Baby Olive's Christening

So these were actually taken a little while ago, but realize I didn't document them on the blog :) Our niece Olive was christened recently. Instead of going the traditional route in a church, they rented out the local museum in Waverly. They had their family pastor come down and invited friends and family. It was intimate and lovely. 

Napa - Day Four

Well, this was the day Marette and I headed back to Nashville. Some of the crew stayed until Sunday.

So, Saturday we decided to do a send off brunch, so we went to Grace's Table in downtown Napa. This was fabulous. It was right on a corner in downtown Napa. It had a great menu, lots of local food, and open air. It was fabulous!

We saved this one until our final birthday brunch :)

The rest of the crew partook in the super-fun Downtown Napa Winery crawl. It's low-key, laid-back, and cheap, yo! I read up on this before we got down there, and I figured it might be a fun think to do on the quick. With half our crew gone (me, Marette and Kenya) it was just the four of them and we were already downtown after brunch. What you do is go the visitors center and buy a tasting card for $30. Then you can go to up to 12 wineries for $.10 each tasting. Seriously. And they are are within walking distance. You get to see and peruse Downtown Napa. Are these going to be the greatest wines you've ever tasted? No. But it's a fun day nonetheless :)

So that's it! Napa in four days. What a trip it was. I can't wait to go back!! Make sure you check out our other day's activities! 

A Colorful Sip and See

This was such a fun shower to plan. A few months ago I helped plan a Sip and See Shower for my friend Kim and forgot to document it on the blog. As you know, I turn into quite the decoration Nazi when it comes to parties, lol. We decided to choose the invitation first, then plan the decor around it, since she didn't have any particular theme in mind. We wanted everything very bright and very colorful. I planned decor and Lori was in charge of food. We did a formal brunch. 

This was our Mimosa bar. We had three different juices and fruits to put in them. I did the paper pinwheel background and the custom burlap Mimosa banner. I found coordinating scrapbook paper at a craft store to coordinate with the invitation so I used that it lots of different things. I decoupaged some onto some big B's for some fun added decor. 

Our fruits to add to the mimosas. I did the placecards. 

We had Mango Nectar, Raspberry Lemonade, and Orange Juice. 

Mimosas Banner. I also made tissue balls in different colors and they were hung everywhere. 

Food table

Belgium Waffles in a cup. So easy and so pretty!

Variety of colorful muffins with "B" toppers. 

We also did mini muffins for height. 

Fruit Kabobs! So colorful :)

Mini Yogurt Parfaits in shot glasses. Again, I carried the theme and did "B" stickers. 

I had different banners one said "Sweet" and one said "Savory"

Another decoupaged "B" with a burlap bow and petit fours. 

Other food was mini quiches, spinach spanakopita, and ham and cheese rolls 

Me, Kim, Lori and of course Baby Blake!

Napa Trip - Day Three

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This was our first day without our fantastic driver, Robert, so we had to take turns and wing it. Our stops today were Del Dotto Winery, Castello de Amarosa, Madrigal Winery, and Frank Family Vineyards. And sniff, sniff, our last official day doing wine tours. 

Del Dotto Vineyards - Okay, if Keever is Number One, this one was a close second. I wasn't sure what to think about this one because it was so hyped. I was afraid it would be too touristy and not live up to the hype. I was very wrong. This place was amazing. Simply amazing. The wine tour guide was phenomenal and every single wine we tasted were fantastic. It's a very cool tour too and you get to go through the wine caves and literally taste out of barrels. This one was a bit more expensive and you need an appointment, but it was worth it. We got our money's worth if ya know what I mean, lol. I bought wine here. Marette bought a very expensive bottle she still regrets lol. But hey, you're only in Napa once right?

I took a picture of this for no reason than it said Mo-Fo. 

Del Dotto Selfie!!

The crew with our fabulous wine guy Jeff!

Next on our list was Castello De Amarosa.

Here's my advice. Look it up on the web, look at the pictures. Don't go. This place was awful. It's not a real palace. It's just made to look like one. It's like a fake Louis Vuitton. And it's like Disney World. Tourist central. It was so crowded. The tasting was rushed and awful. I wish we didn't go. It's pretty yes, but I regret this one. But, you have to go because everyone talks about it, right??

Pic borrowed from website

Mom and Ginny. We didn't take many pictures there. 

Next on our list was Madrigal Winery. This was a chance. We literally found one across the street from the castle and just had to go somewhere fast to get that castle mess out of our brains. We called Madrigal because it was close, and although they needed appointments, they allowed us to come.

Awww, we're back on track! Another quaint, fabulous, locally owned, precious vineyard. The wine was so great and we loved everything about it. Chris Madrigal lives on the winery and came over and toured us around. He was so sweet and hospitable. The views were fabulous. We loved it and I bought wine here too :)

Ginny and Les in a Madrigal selfie 

Fantastic views. They had a sweet little patio right in the middle of this. 

Our crew with Chris! Thanks for a great time Chris!

Our last stop for the day was at Frank Family Vineyards. This place was ok. We got there right at the end. I booked this because although I tried to start each day with bubbly, I couldn't get an appointment for today. So, we tried to end our day with bubbly, and Frank has bubbly tastings. Although, not at the end of the day, which stinks. So, we had regular wine tasting. This place was good. It was in a very cool older home. The poor wineries that got stuck with us at the end of the day...sigh. This place could have been great, but it was the end of the day - we were tired, and just left a fabulous little place. But, it was good! We may go back to this one and try it again another time.

Dinner that night was at Uva Trattoria in Downtown Napa. We wanted to do some good Italian one night and this place was great! Traditional Italian food, great, wine, lots of locals, and live music. Can't beat that!

Selfie!