4 Days in Napa for our Anniversary...

Matt and I are back!!! Napa and Sonoma were breathtaking. We made the short trip up north to celebrate our 3-year anniversary. We had such a nice and relaxing time. I thought I'd share some of the sites and our adventures with you. ;)

Perhaps the first image below is not the one you'd expect from our anniversary trip to Napa but alas... it took almost 2 hours of standing in line at the rental car pick up place to end up with "this". I tried to deal, I told myself ... "it's just a car"... "who cares if it looks like a khaki cop car?"... and then... just as I was about to give in... I told Matt... "nope, can't do it... we're getting a convertible!" So we did... you'll see Matt in our lovely convertible Sebring in the next pic... SO MUCH BETTER!!! Seriously, if you're heading up there... GET THE CONVERTIBLE! It made the trip (no offense "khaki cop car").

We were married at the Lodge at Sonoma so we thought we'd at least stop in there... and... get a great couples massage... ahhhhhh... you don't know how much we both needed that! It was phenomenal. Just like we remembered... (there's Matt in the "2nd" car.)
traversing the bridges on the way into Napa from SF/Oakland...
After our massages we headed back to our hotel, rested a bit more and then headed off to our favorite place in Old Town Napa... Celadon... also the restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner... the one below is after we had eaten all sorts of good stuff... calamari, mushroom bisque, yummy meals, and my favorite... creme brule... ummmmmmm... Matt's dish seemed to inspire his best zoolander impression below....

Day 2... lots of wineries and lots of driving... beautiful skies... ahhh California... Did I mention that the car came with Sirius satellite radio... well, it did... awesome!
We headed to one of our favorite wineries for lunch... V. Sattui. If you're up there... you've got to stop here... it's busy but the wines, the beautiful grounds, and the picnic lunch are well worth it. As you can see, we had some red zin for lunch... and, of course, some chocolate... what a combination... my favorite!
Below... Matt looking very happy after his yummy lunch...
We headed off to Artesa Winery... I had heard that it not only had great wine but was a beautiful location with some incredible art installations. Take a look for yourself... not a bad view either...


We liked the light in this spot... so we thought why not do a little portrait with the point-n-shoot... I know people probably thought we were a little weird... oh well... :)




Now on to Day 3 highlights... There aren't any pics here but... we headed off to Domaine Carneros for some bubbly and then to Viansa for the chicken parmigiana that Matt has been dreaming and reminiscing about since we were here in 2004. Thankfully, for both of us, they had the chicken parmigiana. Next, we headed down to one of my favorite parts of the trip... this amazing spot... Cornerstone... gardens, modern outdoor art installations, architectural salvage, etc... and... home of the blue tree... you'll see. Check it out below. If you're thinking of getting married up in Sonoma/Napa... this is definitely a great place to consider for your celebration. Cool and beautiful.



We're always looking for "m's" (as in Moser) in architecture where ever we go... here's one (actually two) below

Check out the blue tree!!!
Doesn't it look like coral?






I don't want to bore you... so... that's the end of the highlight pics... but I can tell you that we ended day 3 at Bouchon's. I highly recommend it... it's owned by the same people that run French Laundry... make sure you get reservations!

Now I'm back to business... Desiree and Steve's 7-7-7 wedding, an engagement session, and a family session will be up shortly... stay tuned... (and thanks for obliging me by reading this whole thing... geez... ;).