Blog Changes

Hey guys!

Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of May??? So crazy.

May is a big month for the blog- this year will be the four year anniversary of when I started this thing. That said, I figured May is the perfect time to unroll some changes to a few of the series' I've had here on the blog. 

I've been messing around with the travel guides and rather than doing them once a month, I'm going to start moving them around. This is for one main reason- if I stick to the one destination per month format, I'm never going to get through them all! I am going to have a few different formats as well- weekend guides and 24 hour guides. 

Anyhow, look out for the new changes starting tomorrow! Also, if there is anything you want to see or any suggestions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail! I'd love to get some feedback!

Throwback Thursdays

BSB 2013

I had to go to this one alone, augh! Since I was flying solo, I splurged at the last minute on a really good seat and an after party pass. I was sitting in row 12 (the 12 year old girl inside me was thrilled) and the show was amazing! It's the first show I got to see with all five of the Backsteet Boys since 1998 and it was so good! The after party was a blast, Nick was DJ-ing and before the guys went in, I got to go to a meet and greet with Kevin, Howie, and Nick. They rushed us through but as soon as I got up close, Nick gave me a huge hug (like he knew I've been a fan for almost 20 years) and Howie said "It's nice to see you again" like he actually remembered me from 2011. Such a good night!

Tuesday Travel Guide: Napa- Where to Eat

I honestly just now realized how little we ate in Napa. It's crazy because I am a serious foodie and usually devote more than 50% of any given trip to food. Even more sad- one of the only places we ate at is now permanently closed! So this post will include the places we did eat and a bunch of places I wish I'd eaten at that I'm bookmarking for next time.

Sam's Social Club

This was a total spur of the moment meal and it was amazing. The ricotta crostini with pepper jam. Melissa only tried a little bit and later told me she didn't take any more than she did because she was afraid I'd stab her with a fork. I ate all the crostini before the ricotta and when they offered me more crostini I literally scraped the bottom of the plate until there was no more ricotta. It was mildly embarrassing. I would come back for more in a heartbeat.

Sweetie Pie's

This was the perfect place to stop for a quick and easy breakfast in the downtown Napa area. Great lattes and breakfast quiche and it's got that cute old country charm to it. 

Places I Want to Try

Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen

This has been on my list for years. We meant to stop but ran out of time and I was a little bummed. For one, it was featured on the Food Network at least once. Second, the name (um, it has the word backstreet in it). Third, the menu looks awesome. 

Angele

This place was adorable and right by the Napa riverfront. The bright yellow building and blue shutters are hard to miss and the food looked amazing. 

Barndiva

I can't help but be attracted to a restaurant that has bistro lights on their patio. The menu looks delicious too- those goat cheese croquettes sound really yummy.

Boon Fly Cafe

The food here looks delicious but the breakfast looks outstanding. Any place that's famous for its donuts is okay in my book... especially when the menu includes green eggs and ham or something called a super burrito.

Archetype

I love a good happy hour menu and the Social Hour menu here looks wonderful. I'm not a huge drinker- for me, happy hour needs to have some great bar snacks as well and Archetype really seems to deliver on that front!

Gott's Roadside

This place seems to have it all- roadside food, a cute patio, and Food Network cred. It seems like the perfect place for a good burger with a greasy spoon vibe.

Oxbow Public Market

I love a good food market and Oxbow has some great places like Hog Island Oyster Company and Kara's Cupcakes- some of my Bay Area faves. It's a great spot to load up on some gourmet goodies for a picnic at the wineries. 

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Monday Must Haves

Hey guys!

It's Monday. Again. This week I've actually got a lot going on and I'm really excited. This weekend is also ACM weekend and as you all know, it's one of my favorite times of the year. So much going on!

So far my skin in 2017 hasn't been great. I will assume it's stress and a change in diet and whatnot but that doesn't make it any less annoying. I've been fortunate to not have a whole lot of dry skin problems this winter but I feel like I've had to do a lot of maintenance to keep my skin balanced. 

This product- Juara's Radiance Enzyme Scrub- has helped immensely. It's a great scrub that isn't too harsh and really makes the skin feel much more fresh and bright afterwards. It's been something of a lifesaver for my skin this winter! I use it about once a week or so but it really does the trick!

SaveSave

Throwback Thursdays

NKOTBSB 2011

Okay, we had to go to this show. Melissa was actually a New Kids on the Block fan and it just seemed like too good a show to pass up! I was a little too young for NKOTB but it was a blast. They played all the best songs from both boy bands and we even hit up both after parties (which were kind of next door to each other in terms of casinos with NKOTB at Chateau and BSB at Gallery). We even had a close encounter with the New Kids on the Block when they walked right by us at Sugar Factory (Donnie grabbed my arm walking by and smiled at me and I didn't recognize him until afterwards whaaaat). I have literally never seen a nightclub as packed as Chateau was on the night of that party! It was wall to wall women of a very specific age group and there was barely room to walk. We got to enjoy a couple after party songs though so it was so worth it! A bunch of the guys stayed in town for the July 4th weekend so I actually ran into Jordan Knight and Howie Dorough at Treasure Island!

Tuesday Travel Guide: Napa- Where to Play

Our time in Napa was much shorter than we had originally intended, but I still think we got to see a lot! We even had time for a mid afternoon nap which has become absolutely necessary the older I get! We planned it out so that each of us would have one day to drink while the other one did the driving and it worked out pretty perfectly!

Castello Di Amorosa- This was the first vineyard we visited and it was one of our "must do" places. The grounds are beautiful and walking around the castle was a lot of fun. It was really crowded though, especially in the shop and tasting area. 

Chateau Montelena- Another really gorgeous property. We didn't have time to do a tour or tasting but we did get to wander the grounds a bit. Even cooler- the harvest was in progress so we got to see these huge containers of grapes and the machines that pull the grapes from the leaves and stems. Pretty neat!

Grgich Hills- This was one of my favorite activities because Grgich Hills offers a grape stomp for a couple months a year. We really wanted to stomp grapes. There was nobody else around when we went so we got to take all the pictures we wanted and wander the grounds while our shirts (you get a souvenir shirt with your grape stained footprints it's super cute) dried. So much fun!

Beringer Vineyards- This was the only real tour that we did. We did the Legacy Cave Tour which was really fun and informative and consisted of several tastings throughout the tour. The grounds are also really beautiful and it was such a gorgeous day for walking around. 

Old Faithful Geyser- The geyser itself is fairly small but it does what it promises- it goes off every few minutes. I think it was a bit more active when we were there because there had just been an earthquake early that morning too. There's a lot of areas to lounge and it's quite peaceful and relaxing, especially when the weather is nice. There is also a large goat farm with all kinds of goats. So cute!

California 101- This wasn't an attraction but I definitely wanted to include it. Driving up from San Francisco International Airport, we took the Bay Bridge to go north into Napa. We took CA 101 on our way back down so that we could make a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge. We found the perfect viewpoint too. Take the exit for Point Cavallo and drive down to the Moore Road Pier. It's a fishing pier with an amazing view and virtually no tourists!

I wish we'd had a couple extra days to explore. We had a little time to explore the Napa Riverfront but there's so much more to see outside the downtown area. There were so many adorable small towns along the way and it would have been fun to stop and explore. A couple things on my list for next time:

Winery Picnic- So many of the wineries have picnic grounds and I would love to get a meal at a gourmet store like Cal Mart and enjoy it out by the vineyards.

Napa Wine Train- This has been on my bucket list forever. Next time I'm in Napa I'd really like to do the sunset dinner train in one of the observation cars. So gorgeous!