Gumby {another adorable Google doodle}

{turn up your volume to hear the "Gumby" theme song while you watch!}

Insta-Friday {1}

i am fairly new to the land of instagram ... and i am totally hooked. i have only had an iphone for a few months, but i LOVE it. i've been an avid apple fan for years, but i've also been rockin' a verizon droid for awhile now. after the unfortunate demise of my droid incredible and the fact that iphone is now available at verizon i opted to make the switch. there are still some droid things i miss, but overall it has been an exciting transition. here's to my first insta-friday post!!

{new facebook profile in timeline & my mom's sock-stealing lab sleeping over at our place}

{i made those blocks for my sweet niece charlotte ann who graced us with her presence early.}

{two delicious dinners with my hubby. best bbq around & a business dinner in buckhead}

{swanky new freestyle coca-cola machine and a little lunchtime inspiration}

{reppin' the ATL. a little varsity "what'll ya have?" and coca-cola headquarters}

{pimp ride parked outside my work. working hard at my second job - Trendy Toolbox.}

{two views of downtown atlanta from bobby dodd stadium during a GA Tech football game.}

{first cool fall night to enjoy the fire pit with our buddies. also, beer pong was happening.}

{just cool enough to use my foot warmer under my desk. reese enjoying our open windows.}

The San Francisco Treat.

No, not rice-a-roni. The San Francisco treat for us was our work/play vacation there this past week. The timing was absolutely impeccable. Saying that we were overdue for a little adventure and relaxation is the understatement of the day. It was such a fun trip and I have tons of great recommendations for anyone headed west to Cali.

I say this was a work/play vacation because we had our annual Subway Convention in downtown San Francisco for a few days and then we snuck off together for a few days. The convention was great. We got to see lots of subway peeps from all over the country. It is always fun to catch up and see how things have been going for everyone since last year. We sampled lots of delicious food from the vendors, gathered up tons of cute (mostly useless) tchotches from the trade show floor and checked out all the goodies coming up for the next year in the Subway world.

Vacation, in my universe, is largely defined by the eating lots of great food, preferably local fare that I can't get back at home. Avoiding chains when possible. I enjoy trying out local haunts and taking advice from cabbies/hotel staff/etc. on the best places to grab a bite. Some of my san fran favorites:

• The Grove Cafe: to die for sandwiches, fresh squeezed juices, biggest breakfast burrito I have ever laid eyes on! and a cool, eclectic atmosphere. This one easily made it to the top of my list.
• John's Grill: delicious steak and seafood. fun fact, it was the setting for the maltese falcon.
• Annabelle's Bar and Bistro: they do an herb rubbed, rotisserie chicken with a quick flash-fry (yum!). the juiciest and most flavorful fried chicken I have ever eaten. 

PS: the shopping off market street in union square is absolutely insane. If you have money to burn, you would love this area. Too much for me and my empty pockets ... but worth remembering if I hit the lottery.

Then, we headed off for our Boatman vacay. Where did we go you ask? An all around decadent tour of Napa Valley and Sonoma. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Truly unforgettable. This might be one of my most favorite trips we have taken together. It was such a unique experience. I am not really a wine person, but I may have been converted after this trip. Visiting all the different wineries and partaking in the tours really gave me an appreciation for the skill and precision it takes to make all those different varieties of wine. It is incredible the level of devotion that these wine makers have to the perfection of their craft. In just a few days we were able to visit several different wineries and we loved something different about each one of them. Napa and Sonoma combined boast over 400 wineries, we did our best people!

• Trinchero
• Beringer Brothers
• Rutherford Hills
• Robert Mondavi
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Ledson
• Cakebread
• Nickel and Nickel
• Benzinger
• Kunde
• Geyser Peak
• Folie a Deux
• ACE Hard Ciders

I could go on and on about each stop, but my favorite was Kunde. The view was majestic, the wine was delicious and we had a moment of serendipity - we ended up at a tasting 1,400 feet on the mountain side with Jeff Kunde, current CEO and great, great grandson of the founder, who just happened to be there entertaining a client. Just a great experience. 

Great eats on this leg of our tour:

Norman Rose Tavern: grass fed local beef hamburger, local cheese, local bread. good lord this burger. They also serve fresh, dill pickles. I honestly never knew a pickle could be THAT delicious.
Gilwood's Cafe: eggs california = the most delicious breakfast of my life. Basic eggs benedict plus tomatoes and avocado. It's topped with the most incredible hollandaise sauce ... EVER.
Healdsburg Bar and Grill: another burger. I know, I couldn't help myself. A perfect patio with tons of seating to enjoy the Utopia-like weather. The parmesan and garlic fries ... heavenly.

I MUST give a huge shout out to our hotel. The Avia in Napa Valley was perfection. It was situated right in the heart of the Napa Valley Square and within walking distance to dozens of shops and delicious restaurants. Everything was ideal and romantic. The room was incredibly cozy and featured a huge soaking tub ... i do love a good bath. Most of all I could rave for days about the incredible staff. If you ever need a place to stay in Napa ... Avia is it.

We couldn't pass up visiting Fisherman's Wharf - it's one of those must-see tourist areas. It has all the typical tourist stops and shops. It does boasts beautiful views across the bay, of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge. You can also visit with the sea lions at the end of Pier 39, who are super cute I might add. Ghiradelli Square is a shining star here. The restoration and repurposing of this building is spot on. It now features shops, restaurants and 3 Ghiradelli ice cream and chocolate shops. Plus, they give you free chocolate when you visit the shops. It's worth the walk. We did a tour of Alcatraz Island and it was well worth it. Such an interesting piece of history. The audio tour was narrated by former guards and former prisoners which added a nice, authentic element to the entire experience.

TO SEE MANY MORE PICTURES -- CLICK HERE!!

Overall, just a spectacular vacation. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to create so many beautiful memories with my sweet husband. This will be a vacation we remember forever. Safe and happy travels everyone! 

iMakeMyCase

For those of you who enjoy the never ending wonders associated with the iphone, I share with you this fun site. It's called iMakeMyCase and it provides a blank slate or artist created graphics for you to build your own iphone case. It's also fun to play with just to see what you can make. Enjoy!

Oktoberfest 2009 - Helen, GA

I have taken a bit of a blog hiatus lately. This is such a busy time of year that unfortunately my little blog seems to have taken a back-seat to more pressing matters on the to-do list. Scott & I work ourselves to death this time of year. Yes, more than usual :). We made a pact at the beginning of the year to try harder to enjoy some of the things that we kept putting aside because of work. More trips, more adventures ... more fun! We did that very thing this weekend and went up to Helen to enjoy Oktoberfest. A couple days off from work would have been nice enough, but top that off with cool mountain air, delicious wine, pumpkin picking, people watching, scrumptious fudge and all the lederhosen you can bear and that equals one perfect fall getaway weekend!

Georgia Wines, Inc. - everything we tried from this winery was good, but these two were delicious! I am not a wine person and not a fan of the red, but this was like nothing I have ever tasted. I highly recommend picking up a bottle if you get the chance. This vineyard is located in Ringold, GA.

Fox Winery - had many a tasty selection as well. We picked up a bottle of Scupperdew for Scott's dad to compare to his own home-brew. Located in Social Circle, GA.

We also stopped by Habersham Winery. The family that owns this winery also owns and operates the Nacoochee Grill.

The Hofbrauhaus bar had these hilarious beer steins displayed above it. At some point the "locals" and regulars could pay to get a customized stein to use when they came in. The photos that some people chose of themselves were HILARIOUS. There was many a stellar mustache displayed.

We stopped by the Gooseneck Pumpkin Farm on the way out of town. We picked out our normal sized pumpkin to take home, but were so impressed with the size of some of these things that we stopped for a quick photo op. WOW.

Cake Wrecks - When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong

I follow a variety of blogs. Every day my Google Reader offers up laughter, inspiration and the occasional scratch of the head. I really never know what I might stumble across. Today I was greeted by this little gem. Jen Yates started a blog about Cake Wrecks and has recently published a full color photo book on the topic. The description of her findings: "A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places."

There are some terribly unfortunate ones featured in her new book. I often wonder how people continue to work in a field after they prove themselves severely lacking in the skill set it requires to be successful. I guess this book/blog is really a shout out to perseverance. So what if your cakes are awkwardly inappropriate, you were too tired to spell check, you don't know how to or you write the directions on the cake instead of the message ... just keep at it!! A few that really cracked me up:




- following directions a little too closely



- questionable parenting skills




- what age is that exactly?




- celebrating current widespread infectious diseases

- you are wecom.

- a tiny coffin to hold your beautiful engaement ring. surprise honey!

- "i requested a football."

- "what are you talking about, this IS a football?!"

- now that i earased that little error ... this cake is perfect!

- that is a sonogram.

- distrubing.

PS: She also features some really beautiful cakes on her blog.