Gettin’ Silly in Sonoma

I think you can tell from my last post that I was in a pretty good mood and had some awesome plans in store for the weekend.  Dare I say was drunk with happiness?

I chose to fortify my drunken oblivion with some wine tasting on Saturday!

Zach planned the whole thing.  Usually I am the one that takes lead on organizing all events, transportation, food, invites, destination points, etc.  It was more than refreshing for him to take the wheel and let me just come along for the ride. And by “ride,” I mean minivan.  Ohhhh yeaaaah!

Kelley and I proudly standing next to the superfly minivan

Though I adore pretty much every wine region in this area, I wanted to revisit Sonoma since it had been a couple of years.  Zach prepared in advance and scoped out the wineries that specialized in Pinot Noir (my fave) and also sparkling wine.  Score!

We started at Viansa:

Incredible iron work all over the estate

Gorgeous property, less than stellar wine.  Very meh.  The Italian varietals are generally not my favorite anyway, so at least expectations were low.  They did have cheese, mustard and tapenade tasting, which was phenomenal.  It wasn’t a total loss!

Next up was Gloria Ferrer, which is one of my absolute favorite affordable sparkling wines.  So tasty. I drink their wines often, but have only been to this vineyard once before — back in 2002 when I first moved to Cali!

But first, we had to pull over for this photo op:

This chair didn't look that big until I got in it!

Okay back on track.  We snagged a small table at Gloria Ferrer and decided to share a bottle of the Brut Rose, which is limited in sales and cannot be found in stores.  Loved it!  Crisp, light in fruit, not too sweet.  It was downed by all pretty darn fast   Along with our champagne, we broke out the snacks: hummus, pita chips, maple smoked cheddar, salami, chocolates, carrots.  It was a healthy feast =)

Since we quickly snarfed down the champagne, we decided to get a bottle of Pinot to share as well.  This didn’t knock my socks off, but I wouldn’t kick it outta bed.

Kelley, Josh, and the DD

Rachel, Me, Zach

Next up was a small little winery called Anaba, where the volume was loud and the atmosphere was fun.

Moving on, we headed to Schug because we heard that had Pinots.  I would summarize this place by saying it was rapid fire wine tasting.  The wines were good, but the tasting room was cramped and just didn’t have an atmosphere that screamed “stay! drink more!”  But I did end up buying a Pinot and snapping a pic of our group by the minivan turned hummer.

The driver didn't want to switch rides

Onward to Ravenswood.  This was the most mainstream winery we went to and while I do enjoy their Merlots, they were primarily serving Zins :P  Yick!  Zin is easily my least desired vino.  The others liked it though!  Win!

We had to end on a good note, so I convinced (severe arm twisting you know) to go Domaine Carneros, which also specialized in sparkling wines and Pinots.  AND it is modeled after the wineries in Eperney, France, birthplace of Champagne, and our vacay spot in 2007.

It’s safe to say I was silly at this point.

I will melt you with my mind

We had an incredible server who offered us a lot of extra tastes — surely a full 2 glasses more, including their premium $100+ bottles.  Nice!  I would have easily purchased a case of sparkling wine, but hubby isn’t much of a fan, so we went with a pretty spectacular Pinot.

One last group shot before hitting the road:

Domaine Carneros

When all was said and done, we only walked away with 3 bottles of vino.  2 Pinots for me and 1 Zin for the hubby.

Vino!

I had a lovely and exhausting day and it was well worth the wait for my Birthday celebration.  Thanks friends

What is your favorite wine?  Least favorite?

Happy happy happy!

I was  in a freakin’ fantastic mood last night and it’s carrying over into today

Why?

Let me share…

1.  I took today off.  I’m not working…at all.  I refuse to.  I decided that today will make up for me traveling for work on my Birthday

2.  I’m loving my cute lil’ Netbook and loving my new cover even more:

 

Netbook and cover presents from the hubby

3.  I get to see my Bestie next week.  (Really this should be number 1 if we’re ranking things here).  We both have the squirmmies just thinking about it

 

4.  My hubby has planned a trip of us and 4 friends to go wine tasting in Sonoma tomorrow for my Birthday.  Who isn’t happy going wine tasting?

5.  Zach made me dinner last night using a Hungry Girl recipe:

 

Chicky fingers (now just add a huge dollop of BBQ and that's what I ate)

The lazy girl's way of posting the recipe

6.  I did some major online shopping this week and have been getting packages on a daily basis…here’s what I got to name a few things:

 

• Grey foldover boots
• Gold strappy wedges
• Multicolor peeptoe wedges
• VS bikini bottoms (no need to wonder why I only got the bottoms)
• VS foldover capri yoga pants
• VS peacoat
• Off the shoulder blush dress for my friend’s Kauai wedding
• New color of eyeliner from Bare Escentuals called “Patio Party”

7.  I can finally wear makeup!

8.  I have had no problems with my Lasik that I got last Thursday.

9.  I’ve been able to workout 3 days in a row.

10.  I’m trying a fabulous new wine bar this afternoon.  Vino o’clock starts at 3p.  Cheers!

What is making you happy today?

Merry Maid Me

Thank you for all your great comments on yesterday’s post.  I like the idea of changing up my meals a bit, doing more weight work, and perhaps even edging up the calories…gasp!

Have I ever told you that I’m a clean freak?  Yep, serious OCD when it comes to being clean.

Think Monica on Friends.

Source

I do believe the phone pen should remain by the phone (err if you still have a landline).  I do like being the friend that comes to help you pack.  I do get excited when it’s time to clean.

I have been like this my whole life.  Just ask my Mom.  There wasn’t a day she wouldn’t come home from work and I hadn’t fluffed the pillows, vacuumed, dusted, organized her closet, or simply straightened the fringes on the carpet (yes I was that OCD).

In college I would do my roommates’ chores in exchange for them paying my part of a bill (Electric, Cable, etc).

Life feels more in control when things are clean.  I feel like I an breathe deeply and maybe even relax!

And luckily I happened to marry a guy that is fairly clean.  Granted, he may need some reminding now and then, but he is pretty good about his set of chores: making the bed in the AM, taking out the trash, scoopin’ the kitty poo, and folding his own laundry.  I usually would do everything else, which I didn’t mind terribly.

Then life happened.

I was busy.  Hubby was busy.  Finally one day, he suggested getting a cleaning service prior to our wedding.  I relented because that period was super hectic as you may well guess

Source

To say I was impressed was an understatment.  They were in and out in less than 75 minutes and the house was sparkling.  Yes, I had to go around afterwards and put things (precisely) back in their place, but I was able to relinquish that control of cleaning.  Liberating, I tell you!

Now, we’ve realized that our “free time” is so precious and rare that it may just be worth to make this a regular thing.  Over a year later, we have a cleaning crew come once every 3 weeks and I can’t imagine ever going back.  In between cleanings, I still vaccum (a few times a week for all the pet hair), scrub counters, and do laundry, but the deep stuff, I leave to them

I guess you could say I never thought I’d be the type to give up something I actually enjoy, but let me tell you it’s for all the right reasons.  The small amount of money is so worth the extra time I have to just be.

Are you a clean freak?

Do you use a cleaning service?

What’s your least favorite chore? Mine has to be laundry.  I feel like it’s such a pain in the arse!  I’d rather clean the bathroom than fold clothes..any day! (Okay, scoopin’ cat poo is up there as the worst too)