california part 2

let me start off by saying that with everyday, our trip got better. it was a complete blessing that we didn't lose our luggage (i'm notorious for losing luggage), found our hotels easily, never hardly got lost, and didn't have weird reactions to the food (because we for sure ate and drank a little differently out west). after spending two nights in san francisco, we rented a car. i didn't get a pic, but i believe this stock photo will sufice...

image from here

this blue baby got us where we needed to go for three days. we felt really cool pulling up to our hotel, restaurants, and wineries. mr. b, being the toyota nut that he is, loved it, of course.

as we pulled out of san fran in the rental car, we drove through the ghetto historic area and drove our way through golden gate park. warning, it is kind of hard to take a left turn in sf. like, there are lots of signs like this...

image from here

...when you reeeeallly need to go left. so we spent extra time cruising the streets of the haight-ashbury area. interesting to say the least.

plans to return to the golden gate bridge to take pictures were ruined by daylight savings time. i'm sure my own would have looked just like this anyway:

image from here

once we made it across the golden gate bridge, we ventured north to the sweet little town of santa rosa. loved it. i hope to go back someday and stay there for a few days. we stayed at a senior quaint hotel called the flamingo. think kellerman's from dirty dancing or the senior living center from cocoon. they were holding water aerobics when we arrived.

if you know either of us, you know we loved that environment as well :)

image from here

that afternoon, we made our way to napa valley. these cuties greeted us in our blue corolla. we stopped to take a shot...

pretty sure this is one of the most beautiful places either of us have ever been...

mr. b posed for me again

amazing view as we reached the edge of the napa valley

first stop: darioush winery along the silverado trail in napa

clos du val in napa valley

clos du val 

silverado vineyards, napa

we ended the day at silverado vineyards.

best.view.ever.

more to come tomorrow!

have a great day!

california part 1

mr. b and i are back from california and are attempting to adjust back to normal. i apologize in advance - i will be sharing multiple california posts because i got a little crazy with my mama's camera during the trip and there is just too much for one sitting (for both myself and the reader!)

but first, i must give a little shout out to my brother, joel, and his wife, molly (and little mabel), for hosting us in their home on the night before our trip. we love them and miss them very much. also, i'm very excited that mrs. molly has begun a blog of her very own about one of my personal favorite topics - food! she's super cute. you must check it out! 

so here i begin the deets on our california vaca. the first two days of our trip were spent in san francisco. we arrived on the BART (bay area rapid transit) at union square literally FIVE minutes after the huge giants celebratory parade. it was pure chaos. a little sad for the rangers fan, but also kinda cool.  

mr. b lugging my almost 50 lb suitcase. he was obviously thrilled.

we checked into our fancy and fun hotel room at the hotel frank... 

and if you know me, you know i love me some frank!


and headed out to china town

mr. b is really into canes

on day number two, we made our way down to fisherman's warf (by san francisco cable car, of course!)

i love how these little guys push the cable cars to it's starting point in order to get them moving! so much fun to watch!

visited the infamous lumbard street...

mr. b posed for a few pics...

and we ate a yummy lunch (no, not the crab!) at this little street vendor. mr. b had fish-n-chips and i had a great big bread bowl filled with clam chowder. delish!

saw the little sea lions at pier 39. they kinda made me miss our little bailey dog while we were away...

ps they smell awful!

we had a great view of alcatraz...

and enjoyed a nice little glass of wine down by the pier.

i loved this cute little orange cable car!

stayed tuned for part duex...

happy wednesday!

marathoning for miracles

on saturday, we marathoned for miracles...

fooled you. you might have thought we were actually running the marathon. haha. we did not. mr. b was on the race board at hmc and led the half marathon by bike. lucy brought sam, who worked as the photographer, and we volunteered at the jla water station.

mr. b and i have always wanted to volunteer at a race. he has participated in many marathons over the years; each time he finishes, we talk about how fun it would be to volunteer. i'm so glad we were given the opportunity this year! 



the jla group at our volunteer station









leader of the pack



disclaimer: while this was an hmc event, (you all know how much i love armc), my family has always supported children's miracle network. cmn was a big part of our life when collin and grant were in the hospital and recovering from their accident. plus, mr. b has been commissioned to assist in many armc events. i'm proud that i was able to support him & his place of work at this race!

happy (belated) halloween

the night started off with a little black dress and a plaid shirt...

gilly and macgruber (macgruber bleached his hair!)

woody & jessie

faculty from mckinley high, mr. schu and coach sylvester

the 50s preps

didn't catch their names but i think someone picked them up from back to the future...

these little guys stopped by the house to trick-or-treat. they didn't have on costumes so they had to teach that 50's chick how to dougie...

 

the spread...

the ladies...

the fellas... such good sports! :)


we had a blast celebrating super club at the dunagan's for the (tear) last time. love you guys and we'll miss you much!

sorry!

remember when i said i wanted to be this for halloween...

here's a little preview of what's to be expected from our sunday night:

that's all for now. more to come as soon as i catch up!


sorry! :)

swappin' scarves!

a couple of weeks ago, my sweet friends abby and jessica participated in the most adorable online event - a scarf swap! altough i do not know her, i stole the idea from the creative meredith at sweettfamily, the genius behind the idea. ladies were paired up and "swapped" scarves with friends from all over the u.s.; such a great idea! what a perfect way to celebrate fall, friends, and beautiful scarves?! it got me thinking, why couldn't we do this here, among friends, in person?! so... last week, lucy v and i hosted a scarf swap at my casa.

we mingled, snacked, and checked out the scarves...



after we ate, we began the scarf swapping game. each gal selected a number off of the tree...



and ms jenna modeled the chosen scarf!



showing off the scarves...

 somehow, a really awesome dance party began...

such a great group of gals!

thank you, ladies, for attending! we hope that you love your scarves and want to wear them

every day! :)