Napa Valley

I spent last weekend in Napa Valley with one of my best girls, Lisa! I met Lisa at our first job out of college. She moved from Washington, and I hadn't made many friends in Houston yet. She asked me if I liked to shop and I must have lied, because we became instant friends! I was supposed to visit her in Boise last fall while Ross was deployed to Korea, but she came down with a nasty sickness a few days before I was supposed to head out. So, we cancelled my flight and rebooked to meet in Napa!

We both arrived in Oakland late Thursday night. I really wanted to see Alcatraz from Pier 39 and Lisa really wanted crab chowder. We turned on the Garmin (GPS), got out our maps, and hit the road to San Francisco! About 30 minutes later after non-stop chatting (what are girl's trips for?) we realized we were going the wrong direction. OOPS! We turned around, got back on track, and had a yummy bowl of chowder along with an oyster shooter to celebrate at the Crab House. The chowder was yum and so was the huge oyster in the shooter. The shooter itself (the drink part) was not so good. It was too dark to see Alcatraz, or anything for that matter, but you could hear the seals loud and clear.

The biggest oyster ever in my shooter

After dinner, we headed north to the wine country. We found an awesome deal on a hotel right south of Napa. It was an interesting place. It was an all green hotel called the Gaia. I probably won’t ever stay there again, but it was just us and the price was right.

Because we rented a tiny car we decided we were low-emitting and fuel efficient enough for this parking spot!

A swan at our hotel protecting her egg.

Friday morning we woke up early and met our LIMO! We signed up for an all day wine tour that drove us around in a black stretched limo. We felt pretty cool. Our tour guide stopped at some of his favorite tasting rooms and had a picnic lunch for us. It was a must do, if you plan to make a trip to the wine country anytime soon. We were on the tour with a couple, Carrie and Greg - who just got engaged!, and Michael - who was visiting from Germany.

Lisa, Me, Carrie, Greg, and Michael

Tasting the wine at Napa Cellars/Folie a Deux

At Peju (one of my favorite stops) with our rapping tasting guide:)

Still at Peju

Another vineyard along the way

Castello di Amorosa (If you watched the Bachelor this is where Jake took Vienna and Gia!)

View from the Castle

I have never seen so many beautiful flowers in one place. They were blooming all over the wine country.

First growth on the grape vines!

Old Olive tree

For dinner we ended up in downtown Napa at a place called Ristorante Allegria.

The next morning we started our self-guided tour. We had a map and a list of vineyards. We decided to make the loop and stop at every vineyard that look tempting until we got tired or hungry.

Domaine Carneros - we started the morning at this amazing place with sparkling wine and gorgeous views. It is also where I discovered my camera was low on battery :(

My first In-N-Out burger experience. It was tasty!

We made it to around 10ish vineyards each day and didn't even come close to scratching the surface. I can't wait to make a return trip soon! We lucked out with weather. It was beautiful both days - around 70 and sunny.

I miss you already Lisa! When is our next girl's trip?

Love You Lucy

Friday night our family pup, Lucy, passed away. She was 17 and lived a long happy life. My dad would tell me how she was starting to sleep a lot more or start to lose her normal active appetite, so we would start to prepare ourselves for her to go. The next day she would be up running around and swimming in the pond. She always kept us laughing. You will be missed sweet girl, but we know you are running around (and probably breaking into neighbor's garbage - sorry old neighbors) with your best friend Velvet!

Sun bathing with a bone

Lucy and Velvet. They pretty much took over our backyard patio furniture:)

Lucy and Velvet being "guard dogs"

Sleepy pup

Lucy's final resting spot.

Steph & Liz cooking/baking night

Our 4th round of cooking/baking was delicious. Once a month or so we get together with Ross and Liz to cook/bake/eat/drink/play video games.

Last night the menu consisted of:

Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce (from The Pioneer Woman)
The Best Spinach Salad. Ever. (from The Pioneer Woman)
Buttered Rosemary Rolls (from The Pioneer Woman)
Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte (from Dorie Greenspan)

You can check out the pictures here. Liz has a camera that takes really nice pictures, so I let her do the honors:)

We all agreed this was our favorite meal so far. The dessert was was similar to a cheesecake, but with a lighter texture. The recipe is from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It's one of the cookbooks Granny gave to me and it's a winner. Robby gave the dessert 2 thumbs up, so if you aren't much of a dessert lover you should still give it a try.

Central Market Knock Off

Our favorite sandwich is the Portobello Chicken Melt from Central Market .  Central Market is just a fancy pants HEB grocery store.  Since we are out in the burbs and don’t make it in town as often as we would like we decided to replicate it from home.  Here is what we needed:

Ciabatta bread

Chipotle Mayo

For the mayo we ground these up and mixed them with regular mayo

Grilled chicken thinly sliced

   Grilled portobello thinly sliced

Sharp cheddar cheese

Lettuce

Sliced tomatoes

Put Ciabatta bread in the oven on 350 for about 10 minutes just to get it a little crusty.  Slice it in half and mayo each side.  Layer chicken, portobello, and cheese and place under broiler just until the cheese melts.  Top with lettuce and tomatoes and enjoy!   

Robby loves this sandwich so much I can’t tell you how many trips we have made to Central Market just to eat:)  Rumor has it we are getting one in Katy – fingers crossed.

Black Eyed Peas

Last night we went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at Reliant and saw the Black Eyed Peas perform, as well as lots of little and big farm animals. The show was great! I don't think I would love the Black Eyed Peas, if Fergie wasn't in the band. Their new cd is a little too futuristic sounding for me, but Fergie always puts on a great, high energy show! Well worth the price of a $16 ticket (even if we were sitting 5 rows from the top of the stadium)! Pre show we enjoyed the variety of animals parked in the arena.

We used to have a soft black lab named Velvet. She reminded me of her:)

3 weeks old

Next year I would like to go and just spend the day looking at all of the different animals. They have a birthing center where you can see all the babies and a chick hatching center. We walked though the Breed Barn, which displayed several breeds of cows, goats, sheep, and pigs. It was neat to get a run down on how the breeds originated and what they are best known for - this was Robby's favorite part. I told Robby I think I should have been raised on a farm or at least participated in the FFA or 4-H club. A cow took a poop right in front of us and I didn't even get grossed out. Maybe my thinking would change, if I had to do it day in and day out :) Both of our grandfathers and dads did it and would probably be laughing at me right now!

3 days old

Gobble, Gobble

The cutest bull rider at the rodeo!

Bull Riding

Chuck Wagon Race - Go Georgia's!

Calf Scramble

Mutton Bustin'

Fergie!

We sat right behind the BEPs BIGGEST fan ever! He was flipping out during the entire show. Hilarious!

Nikki & Chad (Haribo loves him)

May girl (Meagan) & Matt

Us

Sarah, Eric, and Eric's brother and wife

(My old boss was sitting on the other side of them. Small world!)

The packed METRORail on the way back to the Medical Center.

Robby on the rail aka 'packed sardine'