Love & Wine & Castles, oh my

For love weekend, Paul took me on a surprise day trip to Napa, CA. We visited the local shops, went to the most beautiful winery, and ate the best meal in a good long while. What happens when you combine love, wine, and a castle? Well, a darn tootin’ grand old day, that’s what.

When we pulled up to this castle (yes, CASTLE) I was filled with all the giddy excitement that my inner-princess and wine-lovah tend to elicit. Castello di Amorosa is an authentically-styled 13th-century Tuscan castle and winery. Yes, I was drooling, and skipping, and twirling. And that was all before the wine.

We soaked in the sunshine, tasted some magical wines, and explored the castle. We had dinner at this perfect restaurant (hello, crab bisque) and momma had some much needed time away from the city. Of course, I took 13 million photos, because my middle name is overkill. 

Cheers! 

Now, where’s my wine? 

7/52

Mom guilt. It’s deep and it’s real. 

That first day I dropped Emma off at daycare, I felt like the mommy faeries were stabbing me in the face with their tiny wands, screaming at me to turn around. How dare I leave my baby with a stranger, I thought. She’ll forget about me, I worried. What if she is unhappy there, I wondered. 

But as this journey into mommy/dental student-hood progressed, I am completely at peace with our decision. One morning this week, we dropped Emma off in her classroom. We placed her on the floor and she took off to play with her friends. They giggled, she played with her toy kitchen supplies, and her smile filled the room. She greeted her teacher with a big hug, who in turn exclaimed with excitement to see her that morning. 

She is happy there. She has her little baby friends and wonderful caregivers who give her affection and love while Paul and I are busy worker bees. I know she is in a nurturing, loving, educational, and fun environment. When I pick her up, her face lights up when she sees me and she crawls towards me faster than a house mouse. This little moment reminded me to be at peace with our decisions and trust that God has a plan for our family.

Check out the entire Extraordinarily Ordinary 52 project here.

6/52

One of the most mesmerizing things about Emma is watching her discover her world and surroundings. She is trying to figure out how things work, how things are related to one another, the cause and effect of her actions. On Sunday, she was completely engrossed by Paul and Brian throwing the football around. She pointed in their direction, bounced on Grace’s lap, and smiled at the boys while they were goofing off. I am having trouble wrapping my mind around how swiftly her brain grows. Are not all children little scientists at heart? They formulate their question and experiment with their surroundings to reach a conclusion about the world around her. I am thinking she needs a little white lab coat and a composition notebook. 

Check out the entire Extraordinarily Ordinary 52 project here.

Fore!

We played hooky.

Paul and I snuck away to play some golf. Well, he played and I goofed off. I feel badly for that poor grass and all my new divots. I think it adds a little character, don’t you think? It was such a treat to steal a few hours to ourselves - to play, to laugh, to spend time alone. The Lincoln golf course overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge and passes by a beautiful museum. I treasure little moments such as these. 

Hey Paulie, you so fine, you so fine, you blow my mind.

That grass didn’t see it coming.

Oh hello, gorgeous.

*Whistles*

Clearly, I am so good at golf.

How do you keep the spontaneity in your relationship? Do you ever steal away a few moments from the stress of daily life?

Photos that did not make the Instagram cut

You all know that I am a big Instagram-addict. There is something about that square-shaped photo that gives me all the warm and fuzzies. I love getting little glimpses into people’s lives - where they went, what they ate, and what they were up to. I luuuuurve it.

But for every photo I post on Instagram, there are probably ten more that did not make the cut. Either I have too many of the same type of photo, there is an odd blurry bit, or I don’t want to go overboard with the posting sched.

So for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos from the past couple of weeks that did not make the original Insta-cut but I still love oh so much. Enjoieeeee!

Stunna shades on, get yo’ stunna shades on.

Emma I swear, there are no vaccinations at the nine-month check up, but let’s not talk about the one-year appointment. Please don’t run away from me. 

She stinks at hide-and-seek.

CHUBBBBB.

That Hawaiian bread did not see it coming. 

So I get a text from Paul after the baby drop-off: “Um, Emma stole a cup from another baby.” We are going to have a chat young lady.

“Orange you glad I didn’t say bana-” Don’t you finish that.  

Cha, cha, CHUNK(Y BABY THIGHS).

She wins all of the best forehead facial expression awards. EVAAAA. 

“Oh Lord, please make the crazy lady stop squealing. Last I checked, mouse squeaks were not in the momma handbook." 

That’s not what J.K. meant by parseltongue. 

You can ring my beeeellll, eelllllll, elll, ring my bell. 

Now wasn’t that a hoot?

Forget I said hoot.

P.S. Who are your favorite Instagram peeps? I would love to ch-ch-check ‘em out.