Seahawks Preseason

A few weeks back I had an unexpectedly free weekend, so Nicole offered me her tickets to the Seahawks preseason game.  Since Maddie and I had already talked about going to dinner that night, I instead decided to take her to the game for some beers, weird noodle-dishes, and to cheer on our Hawks.  After the craziest thunder and lightning storm and pouring down rain, and traffic that took hours to get anywhere in the city, we finally made it to the stadium not long after kickoff.  We had a great time laughing, catching up, and cheering on the Hawks before heading up the Hill to play a rousing game of shuffleboard at The Canterbury.  Though the Hawks couldn't pull this one off, I'm confident it's going to be an amazing season - they're just getting the losses out of their system now :)  Go Hawks!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Napa {Day 3}

Sunday morning we woke up a little extra tired, so chilled by the pool for awhile until it was time to go :)

 we once again stopped for breakfast at the sunflower cafe, as i'm pretty sure we all had order envy from the previous morning.  it was exactly what we needed to revive ourselves for the day ahead.

 we stopped off at cline again and they graciously gave us another box to take our wine home in, plus tape to secure all the boxes.  quickly becoming one of my favorite places :)

 we drove into the city and immediately headed up the hillside to take in the breathtaking view

 it wasn't actually too chilly up there, so we stayed and just soaked it in for awhile

 pretty nice, eh?

 obligatory "driving over the bridge" picture

 we decided we needed a beer {and our flight kept getting delayed} so we wandered the streets of san francisco until we found rogue brewing, which totally hit the spot

we then headed over to dolores park {where most of the city seemed to be} to take in the views, relax in the sun, and wait until it was time to head home

this really was such an amazing trip, and i couldn't think of anyone else i'd rather have spent the weekend with than these 5 crazy kids.  love you guys!!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Napa {The French Laundry}

Saturday night was one of those night's I will never forget, as the group and I had dinner at The French Laundry.  It was a bucket list item for John, and something I never thought I would do in my lifetime {mainly due to the pricetag and impossible to get reservations}.  But when the invitation presented itself, I couldn't say no.  We all got dressed up in our best for our 6PM dinner reservations, and after deciding on a few bottles of wine, we all chose the Chef's Tasting Menu.  It had 12+ courses {4 alone just of dessert!}, and each were better than the last. It truly was one of the absolute best meals of my life, something that can probably never be topped.  It still feels surreal to think that we actually had dinner there :)  From the sommelier who treated minion Dave like a guest to giggling like little kids every time something "fancy" would happen, it was such a fabulous experience.  Thank you John for the most incredible and memorable evening - I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

 "oysters and pearls" 

{'sabayon' of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and white sturgeon cavier}

 the yummiest bread basket

 "galia melon soup"

{brokaw avocado, celery, coconut and lime 'gastrique'}

 "slow cooked wild king salmon"

{roasted garden eggplant, purslane, sweet onion relish and brentwood corn 'veloute'}

 "chickpea crusted pacific abalone"

{stewed garden squash, roasted lipstick peppers, and fino verde basil}

 amazing wine

 "supreme de canard"

{hibiscus poached sour apples, garden turnips, and sicilian pistachio puree}

 "slow roasted elysian fields farm lamb"

{garden fennel, scarlet grapes, english walnuts and pinor noir reduction}

 "andante dairy 'acapella'"

{marinated garden tomatoes, nicoise olives and extra virgin olive oil jam}

 fig & honeycomb

 marinated strawberries & ice cream

 peanut butter & jelly creme

 pot de creme, macarons, chocolate covered hazelnuts, and mini donuts

 after dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a drink and some fun

 john said he wanted to be in his pj's, so we obliged and had a pj dance party, dj'd by dave! {the party also ended up getting a noise complaint by security and had to be moved at midnight to the lobby.....}

such a wonderful night!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Napa {Day 2}

saturday morning in sonoma started out with a bang at our new favorite breakfast spot, the sunflower cafe {thanks for the rec, david!}

 they had the most delicious menu, and we snagged a spot on their charming back patio

 our first wine stop of the day was gloria ferrer, which specializes in sparkling wines {love me some champs!}

 the grounds were beautiful, and this place was exactly what i had pictured when i thought of what napa might be like - all fancy and beautiful :)

 great place for pics :)

 i tried one of the sparkling flights, and fell in love with wine i cannot afford

 we had a grand old time sipping our tastings

 obligatory group shot.....

 .....followed by the obligatory ladies only shot

 we then headed down the road to cline cellars, home of leslie's favorite wine

 we had a free tasting in the tasting room, then headed out on a tour with our new friend bill

 there's something about a vineyard.....

 they were getting ready for the surgeon general of the united states' wedding there that night!

 we contemplated a wedding crashers-esque move, but resisted

we then ended back up at our gorgeous hotel to rest up and get ready for a dinner i will never forget..... :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie