Things you don't need to know

I started to make a list of accomplishments I completed and things I will miss for 2013, then I stopped. I choose to not dwell on the past, it is what it is. So instead I choose to expand the whole reason for blogging, to share a little more of myself.

Live Run Sparkle shared this quiz posted by Two Thirds Hazel, and I couldn't resist filling it out. I really love a link-up. The whole aspect of filling out the quiz and adding to the link-up made me happy. It speaks to how we bond as bloggers and share our lives. What a funny little action, here are some random facts about me that I'm sure no one really needs to know, but I may have to admit I spent plenty of time visiting others links.

I'm so curious how other see themselves, expressing yourself and describing yourself are really two quite different things. I'm always happy to express myself, that's why I'm comfortable blogging, that's why I write and pretend I can draw in my notebooks, its why I hoop and dance and crochet. I cannot be wrong at my expressions... However, describing is different, I never have been good at describing myself because in some ways I suppose it could be wrong. There's something precarious in exposing what I think of myself. Which was actually something that snuck up on me while filling this out, something that made me feel vulnerable. So for your own entertainment and me choosing to be a bit out of my comfort zone, here is my list of things, no one needs to know about me.

Please share your link if you fill this out, I'd love to hear any of your answers as well.  So for the last time in 2013, thanks for checking in.

Christmas Hangover

Hello,

Hope everyone's holiday was amazing, even if it was just a day off to eat Chinese. Ready for my post-Christmas confession:

I had fudge for breakfast. Well I had a yogurt and grapes after that, but fudge was the first thing I consumed today. It just sounded so good and is fantastic when it's fresh.

Now on to playing catch-up, we spend last Sunday to Tuesday in South Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is about 2.5 hours from Napa so it's a great getaway spot. If you've never been to the California foothills, definitely put it on your bucket list.We're lucky enough to have lakeside condos there to enjoy. Had to share some of the beauty

Our lakefront view

 On Monday we took the Hevenly Resort Gondola to the top of the mountain which allows for stunning views.

 There is a view point half way up with a great coffee shop and mimosas yum! Its a great place to stop and take pictures and just really enjoy the view of the lake. We spend about 30 minutes walking around and enjoying all the different sides of this view, they also had viewfinders which were fun for P; they helped her really understand how far up we were.

The one thing I didn't really get pictures of were all the tracks in the snow you could see from both this view and out the sides of the gondola car. 

We enjoyed trying to name them all, deer, rabbits, and what we assumed to be mountain lion or bear.

This is an adorable picture of my parents that I just love. 37years going strong and they make me so happy.

We all made it the 2.5 miles to the top to enjoy a beer and some really excellent garlic fries and a little people watching.  We all had a discussion on the groups of people filing in and out of the 1 door open rather than the 3 other doors available, and pure inability to hold doors for others. Funny the cold must have frozen off their manners.

After all was said and done it was a nice quick trip to the snow, I'm not a huge cold fan so just a few days was great. However I do wish I had more excuses to dress P up like this. <<
We also enjoyed a dinner of Prime Rib and a fantastic bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from 1982 to share. I caught up with some cousins I almost never see anymore and had some quiet time to stitch'n'bitch with my cousin lola.

Hope everyone's holidays were wonderful also, I'd love to hear all about it. Back to work next week and planning a fresh start to the new year!

Did you travel during the holdiays?

Plane, train, or automobile? 

Are you a fan of snow?

My survival guide to Christmas 2013

Along with spreading cheer and organizing my work world, getting home focused and fully prepared for the holidays is another mountain to concur. Reading, the lovely, Livwithroses 25 days of Christmas Bucket-list. Now I'm not exactly that organized, however I have found some great ideas around the web to contribute to this year's wonderfulness.

TO GIFT:

I made these crocheted socks last year for my sister, shes always cold, I've made her two new pairs this year, they take me about 45 minutes per sock so a not too intensive project for gifting! 

I love the idea of gifting more than just a gift. So encouraging my future nieces with an excuse to enjoy a bath I packaged some cute little spa things an these adorable Peppermint Sugar Scrub from Mommy Musing.
For my "always the hostess" cousin, who has a beautiful bar I found this great Mrs. Lilien's Cocktail Swatch Book in the retail shop at work and had every plan to make this fantastic Homemade Limoncello... but who would've guessed it needed 10 days?! Guess it will have to be attempted next year.

TO FEED:

I'm cooking Christmas Eve dinner for my folks and I'd love to share with you my plans... if they had been finalized. However I always love to have something to share to that's easy to make early and pick up after work. Two great appetizers that are tried and true or me: Prosciutto Wrapped Melon and Chevre Fig Spread

TO DECORATE:

I wanted to incorporate some green aspects into our decorating this year... yes besides the giant fir in the living room. This may or may not have been inspired slightly by the Christmas episode of "Glee". So here are some great ideas from a few bloggers I love this Broken Twig Tree, I think it would be a wonderful idea for P to decorate and for the fireplace the Bows on the this Pine Cone Garland make it a delicate and beautiful touch to bring a little outdoors in.   

TO INDULGE:

When all is said and done some of my favorite times with my family is just spent sharing stories and reminiscing. Nothing like some new Spiced Cider recipes to try share.

Now that I feel like I have  hold on things, I'm off to Lake Tahoe on Sunday for a few days!

 What was your favorite find to help you out for the holidays?

Are you traveling anywhere this week? 

What TV show had your favorite Christmas Episode this year?

The happiest season of all - just try to catch your breath

My coworker just found out there is a town named Center Sandwich in New Hampshire... We are now making plans to go there, sit in the center of town and eat the center of a sandwich... I think the holidays are officially affecting our sanity. 

In the wine industry we are currently  nearing the end of OND (October, November, December). I have prepared for this season reorganized my files and stocked my desk with sparkling water and Larabars, found extra care for Little P and have countless to-do lists floating around. This is crunch time were incessantly busy for 12 weeks trying to process thousands of orders and ensure every single customer's Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Kwanza, Christmas, and New Years tables hold the exact perfect wine to make their holiday season.

Yountville's newest #charliebrowntree

Please don't take this all as a bad
thing. Its my favorite season at work really. I thrive on chaos and constant movement, and in January when it's all said and done the members that call us back just to say thank you for our recommendation, sweet note, or extra-effort that helped their family celebrate the way they should. Which helps but doesn't completely account for the stress, because there's still a bit of a disconnect. So on Monday our team took a mini field trip out of the office to the overpass we're closest to in Yountville. Under the overpass is the sweetest little scraggly tree (fern?) that seems to have been there forever. We felt the sweet little tree needed some love and decided to do something about it.

How do you all spread cheer this time of year?

What is your busiest time of year? 

Where is the strangest city name you've heard lately?

Delicious autumn!

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. _George Eliot

Autumn has finally joined us in Napa. We have reds, oranges, and yellows everywhere, on the trees on the vines and on the people. Well mostly me maybe, I really have a slightly unhealthy obsession with the colors mustard and cranberry right now.

Here are some of my favorite views from our valley this week:

My walk into work right now

The sky blew me away the other day

Two wonderful pictures from Thanksgiving:

Princess playing at the Napa Riverfront

The newest cousin to our Thanksgiving table

And one stunning, utterly typical Napa Valley picture that make working on Black Friday so much less painful: