Finally! Some Napa and San Fran Photos...

At last! I am finally getting to do this post. Seriously... my juggling act is out of control, and I've already been out of town again (to the Hamptons) since I was in Napa two weeks ago. But I digress... this is what I wanted to tell you about the trip.... :)

The weekend before last, I was out in San Francisco for some client meetings, and Steve joined me out there. My meetings only took up about four hours on Saturday and on Sunday morning, so we had the rest of the time to enjoy ourselves ... and to do a day-long trip out in Napa Valley!

Maybe I shouldn't have planned my Sunday morning meeting for a spot that overlooked the Bay to Breakers Race.... but then I would have missed seeing the costumes... including a totally naked guy wearing a Valkerie costume... (Downside: I didn't get a photo of him. Upside: you won't have to gouge out your eyes! LOL)

The Napa part of the trip was really pretty wonderful. Steve surprised me by getting a convertible for our trip, which added to the fun. We started out to St. Helena at the home of a good friend of his from a study abroad program, her husband and adorable daughter. They had a beautiful home -- tons of fresh flowers, beautiful garden, and served a very simple, elegant meal of two kinds of quiche, a gorgeous salad and fresh berries. Martha Stewart would have been proud! (Bandster note... I was served a bit too much, so I was worried that she thought I didn't enjoy the meal, which was amazing.... I just feigned "big breakfast," and all was well).

After that, we went out to a vineyard where we have a personal connection with the winemaker and they did a special tasting for us. It was really wonderful, interesting, fun and delicious!

Me, in front of the winery

Tasting wines with Steve.

This was one of the few times where I wished I didn't have a band so that I could overeat a bit! We had dinner at Bouchon and, after enjoying some pretty decadent appetizers (beer battered mussels... and escargot en croute with a cream sauce... hello, fattening!), changed our entree orders to go with something lighter. Of course, "lighter" for me was a salad of glazed pork belly with pickled cherries (which were amazing... I thought they were cranberries.. the flavor was so unique), and an egg yolk confit... in warm bacon vinaigrette....

My yummy "light" dinner.... er, at least it was a salad?Steve and I stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast in Yountville, just a short walk from Bouchon. I definitely recommend it. It's called the (spelling weirdly because of Google Alerts..) L-a-v-e-n-d-e-r I-n-n, and was seriously adorable, complete with an outdoor hot tub and a fireplace in the room. So wonderful. And one of the best things about the weekend was that Steve had brought me two cards, in which he wrote some very sweet things, and he hid each in my bag at a different point in the trip so that I would find them. Love!!