dividin' it up

For the sake of an overload, I'm breaking the trip up into three parts — 1) the first half with the Tarquinios, the Grogans, and Rich, 2) the second half with the Bourlon family, and 3) the big anniversary and the house (yes, it deserves its own post).

The first day, J and I met the Tarquinios and Grogans, and ate at a yummy sushi place in San Francisco called Domo. Unfortunately, Tyler wasn't feeling super great, so went ahead and left the city for Sebastopol. Because Linds and Gavin had to leave early, we had two rental cars. The guys decided it might be best for the girls to drive in one car and the boys in another.

Guess who ended up having the drive? Me. In San Francisco. With no idea where I'm going. Trying to follow the guys in front of me. With a GPS telling me one way to get there, and an iPhone telling us another route. Of course, we got separated from the boys, finally picked a dang gps to follow, and after freaking out a little, got to the highway. Funniest thing, we ended up right next to the guys at a light in downtown Sebastopol. Turns out they got a little lost too.

After making a trip to the grocery, we headed to the house to make dinner. This house is amazing. With the perfect set up for, well....everything. Including a great meal.

The guys firing up the grill

Linds and I by the outdoor dining area

Saturday we ventured out to our first wine tasting — Rodney Strong. And it was perfect. We had a perky girl who totally educated us on everything we needed to know. And believe me, we asked tons of questions. We then made our way to another winery, Hop Kiln, and then spent the latter part of the day just hanging out. The boys played sports galore, and the girls read and hung out.

One of my favorite spots...the day bed swing

Then Rich got into town —

Rich's cousin just happens to be a famous wine make in California.

These are all the brands he makes wine for.

John taking care of our wine tasting/tour at Outpost

The group at Outpost Winery

One of Jamie's good friends in Atlanta works for a guy who owns Quivira Winery. They set up a tasting for us...really, really good wine. And the property is beautiful! They have a garden in the back that was incredible.

The garden at Quivira

We made our way to the coast on Tyler and Will's last day. It was freezing, but beautiful!

J and I

There were tons of seals along the bank, but this little sucker was hanging out all by his lonesome. So the guys decided to see how close they could get to him. Isn't he adorable?

On Wednesday, we took the Grogans back into San Fran to catch their plane, and then we picked up the Bourlon family......

respite: California

Today's catch up day so things are busy, busy (I didn't check email — work OR personal — for 9 days!!).

But what. an. amazing. trip!

Here's a quick glimpse of such a fabulous time.

There were....

...wineries

...sports

(that'd be bocce ball in the front yard)

...hot air balloon rides

...unbelievable views

...super yummy meals

...friends, big and small

...more amazing views

...and important celebrations

(like a one year anniversary!)

We are blessed. And grateful for that.

the gifts

Sweet Jamie didn't want me to post on this, but I don't see how I can't (plus I assured him that I have a total of about 11 people who read my blog :).

In the weeks leading up to our 1 year, Jamie had mentioned that he had no idea what to get me for our anniversary. There's not much that I necessarily wanted, other than household things, and none of those seemed very anniversary-ish. Not even my closest friends and family had any ideas for hiim.

So about a week ago, he mentioned that 1 - I wasn't allowed in the guest room closet, and 2 - his gift wasn't something he could/wanted to take with him to California. So, that's when we decided it would be anniversary week, and he planned dinner last night and wanted to give me part of my gift. (Another part is a manicure/pedicure tonight! Yesss!)

He called me on his way home last night, and told me I had to wait in our bedroom while he set everything up. I heard him clinging and clanging in the kitchen, and was so confused. Anyhow, he finally told me I could come out. With the warning that he had gone more sentimental this year.

And it was amazing.

There was this bouquet of pretty much all of my favorite flowers (save daffodils, which were impossible to find).

And then there was this...

He painted for me! And it's actually good! It's technically his anniversary card, with the note written on the back (he won't let me call it a painting b/c he says it's not).

I know, to anyone who reads this, you may not be freaking out over this like I was. But this is the thing...my husband is amazing. Truly amazing. But he's not necessarily the most sentimental man. It's amazing how the little things mean more than most anything else. He remembered my favorite flowers. He heard me mention that I hadn't had my nails and toes done in forever. He painted something...for me!!!

I, on the other hand, gave him the part of his gift that has no sentimental value what-so-ever. Well...I take that back. I had given him a pocket video camera as part of his wedding gift. Lost it. And gave him another one on our anniversary. Does that count as sentimental?? I am excited about my other gift tho...post to come after it's been given.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and next week! Think of us as we're sipping on wines, hanging by the pool, and relaxing!

361

361 is the number of days that Jamie and I have been married. Crazy to think that's we are (very quickly) coming up on one year! Part of me doesn't want it to end....and part of me can't wait for 50 more.

15 is the number of thank you notes I still have left to write. Shame on me, I know. But technically you do have one year. I sure did drag that one out, didn't I?

One week is the duration of our anniversary celebration! We have deemed this Anniversary Week, and plan to take advantage of that. Tonight we're going to Parish to celebrate and hand off the first round of gifts.

1 is the number of hot air balloon rides we were gifted as an anniversary present. My boss is pretty good like that, so we'll be celebrating eaaarrrrrly in the morning of the 25th, flying high above Napa Valley.

5 is the number of people we'll be with on our actual anniversary. For our wedding, we were gifted an amazing Sonoma Valley, CA vacation home from some close family friends. It was too great of a deal and set-up not to invite some of our favorite people along.

9 is the number of days we'll be on vacation!

Countless are the number of amazing and blessed moments we've had during our first year of marriage. Cheesy? Absolutely. But oh so true. Marriage is the best, and I am so thankful that God created it like He did.

dogwoods, sweet potato fries, and spoons

This past weekend was a classic Atlanta weekend. It's not often that we're in town and capitalize on the fun, spring offerings of the city.

Piedmont Park hosted the Dogwood Festival, and I decided it would be a great opportunity to get some friends together and enjoy the weather. Although a mish-mosh of friends (neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc), we roamed the booths (twice!), filled our tummies with yummy festival food, and soaked in the sun while we listened to the easy-listening main-stage bands.

The girls at the park

After the festival, we came back to our house, made pizzas, lit up the chiminea, and played spoons.

The girls at the house

Lindsay, her cards, and the spoons

The men were the last ones left

And just because he's the cutest lil' babe I know, here's a picture of baby Grant. We got to play with him after church, which is always a favorite!

Happy Friday!

Thank you, Spring, for finally coming!

I know I'm picky, but my only request (well, 2 requests) is that you get rid of this pollen and these annoying tiny green worms they hang from little webs. My car is filthy, my nose is stuffy, and every time I climb our porch stairs, I end up in a mass of webs, pollen, and inch worms (just spent the last 30 minutes trying to figure out exactly what these little green worms are, but still unsure).

On to more fun things — this weekend is Atlanta's first real spring "festival" weekend! Tomorrow, we've got a big group going to the Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park. Music, art, and a big, green park on a sunny day! Perfect. The Sweetwater420 fest is also going on in Candler Park. If we get a chance, we might do both, but the Dogwood Festival was on my radar first, so it wins.

Oh — a random picture of one of my favorite people and I, taken for another one of my favorites, to let her know just how much we miss her at work and in Atlanta.

Happy weekend!

blissful weekend recap

Masters weekend in Augusta, GA is just about one of my favorite times of the year. Because my family is based there, we've grown up going to the tournament, working out there, and coming back each year that we're away. This year we were able to have the entire family in town and it was a blast!

Here's a quick recap of our weekend.

Thursday :: shrimp creole, catching up, friends in and out, but no pictures. :(

Friday :: a day at the tournament with egg salad sandwiches & azaleas, mini-engagement/meet Betsy party, more friends and family, and pretending to play catch phrase*.

*long story!

Saturday :: celebrating Honey's birthday!

Jamey cooks his signature meal [breakfast] for the birthday lady!

Family photos in mom's garden

The most anticipated event? Taking dad's new boat out for a cocktail cruise!

Celebrating the April and May birthdays!

Sunday :: watching Phil win the Masters!