PinkCherryMama

{ wine tasting & crepe }

i guess i'll start with the crepe :)

my last halloween flower of the year...

workshop samples in process...

 if you follow me on instagram, i posted this yesterday, but it was so cute i had to share again! my baby boy brought this little pinecone in to me yesterday afternoon and said, "i thought, my mom would like this. maybe she can make like a replica or something." i love being a mom :) i'm going to do my best to "replicate" it just for him.

and thats it for the creative side of things today... leave now if you don't want to hear about my first wine tasting experience with my dear mom :)

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a couple of weeks ago,a friend and i surpised my mom with a weekend in sonoma to go wine tasting for her birthday. my mother-in-law happens to live there, so it was very cool to spend the weekend with all 3 of these ladies. my mom turned 73 and had never been wine tasting before, so that made it even cooler :) wine is not my thing, but i love the area and still had lots of fun.

for anyone planning on visiting, here are a few of things we did that i would recommend.

we started off the weekend with burgers at "the annex wine bar".  every friday night is "burger night", and you have a choice of 3 types of burgers and choice of sides for $10. there is live music and a nice patio with a fire pit. the burgers were good and, i am told, the wine was pretty good too ;) very laid back atmosphere if you want to just chill for a bit and grab some simple food.

my mother-in-law works at a winery and had made reservations for our tour at 1:30, so we headed out for some sightseeing before the tour. the sonoma town square is so cool. the shops and restaurants are fabulous. we toured the mission and for our $3 admission. we also got to tour the general vallejo home. the tours are self-guided, short and sweet and we were done in less than an hour.

 check out the creepy cherubs in the next photo... eeee :/

 

 

next stop, the wine tour at benziger family winery . it was great, even for this non-wine drinker.  we went at the very end of harvest, which was a great time to visit. the "wine tram tour" took us around the vinyard and the guide shared a bit about the biodynamic process that they use. we were taken into the wine caves and we even got to try our hand at pushing down the grapes in fermenting vats.  the property is beautiful and i definitely recommend going if you are in the area.

 

i am definitely NOT a selfie master quite yet...

from benziger, we went on to their sister winery, imagery. it seemed to be a kind of "younger" crowd here. they offered pizza and  a large center bar area where we did our tastings. well, they did at least ;) the grounds were beautiful here as well. of course i had to get photos of flowers for inspiration for my crepe projects. at one point my fabulous friend P, was inside of a very large poppy plant trying to hold the flower for me to get my photo.... im spoiled, i know. there was a huge picnic area as well as the deck area. again, if you are in the area, it's worth a stop in to see. bonus: grama rosie, as she is known to most,  found some jelly...

onward... the two wineries were about all we had time for, so we headed back to sonoma sqare for dinner. we decided on the swiss hotel. really great food; steaks, coups, salads, etc. the outdoor patio had a great atmosphere, however, the service was less than impressive. our waiter was pretty put out that we had so rudely come to dine in his space for my moms birthday. the customers seated next to us had a birthday as well and were brought the customary dessert to acknowledge the occasion... no such luck for dear mom. the waiter was duely compensated with his tip ;) the swiss hotel may want to evaluate the customer service of their staff in the near future. other than the waiter, it was an enjoyable dinner and the food was very good. 

the rest of evening was great too and we stayed up late chatting. the next morning, we hit the square, YET AGAIN. i'm telling ya, it's a great place! we had breakfast at the basque boulangerie. we had seen the bakers working hard on friday night and had wanted to be sure to stop in before we left. the place was packed and had a long line, however, the service was so quick! they offer an online ordering service, but we didn't even need it as the line went so fast.

bottom line, everywhere we went was great and we had a great time.... even with the horrible waiter!

have a wonderful day!

{a year to the day} day 2

so last night i left off in august, when i took my daughter on a "secret" trip to disneyland...

{fuji instax is my new favorite toy}

ok, so i skipped a HUGE part of my year...

while we were in L.A. for the first audition, my truck broke down in hollywood...at 8pm...we were stranded, so we took a cab to "roscoes chicken and waffles" at 11pm....

waited until 1:30am for my lifesaver, katie to pick us up after she got done with work and finally got to sleep at around 2:30am!!! i ended up having to have my truck towed to burbank and had to stay for 3 more days than planned....AND spent $1,300 to fix the dang truck! ugh!!! anywho.. it tured out to be a great week, we saw friends and family and spent time together roaming the streets of hollywood...super fun! we met melanie and ricky from SYTYCD at the grove too!

little buddy started kindergarten in september

 

 

September

we took a LONG road trip to arizona to see my father in law...it was soooo hot! we played in the colorado river to keep cool and i saw a big horn sheep...

 

November

we went back to disneyland for my other baby's 17th birthday!

December

my oldest just got back from another disney audition for disney paris....she made it to the final part of the audition as was the last one cut :( she was so excited to have made it that far this time and it is yet more experience for the next time!

in june, we did go to camp with our church's youth ministry for the 3rd year, which is always fun and always exhausting! we also went to the ocean a few times..of course...  it has been a wonderful, horrible, exhausting, blessed, crazy year and i am so thankful for what we have and WHO we have in our lives! 

and that sums it up for the really exciting parts of 2011 so far! i'm sure i have skipped over a bunch but a year is a lot to fit into 2 days worth of blog!

 

tomorrow... i start back with simple posts and hopefully lots of good ideas and inspiration. i'll post some of the new things i have been working on for my etsy shop as well

 

have a wonderful friday night!

~r

{week of rest- day 3, back from chiapas, day at the boardwalk}

and the journey continues....

 

july 21, 2010

 today we picked our oldest daughter up at SFO. she had been gone for 12 days on a mission trip to chiapas, mexico, with a group from our church. they have amazing stories to share with us and i can not wait to hear how God worked in so many peoples lives!

on the way to the airport, we passed by this amazing construction project...

click on the photo to learn more, but basically, highway 1 is unstable and they are digging a massive tunnel through a mountain to bypass the parts that are slipping into the ocean! 

finally at SFO and my baby {on the left} is home!

 the team was very tired but in great spirits and with lots of awesome stories to share about what God did through them in mexico...

my poor baby was so upset when i told her that we would be camping for a few days, that she started crying! i thought it would be a good time for our family to rest and for her to readjust to being home....and it turned out to be a great few days!

on the way back from the airport, we saw so many beautiful sights...the kite boarders were sweet!

 

something about the fact that the artichoke and strawberry fields are set right on the coast is just so cool to me...
 

we ended up going to the boardwalk for a bit and people watching... and then going back to camp to rest up for another day on the beautiful coast...

more on sunday!!!

have a great weekend!

~r

"Great are the works of the Lord;

they are pondered by all who delight in them."

Psalm 111:2

 

 

{ week of rest - Day 2 - pescadero and pillar point}

on to the next day of our trip...

 

july 20, 2010

today we got to spend the day in pescadero, a great little town about 2 miles off of hwy 1, near año nuevo.

 

 

if you are ever in the area, you absolutely have to stop by the local bakery.

 

 they sell the best artichoke bread and yummy pies...

 

 

 

and the staff is super friendly too!

 

the town had such a neat style. i couldn't stop taking photos... 

 

 

 

 

super cool palm tree that was overtaken by some kind of vine or something...we thought it was a normal shade tree at first...but then we looked up...

 

 

down the road a bit, there is a cute little goat farm that is located in a 100 year old house...

 

 

 

 

 

2 of the resident goats:

black- big boy

white - arm pit

 

    

   

 

pillar point harbor for another afternoon walk...

 

a day well spent...

see ya tomorrow!

~r    
 

  

{ week of sadness, week of rest }

since i had computer problems last week, while we were away, i had to postpone the next few posts. i had wanted to post a day-by-day of our week, but the wifi was not cooperating. i will be posting all about last week over the next few days along with some creative things, i hope...please excuse the complete randomness and lack of direction! hope you enjoy the photos! 

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{july 20, 2010}

the last 2 weeks have been emotionally exhausting! kalie embarked an a last minute mission trip with the youth ministry at LifePoint on the 9th and is scheduled to be back in the states tomorrow; yippee! we had about 3 days to prepare for the trip...exciting, but scary and hectic at the same time.

we also lost both of our beloved family pets in the past 2 weeks. brodie, our lab, was hit by a car. he would have ben 15 this october. sadly, after brodie died, maggie, our border collie mix, never recovered. i never heard her bark again after that day. she stopped eating and playing. on saturday, we had to force feed her milk with a sippee cup. when we took her in to the vet that morning, we were told she had liver failure and by 2pm, she was completely unable to sit up or function at all. we lost her at around 5pm the same day.

although we are deeply saddened by our loss, we have soooo many great memories with our pets! they will be missed beyond belief. 

 

 

 brodie and little buddy, christmas 2007

*

 

{a last minute camping trip}

i am sitting at the door to our rv in foggy, cold, BEAUTIFUL, ano nuevo, ca. well, a little bit outside of año nuevo, but i don't really know the correct name for where we are. we will be here, exploring the awesomeness that God has created, for the week as well as healing, resting and spending time as a family. i decided to share a series of posts dedicated to what we find here and the surrounding communities. i am really excited! and now for the good stuff! 

{ Day 1- año nuevo, ca. }

we arrived later in the day and decided to take an evening walk down to the beach after setting up camp...

   

{to be continued tomorrow}
 

after having a week to relax and get some inspiration, i was able to get some new designs and ideas worked out. i'll be posting some photos as soon as i get samples made. for now, you can see what i have at the moment here. i have also decided to take an art class because i have so much free time on my hands... my teacher is the awesome ms. suzi blu. you can check her out here:

http://www.alovelydream.com/site/Welcome.html

i will decide whether or not to share my art with you all once i see how my drawing/painting skillz are :)

have a wonderful morning and come back and visit me tonight for  day 2 of our camping week and more ramblings and photos!

~r