Which one tastes better?

That was the theme of our past weekend in Santa Rosa, California on a wonderful wine tasting trip. Between the amazing wine, the delicious food and the lush, green countryside, it was the epitome of relaxation and indulgence. Wow did we eat some good food and drink some good wine. It seemed that it all just kept getting better and that's what prompted the name of this post.

We flew out last Thursday morning and Bryce finally got his birthday present from me, which was a car ride and champagne from the Sacramento airport to our hotel. We relaxed and drank champagne and Tom drove and showed us the sights. We didn't waste any time wine tasting and went to the DeLoache vineyard after getting checked in and drinking yet another bottle of champagne. Gotta love drinking at sea level! It doesn't catch up to you like drinking champagne in the mountains.

That night we had appetizers at Willie's Wine Bar and then went to Stark's steakhouse for dinner. Friday morning was a trip to Ferrari Carrano vineyard with some of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen. Stay tuned this week for pictures! We did both the Classic and Private Reserve tours (we missed the group tour, thank goodness, so they let us do the Reserve tasting for free). After Ferrari Carrano we went for lunch and a bottle of wine from Papapietro, a boutique vineyard that specializes in Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs.

After our morning and afternoon out, we went by a cigar shop for Bryce then headed back for massages. Yep, it was a pretty over-the-top indulgent trip. VERY much needed. Friday night was our dinner at the Vintner's Inn and their restaurant. We had a glass of white (Bryce got the Fume Blanc from Ferrari Carrano that we had tasted earlier) and then split a bottle of Sangiovese.

Saturday was a totally different pace and we took a three hour drive south to Monterray California to watch Graham in a mountain bike race. He had no idea we were coming so it was a really fun surprise. He had a good race, we got very sunburnt and then we all went out to dinner near the dock on Canery road where John Steinbeck lived and wrote.

On our drive back, we got a call from the hot air balloon pilot who we were supposed to meet up with in the morning for a 6:30 hot air balloon ride. Unfortunately, he said the fog forecast wasn't looking good. Oh well, next trip! Instead, Sunday morning we went to the Korbel champagne vineyards, tasted all the varieties of Korbel we didn't know existed and then went back to check out of our hotel.

After a beautiful ride back to the airport with an incredibly fun driver, Rick, we hopped on a plane an reluctently flew back...but the story isn't over.

Our plane landed just after 6 and we were ready to head to the apartment for an early night in. Well, after pulling up to the building and seeing no less than 5 firetrucks, we knew that wasn't likely. To make a long story short, someone on the 12th floor had decided to commit suicide using hydrogen sulfide, an extremely deadly gas. In addition to killing himself, he sent two people to the hospital, including the conciege who had tried to find out what the smell was. We would have left immediately to go back to Bryce's house and sleep, but Henry was still on the 26th floor. We waited until 11 PM but the firefighters still were estimating another few hours and said anything above the 20th floor was safe, including Henry.

We went back for a pretty awful night of sleep then I came back early to find Henry lounging around feeling like he was king of the castle for getting to spend the night by himself. All's well but it was a wild end to the trip.

I'll post pictures later this week! Love you all.

Happy April!

It's been awhile! Sorry for the long absence, the longer I work at my computer during the day, the less I'm inclined to blog. But here's a "catch up" post for the last 6 weeks!

Henry celebrated his second birthday last weekend with a swimming trip to the lake. He had way too much fun and could barely move that night he was so tired. Bryce will be celebrating his 29th birthday this Friday and we're going to dinner with his family at an Italian restaurant then out with his friends on Saturday night.

Moving back to March, Rach and I had a WONDERFUL weekend! We went shopping, to the spa, out with Savannah to a great wine restaurant and watched the entire third season of True Blood nearly start to finish. I'm about due for another pedicure (both of us agreed the Woodhouse gives the best pedicures we'd ever had) so Rach, if you could just fly back so we can go back to the spa, that would be great. :-)

I've read a few great books lately and tried a few great bottles of wine. If you haven't checked out Elizabeth Gilbert's sequel to Eat Pray Love, it's a must read. Called Committed, it is her search across many countries and many traditions for what marriage will be for her. Romantic it is not, but thought provoking it is.

A week from today Bryce and I are headed to Sonoma for a weekend of wine tasting! It's something we've always wanted to do so we'll be spending three days at the Vintner's Inn relaxing, eating and drinking. Can't wait!

Work at GolfTEC is also going really well. It's an extremely busy time of year pre-golf season so we've been working overtime making sure every aspect of our marketing efforts is a success. I can't believe in July I will have worked there a year. Time sure flies.

My lease downtown expires in August, so we've been evaluating some different housing options. This alone is worth a full blog post so more to come in the future!

Finally, a big congratulations to two friends who are now engaged. Claire Markey and Paige Andrews are both marrying their wonderful boyfriends and I'll be in St Louis to be a bridesmaid in Paige's wedding next March.

Hope you're having a wonderful week and enjoying every single day.