Get me out of here.

Now that I'm past the stress of the ever-important first post, I can talk about something fun. Namely my recent trip to California.

Minnesota is gross right now. And confusing. A week ago it was in the 50s and sunny. The next day it snowed eight inches. Saturday it was 60 and sunny. Yesterday it was 45 and rained. Now it's just sloppy and wet and kind of cold. Ish. I am going to block all of that out by remembering how beautiful California was.

I want to quit my job and move there.

Nate and I spent two days in San Francisco and three days in wine country last month. A few highlights from each locale:

San Francisco:

1) Riding the BART. I love mass transportation. It's way easier than hailing a cab. At least for us...we don't hail cabs in Minnesota. I think it's an acquired skill.

2) Being near the ocean. I know we have 10,000 lakes, but it's just not the same.

3) The shopping! We stayed in Union Square, right by Barney's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and a million other places that make me happy.

4) The food was good everywhere we went. We ate at Delfina, A16 and Canteen. They were all yummy. Delfina has a really fun atmosphere and excellent food. The sommalier at A16 was really helpful, and the pizza was to die for. Canteen was great, even though I got really crabby after spilling a big blob of cranberries down the front of my yellow shirt.

5) Everyone is super nice in CA. I would be too, if I lived somewhere that pretty.

Napa Valley:

1) Sterling Vineyards. The gondola ride up the hill was beautiful. And the views from the top were incredible.

2) Plumpjack. One of our favorite stops of the trip. Very laid back, really good wine, and a cat to snuggle.

3) Woodhouse Chocolate. The most incredible chocolatier I've been to. The chocolate was awesome, and the boxes were adorable.

4) Yountville. So quaint. I want to live in this town.

5) Ad Hoc. My favorite meal of the trip. I love Thomas Keller so much.

Sonoma Valley:

1) Our cottage. Super cute.

2) Matanzas Creek. One of our favorite wineries. Great wine, beautiful lavender fields.

3) Bella. Our other favorite vineyard in Sonoma. They had tastings in a cave!

4) Cyrus. We had a lovely meal here our last night. It was impeccable in every way.

5) Kendall Jackson's garden. They have a sensory garden, which is really neat. We got to eat asparagus right out of the ground. And they had a cat, too.

6) The scenery. Incredible. Of the two valleys, Sonoma was my favorite. I can't describe how breathtaking it was. I loved the mustard fields.


I will post some pictures now, because a trip somewhere this beautiful requires visual aids.