Napa Day 1

Our magical Napa vacation all started a couple of months ago on one of my work trips to Connecticut.  My co-worker Lucas and his wife, Karen, invited us to join them on their October Napa trip.  Now, this may have been after a couple of cocktails; however, I still kept dropping the hint and wondering if we were REALLY invited - ha!  Turns out we were, and we made it final!  And let me preface this, Lucas and Karen are professional Napa goers and know EVERYTHING there is to know about wine.  So, really if we were to ever go, now is the time.  We are going with the perfect group!  Plus, it was the week of our 5 year anniversary, so Win-Win for the Davises -- WOOHOO!!  But in all seriousness, thank you Lucas and Karen for a lovely vacation.  They planned everything, and we literally just tagged along.  This was such a great trip, and can't wait to go back next year with y'all (see what I did there .. invited ourselves again!! ;) )

And let me say this one more time, but would not have had an amazing trip if it wasn't for my family.  It takes a village to raise kids, and I am so thankful for my village!!  Everybody helped out watching Eli and Everley, 6 people all had their jobs between my mom, Charles, Ali, Eric, Kyle and Pallyn, for 5 days and 4 nights.  Our longest trip away from them.  From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!

We were not kidding about this trip.  We desperately needed to get away with just the 2 of us.  So desperate, that we hopped in the car Tuesday night with the kids, and got to my mom's house at midnight.  We slept about 4 hours, (after getting the kids back down and situated), woke up at 5am and my awesome brother in'law took us to the airport on the way to work.  Already, taking a village!

Derek quickly passed out on the plane (or at least tried to), I had to get an obligatory Bloody Mary.  Not sure if I really wanted it, but I feel like you have to get an airplane drink when you start vacation.  You have to start off the right way!

Our lovely rental, a KIA RIO!!!  I reallly think it had the engine of a moped - HA!  Lots of laughs to be had in that POS! LOL!!

THE FAMOUS ITINERARY!!  I need to frame this itinerary.  All the thanks and glory goes to Karen!  If you enlarge the picture, from left to right this includes, the distance it takes to get to the current destination (from the one prior), time it takes to get there, Destination, Address, What we were going for, i.e. Wine tasting/breakfast/lunch/dinner, time of Reservation, Reservation details, and then I added my own column of notes and what each place was known for.  

In my opinion, Karen did all of the heavy lifting on this trip.  My second favorite Finance friend, (besides my brother-in-law, Eric).  They both make AHHHMAZING spreadsheets for vacation. If  you think a cheese plate is the best pairing with wine, you are wrong ... a perfect excel spreadsheet outlining everything takes the cake!

THANK YOU KAREN!!!

Driving on the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to Sonoma for our first stop!

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First stop, Russian River Brewery.  Needed to start with some beer and pizza, before we divulge on all of the wine and charcuterie.   Russian River is a famous brewery known for their sours and an amazing brew called "Pliny The Elder".  First stop was success!

2nd Stop in Sonoma, Domain Carneros.  All the bubbly you could ever want!!  The Ultra Brut, and Rose Brut were my fave, until they brought out the really good stuff.  Late Disgorged (aged 6 years) and La Reve Blancs de Blancs (aged 9 years) for the win!  I learned that there is a scale of sweetness from  1-7, 1 being not sweet, 7 being super sweet. Of course, my vote was for the bubbles in the 2-3 range.

I loved drinking La Reve (Meaning to Dream) solely for the fact that my favorite piano piece to play is Reverie by Debussy, and French composer.  And then being at a Californian French Chateau - yes please, a girl can dream ;)

** Warning, be prepared for a lot of wine shots.  Partly so I can remember what we tasted and what I loved. :)

Let me back up and introduce you to the group...Lucas is right behind Derek,  Karen behind them and then we met their friends Lauren and Shannon.  Could not ask for a better group!! Perfection!!

Such a beautiful place.  Who wouldn't want to start the trip off with some bubbly at a French Chateau.  I think we are off to a good start.

We stayed at the Napa Valley Lodge, and upgraded to the rooms overlooking a beautiful vineyard.

O.M.G!! Everybody in needs to experience Ciccio's at least once in your life, but hopefully more. This is by far a new favorite.  Original Italian food, their own wine (Altamira), but all in a relaxed family style manner.  I only wish we got a picture with our waiter.  He was the best Salesman I have ever met. Clearly Italian, and clearly would not let us order anything less than 5 dishes for the table for apps, entrees, and desserts.  AND HE WAS RIGHT!  We ate and drank every last bite!  And happily, I might add...

Menu changes seasaonlly, and sometimes daily.  The group went back on Sunday for dinner when we had to fly home, and had a completely different menu.  I am so jealous!!  And thank you Karen and Lucas for an amazing wine to go with dinner.  I wish I had brought some back with us!!  #RookieMove

Thats a wrap for Day 1!  Can you believe we have 3 more magical days??  The fun continues...