I've been a mad woman with cleaning lately. Maybe its the Spring weather we've been having that makes me want a clean house..who knows. But I scrubbed my bathroom on Saturday. And I just dusted, vacuumed and cleaned up the whole downstairs. Now I am enjoying a beer and going to watch my teammates play tennis. Tomorrow, maybe I'll tackle the upstairs! ;)
(Speaking of cleaning....I am looking for a good wood floor cleaner....any ideas??)
Wednesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 30
California - Day 2
(warning - long post with lots of pictures - ENJOY!)
We woke up ready for a day of wine tasting...but we didn't know where to go. So looking at recommendations, maps, website info, etc, we decided to stay in the southern part of the area. We packed up and made our way to breakfast. It was a wonderful breakfast with choice of eggs or pancakes. Apparently that wasn't good enough for James - he asked if they had/could make Eggs Benedict.....of course they could, we would just have to wait a bit for them to whip up the hollandaise sauce. No problem, we were still planning our day. Being easy, I went with the eggs thinking the protein would keep me full for our morning of wine drinking. (Side note and why I'll never get my husband to take a cruise.....We were enjoying the paper and a cup of coffee when James says can you feel that...um no, what is it? Well, the laundry room was under the dining room area and James was getting vertigo from the spinning of the washers downstairs. Yeah, no cruises for me unless its a girl's trip) Below are some pictures from the Applewood Inn.
Our first stop of the day was at Lynmar Estates (recommended by Kristin at Better Together- THANK YOU!). We got there around 10:30, but unfortunately they were not open until 11 for tastings. So, we wandered the grounds taking pictures (or rather, I wandered and James took pictures).
We enjoyed our tasting here very much and even ended our day by picking up 6 bottles of wine from here. They have great Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs. YUM! One of the great things about this winery is they have a modified wine club for people who are out of town (that's us) and can't take advantage of the wine club perks (pizza and pinot on site, pick up parties, etc). Once a year you are offered the opportunity to purchase from the wine club listing and new releases. So we signed up for that.
From there we drove back towards the Farmhouse Inn, where we were staying the next two nights. On the way we stopped at DeLoach and tasted some Zinfandels. Good, but definitely not as good as the wines at Lynmar or J from the day before. But in keeping with our purchase trend, we did buy a couple zins, plus a port. (the picture below is the courtyard at DeLoach)
After picking up our wines at Lynmar, we checked into the Farmhouse Inn. Very cute layout. They have huge bath tubs, saunas and fireplaces in each cottage. In the main office they have organic soaps and bath salts that you can take to your room. We tried both bath salts and James loved the lavender soap (he might have even cut a bigger chunk of it so he would have some left to bring home.) They also have the makings for s'mores that you can do in your room. Very cozy!!! That evening we had dinner at the restaurant on site. Good food and great service. Pictures below are from our room and after dinner.
We woke up ready for a day of wine tasting...but we didn't know where to go. So looking at recommendations, maps, website info, etc, we decided to stay in the southern part of the area. We packed up and made our way to breakfast. It was a wonderful breakfast with choice of eggs or pancakes. Apparently that wasn't good enough for James - he asked if they had/could make Eggs Benedict.....of course they could, we would just have to wait a bit for them to whip up the hollandaise sauce. No problem, we were still planning our day. Being easy, I went with the eggs thinking the protein would keep me full for our morning of wine drinking. (Side note and why I'll never get my husband to take a cruise.....We were enjoying the paper and a cup of coffee when James says can you feel that...um no, what is it? Well, the laundry room was under the dining room area and James was getting vertigo from the spinning of the washers downstairs. Yeah, no cruises for me unless its a girl's trip) Below are some pictures from the Applewood Inn.
After leaving Lynmar, we decided to try VJB. This one was recommended to us by the couple at J Winery. The wines were just okay, though we left with 3. The wines were Italian in style. So we left with a Red table wine, a zinfandel and a port. The best thing that came from this stop was lunch. While visiting the tasting room (they are in the process of building a winery location, the tasting room is near the vineyards) I had to use the little girl's room. The tasting room did not have one so they sent me next door to the restaurant. I walked in and knew immediately where we were eating lunch...Oh my gosh the smells were wonderful. I shared this information with James when I returned to the tasting room. The place was called Cafe Citti and if you are ever in the area, you MUST stop. It was wonderful. The picture below is of our sandwiches. Homemade breads, spreads and even Mozzarella cheese. We haven't stopped talking about it yet!
After picking up our wines at Lynmar, we checked into the Farmhouse Inn. Very cute layout. They have huge bath tubs, saunas and fireplaces in each cottage. In the main office they have organic soaps and bath salts that you can take to your room. We tried both bath salts and James loved the lavender soap (he might have even cut a bigger chunk of it so he would have some left to bring home.) They also have the makings for s'mores that you can do in your room. Very cozy!!! That evening we had dinner at the restaurant on site. Good food and great service. Pictures below are from our room and after dinner.
Monday, March 29
6th Sunday of Lent
An update....
Still chugging along on my chocolate and chips....HOWEVER...We had dinner with a couple from church last night. And they say Sundays are technically not part of Lent....so I was guilted into 3 bites of chocolate cake...I had half of a half a slice. I slipped the rest of it to their 6 year old daughter :)
But I did NOT eat chips with the guacamole that I made or with our mexican dinner on Saturday....only a few more days to go. Tiramisu for dessert on Easter! YUM!
Still chugging along on my chocolate and chips....HOWEVER...We had dinner with a couple from church last night. And they say Sundays are technically not part of Lent....so I was guilted into 3 bites of chocolate cake...I had half of a half a slice. I slipped the rest of it to their 6 year old daughter :)
But I did NOT eat chips with the guacamole that I made or with our mexican dinner on Saturday....only a few more days to go. Tiramisu for dessert on Easter! YUM!
Friday, March 26
New Layout and Background
I got an email this morning from Blogger with a link to the template designer in Blogger in Draft. So, I thought I would try it. I have always used a template, so nothing too impressive on my part. This let me get a bit more creative with stock backgrounds and layouts. We'll see how this one goes, I may change around more later. Check it out if you still have a template layout.
My chocolate substitute
Thursday, March 25
I am officially a godmother
Remember when I posted about the baby shower here??
Well, that baby girl entered the world on March 11!! I was very excited to get to see her last week. Can you say proud Godmother! She is just precious and I can't wait to see her again!!! LOVE HER!
Well, that baby girl entered the world on March 11!! I was very excited to get to see her last week. Can you say proud Godmother! She is just precious and I can't wait to see her again!!! LOVE HER!
California - Day 1
Our flight to California left at 6:30AM, so we were up and on our way at o dark thirty.....It's amazing how empty the check in area was in ATL at 5:30AM...so needless to say we had a little time to grab something to eat before our flight. Or at least we should have, but most of the food locations are not open until 6:00AM....fortunately we found an au bon pain open and were able to grab bagels and coffee (for me) and orange juice (for James). We flew into Oakland, but had a layover in Salt Lake City. While waiting for our flight (and again for food - we wanted lunch that wasn't served until 10:30AM) James took pictures of the view from the airport. Not too bad if you ask me.
Once we claimed our bags in Oakland (around 1:00 PM pacific) we headed to the rental car. We had reserved the car online through Costco (GREAT savings) and decided to just get a compact car. Well, the last compact car on the lot had been taken through the ringer...I filled the entire page when identifying dents, etc. We also noticed the hubcap was going to fall off, so we requested a different car. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there were no other compact cars on the lot. The employee pointed to a Dodge Charger and said take that. Ok, but will there be a price difference? Nope....sweet, we'll take it. We loaded our stuff in the car and headed on our way up to the Russian River Valley as we had a tasting at J Winery, our favorite place and the only wine club we belonged to (at the time). A shot of our drive north.
We arrived at J Winery a little before 3:00. Just in time for a full tasting (FREE for club members). We enjoyed bubbly, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, some more than others. We met a local couple who also gave us suggestions for places to go in our next 2 days. We followed up on a couple, good and bad...A couple shots from our tasting and outside the Winery. (we look well rested, right?!?)
After leaving J, we were on our way to check in at the Applewood Inn. We were only staying one night (because the place we wanted to stay was only available for 2 nights), but we had found a decent deal. This deal included lodging for the night, $100 credit for dinner, champagne upon arrival and breakfast. Driving to the Inn was pretty and reminded us of driving through the south of France. (Sorry that some of the pictures are blurry....we were driving and had someone behind us....)
After resting for about 30 minutes, we showered and went to dinner. We had a lovely dinner. Food was good, not overly impressive, but good. James had a great appetizer and our meals were okay. Our server though left a bit to be desired. He was not informative or attentive. I was salivating listening to another server describe the entrees to the table next to us and wished he had been our server because I would have changed my order. With our check came 4 chocolate truffles....James said they were way better than his dessert and taunted me with their deliciousness (is that a word). (Remember I had given up chocolate for lent already). After dinner it was off to dreamland...we'd been up for almost 24 hours.
Day 2 post to come.....
My chauffeur for the weekend
A funny story....On our drive to Applewood Inn, we passed the sign for Corbel. I jokingly mentioned that I hoped our chilled Champagne on arrival better not be Corbel or I might be inclined to pour it down the drain (we had been drinking J Bubbly, which I think is pretty damn good). Well funny enough, we get to our room and there is a bottle of Corbel chillin'....needless to say we didn't drink it that night.
After resting for about 30 minutes, we showered and went to dinner. We had a lovely dinner. Food was good, not overly impressive, but good. James had a great appetizer and our meals were okay. Our server though left a bit to be desired. He was not informative or attentive. I was salivating listening to another server describe the entrees to the table next to us and wished he had been our server because I would have changed my order. With our check came 4 chocolate truffles....James said they were way better than his dessert and taunted me with their deliciousness (is that a word). (Remember I had given up chocolate for lent already). After dinner it was off to dreamland...we'd been up for almost 24 hours.
Day 2 post to come.....
Monday, March 22
5th Sunday of Lent
An update:
Chocolate.....none still....I did break down and buy some iced sugar cookies at the store. They seem to have halted the sweet tooth.
Chips....none still....However, we were at Costco and James put the big bag of Cape Cod chips in the cart. Shocked, I said "What are you doing?" to which he replied "Buying it for your Easter basket." Apparently he has been reading my blog ;) But buying it 2 weeks early so it can sit in our pantry....Maybe not the best idea he has ever had.
Flossing....has been a major FAIL....I really need to get back on it. I have been doing it, just not consistently every day.
As for James....He gave up pork....and guess what I bought at the store for dinners this week.....a pork loin (it was on sale) and ground beef and pork for spaghetti sauce. I was not thinking....Guess that was my way of paying him back. The sauce will be made in 2 batches, one with and one without. We'll eat the one without and freeze the one with. The pork loin will go in the freezer until after Easter.
And I finally made it to church....First sunday of Lent I have been in church. Too much travel!
Chocolate.....none still....I did break down and buy some iced sugar cookies at the store. They seem to have halted the sweet tooth.
Chips....none still....However, we were at Costco and James put the big bag of Cape Cod chips in the cart. Shocked, I said "What are you doing?" to which he replied "Buying it for your Easter basket." Apparently he has been reading my blog ;) But buying it 2 weeks early so it can sit in our pantry....Maybe not the best idea he has ever had.
Flossing....has been a major FAIL....I really need to get back on it. I have been doing it, just not consistently every day.
As for James....He gave up pork....and guess what I bought at the store for dinners this week.....a pork loin (it was on sale) and ground beef and pork for spaghetti sauce. I was not thinking....Guess that was my way of paying him back. The sauce will be made in 2 batches, one with and one without. We'll eat the one without and freeze the one with. The pork loin will go in the freezer until after Easter.
And I finally made it to church....First sunday of Lent I have been in church. Too much travel!
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