Celebration and Indulgence

The title pretty much says it all. I went to see Em for a quick weekend because we had a lot to celebrate: I just finished my Masters (thank you, God) and she just got accepted into a renowned MA program at UC Davis (Lord, help her).

So, of course, Napa Valley was involved. She arranged a tour of 3 wineries for us, scheduled around lunch, and basically I still haven't fully recovered.

I've only been to Napa Valley once before, and I love how each winery handles tastings differently. The Cakebread Winery gave us a (really fun) educational talk about the geography of California and how that affects the grapes grown in each area. They also let us walk around their beautiful garden.

Take a look at this artichoke in bloom. Isn't it crazy beautiful?

We started our day with a sparkling wine tasting at Mumm Winery, which was my favorite. Not that the tasting process was better than other places, per se, but because I really love the bubbly. And the view. :)

We finished the day at Paraduxx Winery, which had beautiful grounds to lounge around in. Also, here's a worthy side note: they served us a cheese called "buzzed" that was rolled in espresso grounds and a bit of black pepper. I know it sounds weird, but it was so good! Our hostess said they got it from Whole Foods.

And speaking of tasty, we stopped by Bouchon bakery before heading home and stocked up on goodies for the weekend. O. M. G. I think I gained 5 pounds and I don't think I care.

Not ready for summer school to start. Not ready to teach again. Need to go back to drinking wine.

Hey from C-A

Hello from California, where I'm visiting my friend Em for the weekend!

This morning when G and I were getting ready, this convo ensued:

G: I'll miss you.

Me: I'll miss you, too.

G: The difference between me and you, though, is that I'll miss you all weekend and you'll only miss me until your plane lands in California. Then you'll be like, don't call me I have a wine glass in each hand.

Sometimes it's like he's in my head.

 

TGIF, people!

Kindness Confetti

I kind of love that we live in a time of memes, cliches, bumper stickers and car stick figure families, and all that. The other day I was working with a student whose notebook cover read, "Spread kindness like confetti." Part of me is totally into sayings like that and finds myself reflecting on them quite often.

The other part of me is cynical and prefers only to deal with people, kindly or not, from a great distance. Jesus loves this part of me. He's super proud.

But then today. In the midst of all our adulting over the long weekend - what G now refers to as The Great House Unscrewing - G called me to the door (he was out working in the front yard) and said he had a gift for me. He was interrupting my 3 hour Netflix break and let's just say I stomped up the stairs with the teensiest bit of annoyance.

And.

It's not what you're thinking. No, G did not present me with flowers. He moved out of the front door way and there was my neighbor from a few houses down, with a vase full of beautiful roses from her yard. I was like, Um, Wut.

She said, "My mother loved roses and these were her favorite colors. I just wanted to give you some."

That was it. I was speechless and then I was just gushing. I thanked her profusely and promised to get our own yard in order soon so she wouldn't be staring at the mess that it is now - which was ironic because G was out there working on it for like, ever today. She just laughed and shook her head and went back to her house...

I mean. I can't even.

Cynicism? What cynicism? Made my day.

Every Year Gets Better

No, this isn't a post about aging, although the title makes it sound that way. Ha.

The adulting has started with the yardwork, friends. We're switching it up this year though, and are starting out back instead of out front.

Remember last summer when I transformed the backyard swamp into, well, a bare dirt pile? Well, we haven't done anything with that yet. But that's not the focus of this post. There's a small strip of land right behind the house, between our house and the fence separating us from the neighbors. I've ignored it entirely ever since we've lived here, and that's why it was my starting point this season.

See what you think about these small changes.

Before

After

I pulled up all the weeds and put down barrier. Eventually we'd like to put down pretty landscaping rocks, but that's low on the ole to do list.

This change is also strategic because now we can see plants and flowers outside of the living room, dining room, and kitchen windows. It makes a difference!

I'm slowly but surely building up the inside plants as well. The key to sneaking them past G is to go gradual. Not to make any sudden movements that might draw his attention. Not to talk about them or look at them too often or, God help us, not to swat at anything that might be misconstrued as a bug inside the house.

A few weeks ago a student brought me some African violets. I tucked them away in the side room and laid low while I researched re-potting tips and supplies. As G was cleaning out the gutters yesterday, I made my move. With the theme music from Mission Impossible playing in the background, I quickly re-potted them and set them up in their new home.

See the little Chinese girl in the middle? We got her in Vancouver, at the Classic Chinese Garden. She's so cute; I just love her.

Nice changes so far, right? Now we just have to foam roll, take Ibuprofen, and stretch out our muscles before tackling the front of the yard. One of these days I really will do something with the dirt pile out back. But not today.

TGIF, people!

So much better than those fake gift shops.

Oh Canada

We're back home with this one now. My how time flies on vacay.

It goes without saying that it was wonderful to get away. But this trip gave new meaning to the term relaxation. There is only a one hour time difference between Denver and Vancouver, and the first morning we were there, we didn't set an alarm. We woke up at ten in the morning. TEN. In the MORNING. I can't even tell you the last time we slept in that long. Truly!

Lest you think all we ate was gourmet seafood, I'd like to point out that we started every day at Canada's Dunkin' Donuts: Tim Hortons.

The coffee was just as good but the donuts were way better. So good, in fact, that I grabbed some yesterday in the airport and may or may not have had them for breakfast today. Because I can't let it go.

Other highlights of the trip were walking around the Classic Chinese Garden and Stanley Park. We did a lot of walking, every day. And chatting. And picture taking. And eating. And then sleeping some more.

Enjoy the pics!