Year in Review: Trips of 2009

It's that time of the year when we can reflect on the past year and look forward to see what the next year holds for us. Throughout this month I am going to be posting some of my favorite things of the past year.
The following is the vacations and weekend trips we took this past year. I am Very lucky to live in an area where there is so much to do and see near by.

December: Napa-Graduation Celebration
August: 3rd Anniversary in Maui


September: Annual Labor Day Tahoe TripJuly: Girls trip to LA at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, at which no pictures were taken.June: Our Most Epic Trip of 2009. My 27th Birthday in Beijing, China. Four of us went to visit an old High School friend and his wife in China.



And because everyone always loves this picture...the public toilets in Beijing. May: Girls bacholorette party at a Beach house and Wine tasting in Santa Cruz



February: Monteray and Carmel. After-hours dinner at the aquarium for Casey's work dinner.


I am excited to see where 2010 will take me....

Style Icon: A Moment in Time

Last night Casey and I popped in the Newlyweds dvd to watch the episode when Nick and Jessica go to Napa. We watch this episode every time after we get home from Napa, it is one of our favorite episodes and kind of a traditon. We laugh we she starts to get tipsy after champagne tasting and when she makes Nick eat all her food. One time Casey took me to all the same places they went on their anniversary trip. You see, I used to love Jessica Simpson, Newlyweds and her clothes during that time period. There was a moment in time when I stalked Ebay day and night for for sold out pieces she had worn on the show but had quickly sold out.

Jessica Simpson, during her newlywed years, was one of my favorite style icons. I actually met many good friends due to our shared love of Jessica's Style ;). I am not sure what happened to Jessica's style but it is not something I covet anymore. Her style seemed to fizzle around the time her marriage concluded. Even though she may not longer be an style icon of mine, I can still look back on that time period fondly, in fact many pieces inspired by her still reside in my closet.

Some clips from the Napa Episode, Casey thinks I really need to stop taking pictures of the TV! lol



And some of my favorite Casual outfits worn by Jessica.








All pictures are from Jessicasimpson.net

Look of the Day: These Boots were Made for Walking

My wine tasting outfit include my Joie OTK boots, Nordtrom Leather jacket from last year's Anniversary sale , COH jeans and a Rebeca Taylor Tunic. Casey kept pointing out when girls were checking me out and by checking me out he meant they were checking out my sweet boots. I'm glad it provided entertainment for him and I do have to say these boots are pretty awesome.

Yay for a different mirror!
I was able to sneak in a little outlet shopping on our way to Carneros Valley. We only hit up the American Apparel outlet but we got some good stuff.
Kicking up my feet after a long day.
Mom, thanks so much for the fireplace suite! It was awesome!

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Napa Trip Part 2: Taking it All In

Our day started with Champagne and ended with the Muppets. All in all a great day. Part of the Hotel package my mom got us included complimentary tastings and a lunch at 5 different wineries. We only managed to make it to 4 of the 5 wineries and had a blast visiting new wineries. Yesterday we hit up Mumm, V Sattui, Robert Mondavi, and Artesa. We started our day of tasting at Mumm, where we given 2 flutes of sparkling wine and 2 samples of their sparkling wines sold only at the winery. We had just enough sips to pick a sparkling wine for New Years Eve.

Can you believe the pours at 11:30 in the morning!? Lots of drunk old people were our entertainment at Mumm, as well an Ansel Adams gallery.
Our glasses when we were done tasting, I felt kind of bad wasting so much but that was all we needed that early in the day. Check out the view, it was gorgeous! We picked out a New Years sparkler and headed out for a drive up the Silverado Trail.

Next up was more tasting and a picnic lunch at V. Sattui where we were given a complimentary tasting of 5 wines. We had sips of each but were not that impressed, we started to speed up our tasting when a man cruised up next to us and started talking to us about how he was on the hunt to pick up drunk women.....um next. We did pick up a Syrah that we both enjoyed. The winery and deli itself was gorgeous. And the weather was perfect for an outdoor picnic. Along with our complimentary tasting at V Sattui we were also given $20 to spend on food. Casey ordered a salami sandwich and we picked up cheese and acme bread and managed to spend $19.95! The cashier was quite impressed. We ended up having a nice a little spread in the gorgeous Napa sun.
Next up was Robert Mondavi where we found nothing we liked, and only ended up tasting 2 of the 5 wines we were poured, as part of our complimentary testing. And we immediately poured out what we were given. I'm sure the reserve tasting would have yielded a more successful trip at Robert Mondavi.
I thought this time line was really cool, we also enjoyed looking at their collection of historic wine pieces. it made up for the bad wine selection.
And finally Artesa, which was just plain gorgeous. I love Carneros Valley, the landscape views are breathtaking.

Isn't the Husband cute? =)
Lots more sips. Casey sipped mostly on water, while I picked out a wine to purchase.

It was after 4:00 by now and the long shadows were creeping in.
I thought the bathroom mirror was SO cute!
Finally we arrived back at our fireplace room hotel. We dropped off our things and headed off to dinner. It was such a treat to have a hotel in Napa, we only live about 40 minutes away so it was only the second time we stayed there over night, usually we just make a day trip out of it.
I found some pyrex that I had to take a picture of for Linda! She has me obsessed!

The Hotel was decorated so cute for Christmas!
One of the many Christmas Trees at the hotel.
I loved the gold feathers on this tree.
Dinner was amazing I had a beet salad and Casey the Surf and Turf. And of course more wine....When in Napa....This Petite Syrah, while very delicious, was making me tired. When we came back to our hotel Casey let me pick out a movie and I picked Julie and Julia, which was the perfect movie to watch while in Napa. Meryl Streep was amazing, she's such a chameleon!
Me snuggled up watching the movie.
I managed to stay up and watch the opening on SNL. They cracked me up as the Muppets!!! LOVE the guys this season on SNL. They just seem like they have a blast together.
All in all a great day!
Our wine haul for the trip: