Must Read!

If you haven't heard about the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins trilogy you need to immediately stop reading this blog and go buy a copy or download it on your iPad, Nook, Kindle ect.

I just finished the 3rd book tonight (while Rene watched the basketball game) and completely lost track of what was going on around me, and didn't even notice him yelling at the screen!

The books are absolutely amazing!! While I was hesitant at first when I started reading book 1, I couldn't wait to start books 2 (Catching Fire) and 3 (Mockingjay).

Needless to say I am very excited (and hopefully that they don't ruin it) when the books come to the big screen next year!

Napa Recap #1

Well here is the first of the Napa re-caps! Sorry for taking over a week to get it posted--work has been a killer this past week.

Our first vineyard visit was Clos du Bios! It was a little over an hour from the hotel but well worth the drive!

We did an amazing tasting and blending seminar which included lots of red wines yum!

We spent around 2 hours here just enjoying it and taking pictures after the tasting/tour. I really liked the red wines here especially the zin, we had really only drank the Chardonnay from Clos du Bois because it's the only white while Rene will really drink!

Needless to say we walked out "members" of the winery and will be getting 3 bottles shipped from their reserve collection each quarter--and free tastings when we go back *clearly a reason to plan trip #2 right?*

Don't worry many more to come!

MIA a little longer

We had an amazing time in Napa this past week but as you can imagine we are playing lots of catch up!

I promise to post some recaps of our favorite spots and some pictures later this week or this weekend!

In the meantime I will give a small sneak peak of my favorite location....it was heaven!

Last minute must do's

This time tomorrow Rene and I will be enjoying stress free vacation in Napa, CA!

Now it's time to get some last minute things finished....
Packing, mani-pedi, Rene is off the the dentist and we both need to get our hair cut....busy day before vacay!

I decided to go with a simple pastel color for my nails since I won't know what I am wearing...
It's called "Fiji" by Essie it might not be very "wine themed" for the trip but I think its quite nice for the spring....

Now time to go get things done and try to get in some yoga and cardio before my hair apt!

New Shoes to LOVE!

We were running errands yesterday and I started thinking that maybe picking up a few cardigans might be a good idea before the trip so we stopped at TJMaxx.....I never made it into the sweater section though, because I found a must buy pair of shoes instead!

I found these beauties in the shoe section and knew I had to have them!
House of Harlow 1960 Snake Trim Heel not only where they my size but over 50% off! It was a small splurge for the day! I love finding deals like this when I least expect to!

Planning for Day 3

On day 3 we will be visiting MUMM Napa this was actually suggested by a couple of friends who either live in the Napa area or have visited. At first I was hesitant but after looking at the pictures I was sold!We made a reservation for a private tasting with an amazing view with the Oak Terrace Tasting I am looking forward to a cozy chair and just overlooking the vineyard....what a way to spend a relaxing day right?

Almost there....Vacation

We are t-minus 4 days before the Napa trip starts! We fly out of DFW on Tuesday morning and I’ve made 4 vineyard visits that required reservations to start out the trip. One vineyard each day – but of course I am sure that we will make our way to various tastings but we are going for a nice relaxing vacation this time, it’s a bit of a change compared to when we go to Disney when we are up early every day.

We are staying at the Embassy Suites in Napa Valley, CA which is right down the street from the cute little downtown area so we’ll have plenty of things to see and do without much travel!

First stop after we arrive at the San Francisco International Airport will be a drive about 1.5 hours into Napa and then to theClo Du Bois for a tasting. Rene is excited about this location! While there we will be doing the Marlstone Experience.

“Join us for a stroll through our demonstration vineyard as we share the story of Marlstone, the signature wine of Clos du Bois Winery. Following the visit to the vineyard, you will experience a blending seminar comprised of the five varietals found Marlstone, our Bordeaux style blend. We will explain the importance of each varietal on the finished wine and invite you to make a blend of your own.” This location allows us to taste from the bottle as well and afterward I have a coupon for a “2 for 1” premier tasting as well.

We also have reservations at Morimoto'srestaurant in Napa where we plan on over indulging and more than likely over spending on the tasting menu and sushi from the Iron Chef himself for Rene’s birthday dinner!

Day 2 and our second stop will be Del Dotto Vineyards.
I saw an article in Food and Wine Magazine about this location so I knew we should go! We will be doing the Cave Experience & Barrel Tasting.
“Come and experience wines thieved right out of the barrels! Taste the difference between barrels made from the great forests of the world, up to 45 different flavors of highly rated wines. Voted #1 wine tasting by world wine critics!”

“Cave Experience and Barrel Tasting includes barrel tasting in the cave out of several types of different oak barrels. Following the barrel tasting you will sample select bottled wines along with handmade chocolate truffles and cheese. Finishing off with a sampling of our ports. The experience lasts about an hour”.
It looks amazing and I am looking forward to the option to taste right out of the barrel! They will even call you when they bottle the wine that you have tasted if you want to buy them.

Almost time to "Wine" Down!

The countdown has begun! That’s right next week at this time Rene and I will be enjoying an extra 2 hours a day and the lovely west coast weather in Napa, CA!

I could not be more excited! I have wanted to go to Napa for the past few years after watching a show on the Travel Channel and now I get to go enjoy it with my wonderful hubby!

Only 40 hours more in the work week, one more accounting class (tonight), and a 5 hour accounting final exam (Friday night) and I “officially” start my vacation at 9am on Saturday morning!

Now I just need to find the time to start pulling out my clothes and packing, believe it or not I haven’t even started looking at the weather to decide what to wear yet—whoops!

Stay tuned to see some of the fun places we plan to “wine and dine” while we are there!

Raw Recap & Kentucky Derby Winning!

Well after my 1 week of eating raw I must say that I somewhat pigged out this weekend when Rene's friend Matt came to town, whoops!

Of course we had to let him experience "Texas Grass Fed Beef" on the grill on Friday, then we took him to an amazing burger place on Saturday called Twisted Root and then did some fro-yo on Saturday night...nonetheless I actually lost a little more than a pound (and I really slacked in the working out routine too). Overall I don't really "feel" any different, but I am sure the extra veggies were a good addition to my diet. Now it's back to the tried and true egg and turkey bacon breakfast -- yogurt, fruit, veggie lunches and healthy dinners for me.

On a side note Rene and I did pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby this weekend when we went to the horse races and placed our bets!

We put a whole $2 each on--you guessed it...

What can I say we based it solely off of the name and I knew on Friday when the guys at the office were looking at the odds I picked Animal Kingdom because it's a Disney park, of course they all laughed but who was laughing when me and the hubby won 30 to 1 odds?

Ok yes it would have been A LOT better had we put $5 or $10 down but making $63.40 off of a $2 bet not to shabby for my first horse races...maybe this means next year we should take the trip to the Derby and see if for ourselves!

1 Week All Raw?

This week I have switched up my daily routine in terms of eating to try something "different". I started a different workout program about 3 weeks ago which incorporated circuit and weights...well I must say that while I know the muscle is supposed to slim you down and burn more calories than fat, its not very exciting to see the scale go UP and feel like you aren't losing any weight or inches....even though my wonderful husband says that I look great...

So this week I have decided to eat raw....nothing but veggies (raw of course) and some raw almonds will make up my diet (mainly)....I couldn't figure out what to eat for breakfast so 1 egg with spinach is my only protein and cooked item all day.

Lets just say that after day 1 and only eating this.....



I could really go for "something" else (like tuna or cheese) and I'm a bit hungry but hopefully this bit of a raw-cleanse will do some good. If nothing else at least I know that I got a weeks worth of veggies!
I guess we'll just see how things turn out at the end of the week...if I make it that long :)