Castello di Amorosa

Our excursion to the Petrified Forest was a bust--the trails were closed due to flooding.  I decided we could check out the Castello di Amorosa winery because it was close by and had Gewurtztraminer.  The winery really does have a full-on castle.

 View of the castle and some of the vineyards.

 View from a castle loop hole of the valley and an olive tree.

 View from the castle restroom.  It reminded me of the views from Neuschwanstein.

It had been raining, but the skies cleared up for our visit to the castle.  The courtyard area was still wet and Ross and Ethan played ninjas or something in the big open area.

We paid $18 for 5 tastings.  Three of my tastings were of Gewurtztraminer.   Ethan got to have Gewurtztraminer juice.  Apparently that was as good as the wines--Robert and Ross tried it, but I didn't.  The sweetest Gewurtztraminer was a hit with everyone, and if I didn't have to mail it back to myself or check a bag I would have bought a couple of bottles.  I probably would have bought some of the juice too.

Book Review: Coffee and Kung Fu

I wandered around the library looking for a book to get for the Cali trip--Super Sad True Love Story was checked out.  I settled on Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux because it was lightweight and I liked the title.  I started the book on the BART and finished it up yesterday.

The essence of Coffee and Kung Fu is loneliness.  The things we do when we are lonely.  It is about the moment when you at your life and decide if you can continue on the same path for the next 70 years.

I don't read much fiction anymore, but this one was a winner.  Pick this up for a great weekend read.

Friday in San Francisco

I got to San Francisco around lunch time and I took the BART to town. I got off right into the Westfield Shopping center.  I started shopping, but decided I had to eat first.

I ate under this dome, which was beautiful until the light shows began.  It made it look so cheap when it turned red and blue or snowflakes were projected onto the dome.

I had a chicken and mushroom open faced sandwich and only ate two bites of bread.  I totally resisted the pastries at La Boulange (where I had lunch).  It was a miracle.  I had tea instead of coffee.  They gave me a tea bag in a regular glass with warm water.  The coffees looked so pretty, but I got a cup of pale tea.  Oh well.

I did some tea shopping, and waltzed over to Nieman Marcus in the rain to buy something I've been wanting for a while.  I then hopped back on the BART to get up to the Ferry Building.

I walked all up and down the Ferry Building and the smell coming from Acme Bread was killing me.  It smelled so luscious, but I was trying to be good.  Ross met me there at the Ferry Building. I ended up breaking down and getting Mac and Cheese and steamed vanilla milk from Cowgirl Creamery and shared them with Ross.

I also bought lots of tea at Imperial Tea.  And I bought some bath salts to use on the trip.  Oh, my bag when I got to San Francisco weighed 14 pounds!  My shopping added to that and I ended up putting things in my bag in my bag.

I think this is the best photo I took all weekend.

After the Ferry Building it took us almost 2 hours to get onto the freeway.  Rush hour traffic, holiday traffic, and lack of signs made for a grumpy couple heading up to Napa.

Packing Light

So when I go on short trips I try to pack light(ly). Here is what I'm planning on taking on a long-weekend trip.

1. The water bottle.  I've been using a different one lately, but I opted for the smaller SIGG.
2. Reading materials.  I'd take more, but they are heavy.
3. Cheese--it seems like that is the only snack allowed on my current diet.
4. Cell phone.
5. Camera.
6. ipod touch.  This has all my music on it so I can chill on the plane or wherever.
7. Noise cancelling headphones.  These make the plane seem so much less noisy that I can actually sleep.
8. The 1 quart bag with all my liquids.
9. Jewelry bag.
10. A comb, gum, and my starbucks certificate that I have like 2 dollars left on.
11. Umbrella.  Forecast is calling for rain.
12. Wet bag---having my clothes in a zip-lock saved me when I went to NYC with Valerie.
13. Extra clothes for the weekend.
14. Tons of socks.  I'm wearing tall boots, and I have to wear two pairs of socks because they are a little big.  I was silly and sent an extra pair of jeans in Ross's suitcase.  I should have sent all these socks and my underwear.
15. A travel essential: perfumed hanky.
16. My new travel silverware: matching fork, knife, and spoon.
17. Bag.  I always have a bag inside my bag.
18. That's my wallet.
19. Charger for the ipod touch.  I don't want it to die when I'm playing Bedazzled at the airport.
20. Case with my make up and toiletries.  I wish they made my kind of deodorant in a travel size.  I might have to buy a regular one and just take out the inside bar, cut it in half, and put it in a snack bag.  I actually considered buying the Dove travel sized anti-perspirant, but I decided the pain under my arms isn't worth it.
21. Feminine items. Blegh.
22. Bra and underwear.
23. Not pictured: A hat to protect my straightened hair in the rain.

Some have called my purse my suitcase--and I did travel to NYC a couple of times with nothing but the purse.  My new bag is even BIGGER.  All that stuff is in my new purse.  It is heavy.  And that's with an empty water bottle, the camera is charging, and the cheese is in the fridge.  If it gets to be too much I can always pull out the wet bag and wear it as a backpack, or take out the bag inside my bag and put some things in there and throw it on my other shoulder (if it isn't already full of tea from Imperial Tea).  And once I get to the hotel (B&B) I can dump most of the stuff out and it will feel light as a feather after carrying around all that stuff.

Coooooo-kieeeee

I have no idea why, but I decided to make some cookies.  I used the basic butter cookie recipe as a start, but instead of lime or orange juice I used 3 Tbl. eggnog and 1 tsp. vanilla.  They taste good, but you can't really taste the egg nog.  Maybe next time I'll do 4 Tbl. eggnog and no vanilla.  I'm not sure I can go without vanilla though....

I made 2 dozen of these EAT ME cookies with a stamp I bought on Amazon.  I took the better looking ones to Ross's work, and didn't take any photos, which doesn't make any sense.  Guys don't care what they look like.

Then I made half a dozen of these heart cookies that go on the side of your coffee cup.  Ross seemed to enjoy his eggnog with  heart cookie last night.

Soopa-Staaaah

Okay, so last night I felt like a trapeze superstar.  There were only 4 of us in the class, so we really got a lot of turns.  I felt great.  I felt like I wasn't working and fighting as hard to do the swing.  I worked on my take off and my swing. I took off unassisted for the first time! I took off from the riser for the first time!  It was pretty exciting. I ripped my wounds from last week back open, but it isn't so bad.

In the video I took off from the first riser.  Jay on the board and Russel pulling lines.

Espresso Cheese

You know what I always say "Cheese makes the world go 'round and cake keeps it in line."

Well, I've been following an extremely low carb diet and eating lots of cheese.  I was pretty tired of plain old mozzarella cheese sticks and HEB was sampling some fancy cheeses.  I tried the Espresso cheese and loved it.  Ross didn't like it, so I gobbled it all up myself--before I remembered to take a photo.

This week I've been chowing down on the mini baybel cheeses. Maybe next week I'll be ready to go back to those boring cheese sticks.