Shreddin

Its been about 10 years since the last time that I've been snow boarding. And I have only been a few times! I was so excited when Zac said we needed to plan to go up to the snow. We have had really strange weather for the last couple of months and practically no snow in the mountains. However, when it rained for about a week straight we thought that we better take our chance to head up to the snow before our short winter season was over!

I had asked my friend Manny from work if him and his wife would like to come with us. Manny had been once before and his wife Yoli had never been. I thought this would be perfect because I have not been in such a long time that I would be re-learning everything. Thankfully we had Zac with us who is a great snow boarder. We kept checking the weather and it was going all over the place, one day snow then rain, then wind. I was a little concerned that we would have bad weather while we were there. No one wants to get rained on while they are snow boarding.




Saturday morning arrived and Zac and I were up by 4:00am to head over to Santa Rosa. We dropped off Hudson and the grandparents house so he wouldn't be locked up all day. We met Manny and Yoli at Zacs parents and we were on the road a little after 5:00am. It was already raining on our drive but once we made it to Placerville the rain was no where to been seen. We stopped for some breakfast at a delicious little restaurant called Buttercup Cafe, yum! Once our bellies were full we headed back up the mountain. We got to Sierra at about 9:00 in the morning, we made great time! We got all our gear ready in the parking lot and off we went, first stop, the bunny slopes so that we could all catch our barrings ( except for Zac). Once I made it off the chair lift without falling I had high hopes. Its like riding a bike....right? I clipped my boots into my bindings and off I went! I was actually surprised at how well I did. I had a rush of excitement like....hey I can do this! Once I got down to the bottom it was back one more time before I wanted to head off to the bigger slopes. Manny and Yoli hung around the bunny slopes most of the day because it was Yolis first time. Zac was nice enough to hang out with me even though he is a much better boarder then I am. We had such and awesome time!

It was already near lunch time so we all met up at the lodge and took a little break. We all decided that we wanted to eat lunch at the top of the mountain and then we would all snowboard down together. The weather was perfect! Nice and sunny, almost a little to warm for my jacket. The snow wasn't the best but Im not a avid snow boarder so it didn't bother me. It was so nice to enjoy lunch at the top of the mountain with such and awesome view! After eating and making it down the mountain it was already 3:30. The lifts close at 4:00 so we thought we would end our day and head back to the truck. We were all tired! And boy am I feeling it today, I am SO sore! It was so worth it though, I had an awesome time.

Three Girls

The Ekblad girls re-united! I always love when I can get together with my family. My mom and sister were able to make a quick trip up to visit me last weekend. I already had some ideas of what I wanted to do but nothing really set in stone. I knew that I wanted to take some pictures while they were here. Im no professional and I still have so much to learn, but I really enjoy taking pictures and trying out new things. I was so excited when my sister said she would be happy to let me take some pictures. Check out some of my shots Here .

We started off our Friday taking some pictures of at the Bale Grist Mill in Calistoga. They were not open but we made it work. Next we headed over to St.Helena, Jen wanted to pick up some Macaroon cookies at one of her favorite places, The Model Bakery. My mom wanted to get my dad some chocolate to take back to him. While we were walking around we headed into the shop Olivier. I had always walked by but never felt the need to go in. Well I am so happy that I went in because everything is so delicious! You can try different olive oils, dips tapanades, you name it you can try it! My momma bought me some artichoke spinach dip, yummy! After trying all that yummy food, we decided we were hungry. I had the idea to head over to Dean and Deluca, grab something to eat and then cross the street to V.Sattui.

After finishing at V.Sattui I wanted to head over to Sullivan Vineyard. I had seen some pictures of the winery and knew it was close by so I thought it might be a cool location to get a few more pictures. When we got there we found someone and he asked if we had a reservation....oopsies. Luckily there was no one else there and he happily said he would do our tasting. We were able to sit outside and chat and enjoy our wine. It was so cool to be a winery where one of the owner just sits down with you and talks to you while he pours, felt like we were in our own backyard. The weather was awesome! Im glad that we were able to spend time outside on Friday because it was the nicest weather of the weekend.  By that time it was already later in the afternoon so we thought we would head back home to relax a bit and then get ready for dinner at Barolo.

 

Saturday we were able to really sleep in. Once we finally got going Jen and mom wanted to head into Calistoga because last time my mom was up we found this cool little thrift store and my mom wanted to show my sister.  Right when we walked up to the store we were surprised with a little English bulldog. My sister was so so excited to meet little Matilda. For those of you who don't know my sister and her husband had an English bulldog for about 4 years and about two Christmas's ago they had to put him to sleep. It was a great start to our day being able to see my sister so happy to see that Bully.

Once we were done in Calistoga we headed over the hill to pick up Zac and to have one more day of pictures. We headed over to rail road square in Santa Rosa and I got some really great shots with a brick background and a blue door! I get so excited when I get to look through my pictures and think about how I can edit them and what would look best. After having a late breakfast we wanted a snack before we had dinner. Jen had requested dinner at Tex Wasabi. So before heading to Tex I decided that we would go over to Healdburg and I would show mom and Jen Vin Couture, a wine lounge. We spent a good hour there enjoying some cheesecake and wine! When we were done we walked around the square in Healdsburg and then headed back over to Rosa to eat!

Already Sunday, our last day together. The rain had finally come. We thought it would be the perfect day to see a movie. So we saw a movie, spent some time in Barnes and Noble and then headed back to Calistoga to cook dinner. Always so much fun having them here! I really appreciate them making the long drive up here to see me. Love you guys! Can't wait till next time.

Time

I promise I have been thinking about blogging! These last few weeks have been busy busy for me. So let me try and remember where Im at. So first things first. My momma was able to come up and visit me the last weekend in February. She was lucky enough to fly right into Santa Rosa which always makes it so much easier! She arrived Thursday night so we had the whole day Friday to spend together.

Friday we started off our day with some breakfast at Cafe Sarafornia. Zac was going to spend the day working on his truck, so we decided it would be a perfect shopping day. We started our day walking around Calistoga ( perfect weather) and found a cute little thrift store, its hard to call it a thrift store because it was one of the fanciest ones I've seen. Once we were done in Calistoga  we hopped in the truck and headed over to St.Helena. When my mom is up in the area we always have to go to one of her favorite stores Vintage Home. We checked out the shops in St.Helena and then decided to end our day we would get some mani-pedis. We stopped in at Polish to to get some relaxing time in. After finishing out nails we were getting hungry! We decided to get some Guignis. After that we headed back to Calistoga. Zac was done for the day and we were ready to call it a day. Since we had just eaten not to long ago we decided that for dinner we would go light! Cheese, crakckers, bread and a salad. Perfect way to end our day.

For Saturday we wanted to take my mom up to Sterling because she had never been. The weather has been so gorgeous up here lately that we wanted to take advantage of the view. We went up in the gondola and did our wine tasting. We snuck up some cheese and crackers from the previous night to enjoy out on the deck with our wine.

When we finished up at Sterling we headed over to Santa Rosa to run a few errands. We also wanted to have dinner over at Willis Wine Bar. We were introduced to Willis through Zacs parents. Its a small little restaurant that serves smaller portions that you can share with people. So we ordered up everything we wanted to try and all had a little until we were stuffed! Zac even had my mom try an oyster. Yuck.

Sunday came along and Zac had to go back to work. No worries for my mom and I because we had plans to watch the Oscars! We made sure to get all the delicious food to go with it! So much fun being able to eat and see all the beautiful dresses. Before we knew it Sunday was over and Monday was here. My mom flew out on Monday afternoon, but not before we had some delicious Mexican food at La Rosa in Santa Rosa. It was so much fun having her up here!

The next weekend I didn;t have much of a weekend. I had to work Friday and Saturday. Saturday I helped my doctor teach a CEREC class at our office. As much as I love my weekend off Zac was working anyways so I thought might as well make some money! Sunday was the only day we had together and then it was back to work for me. We did get to enjoy our Sunday though! The weather was awesome, again, so we were able to hop on our bikes an head into town for lunch. It was our friend Jasons birthday so we wanted to treat him and Chelsie to a birthday lunch at Pacifico. Only one day off but it was a good day.

Anyways I think thats about it for me. I am thankful that I have today off because work has been....interesting lately. I am happy to have a break and get away. And even better, my momma and sister are coming to visit me this weekend! Can't wait to spend some time with them.