Fall is Here!

Fall is here, peeps.  And I am embracing it with every ounce of me (except for the really cold mornings part).  While Summer is my most favorite season of all, Fall is definitely in second place. There are just so many things to do and look forward to!  It's like a breath of fresh (cool) air after a really hot Summer.

So far this Fall, I've been enjoying...

Switching from iced coffee to hot coffee

Wearing my light scarves, jeggings, and Toms
Being able to cook in the oven since the house isn't 85 degrees anymore

The seriously gorgeous color changing leaves

Having the most perfect running & biking weather

Lots and lots of pumpkin beer

And of course, pumpkin spice lattes

And some things I've still got planned to do...

Go to the pumpkin patch, pick pumpkins, and carve (This weekend!!)
Hand out candy to all the kiddies on Halloween
Make all kinds of delicious homemade soups
 Make homemade granola
And I've got about 5 hundred pumpkin related recipes planned...
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Pumpkin spice rice crispy treats
(DID YOU KNOW THAT PUMPKIN SPICE MARSHMALLOWS EXIST?!)
Pumpkin spice pancakes

Basically everything I touch in the kitchen this weekend will have pumpkin added to it...

Happy weekend!*

Happy Birthday Graham!

Happy Birthday Graham!

I went old school with your picture today.

I literally remember when you were this old 

...and I used to stuff you in the laundry hamper and you couldn't get out... :)

I'm such a good big sister.

But now you are 24 (holy crap)

and are way bigger than me.

And here's to hoping you are never planning revenge... :)

Have an awesome day!!*

{5 Things I Loved About This Weekend}

This past weekend, Brett and I ventured down to Washington, DC for a mini getaway.  We were mainly heading down for a concert at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night, but decided to make a whole weekend out of it and ended up having a blast.  We even got to swing by Lee & Jess's pretty new townhouse for a visit before making our way back home Sunday night.  All in all, it was a great weekend!

Here are 5 things I loved about it...

1.  Roaming around downtown DC playing tourists all weekend

2.  Renting bikes from the super awesome Capital Bikeshare kiosks

SUCH an awesome idea

3.  Having so many selections of good beers at awesome bars

4.  Dancing all night at the Leftover Salmon concert

5.  Getting to spend the whole weekend with this guy

What did you love about this weekend?*

(See things I've loved about past weekends here!)

Chateau Montelena - Calistoga {California 2012 Recap}

After filling ourselves with delicious burgers at Downtown Joe's in Napa, we continued our drive up north to the first of four wineries that we had planned to visit over the weekend while in the Napa/Sonoma area.  (PS - Attempting to pick out just a handful of wineries to visit out of thousands is seriously hard.  Since pretty much every winery in the area has great wine, we tried picking a few places focusing on wineries that seemed to have a cool/unique atmosphere and overall good visitor experience.)

Unfortunately, the first winery we visited was last on our list of favorites...

We picked Chateau Montelena as our first winery to visit because it seemed to have really cool grounds and a beautiful building where their wine is housed.  And while their grounds were impressive, the whole visitor experience was lacking.  While there, we partook in a tasting of five wines outside of the main building.  We assumed we would be able to walk through the building afterwards since it was such a cool looking place, but no no.  We weren't allowed to do that.  It seemed this winery was more interested in the "Club" members than the average visitor on vacation.  Which seems silly to me because the Napa area is one of the largest vacation areas in the country.  So I feel like most people visiting the winery are from out-of-town...  So, instead of getting a cool experience, we walked out with a $50 bottle of mediocre wine (on top of the $40 we spent for the tasting) and a crappy visitor experience.

But I guess you can't win 'em all!

At least the grounds were pretty!

One good thing about having a crappy experience with the first winery you visit...

it can only get better from here!

Downtown Joe's - Napa {California 2012 Recap}

After frolicking around San Francisco all morning, we made our way up to Napa Valley to visit some wineries.  It was around lunchtime and we were starving, so we decided to head into downtown Napa to grab lunch before moving onto the wineries.

If you know anything about my husband, you probably know that he has a small obsession with BEER.  So it would only be fitting and expected that we eat at a small brewpub for lunch that he had been scoping out for a while now.

Downtown Joe's was awesome.  It is situated right along the river that runs through downtown Napa and has seating outside with an awesome view.  We happened to be there when a live band was playing in the park directly next to the brewery, which made our eating experience extra awesome.  And of course, what made this place even better... the BEER and the FOOD!

See for yourself...

This place was awesome.

So glad we made a stop here.

 I mean, who doesn't love good beer with good food and a good view?

(Up next... wineries!)

{5 Things I Loved About This Weekend}

Happy October!  (I can't believe it's October...)  It most definitely has been feeling and looking like Fall around here lately.  And I can't complain.  The crisp weather has been feeling pretty refreshing after so many months of serious 90 degree heat.  Plus, the trees just look so pretty changing colors!

Here are 5 things I loved about this weekend...

1.  Discovering a new BYOB restaurant that has amazing pizza!

2.  A crisp 32 mile bike ride way out in the country side

3.  Homemade pizza night and Brett tossing them to perfection

4. Our first Pumpkin Spice Lattes of the season (and a cinnamon bun, too)

5. Attempting to make my very first apple pie and it actually coming out delicious

What did you love about this weekend?*

{See things I've loved about past weekends here!)

San Francisco {California 2012 Recap}

Up, up, and away...

We touched down in California around midnight Friday, September 7th (that's around 3am east coast time!).  Needless to say, we were exhausted and headed straight to our hotel and face planted into the bed.  We had to be well rested for our Saturday morning frolicking around San Francisco!  Our itinerary for this trip had us only passing through San Francisco (since we spent a lot of time there on our honeymoon 2 years ago) on the way to our true first destination up in wine country.  But in our short time spent in San Francisco, we were going to make it worth it!

We kicked off vacation with a stroll through Golden Gate Park.  We roamed through the beautiful gardens, past the windmills that stood tall, and made our way down to the very edge of the west coast.  It was chilly and foggy and perfectly San Francisco. 

Around noon, we hopped in our rental car (a sweet JEEP!) and continued our journey north towards wine country, where we'd be spending the afternoon and all of Sunday.  Of course, not without a stop at this beauty...

 Gets me every time.

San Francisco, you are pretty swell.

(Up next... wine country!)

{5 Things I Loved About This Weekend}

I'm finally getting back into this series after missing 2 weeks due to being on vacation (recaps coming soon, I promise!).  This past weekend was awesome.  We took a little road trip (I know, we are always on the go!) over to Hershey, PA for Farm Aid 2012!  Good beers, good company, good music.  What more could you ask for.

Here are 5 things I loved about this weekend...

1.  Getting to visit two awesome breweries (Appalachian Brewing & Troegs Brewing)
with the bestest of friends before the show

2.  Getting to see some of my favorite musicians live in one place
(especially Jack Johnson & Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds!!)

3.  The weather turning out to be gorgeous after threats of severe storms

4.  The beginning signs of Fall along the highway on the road home from Farm Aid

5.  Indulging in the first pumpkin beer of the season

What did you love about this weekend?*

(See things I've loved about past weekends here!)