Thanksgiving 2006

Well Napa Valley was beautiful! Here is a picture of us in the vineyard of the winery where we stayed, Ballacci. There are lots more pics online. We got to the area Thursday around noon and drove around looking for stuff to do until around 2pm. We found a nature preserve where we walked around for a few minutes. We found a lot of wineries but they were all closed for Thanksgiving. Anyway, Emily and Mark called to say that they had arrived at the house so we went there to meet them around 2pm. We unloaded our stuff, met Marks family and then headed out to explore the vineyard. It was so pretty- all the leaves were changing but there was still green grass on the ground. After our walk we watched football until time for the wine tasting to begin. After wine tasting we relaxed for a while until time for dinner. Dinner was awesome - it was from Whole Foods. After dinner we played poker- the real ESPN way, not the make-it-up-as-you-go way that we usually play. The instruction was courtesy of Marks brother, Gabe. After poker we went out and looked at the stars! There were more than I have probably ever seen before! I think we even saw the Milky Way. I have no idea but thats what Marks dad said anyway :) In the morning we went to a couple wineries- Robert Skinsky (or something like that), which is organic and small, but fun because you get food with your wine tasting, and Mondavi, which is huge and really pretty. We didn't taste there because it was like $30. After that we went to lunch at a really yummy place that I already forgot the name of and then headed to Davis with Emily and Mark. We wandered around downtown for an hour or two, music and bike shops mainly. They had to get back to Palo Alto so we headed back home to Roseville as well. And thats the end! It was definitely the most scenic Thanksgiving I've had but weird to be away from a lot of my family. It was great to see Emily though!! I got to see her engagement rock :) and catch up on life a little bit. OH- I am going to be in Raleigh from Dec 19-22nd so if you want to see me send me an email/call me and we will plan something :) 

Countdown to Turkey!

So lets see.. whats new with us?
1. One week until Thanksgiving fun in Napa with eemily! yay!!
2. Might not be doing ATP for research..
3. We got Lawrence of Arabia from Netflix. I thought it was going to be horrible and boring based solely on the fact that it is 3 hours and 47 minutes long. But we watch about 1.5 hours last night and I am into it. Its a tiny bit slow but they are treking accross the desert- that is not speedy business.
4. Did I mention its almost Thanksgiving?
5. The rain is starting.. I wouldn't really call it rain though.. more just a drizzle. I need a rain coat.
6. I have won the battle with the bunnies! I have a fortress of fencing and netting around my garden that seems to be working. The rain is nice in that it means that I don't have to water my garden but it also means that grass (and other weeds) grow like crazy!! I have put down mulch in an attempt to suffocate it.. I have a feeling it won't make much difference. Hopefully my veggies will grow in spite of the infestation.
7. That is all.

If you are going to San Francisco

I can't remember whether I mentioned it already, but we went to San Francisco last Sunday for the day. Its so pretty there!! We didn't really do much but walk around. We walked along the bay near fishermans wharf, up to see the crooked street whose name has currently escaped me. We went to the Girarhdeli place 3 times :) They give you free samples when you walk in so we went twice for free samples and once for a brownie fudgie sundae. Mmmmm.. :) Lombard! thats the name of the crooked street. Anyway, heres a picture of me with the bridge! We came in on the Bay Bridge and out on the Golden Gate. You only have to pay toll coming into the city apparently. Overall, a good trip! Hopefully we will get back to see more stuff soon! Next time maybe we will wear some flowers in our hair ;)

It rained!

Yesterday I learned an important lesson: if you ride your bike after it rains your rear will get wet; you should cover your bike seat with a plastic bag so that it won't soak up water.
This morning I learned that I don't know how to change the tube on my bike ( I do in theory but not in reality) but luckily other nice people on the train do!
Aaanyway, I am very glad its Friday! This has been crazy-everything-is-due-soon-week. I am actually supposed to be writing a paper right this minute but I decided to get warmed up on my blog first ;)
Well, thats about all the interesting stuff to say! Happy weekend!