Missing my Dog Today

Isn't he cute snuggling his toy!

James took him to play with his "cousins".  We are both traveling next week and then we're on vacation.  So Barley went to camp!  Hope he's having fun!

Countdown to Derby

Derby is in 3 days!!!  And I have a TON of things to get done.  I was traveling Sun - Tues, so that leaves the next 3 days to:

CLEAN
 Which includes: vacuum, mop (a brief mop as I am sure it will be ugly on Sunday morning), dust, declutter (hide everything really), bathrooms, outdoor furniture (covered in pretty yellow pollen)
PLANT
 I am only going to plant the pots on my front porch, not time for anything else.  Am trying to find someone to spruce up our pinestraw.
SHOP
Grocery, liquor store,  flowers, party supplies
COOK
Lots of Derby treats - to include Mini Hot Browns, Ham Biscuits, Tenderloin sandwiches, Pimento Cheese and more

oh, and make sure hubby and I look great as hosts....Lots to do!  I promise pictures!!

Busy, Busy Bee

We've been busy busy bees lately....Work travel has picked up (this is my only full week in town in 5 total).  We have had family visiting - My parents 2 weeks ago and James' mom is arriving any minute.  Tennis seasons are in full swing.  We're planning our Derby Party (I will post recipes and pictures).  Then we are going on vacation for 8 days!!!  Back to sunny Eleuthera! 
I'm trying my best to take you all along for the ride, just be patient with me!!

Happy Thursday!  Hopefully its beautiful where you are...It sure is here!

New Shoes

While I was shopping Target this weekend, I came across these.....thought they were too cute to pass up.  What do you think??

www.target .com

Earth Week at Target

I was shopping at my local target yesterday for a few things.  Much to my surprise, I got a free reusable shopping tote. (Its not exactly the one above, its actually Green)....Nice, now I just have to remember to use it!!!  THANKS TARGET!

MIA

Sorry to be MIA...It was a beautiful weekend here.  We took advantage of NO TENNIS obligations.  Then I left (on short notice) for work.  Got back last night, Mom and Dad arrive tonight.  Will try to post soon!

ps....Am enjoying chips and chocolate again!!  YUM!

Mad Woman

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??)

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.

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!

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.