TOMMY AND I CELEBRATED OUR NINTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY last week. wren’s memie and papa came down to stay with her while we left for a quick overnight trip to napa. it was our first time leaving wren for more than a few hours. in fact, i believe we’ve only left her twice in the past THREE YEARS to go out for a date. this getaway was kind of a big deal! not a single concern or worry popped into my head leading up to leaving, but the moment we put our bags in the car, and i heard her little giggly voice echoing from upstairs down into the parking garage, out of nowhere i started crying. i couldn’t believe i was crying! i knew she was going to be okay, and she would have so much fun with tommy’s parents, but i missed her so much. tommy admitted to it too. he encouraged me on the drive and i soon felt ready to drink wine and take on the town. i’ll admit, we did talk about her the entire trip. i even found myself looking over the kids’ menu at lunch, and searching for kid-friendly activities in the hotel’s guide book. at one point we both agreed that next time we should bring her…because kids + napa are a good mix? we are out of our minds. that probably explains why the hotel had zero recommendations for family activities.
we stayed at the hotel yountville (highly recommend) and had an incredible dinner at bottega. michael chiarello was kind enough to stop by and introduce himself. he also mentioned i look like his cousin. afterwards we whispered like two school children and pretended like it was no big deal that we just met him. we then stopped talking because there was more food to eat and who has time to talk when there are freshly made donuts sitting right in front of your face. ohhh, my michael-chiarello’s-cousin’s-face enjoyed those donuts.
fun memory…the last time we ate at bottega was a few weeks before wrennie was born. we sat next to a nosy couple from new jersey who insisted on knowing the baby’s name. we reluctantly shared the two top-secret names we were deciding on (WREN or EVERLY), and they were so sweet to give us their brutally honest jersey-accented opinion.
we had a wonderful time in napa – and it was the perfect way to start the new year refreshed and ready to take on all that God has planned for us – but my favorite part was coming home to beautiful wren.
observation: napa, while peaceful and beautiful, is painfully small and just as painfully boring. unless you like to drink endless amounts of wine, you’re pretty much left sitting on a park bench looking at vineyards, mainly bare vineyards and tons of town construction if you’re going during the off-season. are there any hiking trails? coffee shops? is it possible we just missed the fun spots? would love to know more about that for next time.
File: adventures
Happy Anniversary, glad to hear you had a nice time. The time at the restaurant sounds great! Our 8th wedding anniversary was on Jan 17; time goes by so fast.... By the way I know exactly how you feel about leaving Wren for a night, it is a tough one. Our son Alex is 6 1/2 and we have never travel without him, we go out from time to time for a dinner in town without him, but we have never left him overnight and I have to say that even though he is 6 1/2, I am still not sure when I will be ready to do that. Maybe when he is 18 :- ) LOL LOL LOL. Glad to see your online/updates again. I love your blog, in my opinion the very best out outthere. Take care, Bianca
January 24, 2012 at 10:04 pm