Saturday, March 12, 2011

Michelle's 30th Birthday!

My parents flew down to help celebrate my 30th birthday! They got to play a few games of pinball (it was tough to get my dad away from the pinball machine!!). Michael broke the 1 mill mark for the highest score and we were all there to witness it - my dad got a 800K+ game as well ... with only a few days practice!
My super sweet hubby ordered boutique cupcakes from Cupcake Love up in Solana Beach because he knows how much I love pretty/yummy cupcakes!
We got my mom to splurge and split a red velvet cupcake with me :)
Dad carefully choosing his first cupcake (thin mint cupcake):
Michael and his s'more cupcake!
The really pretty flowers that my boss gave to me!
Michael and I both took a day of leave on my birthday so we could head up to Temecula and go wine tasting. Here we are in front of the Grapeline Bus :)
The first winery we stopped at was Keyways Winery - and it was beautiful! We lucked out and had gorgeous weather!
The vineyard:
Mom did what she does best ... shop!
Michael and my dad getting extra tastings at the wine bar:
Getting some extra moscato (yum!):
Me and my folks :)
Beneath the wedding trellis!
At our second stop we didn't take any pictures (b/c it was just a warehouse building since they are building a new tasting room), but we stopped at the Robert Renzoni winery where we heard a fabulous story about a great Italian family from Mr. Robert Renzoni himself and we enjoyed some great wines :)
Then our driver stopped at a beautiful scenic spot where lots of weddings take place:
My parents - This August it will be 41 years married!!
Not too far behind them ... 7 years married this coming July :P

Our third stop was at the Wilson Creek winery for a lunch break. We had Mrs. Wilson come and speak with us after our lunch and she made sure we stopped in to taste the new white grape cabernet. The grounds were immaculate!
After trying the white grape cabernet (which was okay), I opted to take the "chocolate shot" (port wine - drink 1/2 of it, then they pour Almond Champagne to make an "almond joy" inside a chocolate shot glass that you then eat) - YUM!

This is where we got to eat lunch:
The big bottles decorating the grounds:
Our last stop was at the Briar Rose Winery. It was a wine maker that modeled a house after the house in Snow White for his wife!
The grounds were very whimsical and welcoming:


One of my favorite parts was getting to pet the kitty-cat laying on the table in the back :)
The old time piano with the 7 dwarves and Snow White :)
The next day Michael and my dad went and played golf while my mom and I hit the PX :P Afterwards, Michael bbq'd some delicious ribs and chicken! We even convinced my dad to sample some dark-meat chicken - and he loved it!! Woo hoo!!
What a great way to ring in the 30's ... I have a feeling this will be a big year for us :)

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Snow in San Diego County!

It was a strange day for weather on 26 Feb! We had heavy rain, heavy hail and then snow during the night! These pics were taken about 2100 on the 26th:

I took these when I took Piggy on a walk in the morning of the 27th. Looking out at the mountains:
Our snow-covered house!

The front of the house:
The golf course covered in snow!
Piggy 4x4'ing in the snow while wearing her pink leopard-print jacket :P
The back slope:
Space behind our house:

Can't say I was too thrilled with the snow ... as long as this stays a once every 10 years type of deal we'll be okay :)

Valentine's Date 2011

Usually our Valentine's Day consists of pizza and a movie ... but this year I surprised Michael with a trip out (albeit, after Valentine's Day had passed) to pair wine and chocolates!
The class was located down near the border in a sketchy little area - but the hosts were great ... the wine was wonderful ... and the chocolate was DEVINE!!
The Chocolatier's machine (I dubbed thee, the Wonka Factory Chocolate Waterfall):
First we learned about how to pair the wines with different chocolates, and then we tried different percentages of cocoa with different wines (we tried 44%, 74% and 76% ... shockingly, I enjoyed the 44% - milk chocolate - the best) :P
The crystallized ganache ready to be coated with the chocolate waterfall:
Our Swiss Chocolatier showing us how to decorate:
Pairing a Cabernet with a currant truffle (our favorite of the night was a Torrontes white wine with a passion fruit truffle):
Michael enjoying the reds:
I liked the chocolate more :P
After the tastings, we got to decorate truffles to take home!
The chocolates heading through the delicious waterfall:
Yum!!
My mad decorating skills:
The Chocolatier packaging them up for us with a few extra goodies!
What a treat! We loved every minute of it!

Super Bowl 2011

Michael's dad and step-mom came down to watch the Super Bowl with us! Michael tried out his new wing recipe which was fabulous! It was a beautiful day so we hung out on the deck for awhile while the wings were on the bbq :)
Every once in a while a life-flight helicopter will land on the chipping green - that Sunday was one of those days :)