A day in my life....

I LOVE Natalie Dee, She really just puts it out there...

Shark attack

Halloween was short and sweet, My lil man was a shark
(with 5 teeth NOW-how fitting!)
...Can you see Mr. Kelso Peeking out in the background?

Ted and I were lifeguards with a few bites...Kelso was himself!

Wordless Wednesday

AND...We are back

Ok I am making an effort to get this blog back on track. Not sure what it sould be called ..We still do live in the "East" but no longer on the "eastside" or NYC!

BTW..Mini G was born Jan 13th 2010

Meet Sweet Asher Sterling

He is 7 months...



and now we live here..

Times they are a changing..

ox

And we are back!

Wow it has been almost 7 months…

What happened? Apparently I have taken a cyber break on both Blogger and Twitter Since May..

Maybe it was because May was a busy month????

Maybe it was because In May we received some very exciting news…

Well…whats the big news????

We have a baby boy due January 16^th!

* "Mini G" *

I am also currently finishing up the last half of my 500hr yoga certification, So that has taken up a lot of my time. The certification will be over right before Christmas. Right now I am working on finalizing my presentation and getting ready for the Holidays.

So expect many more updates starting now…

We have a big “City” thanksgiving with our Friends this weekend..

Then we are off to Atlanta to see my family Thanksgiving..

Christmas is in Maplewood with Ted’s family…

New years is up in the air-it may be here in NYC

Then Baby boy arrives!

Much Love,

Jenni

Santa Ynez Valley wine tasting

*The view on the drive*

It started out with a simple plan to drink (I mean taste) wine and possibly buy a few bottles. So Jenni and I and our good friend Ashley headed north from our hotel to Los Olivos. We took the local vineyard guide from The Marriot Santa Ynez. It had a rudimentary map highlighting local wineries giving us a basic idea of where to go. So we started north on US 101 to Route 154. From there we headed up a scenic winding road call Zaca Station Road, which took us past the Firestone winery and onto our first stop the Curtis winery.

The three of us stepped onto the gravel parking lot gleefully anticipating the first taste of Santa Barbara County wine. The winery was very California. The wall was adorned with brightly colored semi-abstract paintings of vineyards, lots of oak and an amicable if not Hippiesh wine server. We started with a nice chardonnay, and then moved onto some spicy Grenache and an easy- going Merlot. Our tasting adventure had started off perfectly and was bound to only get better.

*Baby grapes on the vines*

We continued our trek turning onto Foxen Canyon Road. The landscape of this area is something to behold. The road winds through rolling hills with Oak trees sprinkled about with rows and rows of vines. It didn’t hurt that it was a sunny 72 degrees without a cloud in the sky.

*The vineyard*

Next we entered the Koehler winery driving through vines on either side of the road and up to the tasting room on the top of the tree lined hill. The setting was rustic with thick dark stained oak tasting tables. First up we tasted a Sauvignon Blanc, which leaned more towards a Chardonnay in its buttery oaky flavor. Next we tasted a Viognier that amazed us. One smell and I was back on the boardwalk of my youth smelling honeysuckle blossoms. The taste finished the job with refreshing and clean flavors. Needless to say we bought two bottles. We moved onto the reds and tasted a delicious Granache and a complex Syrah that earned the winery 92 points in Wine Spectator. Unfortunately the recognition put the wine a bit out of our price range. Besides we had a lot of wine to go.

*Jenni and Ashley*

We continued up through the hills on our way to the Foxen vineyard. Our friend was meeting up with us there so we pulled over take in a nice view of the canyon and tried to get some cell phone reception. It’s a good thing we had pulled over when we did. A pack of BMW’s came racing through the hills. We stood aside as at least a dozen beamers in every make and model raced by at breakneck speeds. After the beamer barrage had passed we got back on the road to Foxen.

Foxen vineyards has a passionate do it yourself feel. Founded by Bill Wathen and Dick Doré in 1985 you get the feeling that these guys wanted to get their hands dirty making some great wine in small batches. The tasting room is more like a wood shack with the history of the winery tacked up proudly on the wall. The staff is warmhearted, informative and easily handles the eager oenophiles. We started with their Chardonnay and it did not disappoint. This is not the super buttery cousin up north. It is a more crisp chard with hints of oak. I would take it on any summer day. Next we moved on to the Chenin Blanc, which I must admit is fairly uncharted territory for myself. So although I thought it was good I cannot rank it among its Chenin Blanc brethren. So it was onto the reds, starting with their Pinot Noir, which was everything you could want in a Pinot and has become a bit of a celebrity due to a little movie called “Sideways” and the off beat character of the vineyard. Then came some deeper reds from a Zinfandel and a “Bordeaux” style Cabernet that had hints of espresso and mocha. While there our friend Lauren managed to catch up with us and we soaked up some sun and enjoyed some wine on the deck. Needless to say we made it out of there with a bottle of Zinfandel and a few souvenirs.

*Ash and Lauren outside of Foxen*

Back on the road we headed down a private road toward Rancho Sisquoc. We rolled up to a quaint tasting room. An all-wood structure surrounded by flowers that instantly brings to mind a wine barrel. We were greeted by a friendly black and white cat, which we all made the point of petting. At this vineyard we had the luxury of choosing our own tasting menu of six wines, which included: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cellar Select (a Cab led blend), Malbec and the Sisquoc River Red (a delicious blend). Seven you say, well yes apparently the wine server lost count somewhere along the way and let us pick another and I was not about to stop her. After a handful a wine crackers and the purchase of the Cellar Select we were out the door. Lauren had taken off back to LA by now almost taking out some bushes along the way (apparently wine affects some peoples motor skills, luckily not my own). So back on the road.

*Jenni and I*

We headed further north to Cambria, which was a bit further up the road. By this point, we were surrounded by higher peaks and more expansive vineyards. Somehow we managed to spot the small access road to the winery and made our way up. This place obviously has larger production going and so it was a bit more posh than the last few stops. We munched on the wine crackers and got the attention of the kind ladies doing the pouring. It was the usual white to red line-up followed by a late harvest Voignier (a bit too sweet for all of our tastes). The stand out was the Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir a silky smooth red with a bit of cherry. After we took the necessary tasting photo ops and ogled at the vast temperature controlled barrel room then took off with two bottles of the Pinot.

*Wine tasting outside the barrel room*

It was getting late so if we wanted to squeeze in one more we had to hurry. The Cambria folks pointed us in the right direction of a winery and we did our best to get there in time. Unfortunately, it was a bust they were locking the doors as we pulled up. But they knew of a place that would still be open, Addamo Estate. We took off down the highway and found the Addamo Estate Vineyard Tasting Room and Bistro, which is located in historic Old Town Orcutt. Looking more like a large restaurant than a winery we pulled around back and stumbled out of the car like the Fab Four in an early Beatles flick. Alright, there were only three of us but at least one of us was seeing double by this point so that makes four. Thankfully the place had food so we ordered an artichoke dip with much needed bread and began our tasting. The stand-outs included a Nebbiolo which was bit of a surprise and the Big Boy Syrah which boast a New World style big fruit flavor. We chatted up the wine servers and enjoyed our wine and food. By this time our backseat was basically full of wine glasses. Each winery lets you keep the glass that you taste with when you purchase the tasting.

*Our hard earned stash*

For some reason we became concerned that this place did not follow suit, we had to take matters into our own hands. I proceeded to buy two of the Nebbiolo and one of the Big Boys and Ashley took off in a mad dash with the glasses when the server turned her back. When Jenni and I got to the car we found Ashley on the ground and wine glasses strewn across the lawn. We all burst out laughing and helped Ash to her feet, and got out of there as fast as we could.

*Oops*


Luckily, the tasting room was near the highway so it was a straight shot back. We had ventured about twenty miles north and a bit further up in elevation. A fog covered the road (is this what they mean by a drunken haze) so it was slow going at first. Then down one large hill and we were out of the fog and enjoyed a California sunset. We went onto dinner in Solvang at a little French Bistro Called the “Cabernet Bistro” and enjoyed some great food and a bit more local wine. We went back to the hotel that night with our bellies full our thirst quenched and memories we will never forget.

-Ted
...Jenni too!

Spring is in the air....

I wanted to post this picture from yesterday. 

I took it right before I hopped in the shower

...No worries its not of me!

The day before Teds Buddy "Bozzuto" came for a visit...I was frantically cleaning and trying to get our very small place organized. On my way home from "window yoga" (I do demos of yoga poses on Thursdays) I stopped by a little store and picked up flowers. I bought 3 types...only one that I actually can name -purple tulips. The others are some sort of coral flower and one that is more of a branch with pink flowers. You should have seen Teds face when I arrived in our apartment...he was so confused why I had so many flowers! I told him we have company so we needed flowers (we do buys flowers a lot in the Spring...but Spring has just Sprung). I ended up with enough flowers to have 2 arrangements in the living room 1 in the bathroom and one in the Study/guestroom.

Much Love,

Jenni

Ted too