Coffee #44 with Sara Specter

Fifty Cups of Coffee #44: Sara Specter
Date: December 21, 2024
Location: Zoom

How we know each other

I believe Sara and I first “met” on Instagram. We followed each other for a while before we ever met in person, which I am pretty sure happened after Sara invited me out to their winery, Bells Up Winery. Since then, Alain and I have tried to make it out to the winery when we can. She and her husband Dave, the winemaker, are always so much fun to be around. And I love their casual, friendly approach to wines.

What Sara is doing now

Sara lives in Newberg, Oregon with her husband and their 16-year-old daughter. She works as the “Money Honey” and Marketing Mercenary at Bells Up Winery.

Three questions

During these Fifty Cups of Coffee chats, I ask each person the same three questions. The reasoning behind each is as follows:

Question 1 – Social media makes it easy for other people to think that they know us, when truthfully, we all only see a small sliver of someone’s life and who they really are. This is the interviewee’s chance to share something that is important to them that, for whatever reason, other people may not know.

Question 2 – We all have fears, no matter who are are or where we are in life. This helps connect us and show we are all more alike than we are different.

Question 3 – I believe the answer to this question helps show each person’s true values, passions, and their why in life.

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these. I’m including each person’s answers in first person. Their answers have been edited from my notes for length and clarity, but these are their words.

What is one thing you wish more people knew about you?

“Everybody knows everything about me because I’m an open book. I am a chronic over-sharer with no filter. And to the point where now even my husband and my daughter are like, ‘yeah, you really need to start figuring out the filter thing, mom.’ I just don’t have the time or patience to create a persona that isn’t real, I guess. There’s really nothing I won’t talk about. My 50th was in July, and there’s something very liberating about it. 40 is very liberating, 50 is a whole ‘nother level of liberation. I mean, what do I wish more people knew about me? I don’t know. They probably wish they knew a hell of a lot less about me, actually, would be my guess. Well, okay, here’s one thing: my hair did not look like this until menopause there. That’s what people do not know about me. They say ‘Oh, your hair wasn’t always curly?’ Nope.”

What is your deepest fear?

“When I was single – I’m an only child – it was dying alone or being alone. That was my biggest fear. Now that I’m a mother, my biggest fear is this huge cloud bubble of fears all associated with my kid. Everything from her career prospects, to her grades, to her relationships. She’s an aerialist, as you know, so I worry: is she going to get injured? My life, all my anxieties, are about my kid these days. So I would say that would be my biggest fear. It’s not one specific fear, I guess it’s like a melting pot of fear.”

“I guess my other biggest fear is that all the money I’ve dumped into this property was going to be for naught. It’s probably my other biggest fear.”

If you had unlimited funds, what would you do with your life?

“When I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I wanted to make and design clothes. I loved sewing, and that’s what I wanted to do. My parents were like, ‘Nope! You’ve got to go to a liberal arts school, get a liberal arts degree. So I went to a liberal arts school and I got a degree in French and history, and I didn’t do what I wanted to do. So unfortunately, a degree in French and history will beat the desire to be in school out of you forever. I actually finished college early… So I think if I had unlimited funds, I would go back and do more fiber arts. And in the time period between having my first miscarriage and us adopting Naomi at birth 16 years ago today, I got into knitting really hardcore. Dave’s aunt had a coworker who did knitting machines, which I’d never even heard of, and she introduced me to this whole world. I have literally probably $2,500 worth of knitting machine stuff in storage because I keep thinking one day I’m going to get back to it. I never have time. But it was so very relaxing. There’s something very zen because you’re just constantly repeating the pattern over and over in your head. And so it’s creative, but it creates something useful.”

Lessons Learned

It’s always so much fun chatting with Sara. Her energy is infectious and she always cracks me up. Here are a few takeaways from our conversation:

  • 50 is liberating. I totally agree with Sara that turning 40 was liberating, but turning 50 is a whole new level of liberation. One that comes a “fuck it all” empowerment like no other. It’s AMAZING.
  • Fact: Moms are always worried. No matter what kind of mom you are or what kind of kids you have, I think what all moms have in common is constant worst-case-scenario fears about their kids . I can definitely relate to Sara’s answer to the second question. And I like how she describes it as not just one fear (it never is!), but rather, a “melting pot of fears.” So many fears with kids, especially as they grow into the teen years and then go off to college.
  • I’m so glad we live in a time when creative pursuits are more mainstream. Sara and I are the same age and I feel like most American parents of GenX kids still believed you had to go to a traditional college and study a more traditional major. So most of us did that. Luckily, all I wanted to do as a kid was to write, and my parents supported me moving 3,000 miles away to study journalism and creative writing. So here I am, still writing my weird little heart out. But how many adults of our generation are out there walking around wondering “what if?” What if they had been able to pursue their passions? I say the time is now! I hope you are able to make the time this year to do more fiber arts, Sara! Even without the unlimited funds that would free up your time to do so. I’d love to see your creativity shine!

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Sara!

Learn more about Sara

Learn more about Sara & David’s winery at the Bells Up Winery website. You can also follow @BellsUpWinery on Instagram.

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Visit my main website: Urban Bliss Life.

Learn more about me at MarlynnSchotland.com.

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