My first stay-cation

This past weekend was a unique vacation for me, in fact it was a stay-cation! I almost forgot that I needed to pack also, and I did so last minute. Of course I forgot a handful of things, but what's new? LOL. I put in my time at work early on Friday at picked Victor up from the airport in the afternoon. We headed back to the city to check in at The Clift and drop off the car. For dinner, we walked to Fish&Farm, where Victor had some San Francisco salmon for the first time -- and approved! It was delicious, and appropriately (as the way a good vacation should start) I'd never eaten there before!

Later at night, we went to RN74 (also had never been there before) in SOMA where we met Victor's friends from Philadelphia. They turned out to be quite the delightful couple! Very lively and interesting, one was an architect and the other a chef! I think that might be the perfect pairing. That part of the night was pretty fancy, with wine and escargot and all of the niceties that are required when getting to know new people.

And then we went to Harry's Bar and the realness came out. Without getting into details, I'll say that we were a lot louder and less polite there. Although, it was in a good way and I really enjoyed their company the entire time! The contrast was comical, though.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed up to Napa for some wine tasting! The destination location turned out to be V. Sattui, the winery I went to a few weeks ago for Cindy's birthday, but Victor's friend's friend invited us into the special people tasting room so the experience was quite different. I found something I like even better than the Fantasia! It's a Moscato and it is DE-LICIOUS. The tasting was very pleasant, although I still like Castello di Amorosa better -- but then nothing beats a castle.

We stopped at Robert Mondavi where I wished it wasn't pouring rain! The rows of vines were still gorgeous in the rain but I'd love to go back and walk through the greenery. We drove through the mountains to Sonoma but didn't make it in time for one more winery stop. For dinner, we came back to the city and went to Ryoko. It was delicious as always! After dinner, we barely had time to rest before going to Sugar Cafe. We stayed there the rest of the night and Alex, Andy, Janet, Kevin, Chad, and Priscilla came out to play! Lots of drinking and even a little bit of dancing. Good times!

On Sunday, we checked out and went to San Mateo to get some Ramen Dojo. The wait was ridiculous and I honestly don't think the Spicy Garlic was worth the hype. Victor enjoyed it though, and that's what matters most -- since people in Seattle don't get quality ramen! I still prefer Himawari or Santa Ramen. We came back to the city and hung out at Japantown with Andy and Janet, where we perused an aquarium and wandered the streets a bit. We ended up at Zeitgeist (never been there either!) where we started drinking in the early afternoon. Brian joined us a bit later and we ended up at his house eating grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Instead of leaving on Sunday night as planned, Victor ended up staying an extra night and flying out on Monday morning! It was a really fun weekend and very worthy of being my first stay-cation. And here I am, molesting a pig at Robert Mondavi.

Fan - ta - si - a! My First Napa Trip

Today I went to Napa for Cindy's birthday! And though it's hard to believe, this truly was my first ever trip to wine country -- even though it's just a little over an hour away from where I've spent my entire life. Well you know what they say, better late than never!

We went to Rainbow's house at 11 to meet so we could carpool. Thomas surprised Cindy with a Hello Kitty cake and it was absolutely hilarious to watch her cut it because you could tell she really didn't want to. We were able to just take two cars initially, and Vinh and Annie met us there later on. The drive wasn't bad at all, I think because Rainbow and I had the most ridiculous conversations in the backseat. At one point, we had a ten minute conversation about two entirely different topics without even realizing it until our comments stopped matching up. Then we laughed until we cried, and those moments come few and far between. Eventually we laughed so hard that we ran out of energy, but by that time we were already in Napa!

The trip began at St. Helena's V. Sattui, where we sampled then bought picnic food and ate in the outdoor area. We had so many delicious and delightful things! Triple cream Rougette brie was my favorite cheese, the prosciutto and salami were also delicious, and the two different sandwiches were yummy as well -- chicken pesto and tri-trip! The sauteed prawns were spectacular, and we finished off two bottles of wine with our picnic lunch. The artichoke cream cheese was also notable, and there were so many other varieties of food that we didn't even get to try! The weather was gorgeous and our picnic was SO relaxing. I already fell in love with Napa then.

After we were all stuffed to the brim, we visited the Castillo di Amorosa and wandered around. We took pictures and just enjoyed the sunshine some more. The view was stunning, and luckily the winery wasn't overly crowded. We browsed the shops and had our wine tasting. The winerista was witty and charming, and he had many great recommendations. After he asked us if we liked sweets, he started us off with the lighter reds and whites. We were only supposed to get 5 samples, but I'm sure everyone got at least 8-9. Some people tried everything and got more than 10 different samples. The guy was pretty awesome, and he was rewarded handsomely when we purchased 12 bottles from him. It was truly a wonderful experience, and I think I just really like trying different wines and learning a bit about each one. My fave of the day was the Fantasia, which I'm pretty sure translates to phantasy. ;]

After the tasting, we enjoyed the sun as it was beginning to set and saw the mating ritual of a couple of peacocks which were on the castle property. It was pretty cool, like watching Animal Planet but in real life.

We had dinner reservations at 6 in downtown Napa, at Celadon. The food was well prepared and very tasty. We had a round of birthday cake shots for Cindy's birthday, then everyone got their own drinks. The Blackberry Mojito was the best! Michelle, Amy and I wanted to try multiple things so we all ordered together and shared different dishes. The lamb and seafood pasta were both rave-worthy. And the desserts, oh the desserts! Banana creme brulee and chocolate gooey cake with ice cream! Two of my absolute post-dinner faves, but with a nice twist to each.

Overall the day was a success, and I thoroughly enjoyed Napa. Fantastic weather, excellent company, and overwhelmingly delicious food. On the drive back, I was laughing to tears again. Nothing went wrong today, at all. No one irritated me and there wasn't a moment where I was unhappy (this doesn't happen often). Pure bliss, and I am elated <3 -- check out the goods from today's conquest!