Kitchen Accent Wall

As some of you may remember, when we moved into our house in February we had big plans for change. We already painted the kitchen cabinets in the kitchen, and then I painted an upstairs guest bedroom to make things feel a bit more cozy. Well, it was now time for the hideous red accent wall in the kitchen to go. It took us quite a while to find just the right calming green to go in the space, but after we found tadpole green- we were ready to rock and ribbit. :) see what I did there. Clever huh? :)

Here's what the wall looked like before. Of course not with all the tape and spackle.

And on goes the green...see ya red! Going...

...going...

...gone...

Ahhh...isn't that much better?

We have big plans to paint all of the trim a crisp natural white once we find blinds that will match the color we're going for. So this area will get even more spiffed up once that happens. But isn't this much better then that pinkish red staring you in the face? I think so. Ahhh..calming.

Pay No Attention to the Dog Behind the Curtain

Sometimes Lola does some pretty silly things. This past summer we noticed that when she needs a little alone time, she usually heads to the fireplace room to lounge on the couch (the one she's allowed on) all by herself. And now that the Christmas tree is in the front window- we say that she's just admiring the twinkling lights of the tree. :)

However, one thing that she has been doing is hiding underneath the back door curtains. We're not sure if she likes it because it blocks the light from her eyes, or it just makes her look super cool. Either way, we get a kick out of it.

Usually it starts with something like this...

...then she shows us what it would look like if she had blonde hair...

...takes a quick head rest...

...before laying down completely.

Stephy

Thankfully we've had lots and lots of visitors this past almost year that we've lived in Minneapolis. I think even more than we had in Omaha!

Our good friend Stephanie came to visit us this August when she was traveling to the Twin Cities for business. It was the perfect opportunity to do a little shopping and enjoy some time together.

Steph had never been to the Mall of America before- so it was definitely necessary to visit and see the amusement park inside.

Me and Steph

Wine Country - Part 2

Day 2 in Wine Country made us feel like we were pros at wine tasting. Our first appointment on Day 2 was at Cakebread Cellars. A family owned winery that doesn't have gigantic signage out front or a large presence for visitors. The entrance is quaint and quiet and a real gem in the middle of Napa Valley. When we drove up we actually missed the entrance!

Once we arrived, we were greeted with enthusiasm and told to sip on a glass of wine and enjoy the sunshine while we waited for the tour to begin. It was such a lovely day, and we were able to get by with just wearing a cardigan over our dresses that morning. The took us on a tour of the grounds and we actually got to go in the vineyard aisles and taste the grapes being grown. They were bitter, but still had the taste of good wine to come.

The tasting at Cakebread was grand. We were led into a spacious room with thick wooden chairs that each held a space for each taster. The view of our room looked out over the vineyard and sparkled with the morning dew. The tasting lasted almost 2 hours! We were able to really get some good insight into what foods would go well with each pairing and the background of each wine. After a tour of the bottling and distributing areas we were off!

The rows and rows of grapes- these were Cabernet Sauvignon

Ryan enjoying a taste

The beautiful view from our tasting room

Jessup Cellars was next! And thankfully we had some family friends that were able to give us a private tour and tasting at their tasting room in Yountville. We sat and dined with Christine who gave us great pairing information, while we sipped wine, dined on chocolate and cheeses. We felt so lucky to have that experience and be able to just enjoy our wine in a small secluded area, where we could chat and reflect on the days before.

Jessup was such a calming atmosphere and the perfect end to a perfect day and visit to Napa Valley.

Enjoying Jessup Cellars

Wine Country - Part 1

One place that I hope to go back to at least every 5 years is Napa Valley. There are so many lovely vineyards and wine tours that you could spend a few full weeks there and still not try everything. On our San Francisco trip, Dan, Marissa, Ryan and I decided that we would hit up a few vineyards each day. And since we were only there 2 full days- we were going to make sure and enjoy each and every moment.

The morning of our first day in Napa Valley we drove from San Fran, stopped at McDonald's to grab breakfast (classy eh?) and we were on our way. We're glad we filled our stomachs, because our first wine tasting was at 10:45 a.m. We stopped at Rombauer Vineyards first and tasted the best and most buttery chardonnay ever. We were so giddy with excitement because we were finally in Napa Valley. One of the best parts about Rombauer was the gardens that we were able to have a tour of as well. The garden was FULL of gorgeous colors and a beautiful view of the valley. We even got a private tour of a fantastic view by one of the nicest landscapers on duty that day. We sat and enjoyed for a good 1/2 hour before we were on to our next appointment.

Dan and Marissa enjoying a red wine selection

Enjoying mine as well as Ryan chats up the manager!

One of the beautiful flowers in the Rombauer Garden

Our next tasting was at none other than Sterling Vineyards. You ride a gondola to the top of the hill where the vineyard tour begins. This way you get to take in the breathtaking views from high above wine country, and it is magnificent. Sterling's visit was a phased approach with a certain station at each part of our tour. You would have a Chardonnay on the 1st leg, a Shiraz and Merlot at the next, a Riesling followed that. By the time we got to the porch on the 2nd story, we were feeling pretty good, and took the time to enjoy the view, take some silly pictures and just rest in the sunshine. Tipsy?... maybe a little bit. Marissa and I even found typos in some of the marble signage that runs along the property edge.

Ryan and I getting ready to jump in our gondola!

The four of us at our 1st stop at Sterling

Taking in the gorgeous view from the top

And having a little fun as well

By the time our tour of Sterling was over, we were whisked up into their visiting area for one final tasting. This is where we were able to sit and enjoy some downtime, and...sober up a bit. :)

Dan proceed to check his email on his phone and found that he had quite a few e-mails to respond to when the day was done.

One of the best parts about Napa Valley was the time in between tastings and dinner. Since all of the vineyards close at approximately the same time (about 3:30 or 4:00) you must get in all of your visits before dinner. Since we didn't want to eat a 4:00 dinner, we would go back to our hotel and all nap for a good 1-2 hours before heading out for the night and grabbing dinner to re-fuel for the next day. It was such a wonderful little schedule we had going.

We dined at Mustard's Grill that evening. Where most of us picked something other than wine for our choice of drink. The food was fabulous, and afterward we were able to walk around the garden where they grew most of their herbs and vegetables for their dishes.

Marissa and I also made Dan and Ryan pose just like the front sculpture as well. It didn't take much to coerce them.


Day 1 in Napa Valley was a HUGE SUCCESS! And we had such a great time- after grabbing a drink at a bar in downtown Napa- we were ready to hit the hay and gear up for Day 2 in the Valley.

San Francisco Trip- Part 3

The long awaited Part 3 of our Summer San Francisco Trip is finally here- just in time for Christmas! Aren't you lucky? hahaha

After the beautiful wedding, Ryan, Dan, Marissa and I decided to be tourists for the day. We started walking around downtown San Fran and decided Chinatown would be 1st on our list. You really can't miss it as you're walking around- there are large green gates that note the start of Chinatown. And once you're in it, there's no mistaking that it feels a little different from the San Francisco you just stepped out of.


Lamps hang from the store fronts, and sometimes unrecognizable food items were placed in a colorful bags and bowls.

Our next stop was Coit Tower. Ryan and I had been by Coit Tower on our first visit to San Francisco, but had never been in it.

The hike up the streets to Coit Tower is a work out alone. They seem to run at almost a 90 degree angle, and your calves and knees definitely feel it at the top. Looks like these people remembered to use their parking brakes!

Here Ryan is "stretching" his muscles. I'm not sure there's much stretching going on here...

When you finally make it to the top of the street, you actually have to purchase a ticket to go up in the elevator to the top of Coit tower to get a view of the entire city. A very very old elevator with an operator takes you up in very tight bunches to the top- its a sweaty, smelly ride- but the views are worth it.

This is looking out onto the bay bridge above. And a view of the city below.

After spending a good 25 minutes at the top, oohing and aahing at all the different views, we were ready to make it down again. Into that nasty elevator. We stopped for lunch at a cute, quaint corner shop and dined on paninis and salads before stopping over to Lombard street- the crookedest street in the world.


Its pretty neat to see the cars drive down at turtle pace- we decided to walk it instead- and I'm pretty sure we beat most of the vehicles.

To cap off the day we decided hot fudge sundaes at Ghiradelli Square were in order.


It was DELICIOUS! I'm pretty sure that Ryan ate a little bit, and I took most of the ice cream and chocolate, and the cherry on top :) We grabbed a nice seafood dinner on Pier 39 that evening, where I got a taste of my first oyster. It actually wasn't 1/2 bad with cocktail sauce on it!


The next morning we were ready to go to Napa Valley- but had to make a quick pit stop first to see the Red Lady herself.


Doing their model poses.

San Francisco is such a great city- with so much to offer, we love each visit we've had. We will definitely be back time and time again! :)

Really? Amberly...come on.

I am Ms. Slacker Extraordinaire! Wow- it's almost been 2 months since my last post? Are you kidding? While I haven't had a great amount of time to post lately, I wanted to let you all know that we're still alive and doing well. Apparently I STILL have a lot of catching up to do- yikes.

I promise that more posts will be coming your way shortly. And with that I will leave you with our cute Christmas pup. Our house is all decked out and Lola loves it! :)