California Part 4-Wineries and Wheels

After our prior day of relaxation at the pool, we woke up the next morning feeling energized and ready to see a few wineries! Lucky for us, or me (I'm not sure that Jon was as stoked :) ), the Carneros Inn has awesome complimentary bikes for their guests to use. I'm talking tomato red and mint green cruisers...with baskets! And since we were located close (riding distance) to a few wineries, this was our mode of transportation. It was so incredibly fun--I felt like a kid again!

Look how excited he looks. It's written all over his face :)

Riding past rows and rows of grapes on our way to our first stop, the Michael Mondavi Family Winery. We had a fabulous lady named Joe do our tasting, and we enjoyed it all for free since we were staying at the Carneros Inn...the perks just kept coming!

The Michael Mondavi Family Estate.

My view for most of the day :)

I'm telling you, riding a bike around the vineyards is the best way to see it all.

Our next stop on the wine tour was Artesa. This place was beautiful. Set up on a hill overlooking Napa Valley, it wasn't the best for our bike legs, but the views were so worth it.

The sculpture installation leading up to the entrance. Honestly, it was just as much a sculpture garden/museum as it was a winery. Beautiful.

We had a little photo opp on our pit stop up the big hill. I'm happy to say we made it up almost the entire way riding our bikes--thank you spin class!

Looking out onto the mountains from the front door of Artesa.

Seriously, how beautiful is this landscape?

After sampling some yummy wines at Artesa, we were back on the road heading to our "home" for the week. Of course, there was more scenery to take in on along the way.

We had asked the staff at the Carneros Inn for some recommendations for an Italian restaurant prior to leaving on our bike/winery tour. When we stopped back in to see what they suggested for us, they told us it had all been taken care of and handed us a piece of paper with the reservation information and directions to restaurant. They truly know how to take care of their guests.

And their recommendation was spot on. It was an Italian restaurant called Oenotri in downtown Napa, and the food and atmosphere were excellent! I ordered the Spaghetti con Polpette (basically spaghetti and meatballs-my favorite meal in the world) and Jon ordered the Stuffed Brace of Quail. Their menu changes daily so I can't ensure that those items will be on the list when you visit, but if they are, they are great choices.

For dessert, we tried out a local ice cream place that was recommended by some of the pool staff at the Carneros Inn. It was called Three Twins Organic Ice Cream, and it was scrumptious!

The final installment of our trip will be coming up soon!

Guest Room Before and After-Healing Aloe

Here is a shot of the room in all of its coral glory. Great for a teenager, not for a soothing guest room. And here is the Healing Aloe after. Healing Aloe is a color by Benjamin Moore. It was hard to get a good shot of the true color, but it is more of a seafoam than gray. Aside from painting the walls and buying a new white quilt for the bed, everything else in the space we already had--most of which are hand-me-downs (bed and dresser) or thrift store finds (lamp and side table). It will all be sufficient for now, and hopefully a space that our guests will love. I'm very happy with the outcome and the progress of one more room in the house coming closer to completion. One down, three to go (at least in the painting department!)

Canopy Stripes

As I mentioned in a previous post, black and white canopy striped fabric is one of my current obsessions. It's classic, clean and oh so elegant. Not to mention that it can make a bold statement in a room without being too flashy. I normally favor a very neutral color palette with accents of greens and robin's egg blues, and this pattern could be put in any such setting and be beautiful. Here a few of my favorite examples: Is this room spectacular or what? It's modern, classic and sophisticated! There is a large amount of stripes in this room, yet it's not overbearing. And the symmetry and clean lines displayed throughout give the room great balance. I could just plop this room right into my house! This is another example (as shown in a previous entry). If you don't have the money to invest in a rug, buy a few pillows and get the same look in your room for a fraction of the price. Whoever said black and brown don't go together was seriously mistaken. Lo...

Table Decorating Contest

Jon and I are leaving to spend a long weekend in San Antonio with his parents and his brother (who will be town from Arizona). But before we go, I wanted to leave you with some pictures from the Officer Spouses Club Table Decorating Contest that was held last night. I called Jon on my way home from base, and he immediately asked "How was the contest?" to which I responded "Victorious." The 32nd FTS, our squadron, took first place! The theme was Silver Screen so we decided to focus on famous quotes from each movie genre. Each place setting featured a different movie. We had a "drive-in" for our center piece where clips of the famous quotes were shown. Welcome to the Jayhawk Drive-In! Wizard of Oz place setting. The glass had a button you could turn on to make the water swirl and look like a tornado inside. Also notice the witch's feet sticking out from under the plate :) A close-up of the yellow brick road I painted. Silence of the Lambs pl...

House of Hydrangeas

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