Chenin Blanc.

To end the night we walked the High Line. This is a rail bed converted into a park. I continue to be amazed by the parks in NYC. Since we are staying downtown we spend time on West and a fabulous park has been added along the Hudson.

#noumena12_dining #nyc

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Dry Creek Passport Weekend - Day 1: Tattoos

Okay...so we aren't actually in Sonoma County yet, we are still in San Francisco! Rodney and Don's flight is like 3 hours late so John, Steve A, and I head to Black & Blue Tattoo. Vic was our tattoo artist...in addition to doing a great job, he was a lot of fun to talk to. We also met some interesting guys from Texas who were getting their first tatts.

I've decided I want my 2nd tattoo on the top of my foot. Everyone has warned me that it will hurt A LOT!! Of course, that's what they told me about my ankle too. Yes, those are PINK hearts cascading down my foot. I was struggling with color. I didn't want something that would be too stark, like black. I was considering a light brown (henna look) but decided that would be too depressing.

I'm very happy with how it turned out!





Rodney designed his own tattoo to commemorate the reason for this trip. HIS 50th birthday. Yes, I can say that because I am writing this blog so just get over it. And, surprisingly, he didn't "scream like a girl" this time. Although he is curled up in a fetal position. The tattoo says "RCP 50 2010." I think he was just afraid he would forget how old he is.













Don was up next. If there was one of us who picked a "it's gonna hurt" location for their tattoo this time, it was Don. The inking doesn't really hurt until you get near bone. So Don picks his shoulder. He wanted a tattoo to match the one he got on his back in Las Vegas 3 years ago (for HIS 50th Birthday). There is one photo of him either smiling or grimacing...you decide.
























And we can't end this post without recognizing John for his infinite patience. When Don, Rodney and I got tattos in Las Vegas, it took about 90 minutes. However, they had us each going one at a time in SF, so it took 7 hours!! John patiently, I know...it is what he does, waited through the whole ordeal.