What a remarkable birthday weekend I had this year!!! Napa Valley is my home away from home. I adore its grandeur and timeless beauty and eloquence and stunning scenery and WINE! My hubs planned a teriffic weekend for us - just us (no kids...thank you Auntie Becky & Uncle Dean for loving our little ones!!!). Richard did extremely well planning our time away. He made me feel special...
Here we are at my new favorite winery - Goosecross Cellars. Delicious. This was our first time at this absolutely charming winery in Yountville. They were so friendly and hospitable...and their wine was highly enjoyable.
Here we are with great friends we spent the day with. Tina (celebrating her birthday as well) is from Washington D.C., Dorsey (preparing for her wedding May 1st) is from New York, John and Jill are from Dallas, TX (and actually know where Forney is located, Karen), Cheryl is from LA (an adorable aspiring actress) and my two new girlfriends, Randy and Jen were from Conneticut - they were in Napa celebrating Jen's last hoorah...as she is preparing to "try" and have a baby soon. Below is a photo of her at Peju walking twice through the "fertility gate" since she wants to have twins - a two for one as she referred to it! Rich and I gave her many hugs to rub our easy-making baby blessings onto her. Isn't she so cute?!
Below is a fun photo of Rich and another new friend Steve. I'll tell you the story behind this photo and Richard's new fight name "The Spiller" when asked...absolutely hilarious!
I love a good lunch and I had one today (then again, Napa always affords the most delicious cuisine). I had the most wonderful quinoa salad. Thanks Baby, you know what I like.
Richard and I at Rutherford Grove winery.
Now this is where I get REALLY excited...Richard made reservations at Bottega!!!Oh my goodness. I think that Chef Michael Chiarello is amazing and I was so honored (sounds silly I know), but honored to eat in his earthy restorante. Luckily we had the ability to eat outside in the big comfy and casual tables right next to big wood-burning fireplaces.
The food was everything I expected...perfect.
The evening began with the Insalata del Bosco and the most beautiful crusty bread with a cheese/olive oil spread (Richard and the waiter agreed that the spread should appropriately be named "cheese crack"). My paste was the Risotto with Salmon, and Richard enjoyed the secondi Confit of Half Duck mostarda di frutta, wild arugula, pomegranate salad, red wine duck jus. The waiter paired our dinners with spectatular wines to top it all off. My birthday cake was chocolate-almond molten cake with hazelnut creme anglaise. I know! Happy Girl!!!
Close to heaven.
Other great moments of the weekend included going to one of my favorite spas (Lavendar Hills) for a magical mustard bath and therapeutic massage, savoring treats at Bouchon Bakery and a wonderful stay in a beautiful hotel with a warm fireplace in our room.
Our last stop before heading home - get some photos of Daddy in front of Castello Di Amorosa for Gannon. We knew Gannon would love seeing this medieval-looking castle complete with moat, draw bridge and torture chamber!
Thank you Dear Friends for all of your Warm Wishes!!!
And Rich - Thank you for Loving Me.
