I Love You, California!

As many of you know, Will loves the cold and the snow, and that has been one of the things he misses the most from the Midwest. Luckily, Tahoe is only a two hour drive away, and people around here really do love to ski! So Will and a few of his co-workers took a day to go skiing and snowboarding in Tahoe. Doesn't he look so happy?!

It was time again to pick up our shipment at Domaine Chandon in Napa, so we made a little day trip out of it and stopped at a few different places in Sonoma and Napa. It was a beautiful day for it! Our first stop was Buena Vista, one of the oldest wineries in Sonoma. After our tasting, we enjoyed a glass of wine and a picnic we packed from home. Beautiful tree! Close up. We then drove up the street to Ravenswood Winery for some delicious wine and a beautiful view. Buena Vista and Ravenswood are both located in Sonoma, so we had about a half hour drive into Napa to get to Chandon. Here are some pictures from the drive. Seriously, I'll never tire of this scenery! The first time we visited Chandon was on one of the tours we went on, so we didn't have time to explore around the grounds. The second time we went it was pouring rain, so again, we didn't get to explore. So this time we were excited to have time and beautiful weather today to walk around.

It only seems fitting to celebrate a day of love with the person I love in the city I love! On Thursday Will made me dinner at home since we both had to work Thursday. Friday was our celebration day. We had gotten a groupon for a French restaurant, Rue Saint Jacques, in the Nob Hill neighborhood of  San Francisco. We enjoyed a nice three course dinner, but were less than impressed with the very French service we received (i.e. very slow). After dinner we stopped in at a cozy little wine bar and sipped our vinos while we watched people walk with their dogs and the trollies pass by. We had a lovely celebration but can you believe we didn't take one picture? oh well . . .

Believe it or not, Spring has sprung in Oakland! Will and I were so excited to be able to have an area for a garden and we got right to it last summer, however, the season was already half way through by the time we planted everything! So this year we are getting a jump start on everything to make the most of our garden. As I was reading through information, I read that if you haven't gotten your Spring gardening done by the end of February you are way behind. This is so strange to me! So with this information in mind, we got right to work. It is still a bit early to plant many flowers and vegetables, but we got everything cleaned up and put a few new items in the garden. It's coming along, but we still have a little ways to go. Put up chicken wire to keep out the cats and whatever it was that ate my tomato last year! Planted strawberries and blueberries in a planter we found on our apartment grounds that wasn't being used. Can't wait to get out to

I cannot believe how fast time goes by. This weekend marks one year since we came to visit California for the first time last year and when Will had his initial interview with Terviva! When we visited last year we spent the Saturday of our weekend walking around the neighborhood we now live in, having coffee, lunch, and doing a little shopping. So we decided to do something similar this year to mark the occasion. We started with coffee from Starbucks and breakfast at a little shop in Berkeley called Cinnaholic. They make vegan cinnamon rolls and then you can pick from a huge list of frostings, toppings, and specialty rolls. A few weeks ago I purchased their groupon offer, and had been so excited to try it out. It did not disappoint! Will of course got the "old skool" which is just with plain vanilla frosting (though very yummy!). I got maple frosting with pecans and fresh blueberries. Delicious! Our next destination was going to be MAC cosmetics so I could pick u