Disneyland Trip

Hello lovely people! This past June, the mister and I went on a long awaited trip to Disneyland for our 3 year anniversary of dating (: It was so so fun, and I thought I would share some of my favorite moments with you!

The castle!

We ended up staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel---> which Carl had no idea! It was seriously cool, it had a rooftop pool! We got ourselves situated and then headed on over to DISNEYLAND! (BTW, thanks to my dear friend Chelsea for picking us up from the airport...I owe you one! (:)

These are not the droids you are looking for

We look coooool

Of course, Star Tours was the first ride we went on, and may I say it was SO AWESOME. It was the first time I had been on the ride since it was revamped and omg, it blew my mind!

After Dinner at Blue Bayou

Our cheese plate/dessert sampler tray for Fantasmic!

Front row seats for Fantasmic. It was awesome.

For dinner we had reservations at the Blue Bayou, and while we had to wait a little longer for a water side table, it was so worth it! A quick tip: I had the reservations at 5:30 but checked in at 5:00, and the wait for a water table was about 30 minutes, so in the end we were seated basically at the time we had reserved. If you are thinking about doing a water side table, definitely put your name down early--you may get lucky like we did! One thing I had never done before was try the premium viewing area for the Fantasmic show. I was a little skeptical considering it cost extra to get a ticket, not to mention waiting to reserve a seat, but man, I'm glad we did it in the end! We literally were at the front of our viewing section, arrived 20 minutes before the show started, and we greeted with a sampler of desserts and cheeses, not to mention the hot chocolate and coffee! It was more than what I was expecting. Plus, we had a great waiter (yes, you have a waiter!) who was super friendly.

Stitch being lovable

What a couple of characters :P

My hair flying in the wind of Tower of Terror

The next day we went to a character breakfast! We were the only adults there without children but it was still super fun! 

Carb wrapped in pineapple over some type of tomato sauce. MMM

A type of fish with mussels with a mango salsa.

Figs and mushrooms with a cream sauce and a bit of wine reduction sauce.

Main dish= AMAZING. It was steak over this medley of salsa with potatoes...omg. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Anniversary Dessert. yay!

 Then, my favorite part happened. We had dinner at the Napa Rose in The Grand Californian Hotel, and it was magical. I can't eve begin to tell you how amazing that dinner was. We ordered the vintner's table, which is a prefix menu that changes every Friday, and they pair it with wine. I was in heaven. And so was Carl, judging by his little food montage :P

A Padwan becoming a Jedi.

Jedi Master.

Look! We found a vineyard!

Hanging out with Goofy at our hotel :P

All in all the trip was a success! I cant wait until the next time we can go back (:

In other news: my grapes are starting to ripen! They're looking super pretty. I'll be back soon with pictures of their progress!

Bacchanalia Dinner

Hello Friends!

How are you guys surviving this heat? Today reached 106! Ah. I like hot, but that is too hot. It makes working outside very unpleasant. So, to remind myself how much I enjoy what I do (even when the weather gets fierce), I thought I would give you a little recap of our Bacchanalia Dinner I attended in Napa a few weekends ago!

Our drive to Napa was super fun. We went in a limo (AH!) and had a good time dancing to the disco balls and our party playlist. (Yes, we created a party playlist :P)

Limo ride to Napa

Enjoying the ride!

Family and Carl and I lurking in the background

Release Party at Stag's Leap

Mister getting his grr face on

By the lake

oh hello there

The first event was at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars where we attended a pick up/ release party over by the lake. It was SUCH a gorgeous view. We were greeted with Sauvignon Blanc and proceeded to explore the area. The coolest part by far was a local chocolatier had created special chocolates to pair with each of the wines that were being featured. Think blue cheese and fig chocolate with a bold cabernet Sauvignon, or a Cilantro mango chocolate paired with their Chardonnay. It was heavenly. Also, they had a gelato bike featuring cabernet sorbet and chocolate gelato. It was AWESOME.

Carl and I at Regusci Winery for lunch

Our second stop was literally 5 minutes down the street at Regusci Winery. If you have never been, I highly recommend having a picnic there. They have a great seating area, and the cool part is, if you do the tasting (why wouldn't you?) you can choose a bottle of your favorite wine and have it with your lunch. I'd recommend their Merlot. It goes with everything (:

After that we bummed around Napa a little bit, waiting for our main event to start...and it was completely worth the wait!

They had an awesome band playing in the background

Taking a moment between appetizers to pose for pictures

My family and I descending into their caves!

About to head on in!

Looking down the table

At the table next to the winery's grower

Main course. SO. GOOD.

So, let me attempt to describe to you the awesomeness that was Nickel and Nickel's Bacchanalia Dinner. We arrived at the winery and were greeted with an assortment of appetizers (all of them were so delicious) and a tent offering any and all wines made by the winery. We listened to the band play for about a half hour, and then we were called by section to enter the wine caves where dinner would be held. Now, in a stroke of luck, I managed to seat myself next to a grower for the winery. Of course I had no idea what to say (this guy knew his stuff), but Carl paved the way for me and the three of us talked wine, grapes, schooling, and Placer County for the rest of the evening. It was awesome. The food was out of this world and the wine, oh the wine. It was simply amazing.  

All in all, that Napa trip was by far one of the most exhilarating and completely inspiring trips I have ever experienced and I feel so blessed to be able to share just a tid bit of it with you all (:

Thanks for letting me share!

zzzZZZZzzzz

Hello there!

Long time no talk. I do apologize, once again, for my silence. It isn't that I haven't thought about this blog or anything, it has been incredibly busy here ever since getting back from Vegas. 

The next couple of weeks are going to be equally as busy, but rest assured, I will be more 'present' here than I have been! This weekend Carl and I will be tagging along with my family for a full day of wine tasting in Napa! My mother is a member over at the Nickel and Nickel winey, and they are hosting a Bacchanalia dinner this Saturday. I am so excited! So of course, we had to make a day of it, so we will be hitting up a few of our favorite wineries! I will be sure to take lots of pictures and notes as to what were my favorites :P

Carl and I with my parents at Chateau Montelena

In vineyard and orchard news, things have been a little, well, frustrating. Some of my babies are getting sick from a variety of diseases, and unfortunately once they catch them they can't be cured. So I am doing my best to read up on all the diseases and pests and trying different ways to hopefully help these little guys reach their full potential.

About to trim some of the vines

Finally, this is my last week taking my online wine and winemaking class! I have learned so so much these past few months and feel like I am totally ready to move on to the next class in the series. Well, first I need to take a chemistry class, but that is another story. 

Hope you all are having a great Monday!

Catching up

Little Bartlett Pear

mmm mm mm 

Plums!

Little apples growing

Mini Lime! 

Aren't they cute?

Things are going pretty smoothly over here with the orchard. I have found a few curious things in regards to the leaves of some of the trees, so I have been researching many diseases that can affect the trees in question (nectarine, peach, and apple). Hopefully it's nothing too serious (most of what I found can be treated) so I am keeping my hopes up. And it's encouraging to see that while some trees might have questionable leaves, they are growing some pretty good looking fruit! 

I am currently on the look out for sustainable, eco-friendly insecticides to use for organic gardening. I will let you know how that goes as I have no clue where to start (guess you have to start somewhere). Hellooooo internet.

Wish me luck (:

"Vegas, Vegas Baby!"

Hey everyone! Sorry things have been so quiet around here the past week or so. Things have become quite crazy and are just now starting to settle down. I thought I'd share some pictures of my Vegas trip this past week. Here it goes!

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1) Early morning at Denny's  2) Waiting for fooood  3) Big bugs in the bathroom equals skepticism of breakfast  4) Sunny sun at the Wynn  5) Mister digging his new sunglasses  6) Family vacay!  7) Winner Winner Winner!  8) The family that gambles together stays together  9) Greek God (kinda :P)  10) Fat Tuesdays  11) Fat Tuesday #2 is so much better than #1  12)  Successful night in Vegas. Maybe too successful :P

I'll be back tomorrow with updates about my little vines and the orchard. I have so much catching up to do!

<3