A profound 2014 it was - the good, the frustrating, the brilliant... blah blah blah. However, the biggest Game Changer in 2014 for this gal was the photograph and 2 Apps that fueled the game.
I snapped over 15,000 photos in 2014 and posted a few thousand for the world to see. In many ways photos helped me understand myself a little more, provided insight to others and gave birth to a new non-profit organization under my watch.
Instagram: I've been @texacaliali since the very beginning of Instagram and have used it almost daily since. This year @smithstorywines, @sandwichthedoodle and @socksforsandwich all went live. Instagram is full of interaction with a curious twist, a simple networker perhaps, an impactful storyteller of sorts. I've made hundreds (well maybe thousands of new friends), observed new babies on earth, happy times, sad times and traveled to remote places I'll most likely never see in person...too many things to type really, just login and notice.
Look up, look around, look what's right in front of you. Share.
SIDE BAR: Socks for Sandwich and @socksforsandwich was born on Instagram and went live during the Thanksgiving Holiday. For every #socksforsandwich photo tagged with a living-thing that is wearing a pair of socks - we'll donate a NEW pair of socks to anyone in need. Near 400 pairs of NEW socks were donated (mailed!) to us in less than 6 weeks - thanks to Instagram for providing a platform to show how giving to others can be easy and fun. We are just getting started here...
The Delectable App: Of all the wine-apps and tools I've clunked around on over the years, by far Delectable is the best of the best. The App can be used for many reasons, I began this year to catalog wines that I've tasted. But in 12-months time, Delectable has become so much more in terms of helping in business. A week hasn't passed in months that I haven't found myself looking at Delectable with a wine buyer about a wine or two. 
The Delectable App is a powerful tool both for the wine consumer and the wine trade for certain. Not just for wine geeks who find pleasure in big-word wine descriptions - create an account, post your wines, read, click around...learn something new.
I'm closing 2014 (such an ass-kicker of a year) with big plans ahead - 2015 is already shaping up to be a sweet one. Thanks for coming along...Best wishes to you all for a kind, beautiful, generous and fabulous New Year. See ya around, TexaCali Ali
