Sonoma Weekend

Dan and I had a fun weekend getaway last week. We've been racking up airline miles (with building those houses and all) so we cashed them in for a Friday night flight to the Bay Area. Our lovely friends AJ and Sheena picked us up and we drove out to wine country to meet up with the rest of our friends. The Wanamaker's rented a an awesome airbnb house and we split it between all of us. 

On Saturday we went to the Roth Estate Winery down the street from our house and played Cambodian jenga while wine tasting...later on we went on a Russian River Float! It was really fun -- a calm cool river, sprinkled with a few "Oh my god" rapids ;) I ended up popping my floatie on the first rapid...my valiant husband insisted on giving me his. What a guy! After the float we came back to the house, made dinner, drank a bit more wine and explored the land behind the house.

The next day we drove to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, lounged by the pool, sipped on mudslides and had a private tasting and tour at the winery! Thanks for the hook up Mr. Wanamaker! It was really interesting to learn about the wine making process! I had no clue how complicated it really is...

What a fabulous weekend.

I love these people <3

Now I'm not a wine connoisseur by any means...I have know idea what I'm doing, but I thought it would be fun to put together a little list of my personal favorites that we tried over the weekend! I'm on my way to understanding why people go nuts for wine!

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Roth 2012 Alexander Valley Heritage Enticing deep, dark purple color. The wine features smoky, firewood aromas and dark fruit notes such as blackberry, and cherry. The palate draws you in with a good mouth-feel and rich flavors of violet, coffee, clove and vanilla bean.

Roth 2014 Sauvgnon Blanc is crisp and balanced with a nice vibrant acidity. On the nose, it displays notes of tropical fruits, citrus zest and floral aromas that carry through to the palate with lively flavors of melon and grapefruit. This wine finishes strong for a long, juicy finish.

Coppola's 2010 Archimedes is a luxurious Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, delivering immensely concentrated flavors of black cherries and juicy red plums. Opulent and aromatic, opening with an alluring fragrance of cherries, figs, cocoa and lavender. Dark, luscious flavors of cassis, plums and blackberries are accentuated by spicy notes of cloves and allspice. The wine is dense with medium tannins and a long, flavorful fruit finish crowned by the scent of cigar box. 

Coppola's 2012 Reserve Viognier Chardonnay is a real show stopper that bursts from the glass with perfume of pears, honeysuckle and cloves. Its rich, lush palate includes pineapple, peach, and melon flavors that are balanced by zesty citrus fruit, notes of minerals and a beautiful butterscotch finish.

^^^I do believe this award winning beauty is my favorite!!! I’m a bit of a wimp when if comes to big bold wines, so this one is perfect -- smooth, easy and fabulous to drink by the pool or dine al fresco on a warm breezy evening. A complex and creamy Chardonnay, layered with juicy citrus flavors and a buttery finish. Ahhh yes…this is my pick right here people!

Sailing The British Virgin Islands {Part Two}

{part two of three}

For those of you who've been following along, Dan and I went on an awesome sailing trip in the Virgin Islands a few weeks ago. Here is part two of the three-part journal post that I'm working on. If you're just joining in now and want to catch up, here is the previous post. I should have put this video in part one, but I just discovered iMovie last week! So here are a few clips of the trip! 

Day Four

We sailed from Anegada back to a dive spot called Blonde Rock, a set of two pinnacles between Dead Chest and Salt Island. D and I snorkeled today and swam through thousands of tiny baby jellyfish . Ouch. They felt like little needles and left dime-sized red blotches on our skin. Thank the lord their bigger and more painful mamma wasn't around. After our morning snorkel we sailed to Virgin Gorda and explored the famous Baths – giant boulders with a menagerie of  tiny waterways and sea caves with crystal clear water. We squeezed though cracks and jumped off rocks. This place is a sight to see! Picture perfect.We spent the night anchored off Cooper Island  - cooking, drinking wine, swinging in the hammock and worrying/getting amped for the RMS Rhone dive in the morning. I must have asked a million and one questions that night. It was only our (mine and D's) second dive and 85 ft deep. "What if this happens….what if that happens?" Did you know you can barf under water and put your regulator back in? Who knew? Don’t worry, I didn’t... but I had to ask. I’m a planner. ;)

-my babe and a morning stretch-

-blonde rock and rhone dive on the map-

-blonde rock friends-

-the baths-

-yumi jumps-

-& evan splashes-

Day Five

I woke up early this morning and made French toast with cream of coconut syrup, mangos, pinneapples and oranges for the crew. Mmmm I didn’t eat a lot though…I was already jittery and nervous for the dive + didn't want my question from the night before to come true. barf.

We sailed a short distance to Salt Island and got ready for the RMS Rhone Dive. Cole and I dove first! I asked him to teach me how to do an emergency backup regulator switch just incase something went wrong. I wanted to know that I could make the switch without messing up (my motto: prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Right? D says I worry too much…I call it being smart). Thumbs up. I did ok. We eventually descended the 85 ft to the ocean floor with a few helpful foot pulls from Cole. 

Wow my mind was blown!The huge RMS Rhone Ship lay on her side right before us! It was an eerie feeling being up close to such a devastating wreck and touching something that has been underwater for almost 150 years. 

The RMS Rhone was a Royal Mail Ship that carried mail, passengers and cargo between England and the Caribbean. In October if 1867 a major hurricane hit the Virgin Islands. The “unsinkable" Rhone; planned to make for open sea. As a safety precaution the passengers in Rhone were tied to their beds to prevent them from being injured in the storm. The Rhone struggled to get free as her anchor caught on a coral reef. It in now lies with its chain wrapped around the same coral it caught on a century and a half ago. The ship sank swiftly -- the bow section in 85 feet of water, the stern in 30 feet. 123+ people went down with the ship that night.

Our dive went perfectly, besides my lack of divers sign language (apparently thumbs up means I want to go up…should have done the OK sign instead. Oops). I wish it was longer, but I’d imagine that’s the same with every dive. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! So grateful to have friends that made it possible for us!

After my dive I got to watch Danny descend (with my heart) for his dive. Oh gosh I can’t take knowing he’s at the bottom of the ocean.  He’d actually be far better off surviving an underwater situation than I would. But still, I can't watch him do scary things. Good news, everything went well with his dive too. Thanks for taking care of my baby, Jeff!

That afternoon we anchored at Peter Island and found coconuts on shore and I got a chance to climb the mast. The views were amazing and the picture I took was even reposted on Goops Insta by Gwyeneth Paltrow! What? Yes!How did that happen?

-french toast party-

-camera & dive gear-

{cheesing it up under the sea}

-this picture makes me feel like a badass...but i'm actually trying not to hyperventilate ;)-

-drink of choice and climbing a mast-

-playing peter pan on peter island and the picture that ms. palrow reposted. can we be best friends please?-

-ladies and gentlemen, i give you peter island-

-fun fact: when bill gates stays here he pays extra for planes to change their flight pattern so they don't fly over the island and disturb his relaxation...crazy-

Day Six

Woke up and the boys had already set sail to Brown Pants…yes that’s right Brown Pants. A dive spot known for it’s cool under water arches and BULL SHARKS. Hence the name. I opted to stay on the boat and open coconuts while the majority snorkeld and dove. Poor Ryan suffered “Mask Suck” or sinus problems that led to some uncomfortable swollen eyes after his dive. Miss Mon our personal Nurse cured him with an ice pack. Phewf.

That night we moored off Norman Island (AKA Treasure Island) in Privateer Bay around the corner from Willy T’s in The Bight Bay. We heard there had been theft in Bight Bay so we decided to moore a little further away and take the dinghy to Willy’s that night.

Oh Willy T’s…you were hilarious, fun and disgusting. Our first shotski.

Motoring back to the boat that night was magical…in a tipsy blissful state, surrounded by my love and friends in the black of night and the warm water glowing with bioluminescents in the wake of our dinghy. Ahhh a night to go down in history.

-this took me an hour-

-treasure island sunset-

-laundry day-

-exploring the shore for me treasuuuuuure-

-found it-

-snorkeling the caves on norman island-

-cheers friends-

Click on the links if you want to read more about our trip...

                                                Days 1,2,3, (part 1); Days 4,5,6 (part 2) and Days 7,8,9 (part 3)
                                                                                                 to come.

Countdown to the Virgin Islands!

In about two weeks Dan and I are hopping on a plane to meet up with some friends in the Virgin Islands! Whattt!!!? Yeah I know...I can hardly believe it myself. We have been counting down the days! A few months ago our friend Evan asked us if we wanted to sail around the islands (US and British). "Who us!? Ummmm heck YES!" Although we aren't much of what you would call sailors...no problema, Evan is a merchant marine and sails/drives huge boats for a living. So we are in good hands. His family happened to have boat credit in the islands and they didn't want to use it, so Evan and his lovely wife Miss Monica invited us on the trip of a lifetime! We get to sail our own private 5 stateroom catamaran! We are beyond excited and so stoked that they invited us! We'll be spending 7 days or so on the sea with some of our best buds -- floating in my doughnut and sippin on island drinks. Oh this is going to be a very Merry start to our Christmas season!

Below are a few pictures I've been collecting to get me amped for our adventure :)

Pictures: Virgin Island, Bar and Drink, Dock, Photographer and Island, Baths and Fire, Starfish, Swimsuits and Boat, Hammock and Lobster, Pineapples, Cozy Boat and Friends

Honeymoon Part 2: Monte Carlo, Monaco

--Part 2 of 14--

Honeymoon

For those of you who are just tuning in, Dan and I had an amazing month long European honeymoon and I'm just getting around to sharing the pictures of our epic adventure. We started in Barcelona, Spain where we spent a few days exploring the city before we boarded a ship and sailed to Monte Carlo.

What a beautiful place to wake up to! We spent the day at the beach and visited Prince Rainier's private car collection {Prince Rainier married the fabulous Grace Kelly in 1956, too cool huh? By the way, did you ever see her wedding dress? AMAZING!}. We had a perfect morning lounging on the beach, eating leftover croissants with jam and nutella that we smuggled from the ship. We found nice spot to set out our towels at the far end of the beach.

Beach Babe. And tiny shells instead of sand.^^^

^^^We decided to hike up to the fortress on the hillside for some great views of Monte Carlo.

^^^A nice couple offered to take our picture on the deck of the ship {sorry for the picture quality, we were using Dan's waterproof camera}.

^^^The Famous Monte Carlo Casino

^^^Is it weird that I like taking pictures of peoples windows? Yeah...it's borderline creepy, but I think they are lovely. Look at those shutters and lace! I would love to be a fly on the wall to see how people live here.

^^^It's crazy how these houses are built on the side of a cliff -- almost on top of each other.

^^^We walked through a tunnel to check out the other side of the city and found these pictures for sale posted on the tunnel wall. Grace Kelly you were one classy lady! 

^^^I found our boat. How magical is this? I dig the bohemian hammock. This will be our little putz around boat, we can dock it next to our giant yacht. Right Dan? No? We'll see...

^^^Pretty details everywhere you look!

^^^Prince Rainier's private car collection. So many gorgeous cars, immaculately restored to their original condition. 

^^^Love that red!

^^^Dan's in Heaven.

^^^ Some kind of snow cat used for polar expeditions.

^^^By the harbor with the palace in the background.

^^^Walking up to the palace.

^^^Picturesque old town Monaco.

^^^A view of Musee Oceanographique de Monaco

^^^A closer look of the rooftop garden and skate park from the previous picture.

^^^My favorite part of the day was when we were walking back to the ship {we had 30 minutes until departure}. We found these cool concrete stairs at the edge of the city that dropped off into the Mediterranean Sea; deep dark blue water as far as the eye could see. We both looked at each other and decided to run back to the ship and change into our suits for a quick swim. 

"Do we have enough time? Will the ship leave without us? We'll be soaking wet when we get back on!" 

So worth it. It was one of those moments that you want to freeze in time. We dove in and floated there. I clung onto my amphibious husband, a little terrified at what might be swimming around us but amazed at where we were -- surrounded by a palace on the hillside and Monte Carlo in front of us. How many opportunities do you get to do something like that? It was priceless.

^^^If you ever find yourself in Monte Carlo, check these out.

What a day!

P.S. We made it back to the ship in time!

Pictures: Grace The Art of Film, Fashionstatement, Too Much Grace