Life Lately + J Crew sale picks

Studying for my upcoming exam and still learning a lot at work has kept me incredibly busy as of late. Weekends have been trying to spend some time in the sun and exploring hidden parts of our city. A few weekends ago we headed to the Conservatory of Flowers for their butterfly exhibit and I made a friend.

85 degrees plus 90% humidity in the butterfly room. Eep!

This past weekend DH and I decided to take a break and headed to wine country for a 24 hour escape. We read, drank wine, and caught some sun, ate cheese, slept late, and sat by the pool. If only all weekends could be like that... And I highly recommend the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa - I keep wishing I had another 2 days there!

Wine & reading in the sun

Since I gave up shopping for Lent I've been channeling my shopping urges into doing something more constructive - spin class. I signed up and have been going three times a week. I feel as though I'm sleeping better and leave class feeling good. I'm going to measure myself to see if I lose any inches off my waist, and have been trying to go all veggie for weekday lunches too. So far, so good..so hopefully I stick with it!

But in case you haven't heard J Crew is doing 40-50% off sale again, and here are my picks for those who can spend - are you grabbing anything during this latest promo?

My picks:
Linen embroidered bird tee
Painter tee - love the grey combo!
Embroidered floral tee - the ivory and navy is just lovely
Marled jeweled sweatshirt
French print popover
Lattice medallion popover

First wedding anniversary

One year ago today, at about this time, I was getting ready to walk down the aisle with my dad. I can't believe that a year has already gone by - a true testament to time flies when you are having fun. I'm truly lucky because I can honestly say that I married my best friend. David makes me want to be a better person and I'm honored that he picked me to be his wife. I'm excited to see what year two brings us and how we continue to grow as a better couple together.

So this weekend he surprised me with an overnight stay in wine country to celebrate our one year in style. We stayed at the Harvest Inn which we both cannot wait to return to. Honestly - the service, the grounds, everything was out of this world. They sent us a whole bottle of champagne, and for our dinner reservations told the restaurant we were celebrating and even the restaurant got us a card. I mean... I think I've found my happy place.

The beautiful room at the inn

Vineyards outside our bedroom window

One of the many fountains on site

View from Domaine Chandon

We dined on wagyu steak and chocolate cake at Press, which was one of the best meals of my life. The crab and lobster cake with avocado reduction was amazing. And the wine! We got to sit near the outdoor fire and watched the sun set and moon come up.

We hit the pool late (it stays open 24 hours!) and we even saw some meteors during the Perseid meteor shower.

Today we grabbed macarons at Bouchon and stopped at Domaine Carneros for wine before heading back to the city.

The Bouchon Bakery!

I had an amazing time.. so much so I really didn't want to come home. But if you are in the Napa wine region here's some of our recommendations.














To stay:

Harvest Inn

Wineries:

V Sattui

Domaine Chandon

Mumm Napa

Gloria Ferrer

Food:

Press
Bouchon Bakery

The bbq at V Sattui

Until next year! :)

Wine tasting & Sunday night thoughts

Oh Sunday evening at 8:45pm I loathe you as Monday quickly descends upon us.

Over the past week I've started to feel as though I'm getting stuck in a rut. Things at work have gotten interesting, to say the least and I'm going to leave it at that. Perhaps as I approach my 29th birthday next month I'm also simultaneously freaking out over the fact that 30 is knocking on my door. I hate the idea of getting older (although much, much better than the alternative) and I hate not knowing what's going to come my way next. I feel vulnerable and on edge and that's really not a way I like to live; as a creature of habit I feel like I'm a snail without a shell.

To say that I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place in more than one situation would be an understatement.

I think I might do something like cut my hair soon to hopefully give myself a bit of a boost. I'm trying to be better with money and impulsive spending. If anyone has any ways that they cheer themselves up when feeling down let me know, I'd love to hear it!

But enough of the debbie downer stuff. This weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday by going wine tasting in Napa. The weather was perfect and we had a great time... some photos below. :)

Watching some bees buzz around

Group tasting at Peju

Sunflowers at Peju

Gorgeous flowers at the entrance to Mumm

Golden Gate out the sunroof

Wineries in Napa you should visit (only because I liked them!)
V Sattui Winery - awesome marketplace and outdoor bbq area (oysters, anyone?) and tastings inside.
Peju Winery - if you enjoy reds, go here
Mumm Napa - lots of bubbly with a fantastic view of the vinyards