Day 143: May 23 - Don't make me go home!

One of our new travel friends put it best in the lobby at checkout when she said, "This is the most depressing thing ever." No one likes to leave vacation, especially when it's been so relaxing and calm.

We left this scene, took our flight home, and arrived at SFO to a very, very cold and windy San Francisco as well as a dead battery in Peter's car. Oh, how I wanted to go back to the beach!

Day 142: May 22 - New travel friends

It takes about three days of vacation and relaxing to settle in, make new friends, and go from relaxing to partying. At least that's what it took for Peter and I.

By the end of our trip, we had hooked up with a group of 11 friends from Denver (who we quickly exchanged email addresses with for house swapping vacations in the future) and a couple from Brooklyn (who we were stupid to not swap info with). Too many tequila shots later, I had a rough end to the first day of being 30, but all in all, it was a great, fun day.


Pictured are Sarah and Billy, who I'm certain I had deep, intellectual conversations with while getting sunburned in the pool. What they were about is long-since lost on me, but I remember enough to know that Sarah and I were certain we were sisters from another mother, and that Sarah learned on this trip to always pack a carry-on, since her luggage was lost.

Day 141: May 21 - The big 3-0

A couple years ago at Christmas, Peter's mom, Maureen, gave me this book. At the time I wasn't quite nearing 30 so I thought I'd have to put it away and get to it later. While packing for the Cancun trip, I thew it in my bag thinking there would be no better time to give it a read.

It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Very inspirational, perfect beach read since they were short little stories and, after a cocktail or two, I found myself tagging pages. I'll give y'all a full book review later, I'm sure, but for now just know that I went into my 30th birthday feeling like the next 10 years are going to be amazing. Thanks Mum for giving me such a great read.

Day 140: May 20 - Love the upgrade

Please excuse this terrible iPhone photo. That big white light you see is really the view of the Cancun sun and ocean from our room, but the camera didn't quite understand the importance of this.
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Luckily, the front desk staff at the Gran Melia resort did. They upgraded us at check-in to their "Red Level" tower, which meant we had a junior suite, a special pool and cabana area that only red-levelers could get to, and a special restaurant area. Pretty spiffy if I do say so.

I don't know what about us made us upgrade worthy, but it made for a very fantastic stay. The only problem is now I don't think I'd ever be able to go back and be one of the commoners!

Day 139: May 19 - Cancun-bound

Each airline offers different advantage and disadvantages. Peter and I quickly realized on our Virgin America flight that we missed Mexicana Airlines, which had gone out of business last year.

Mexicana offered free luggage, meals, snacks AND alcohol. It was amazing. Probably why they went out of business, since these things are nearly unheard of these days in the world of flying.

I love Virgin America, and I love that we had a straight-through flight to Cancun, but I didn't like the cost of the alcohol. Lucky for me, the stewardess dropped half a drop of ginger ale on me when she passed it to Peter so she decided I should have whatever I wanted to drink as an "I'm sorry." I was drinking coke so I picked rum. Then I dumped the whole rum into my coke. ... into one of those tiny little airplane cups. Bad move!

It was way too strong, but I sucked it up, since it was free, pounded it, and then promptly drifted off to la-la land into a Dramamine-and-Bacardi induced nap.

Day 138: May 18 - Baseball boyfriend

When it comes to men, I sure know how to pick 'em. Hey! Keep those snickers to your self! I picked Peter, right? And I definitely had it right last year when I picked my very first Baseball Boyfriend to be Buster Posey.

We were at an A's/Giants game last year for my birthday and I decided that although baseball isn't really my sport of choice, maybe I could make it more interesting for myself if I picked one of these cute men as my BB. I looked up, and there he was ... a massive poster of Buster. I decided that although he was super young, he could be my man for the season. If he turned out to be a terrible player that I never got to see do anything cool, I'd trade him in the next year.

One World Series season later, I'd say I did pretty good.

Nick, who collects hundreds, maybe thousands of baseball cards, mailed me this rookie card for my birthday. yay!

Day 137: May 17 - Cheesy joke

You know how sometimes a joke can go so long you can't even really remember how it started? My cousin, Nick, and I have one of those that revolves around cheese.

I think the story goes that I was cutting up some cheddar when I was visiting and that little punk came over and at it when I walked away for just a moment. If my memory is right, I think I was very angry with him while he (mind you, he was about 11 at the time) just  laughed and laughed thinking he was the funniest thing ever.

Now every time we visit with each other he asks me if I'd like some cheese, or waves it in front of me just out of reach.

For my birthday, the crafty kid sent me a t-shirt. I have zero idea where to wear this puppy, but the thought was hilarious. Maybe I shall frame it:)

Day 136: May 16 - my little nurse

Ella has spent the last two days either on top of me or next to the bed. I think she knows I've been sick. What a little love :-)

Day 135: May 15 - Trying to stay hydrated

In the post-wedding haze, I apparently thought I needed a LOT of glasses of water, milk and sprite to keep myself hydrated today. I promise that after I took the photo, I cleared off the chaos.

Day 134: May 14 - Luros wedding

I'm being very sincere when I say that I'm not sure I've ever been to a wedding where I was so sure that the happy couple would, indeed, forever stay a happy couple. Mary and Jason make an amazing team, and I think everyone who knows them is very lucky. I'm very grateful they ended up in my life.

The wedding was beautiful, the band was very fun and the bride and groom were happy, happy, happy.

Day 133: May 13 - Fiesta!

Mary and Jason's wedding was truly a 4-day Napa Valley event. At first I thought having everyone invited to the rehearsal dinner was a little overwhelming, but it was great to see everyone have a chance to mingle, get to know each other, and celebrate. These two are absolute troopers, with silly hats and blinking fiesta buttons.

Day 132: May 12 - Wedding venue booked!

This little envelope represents the check and contract being sent into our wedding venue, the Chico Event Center for April 14, 2012. 11 months and counting!

Day 131: May 11 - Sushi galore

Remi and I have a tradition of meeting in the middle of Sac and Napa in Vacaville at our favorite sushi joint. She's moving soon to Texas, which makes me excited for her and heartbroken for me. We've decided we need as much sushi as possible before she leaves, and we're just now getting around to remembering which rolls we like. We had to start a list.

Cindy, Remi and I put away all this sushi in about five minutes flat. SOOOO good!

Day 130: May 10 - Ella the mac and cheese eater

Silly Ella. I've been on a Mac and Cheese with Tuna kick, and she's been diligently trying to get at it every chance she gets.

Day 129: May 9 - Just a little tan, please

Oh, yeah, I'm sure there's skin cancer being caused every second I'm in the tanning bed, but a couple times a year, I deem it totally necessary. We're headed to Cancun, Mexico on the 19th, so I've justified that a base tan was desperately needed. Go ahead and judge, but there's something so super relaxing about lying in a tanning bed. I just wish it wasn't so (theoretically) bad for you.

Day 128: May 8 - Veggies aplenty

I'm trying my very best to be a tomato grower this year. I am too scared to mess with the housing gods, though, so some are in the ground and the rest are in pots. I bought them purely based on their names. Silly, I'm sure, but one was called Hillbilly, and that was just too funny to pass up. Another was called a Mortgage Lifter. I figured anything with the word "mortgage" in it had to be good juju, right?

Day 127: May 7 - Rachel, my hero

There are some people who come into your lives that just cause total awe. Dr. Rachel Rich (the new official title!) is one of those folks for me. She graduated Saturday with her doctorate. This means that while we've been out of school for about the same amount of time, Rachel has acquired not only a master's degree, but a doctorate. That's just amazing to me. Such initiative, such drive. Congrats, Rachel. We are lucky to know you.

Day 126: May 6- best hair day ever!

Ely spun me around after my keratin smoothing treatment and I almost cried I was so happy with my super straight hair.

Mind you, this was after a day if taking engagement photos, so I had about 10 pounds of makeup and lashes in, but I'm sure that didn't cloud my vision of the hair at all :-)

The following photo represents those 10 pounds that later came off my face. Holly=makeup genius as you will see later when I post the photos.

Day 125: may 5 - a reason to be up early

As a non morning person, I do appreciate some morning beauty. Amy given day in the Napa Valley if you are out and about before 7:30 or 8, you see at least five or so of these beauties in the air.

Day 124: May 4 - $2 Wednesdays

$2 for a professional baseball game? Score! People say, "yeah but it's the A's." I say "whatever." I'm not there for the baseball, obviously, be use Jillian and I spent four innings on a desperate search for the pulled pork sandwich and beer combo. Yum, yum!

Day 123: May 3 - roses, roses everywhere

I took these pictures to show my coworker that after an hour of trimming the roses back they were still insane.



How deep do you think the roots are on these puppies?

Day 122: May 2 - Gas is how much!?

It took $70.97 to fill the rental car's gas tank today. EEEEEEKKKKK!!!!

Day 121: May 1 - Crunchy heaven

Peter mocks me, because after introducing me to the Crunchy bar, made in Australia by the Cadbury chocolate company, I fell in love, proceeded to buy about a million of them on our vacation there, and then let them sit in our fridge.

I'm afraid of running out, which is silly since I found out that I can buy them at Cost Plus World Market. I busted this one out this weekend only to discover it was expired. Not to worry; it still tasted amazing. Guess I'd better give the rest of them some love, though.

 Oops! It was expired for a year. No bueno.

Day 120: April 30 - A perfect Napa day

There are times when I'm very grateful to be a Napa gal, and even more grateful to be one who has a couple Napa Valley connections.

Saturday, I was lucky enough to get tickets to Kitchens in the Vineyards, the Hall Cabernet Cookoff, and then had the opportunity to help a friend's family bottle their wine. All in all, a perfect day.

This was just the walkway leading up to one of the houses. What's in front of me in this photo was two garages that I can only imagine hold lots of fabulous cars. The kitchens were pretty much amazing, but we weren't allowed to take photos.

This little lamb corndog was the best thing I've eaten in a long, long time. So much so that it not only got my vote in the best amateur category, but Stacey and I each went back for three.

Bottling was great, but my waxing skills left something to be desired. Lesson learned:)

Day 119: April 29 - Pumpkin prep

At the Register, we're getting ready to plant this year's giant pumpkin. John has prepped the "box" and the pumpkin starter will be transplanted on Monday. Last year's pumpkin ended up with a giant heart-breaking crack in it, so let's hope for a lot better results this year.

Day 117: April 27 - Bridesmaid dresses galore

The girls and I went on a fact-finding mission to David's Bridal to check out some of their styles. It turns out things that look great on a model on the computer don't look so good on humans and then things that look terrible on that silly online girl look great on my gals.

This dress isn't a contender anymore, but I want to say thank you to the ladies who were able to join me!

and thanks to Stacey who was such a good sport. Goofy pictures make everything better.

and this dress is almost great enough to make me need a really formal wedding.