Napa Day 3

Saturday in St. Helena started at Gillwoods for breakfast! California Benedict of course! 

Our driver Travis picked us up and we headed to AXR. Wow this was an incredible experience. Ritchie who hosted us was an absolute HOOT! The interior design of all of the buildings was on point. 

And pics in the redwoods! 




The wine was amazing. The simple kettle chips with sheep Gouda from Whole Foods finely grated over it was so good. 


Next up was lunch at farmstead. It was delicious. It's also the place to see and be seen. Such a vibe. 

I'll dream about the deviled eggs forever. 

Second winery of the day was Taylor Family Vineyards with Danielle and Nana! Such a special place right at their home. 

Saturday night we had a quick turnaround and had cocktail hour with Walt and Katherine, with her famous guac. She mixes sour cream and salsa with avocado and done! Isn't she beautiful? Inside and out!


This night we had dinner at their favorite restaurant called The Market in downtown St. Helena. It was wonderful and such a locals spot. Loved it!

Their amazing property. 





Sunday morning we were up super early for our ride back to San Fran. We got to watch the sun rise while going over the Golden Gate Bridge. Our driver showed us some amazing neighborhoods on our way to the airport. 

Overall the trip was amazing. We have 37 bottles of wine heading our way from 5 wineries. Those will be awesome to receive. It was great time away with Kevin and our next door peeps that we do a lot of life with. It was truly a once in a lifetime trip!

Don't worry, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. There was a lot of stress and worry leading up to leaving town. Childcare is very tough for us with no family that can keep them nearby. My Saturday/Sunday babysitter canceled on me the afternoon before we left. That threw me for a HUGE loop. Got it figured out thanks to an amazing gal but whewwwww. Mills is also a whole situation to leave/board right now. Thankful for his golden retriever camp that love him so much. And basically my life does not exist without Julie, my kid's other Mom, who made all of the things happen so we could go!

No more Kevin and I trips for awhile! Soooo hard to leave right now and that's okay!

Napa Days 1 and 2

We got back last night from the Napa area. Kevin and I went out there with Drew and Hilary for a trip that Drew bid on at a Make A Wish event. It was incredible. Super special and one that we can't ever replicate. We stayed at the Denali Estate winery with their owners Katherine and Walt. Talk about outstanding people. Wow, it is an honor to know them!

The first night we had dinner at their home with their winemaker and his wife. The winemaker is a pretty big deal in Napa so this was super cool. 

Their backyard. Can you even?!




Katherine served us caviar as an appetizer. 


Their winemaker Jean Hoefliger. 


And his wife Chelsea. 

Friday morning we were up super early due to being on East coast time zone which we actually never got out of. Headed into St Helena and grabbed breakfast at Model Bakery. 

This trip we only did two winery tastings a day plus lunch. When we were out there a few years ago, we did 3 tastings a day and that's too much. First stop was Fraiche group wine on Caldwell Winery land. They gave us a tour of the property on a golf cart and it was stunning. 







The lab where the science of wine making takes place! 







Lunch was at Norman Rose Tavern in downtown Napa. Kept it causal. 

Next stop was Boyd Family which was interesting but nice! These smaller vineyards are a very different vibe from the big names like Caymus. There are 1,110 vineyards in the Napa Valley. You could go out there a zillion times and have a totally different experience every time. Super cool!




That night the four of us went to Goose and Gander in downtown St Helena. It was good but nothing crazy and we were pretty zapped from drinking all day ha. 

I'll be back with the third day soon! 

At The Mall

I had to run in to the mall to take a dress back and I stopped into Anthro and Lilly and found the prettiest things!

ONE - such a fun going out top

TWO - love these glass trees

THREE - a basic cardigan elevated 



FOUR - because duh


FIVE - this one is a beauty in person

Vote

I am a day of kinda gal. Always gotta vote on Election Day! And I love getting to take my kiddos. This year all four of us went together. Both kids got to help put the ballots in the machine. The folks at our polling place are always overly kind to the children! It's just so important they see us doing our duty because what a privilege it is. No matter who becomes president, may we all be respectful and move along with our lives! 

Beachy Weekend

Now that baseball is over, we were finally able to run down to the beach. We hadn't been since Labor Day weekend and we hadn't been there by ourselves in months. It was much needed! It's truly the only place I chill. 

Friday night we rode over to calabash and had dinner at Oyster Rock. So good! We got a table outside at sunset and it was just stunning. 

My buddy and I enjoyed some raw oysters together!

 Saturday morning I walked. Best place on earth right there!

We headed over to my friend Jen's house and swam in their heated pool then walked over to the beach. These nuts jumped waves on November 2nd in North Carolina! They were so happy!

Saturday night the four of us went to Sharky's for dinner then walked over to OIFCto watch the boats bring in some mackerel from a fishing tournament that was going on. The kids loved it!

Sunday was daylight savings so we were up early and I took the kids and Mills to watch the sun rise. Grady especially loved it! I also got to dip Mills' open wound in the salt water and I am hoping it helps heal it. 






We came back and grabbed Kevin then had breakfast at 59 Causeway and then to the playground. More and more playground time and hung around with neighbors. Back to Charlotte boooooo! Big week this week! 

Halloween Recap

First up was book character day! 

Then I got to help with pumpkin math in Grady's first grade class! And I got to go back and be the mystery reader later in the day. 

We had mummy hot dogs for dinner (crescent roll wrapped around a hot dog and baked). So easy when trying to get everyone out the door! Mills was less than impressed to be a lion for the 12th year in a row. 


Half devil/half angel to match the girls next door and a dinosaur. 

Our neighbors roof was getting replaced ha. 


With Connor and Paisley!



Ms. Suzanne always has the cutest set up and loves the children. 


Trick or treating by way of golf cart is cheating but we do it anyway!


And all of our buddies in the hood had theirs out. Or a Polaris like some! ;)


Best part of the night was Grady begging me to go to one specific house that he knew about. They had a super long chute that they put the candy down in. I ran him over there while Molly Anne counted and swapped candy next door. He got two full size Twix bars and he flipped out he was so happy. It made the homeowners night too! It was joyous and what Halloween is all about!


And yes Grady had a costume change midway through the evening because he was soooo sweaty as a dinosaur. Allllll of the candy! Soooo much. 


And alllll of my pumpkins are down inside and the pumpkins on our front porch are going to be history when trash gets picked up next. 

Also, I never carved pumpkins with my kids or took them to a pumpkin patch this year. Just ran out of time and it didn't happen. They didn't seem to care and honestly I don't think they noticed. So maybe we shouldn't put all of this pressure on ourselves all of the time?!