We're Engaged!

Oh, wait, we already knew that!! However, this past weekend we had our engagement party.

Chrissie and Kyle hosted an incredible party at Internos Wine Cafe. It was so nice to get to spend time with friends and celebrate together. Thanks to everyone who got sitters and made the trek to the city!! Now, for some pictures...

Our special wine glasses for the night

Congratulations to us! :-)

Another HUGE thank you to Crick and Kyle!

Scott and his sisters (Beth, Renee, and Charlene)

The ladies gabbing away

Soon to be an official member of this great family!

Time to go home...too much fun!

Sorry for the lack of pictures...hard to be the photographer and guest of honor! As you can see from the few above, it was a great night and only a small preview of just how much fun the big day is going to be. I can't wait!

Happy President's Day, Valentine's Day, and Lent!

Sorry, no pictures for this post...just a lot of blabbing.

This past weekend was fairly relaxing. Friday we just stayed in, cooked dinner, and watched the opening ceremonies! I didn't make it to the end...fell asleep after the parade of nations...oops!

Saturday morning was a gorgeous day in San Francisco and we were supposed to be heading out to the Presidio golf course to hit some balls and grab lunch at our wedding reception site. Well, there was an unfortunate accident that involved my foot and a wine glass (and no it wasn't a MAZEL TOV! kind of moment) so I was stuck on the sidelines. I did manage to hobble to lunch and it was great to envision our wedding that is happening in 191 days!

We are still barreling away with plans...hotel blocks-check, florist-check, DJ-check, invitations-check! Still lots to do but a lot of the big pieces have been taken care of.

Sunday we had brunch with Robert, Karina, Bente, Ian, Katarina, and the newest addition, Emma. We hadn't seen them since November so it was great to catch up and enjoy some delicious food and champagne! After a quick nap, we were off again...Valentine's dinner.

Here is my opinion of V day....bleh! I think it is silly. I don't even care that the card company created it, I just think it is a strange holiday. Why not celebrate your loved one every day? Why one day to love someone and have a dinner and, really, waste $$ on presents (and flowers and candy that are 3x the normal price)?! WHY?! I just think it is lame. Sorry to all you Valentine's Day lovers out there!!

That said, we put on our fanciest sweat pants and headed over to Crick and Kyle's for some dinner, wine, fun friends, and a rousing game of hearts! I had never played hearts except on the computer and I never really knew what I was doing anyway. Kyle brought us up to speed quickly and we had a great time with Crick coming out the winner!

Monday, more relaxing, bill paying, wedding planning, etc... All very exciting things. The #1 thing to take away from last weekend...sleeeeeeeep! I finally caught up on sleep it is a wonderful thing.

Ok...quick Lent update. I am not Catholic, Scott is, we are having a Catholic wedding, one day I imagine I will be, so therefore I am giving something up (even though I always have just because I enjoy the challenge). I am giving up pasta Monday-Friday and pizza for the full 40 days. It isn't that I eat a lot of these items, they are just small vices in my life and I figured that the less I have of them, the better. Plus, they are usually go to's when I am feeling too lazy to cook so this is also a nice motivator to make me think outside of the box in the kitchen.

All for now (sorry for the lame post...the next one will be much better)!

Best. Weekend. Ever.

It was a hard weekend to top after Paige came to visit but I think I found heaven on earth this weekend. It was in the form of an incredible 24+ hours with my future husband.

The weekend started with my future inlaws...Beth, Charlene, Renee, Stacia, Michelle, Kristina, and Aimee. Ok, some will be my nieces but that is just too hard to wrap my head around so we will lump them in with the sisters in law!

We all headed down for dinner out at Town in San Carlos. Yummy! This was just meal one of a weekend of eating like a queen.

Ladies Night! Oh, and about that tan...must. find. sun. (I promise I will get over this soon)

The sisters

Of course, it didn't end at dinner...we were off to the Carlos Club!

WOW. What an interesting place. All types of people, that's for sure!

An example of one such people! I asked Kristina to take a picture of me and try to get him in the background but he was eager to jump into it. Yikes.

After working up a sweat on the dance floor it was time to head home to rest up for Napa.

Not that my time with the ladies wasn't tremendous but the next two days were truly untouchable. Scott and I were able to get a crazy deal on a hotel and a few of our wine clubs were having events which means FREE WINE! That said, it was cold and rainy and we were 30 minutes late to our first appointment because of traffic but it just didn't matter.

Stop 1-Stags' Leap Winery (not Stag's Leap Wine Cellars)

Not a shabby residence!

Stags' Leap has A LOT of history. Around since the early 1900's it was the reason the district was named the Stags Leap District. They made it through prohibition, operated as a brothel of sorts at one point, and of course, make stellar wine!

The speakeasy that was in the basement.

Woo hoo! First picture of the two of us in a long time!

Stop 2-Oakville Grocery. Again, YUMMY (if you haven't been, it is worth the pilgrimage)! We scarfed some delicious turkey pesto sandwiches before...

Stop 3-Far Niente. The caves were as beautiful as ever. Nice and candlelit with lots of delicious cabs throughout!

Ok, Dolce is not a cab...it is a delicious dessert wine but I love it!

Scott, too (back to pictures of us by ourselves)

Stop 4-Nickel & Nickel. No pictures and honestly we were slowing a bit but we tasted some yummy wines and then headed off.

Stop 5-The Vintage Inn. Ahhh, a little slice of paradise in Yountville! This was my first ever overnight stay in Napa. It is so easy for us to come up for a day trip so we haven't ever spent the night. And let me say, there was no better place to stay. Beautiful rooms, fireplace in each room, gorgeous grounds, HUGE champagne breakfast (you think it, they had it), great robes, etc... I could go on all day.

Stop 6-Bottega.

If I had to pick a last meal, this might be it! There are really no words. And what words there are could fill an entire post. This is probably the best meal of my life.

Ricotta gnocchi. Melt in your mouth!

Fall off the bone short ribs.

Somehow we refrained from licking our plates and wandered back to the hotel.

This is my, "I have been drinking all day and I am exhausted" smile. But I sure am happy!

Stop 7-The Spa. I decided with all of the rain in the city and the lack of sunshine I needed a little face pick me up so I headed to get a facial. Once again, another BEST experience. This spa pulled out all the stops. I actually took advantage of all the amenities (including the shower with 9 shower heads!!).

Stop 8-Gloria Ferrer. Ah, nothing like topping off the perfect weekend with a little bubbly (really, you thought I could get through a weekend without it?). The sun was finally shining and we relaxed outside before making our return trip home.

Their wines aren't bad!

Stop 9-The Strand Fam's. We joined the Strand's for a little Super Bowl action. I will have to say that I was probably less than a fun guest. The weekend took it out of me but as you can see it was pretty much perfection.

Stop 10-Home. No place like it. Although I don't need to SEE a glass of wine for awhile. :-)

I will leave you with a sign that was in the bathroom at Stags' Leap...

ps-I still need to get that earthquake kit!

Paige comes to visit!!!

I am a week behind, so let's catch up...

PAIGE CAME TO VISIT!!! If you have visited the wedding website you know that Paige is one of my bridesmaids. I have been waiting and waiting for this weekend ever since she booked the tickets and it finally came.

There is not a single picture of the two of us from the weekend so here is a picture from Paige's wedding.

It was SO much fun. Paige and I hadn't seen each other since December of 08! The great thing is, we just pick up like we haven't skipped a beat. Although this time we had to pick up Miss Lily too! In the time since I saw Paige she had a baby. Lily is the greatest and her parents are very lucky I didn't send them home without her!

Very hip girl shopping on Chestnut St.!

We did a lot of relaxing, catching up, napping and a bit of sightseeing. Friday night there was a little plane mishap so after a round trip to the Oakland airport we all made it back to the house for some BBQ take out and wine. Oops, might have given Paige her first post baby hangover! Saturday morning we headed down to the Ferry building for brunch and exploring, then a quick driving tour of San Francisco. After a two hour nap it was time for a play date at the Strand Fam's!!

We did lots of playing and chatting before bedtime for kiddos. Then it was time for me to pull the pork!

According to Kyle, I have a meat pulling gift (or just an abnormal patience for it).

Dinner was SO good and we had such great company!

Sunday morning we slowly made our way out of the house and down to the marina to Balboa Cafe. MMMMMMMMMM!!!! Afterwards we decided to skip Fisherman's Wharf and just do a little local strolling on Chestnut St.

Like a kid in a candy store (Lily or Scott?!)

Lily zonked out so we took advantage and drove out to the coast so that Paige and Matt could check out San Francisco waves...next time I will actually challenge them to get in that freezing water!

Unfortunately by the time we got home it was time to pack up for the airport and send the Alford's back to Seattle :-(.

This time we won't wait a year plus to see each other again!