Mystery Wine Flight

Karl guessed 2 out of 4 correctly
Jamie- 3 out of 4 correctly
Enough said.

More fun with visitors!

Karl's Dad & Juanita came to visit us at the end of their Spring Break. We had such a great time touring SF and Napa.

We had the best picnic lunch EVER with some of the best cheeses I've ever had from Cowgirl Creamery (my favorite!) and lots of different deli meats and olives (Karl's favorite!)
We explored some new wineries in the Stag's Leap district which is where we normally go.

They also treated us to a wonderful sunset celebration at Auberge du Soleil which was one of the coolest places we've been to, especially for sunset. On the huge wrap-around deck perched up on a hill we had a sweeping view of the valley. It is an amazing place. Below is a picture of me from our table with the view in the background. I got some great pictures with my new camera and had fun playing with different settings in the neat lighting during sunset.

I was sad to find out after our visit with them, I didn't get one picture of the four of us on either camera! Oh well, maybe next visit ;) Thanks to them for all the wonderful dinners and goodies during their visit! We had a blast!

Aunt Peggy & Uncle Ron Visit SF!

We had such a great time with Peg & Ron during their stay with us in SF! They saw alot of California during their 5 day stay and we had fun taking them to see all our favorite spots!
Miss yall!

{Link to see all pictures}

Upcoming Visits!

We’re so excited to have my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Ronnie coming out to visit us in SF! They’ll be here 6 full days and I’m working on their California Adventures Itinerary as we speak. They’re going to have a blast! The weather has been amazing lately so I hope it stays that way for their trip. I have Spring Fever big time! I’m sooo ready for warm weather and flip flops and the sun! I sure miss having ritas on the patio with my ladies in ATX! Anyway, back to the weekend plans. I think I will make a brief itinerary for them so they maximize their time here and are able to hit all the top spots. There are so many! The Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Monterey and Carmel, Alcatraz, Lombard Street….just to name a few. Karl and I were thinking this weekend we could drive them out to Napa to see all the vineyards and tiny grapes that are budding now. (Secretly, I want to go just for the heat! I miss it so much.) The rest of the week I’m planning on giving them a map of California, a bus map and some points of interest and they’re off on their own! Planning their time here reminds me how much there is to do in this area and how many awesome places there are to visit. Then, the same day they leave we have Karl’s Dad and Stepmom coming to visit us too! We’re so excited for our first visitors to our new apartment. I feel like we’re in such a good area now and close to so many cool restaurants and shops. There are several good bus lines right on our street that can get you to Union Square and downtown in just 15 minutes. Pictures to come soon!….

Look at those baby blues..

Saturday was such great weather and being outside all day I had so much fun playing around with my new camera. Karl was very patient and let me take lots of different shots of him in different lighting. Here, I took a somewhat well exposed picture of my honey and tweaked it in Photoshop using a new action I learned. Sometimes Blogger doesn't do the color justice but I think this shows the differences pretty well. And, nope I didn't add any color to this photo.

The best husband ever!

Mine. Karl told me he had Valentine's Day weekend all planned out and it was going to be a surprise for me. Wow. After the great dinner he made for us I still have a surprise trip ahead of me? I was feeling lucky already! I, of course, had to ask my usual 20 questions in the several days leading up to Saturday so eventually Karl had to start messing with me. He would say things like, oh, yeah, we need to go by REI to get some new sub zero sleeping bags before we head out Saturday. I was like, no way. You know I hate being cold and there's no way we're camping this time of year!! People are skiing at Tahoe this weekend! So, I figured out we weren't camping (amen.)

Saturday morning he tells me what to pack and wear that day. I'm trying to stay cool and not ask too many questions. Then, I see him pack his SUIT...yow! I started fretting because my cute dresses were still in the dry cleaning pile from Vegas so I dug and dug into the dark corner of my closet and found a nice dress to wear for wherever we were headed. We loaded up the Ipod and hit the road. The weather was awesome and sunny and we drove across the bridge heading Northbound on 101. Hmmm..this road did lead to one of our favorite places ever- the wine country!! We exited Healdsburg and sure enough we were in Dry Creek Valley! An area we've been wanting to try, this is a less visited, quieter version of the Napa/Sonoma wineries and home to one of our favorite wines- Zins! So now I'm thinking..hmm...where are we staying tonight? We've only camped in this region in the spring and summer so I was not familiar with anywhere nearby to stay the night. Rest assured, Karl was a man with a plan. We pulled up to this amazing old mansion that was a bed & breakfast! We've never stayed at a B&B before and I have said before it would be fun to do that somewhere in the wine country and sure enough it was amazing.

We spent the day wine tasting on the quiet windy roads right near our B&B and hit up some great new wineries with awesome Zins and Pinot Noirs. 2 of our absolute favs. We enjoyed the less expensive tasting fees and the lack of crowds at each place. The views at some were awesome (Pictures below) and it was nice to be outside with such perfect weather. We had our usual picnic lunch at one of the wineries with an amazing view of the valley. We just can't get enough of this place.

The dinner that night was at the main house of the "manor" and was apparently noted as one of the best restaurants in the wine country in all the areas combined so we were eager to see if it lived up to our expectations. This was a fancy, 7 course meal and was New Californian cuisine. We chose the tasting menu with wine pairing and the entire experience was simply the best we've had in California or anywhere we've ever dined. We've come a long way from our first date at Taco Cabana ;) Each course was unique and delish and the portions were big. The wine pairings worked perfectly and the dessert just ended the entire meal with a single, perfect moment.

If anyone knows me they know my biggest weakness is ice cream and the only other thing that I like more is homeade ice cream. So, the restaurant's dessert speciality, get this- homeade ice cream made on a cart in front of your table!! I was mezmerized. Our waiter looked like Professor Snape with all his fancy bottles and potions and the dry ice just added to the dramatic effect. In a huge copper bowl he whipped up the most perfect homeade ice creamin minutes. It was the creamiest, to die for vanilla ice cream sundae I could imagine. My eyes were wide open just staring as he poured hot chocolate on top and plopped a cherry right in the middle. We agreed, this is one dining experience we will never forget. What a perfect weekend.
I'm the luckiest wife there is.

The Manor we stayed in

Vineyard filled with little yellow flowers

If we ever wanted to renew our vows somewhere?

Perfect picnic spot

Valentine's Day!

This has to be one of the best Valentine's Days of my entire life. Karl told me that he was going to cook dinner for me on Valentine's Day! He said I didn't have to worry about a single thing and he would even be grocery shopping for everything he needed and had the menu all picked out. Last year we were somewhat disappointed after making restaurant reservations and eating a set menu of just so-so food after waiting and waiting. This year we decided it would be much more fun to stay home together and cook. Little did I know Karl could make the BEST Veal Saltimboca I've EVER had!! I was very impressed how the dinner turned out and there was even a side dish- asparagus and tomatoes salad. Everything was delish! I also got a beautiful dozen roses delivered to me at work so Karl did great and made me feel like a very special wife! Here are some pictures of the cooking King and his delectable meal!

The Chef hard at work!

YUM!!