Birthdays are alot like Christmas. There’s much anticipation all year for it to come, and then once its there, its gone in a flash. My birthday is also alot like Christmas because it is literally right AFTER Christmas. When I was younger this majorly bugged because that meant that all my friends were out of town still for the holidays..I was lucky if I had 4 girls to fill the ten tiaras at my princess parties. Also, because you get the “combined gift”…the clever, save-one-Christmas-present-for-later-type present. Whether or not that was the case, my parents always made that present..AWESOME. It was worth it. Saved or not saved. The older I have gotten I have come to love the 28th, because Christmas doesn’t have to end, there is still something to look forward to. This year Jason decided to take me Napa..very much on the fly. My darling and oh-so-generous brother Corey said he would spend the night with my kids and watch them the whole day of my birthday so we could go kid free. UMMMM..best present EVERRRR. We stayed at a new little Hotel in Downtown Napa called AVIA….google it. Modern, earthy, perfection. and surprisingly not expensive this particular day. We stayed in walking distance to our favorite antique store that has pretty much furnished our lives, and my favorite boutique “The Cake Plate”- ravishing clothes and built in bakery with “SIFT cupcakes”. It will change your life:) We met up with Jason’s sister Wendy and her husband Rob, who live in Hawaii, and are visiting during the Holidays..they gave us the brilliant idea to go to Napa, while they were there for a few days.
After the best night of uninterrupted sleep EVER, we got our Starbucks, picked them up from their Bed and Breakfast, and were on a mission to find a few great “Sustainable Wineries”.. Jason and I don’t drink, so we thought we would just drive and take pretty pictures along the way..Our first stop was “Frog Leap” Winery-a hidden gem off the beaten path..that was breathtaking. I felt so elated being part of the wine tasting experience with Rob and Wendy, I decided to pay the $15 bucks and join. For those of you who know me, you know I don’t like the taste of ANY type of Alcohol-even the picture of us toasting champagne on our wedding day..my face has a sour-almost-going-to-gag-expression. When describing the differences between wine, my vocabulary is “white, purple, and it tastes like rubbing alcohol.” I decided today I would try my darndest to soak up the experience..”When in Rome”-Ron Burgundy:) I was actually pleasantly surprised that 2 of the 4 wines they served us were actually OK..only minor gag reflex:) The cheese they served rocked my world and I couldn’t help but notice that the beauty of this place was making everything taste better. We took only a few pictures on the grounds, but fell in love with this persimmon tree. We decided we wanted to come back with a couple or family and have this tree be one of the backdrops. It was sort of enchanting. After staying there for most of the morning, we shopped around downtown Saint Helena, ate at “Taylors Refresher” burger joint, (which was on Diners, Drive -Ins and Dives-and always has at least 50 people in line.) Best Bacon cheeseburger ever..stopped at a few places to buy knick knacks, cheeses and salami, grabbed a Pink Champagne & Gingerbread cupcake from SIFT for the road, and headed back to our sweet babies.. It was seriously one of the BEST birthdays ever. Quality time with the Hubs, beautiful countryside, killer food, driving in the rain listening to Avett Brothers, coming home to excited kids, listening to a million sweet birthday messages, opening a few presents..and taking a bath with my new Red Velvet Cake Bath soak…It was truly the best birthday since my sweet 16…
Here are my sweet presents today. I scored.
Honey….Thank you..I.AND.LOVE.AND.YOU.
1 comment