Wayfaring Wine Country: St. Helena

A weekend in Napa Valley and Sonoma Part III

There was no better way to walk off a day of wine tasting than along a short lush trail to a beautiful historic mill in the soft golden glow of the afternoon sunlight. Bale Grist Mill was once the gathering place for early Napa valley settlers who would bring their corn and grain to grind into flour. The Bale Grist Mill, originally built in 1846, was completely water-powered and is still functioning today.

We arrived at the park near closing time and were a bit bummed that the tours and milling demonstrations for the day were already over, but they still let walk around for a self-guided tour. The staff at the mill were dressed in period-costumes and they also sold organic cornmeal, flour, and polenta that were actually ground by the mill. I loved the sound of the water pouring from waterwheel as it turned and the patches of moss growing all around the mill. It was really a unique piece of history in a beautiful setting.

We had planned dinner in St. Helena and had some time to walk around the main street before our reservation. There were lots of cute little boutique shops selling interesting gourmet food items, soaps, and even artwork made from bugs! We enjoyed dinner at Market, which was one of our favorite meals of the trip (but we pretty much didn't have any bad meals, food was just delicious everywhere). The menu was simple but all the courses were done very well with fresh ingredients and were beautifully plated. You know how sometimes you read an item on the menu and it sounds so good but then the actual dish falls short? At Market, the dishes taste exactly how you would expect them to, in good way: perfectly delicious, just the way you had imagined it. We turned in for the evening pretty soon afterwards with blissful food coma....

Change of Plans

Sometimes things just don't go the way you planned. That was this weekend. I certainly didn't plan on being under the weather, or the awful traffic (even more so than usual), or leaving my camera memory card at home when I was looking forward to some shutter time with the beautiful weather this past weekend.

But it was so. And actually the change of plans allowed for a few lovely surprises.

I was looking forward to enjoying abundant sunshine this past weekend in Malibu. I wanted to visit the Adamson House and the Malibu Legacy Park. While we were having brunch at a lovely cafe in Santa Monica, we became aware of the stand-still traffic going north caused by construction and closures on the 405. And then I also realized I had forgotten my camera memory card. We nixed our Malibu adventures and  headed east instead (away from the ridiculous traffic). Will promised me some shopping to reign in my disappointment.

While we were unsuccessfully trying to make our shopping trip productive at the Beverly Center, I suddenly remembered the email I had gotten earlier this weekend about the Etsy Pop-up Shop event being held at the West Elm just down the street. We took the short stroll over and I was delighted to find the event in full swing. They were serving delicious strawberry and ginger drinks decked out with pretty pink sugar on cup rims, perfect for the warm weather. They also had a mini desserts bar filled with bite-sized treats. It was a lot of fun to browse through the small "shops" that Etsy sellers set up around the store. There is so much creative talent in LA! I just love that West Elm is partnering with local artisans and crafters to put on events like this. Definitely a pleasant unexpected surprise!

While I had a mild cold this weekend, I was still able to enjoy a few nice meals out with my hubby and bake some cornbread with the cornmeal we'd bought from Bale Grist Mill in Napa. For a planner like me, unexpected changes can be really disappointing, but I am learning that even "the best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry" (Robert Burns) and to just enjoy the little surprises along the way.

Wayfaring Wine Country: Along the Wine Trail

A weekend in Napa Valley and Sonoma Part II 

There are two main routes that run through the heart of Napa wine country: Highway 29 and Silverado trail. We chose highway 29 because it is closer to the wineries we wanted to visit and the small towns along the way like Yountville and St. Helena. It was also apparently the more popular route with most visitors of Napa as there was actually quite a bit of traffic along the way. Imagine our disappointment given that we were trying to escape from the endless LA traffic back home. There's nothing like being stuck in traffic while on vacation...

But for some reason I didn't mind too much. Maybe it was because I wasn't the one driving (My super-husband drove nearly 1000 miles altogether on this trip), but probably more-so because of the beautiful scenery along the road. I mean, how upset can you be when you are staring at this outside your window?

First, we stopped in Yountville  to grab macarons (my favorite!) from Bouchon Bakery. Yountville is so pretty, clean, and well manicured-- yet retains a quaint rustic charm. Setup like a little resort town for foodies, we spotted a number of Michelin star restaurants all within a couple blocks of each other. Since it was so crowded outside the bakery, we decided to take our little treats over to enjoy out on the lawn of V Marketplace across the street. One unexpected highlight of V Markeyplace, other than the pretty plaza and fountain, were the public restrooms (sadly?). There was one around almost every corner and they were all very nice and clean.

Our first winery stop was at V. Sattui, a family winery with roots in Italian winemaking dating back to San Francisco in the late 1880s. The grounds were lovely but boy, was it crowded. We wanted to picnic on the grounds since they served barbecue out on the lawn every Saturday but the line was crazy! They have two tasting rooms, but we found that the "overflow" tasting room on the upper level of the estate was less crowded and had better ambiance than the busy main tasting room near the marketplace. We chose to split a tasting since the  pours were actually quite generous. In fact, we ended up splitting tastings at every winery we visited on the trip-- it's a great way to save money and taste more wines for "light weight" drinkers like us.  We tasted some of my favorite wines of the trip here (it's no wonder they have been voted Winery of the Year three years in a row!) and I discovered I absolutely adore rosé. We took home a bottle of my favorite rosé that tasted fruity, delicious, with a hint of strawberries! Aside from the wonderful wine, our sommelier was very friendly and knowledgeable with his wine recommendations and offered his tips on food pairing with each wine we sampled. 

Then we headed north to the wine castle, Castillo di Amorosa. We missed the turn-off to the winery on our first pass since you can't actually see the castle from the main road-- you have to enter through a gate and up a steep driveway.The picturesque Italian castle is perched at the top of the hill and surrounded by vineyards. They even had a handful of random livestock roaming the grounds (I counted two roosters, a sheep, and a goat). Of course there were some elements that felt a little cheesy-- like were visiting Napa's Disneyland, but what does one expect from a 13th century Tuscan-style castle built right in the heart of California? The entrance fee, which included wine tasting was $18 a person...a bit steep but we considered it a form of crowd control (it was busy here too but not nearly as crazy as V. Sattui) and made for gorgeous pictures! As we explored the castle's winding towers, hidden chambers, and courtyard there were times when I looked out over the castle's stone walls and felt like I was really in Europe (of course I can only imagine....hopefully later this year I will be able to compare it to the real thing).

With over 400 wineries in Napa Valley, I know we've only barely scratched the surface of Napa's vinicultural scene. A great resource for touring wineries on a budget that I found while researching for this trip is the Napa Tourist Guide Coupons. You can find discounts here for most popular wineries as well as many off-the-beaten-path destinations. I wish we had time to explore them all!

Wayfaring Wine Country: Downtown Napa

A Weekend in Napa Valley and Sonoma, Part I

Napa valley is such a beautiful place. After a few days driving along winding country roads lined with vineyards and tall oak trees, hiking through lush forest trails, and of course wining and dining through charming towns full of local culinary delights, Napa has really captured my heart.

We made the long six-and-a-half hour drive up north Friday afternoon. After stopping for dinner along the way, it was completely dark by the time we reached our hotel in downtown Napa. We couldn't make out much of the town except for the glowing neon signs of a target and fast food restaurants across the street from our hotel (which turned out to be super convenient!).

The next morning we crossed the Napa river into the main part of town for breakfast. I wish I had a chance to take a picture of the riverfront, because our first impression of downtown Napa was this:

I found this picture in an interesting article titled "Will Crowds Flock to Napa's New Disney-like Wine World?" Which were our thoughts exactly. It looked pristine and well-built but somehow had a somewhat contrived feel. As we drove a few blocks more into town however, I was relieved to find the more historic and quaint side of downtown Napa. The streets had simple obvious names like "Church St." (where a church was around the block) and "School St." (in front of a school). We had breakfast at Alexis' Baking Company and sat outside to enjoy the sunny weather. I immediately noticed the beautiful Victorian architecture surrounding the area and even spotted an adorable eccentrically painted home that reminded me of Carl and Ellie's house from Up! (one of my favorite movies). We researched some of the nearby homes on our phones while we enjoyed brunch (the magic of smart phones these days), and found out that some of the nearby buildings were from the early 1900s and had long histories of being covered back-and-forth between homes and boutique office buildings.

After breakfast we crossed the Napa river again to Oxbow Public Market on the other side. Pretty much a miniature version of the San Francisco's Ferry Building or New York's Chelsea Market. It was small but had a few pretty interesting shops: we sampled some flavored olive oil, took a sniff of some exotic and unusual spices (there were like fifty different varieties of salt alone), and admired some very pretty looking cupcakes.

We didn't spend much time in downtown Napa as we were eager head out of town to start exploring the wine trail, but if we had more time I definitely would have liked to take a stroll around the neighborhood just to see what other interesting architectural history we could find. Downtown Napa is full of hidden charm, once you look past the overworked facade.

My Forever Valentine

This morning my husband woke me up with a kiss on the forehead saying, "Happy Valentine's day....hey, is this our 7th Valentine's day together?"

I sleepily counted on my fingers, "2006, 2007, 2008, 2009......2013" oh my god, it's actually our eighth! That really woke me up...and made me feel just about a million years old. I am in my mid-twenties and I have already spent nearly ten Valentine's days with my husband: five while dating, one while engaged, and now this is our second as husband and wife.

God has been so gracious to us through all of these years. Lately, when I think back on how young we were when we first met (not just our age, but our hearts) I can only think that God really has orchestrated something quite remarkable. He has been so faithful to us despite our many mistakes, struggles, and changes.

I am so lucky that Will and I are not only going to be growing old together, but we will also be growing in love together! I am so thankful for my forever valentine!

I guess Will and I have spent enough Valentine's days together now that we actually have "traditions" of sorts:

• Our very first Valentine's day together Will gave me a bright sunny-yellow orchid. I loved it so much that for the past seven years I have always had a orchid in my room wherever I lived (and I moved many times when I was a student, at least once every-other-year; the orchids always came with me)
• Handwritten cards. In all shapes, colors, and sizes! Actually, I feel like I've gone through so many Valentine's day cards that I've come to the point where I recognize cards on the shelf at the store that I gave previous years. It's like I've already chosen all the good designs-- come on American Greetings/Hallmark/Papyrus, you gotta come up with something new here! 
• Dinner. A given, because we love to eat. 
• No chocolate. Because I hate chocolate.

Nothing particularly unique I suppose, except perhaps the chocolate-less part, but it's a holiday that is full of cliches to being with. What makes Valentine's day special is of course, the special people you spend it with. 

via ChelseaVictoria; I loved the caption: "Find love, and always hold onto it"

This year I have planned to make a special dinner at home so that Will and I can have a quiet evening to relax and pack (sometimes an oxymoron for me) before we leave for our mini-vacation to Napa Valley tomorrow! So excited! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful day with their loved ones! 

Happy 2013: Restart!

I can't believe my last post was already more than seven months ago (not to mention a date ending in 2012...) It's another new year so let's try this again!

A Few Highlights of 2012: 

• Finally finished most of the furnishing and decorating of our new home and hosted a housewarming party
• Four weddings! That's a record for us so far! Two were destination weddings, one in Portland Oregon and another in Oahu Hawaii! Wonderful memories~ 
• Celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary and my 25th birthday with a wonderful weekend trip to San Luis Obispo
• Starting a new job
• Iphone 5: my first "real" smartphone. Although it was bittersweet to part with my pink french (it was an unlocked international phone) Samsung...
• Getting my first dslr camera and taking a photography class 
• Celebrating Will's 30th 
• Taking regular dance classes again. It took me so long to find a studio that I liked after college. Now I dance weekly again and it feels great! 
• Got our first "real" Christmas tree (this was our mini tree last year, haha definitely a step-up this year!)

Hopes for 2013: 

• Write more
• Cook more special meals for my husband
• Learn to make more Chinese food
• Bake more desserts (to share with others!)
• Travel to Europe 
• Take lots of photos of beautiful places and delicious food
• Actually follow-through with a craft project/ pinterest idea
• Send out Christmas cards (kind of missed the boat last year...)
• Have more flowers in the house (last year was sort of a disaster for all our our houseplants)

Most importantly, I pray that I will grow in my walk with God and fall more in love with Jesus. My key verse for this year is 1 John 4: 10-12

"This is love: not that we loved God, but he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us"

My prayer is that my life will be filled more with God's love, rather than my own, and that I can love my husband, family, and friends with God's love. 

New York City Adventures

How time has flew by! A whirlwind trip to New York, one wedding, and nearly a month of being sick later...it's already May! Nearly a month-and-a-half has gone by since our trip to NYC but I am still looking back on the pictures from the trip and reminiscing... Can't wait for another chance to visit again! (when I am not sick)

Some highlights:
We visited this Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao on the night we flew in. Turned out to be one of my favorite restaurants the whole trip! Definitely up to par with Ding Tai Feng in LA, but had a homier feel, no line, and generous portions.

Delicious side dishes! 

Huge bowl of noodle soup for $5

There was nothing "xiao" (small) about these soup dumplings...they were huge! 

On our first full day in New York I was probably the sickest... But in the midst of body aches, a viral infection, and a painful open blister somehow we actually managed to visit the Natural History Museum, 9/11 Memorial, and Times Square. 

I thought this turtle fossil at the Natural History Museum was amazing...it's giant! Especially compared to our pet turtle at home (Dowser is about the size of this guy's nose) 

The fountain at the base of where one of the twin towers once stood

Of course we had to get a shot like this in Times Square! 

The second day we took a food tour of Chelsea Market and the meat packing district. We stopped eight boutique food shops and restaurants for tastings. 

A red velvet cupcake from Eleni's Bakery: the Tiffany's of cookies 

Will enjoying a lobster bisque at Lobster Place 

One of our favorites from the food tour was actually these unassuming-looking preserves from Sara Beth's. It was pretty cool that we got to meet her too! (she happened to be in the bakery at the time) 

We took a stroll along the High Line park

After the food tour we stopped by Greenwich village and found the Friend's building 

In the evening we went to see Godspell at Circle in the Square theater. I absolutely loved it-- the music, set, and story were all fantastic. It was a really fun way to present the stories and parables found in the gospel of Matthew. The theater was super cozy and the stage (360 degrees) was so unique-- there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. 

Partying it up on the stage during intermission 

On our last full day in New York we had brunch at Landmarc and then visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Afterwards, we headed to the Jersey side to visit some friends and a great view of the Manhattan skyline. 

The best man-- also our chauffeur, host, and tour guide during this trip. I guess best man duties don't end after the wedding…. Thanks Kevin! 

We'll be doing lots of traveling this year...Can't wait for our next trip to Portland coming up in June!