Napa Too...(Part Two)

After visiting 1870 we made our way down 

this lovely road to Mustard Grill in Napa.

Mustard's is one of the most famous

 restaurants in the valley. 

It has been voted by the locals as the 

#1 place for a date.

 

It has a lovely ambiance and is 

comfortable in a California way.

 One of their signature dishes is their crispy 
onions with apple ketsup.  
You always see them on

 the tables when you visit.

Everything here is a taste treat.

We had a great lunch/dinner.

I know we had something fantastic
but now I cannot remember.

One of the drawbacks of being a week

 or so behind on blogging.

The girls both loved this wallpaper in the powder room.

I have always liked wallpaper but cannot stand 

removing it so we have sworn it off.  

But it is apparently coming back into vogue

in the design world.  

It has remained strong commercially but 

it is sneaking back into homes.

I have always thought it was pretty though. 

 Like living in a gift wrapped room!

The next stop was Dean And Deluca, a gourmet store to beat them all.  We really took our time in here and enjoyed all the displays and curious offerings as well as the standards.  The girls are getting me to think about learning to love cooking again.  I gave an afternoon fancy tea with two friends for 12 yesterday at our house.  That post is in the queue.  Will I ever catch up?  I am racing to finish the girls' reunion because I don't want to forget anything we did together....ever.

It was a Sweetheart of a day!

Napa Style

 

 The Girls and I got up early to make our way to Napa after stopping in Walnut Creek for a bit.  We just had to stop by Brighton and check out the jewels first.  We went into Crate and Barrel as well.  The weather was just gorgeous and it was great to stroll around Broadway Plaza for awhile and check it out.  They always do such a nice job of planting gorgeous flowers and they seem extra especially welcomed in the winter.  Even though February in this  area is always pretty outstanding.  Today will reach 70 degrees our forecast says.  It is hard to imagine when I see figures in the 20's and 30's where the kids live.  So I know the lovely weather while they were here was a boost to both Jen and Laura.

We didn't buy too much in Walnut Creek, but it was delightful to just be outside and most of all together.  Our destination in the Napa Valley was actually in the town of Yountville, just north of Napa.  They have a lovely collection of shops and galleries there housed in this old brick building called 1870. That was our first stop of the day over there.

This area is noted for its gourmet and epicurean shops, this was right up the alley of our two daughters.  They love all things in the cooking realm and actually gave me a little boost of enthusiasm about it.  They have a shop called Napa Style that has the most amazing array of flavored salts, sugars, vinegars, oils, and the like.  We spend quite a bit of time in there and came away with some goodies for sure.  We were collecting a few things to give Grampa as a 'thank you" and he loves Balsamic and flavored vinegars so he scored here.  What attracted my eye at Napa Style was the gorgeous tableware, the Mercury glass, copper and these clocks.  And  the flowers were stunning!

I thought this name quite appropriate for this excursion.  There are lots of grily-girl shops in here for home and for the dressing room and the jewelry box and for the art lovers and for those who might enjoy a real, authentic, Italian gelato.  I bought a fabulous new scarf for my red coat in one of the shops.  It was a fun time.  Of course we had to try the gelato which met with grand raves, and pushed our lunch time closer to dinner and that was just fine as we had no schedule!  Laura bought a clock here which escalated into her finding not one but five new clocks for their home over the week!  Why is it so much more fun to shop on vacation than at home?  That's simple...memories of a fabulous time evoked whenever you see the treasure.

The countryside was stunning as it always is here except in the summer when it is so hot and dry.  It's hard to imagine that when you see these photos.

Absolutely loving the new camera for our outdoor photos especially.  The iPhone is more convenient and less intrusive in the shops but outside the Canon Sure-shot SX 500 is amazing!  Part 2 of this day is coming soon!

Girl Power Times with Laura and Jen

 

Jennifer and Laura

Jen arrived on Tuesday and things were complete.  It was a non-stop Gab Fest for the next 5 days.  We had plans to go shopping in Walnut Creek that night but that would actually wait for another day.  We just soaked up the fun of being together and had a nice cozy candle lit dinner at home.  Laura prepared a pumpkin risotto with grilled chicken that she had wanted to shared with both of us.  What a treat.  It was delicious!  We also had a Caesar salad and homemade crunchy bread and the best brussel sprouts contributed by Jen.  A group effort and lots of fun.

We laughed our heads off the entire evening especially over Jen's rendition of Dad preparing some bagels for the girls before she left.  He slathered them with cream cheese and plopped them in front of the girls.  They were all trying to eat them when one of the kids said, "Grampa is this cream cheese?" He replied, "Yes!" as if what else would it be?  And then Jen noticed he had gotten out a package is foil wrapped Crisco!  Oh my gosh, we died laughing over that when she imitated the look on the girls' faces.  Too funny!  That ultimately was my fault as I never bake so how was the poor guy to know they make foil wrapped Crisco?  That made it all the funnier to me.  Grampa Camp got off to a lip smacking start!  Sorry, Babe!

 We made major plans for the next few days so finally got to bed so we could be rested for the next day in Napa.  Little did we know the fun that awaited us over the next few days.  Fun that guaranteed we will do this again...hopefully annually for as long as we can.  These girls are a delight to me in every possible way.

Jelly Beans and Emotions

Well, I hope you all had a fabulous and loving Valentine's Day.  We did!  Back to the time with our girls.  On Sunday morning Laura woke up with a migraine that had started the night before. Sadly they are all too frequent for her.  So we stayed home and she rested and we never even got dressed  Sunday.  By the end of the day she was feeling lots better.  So we watched a movie we had been wanting to watch together for years.  It is called a Good Woman and is with Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt. It's kind of an oldie with a great message and beautiful scenery from the Amalfi Coast in Italy.   It was a familiar setting, not far from where Laura and Robert lived while there.

One of the things the girls and I have always loved doing is watching movies together.  Over the last 14 years of little ones to care for all day they would mostly drop into bed exhausted at the end of any days we spent together.  So we actually watched several movies while they were here and that was great fun.  Before Jen came we marathoned the entire 3rd Season of Downton Abbey.  Oh my, is all I can say for those of you that have not finished watching it yet.  Don't miss it if you love that period and time and excellent Masterpiece Theater offerings.  It doesn't get any better than Downton.

Lady Mary of Downton Abbey

Monday we had a myriad of things we wanted to do.  We set out for Travis Air Force Base to do some shopping.  That is always fun with great prices and we did pick up some wonderful items and groceries.  We wanted to prepare a great dinner for Jen when she arrived on Tuesday afternoon.  We were getting very excited about her arrival!    

Travis

After the base, we went to the Jelly Belly Factory to pick up some Jelly Bellies for Ross for his class presentation on  Ronald Reagan who was a big fan of Jelly Bellies and even had his own Red White and Blue signature Jelly Bellies.  Ross wanted some for his classmates so we got them for him.

The Crown Jewel of the day was going to see Les Miserables.  Absolutely the best movie out in ages.  I sure hope you get to see it if you haven't already.  Here is a little taste of it.  The original creators added another song that just may well be my favorite of all.  Here it is.  This is sung by Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean right after he has rescued little Cozette from the horrible Inn Keepers and taken her to raise as his own daughter.  It is called Suddenly

http://youtu.be/Lvi-ylOHRP8

We have seen it on the stage three times but I think the new movie is even better.  It fills in the gaps in the story so beautifully and with such emotion on the faces of the performers that you cannot miss anything.  They were all superb. Their performances may not be as musically technically correct as on the stage but the raw emotion will touch even a heart of stone.  It was a great day indeed!  The best part...being with my sweet girl.  Suddenly...my heart was full.

A Big Old Valentine Wish For You!

To our Friends that are Fabulous and Fun...

And our 6 Children who are Charming and Caring...

To Piper who is Precious and Pretty...

To Spencer who is Super Smart and Sweet...

To Connor who is Clever and Kind...

To Julia Who is a Rare Jewel and Happy...

And Ross who is a Romantic and Really Funny...

And Aynslee who is Adorable and Affectionate...

To Zachy who is Zany and Z-Best...

To Chloe who is Cute and Cherished...

To Owen who is Oh So Wonderful and Oh So Loved...

And to Hazie who is Heaven Sent and a Little Ham!

We are Wishing you a Happy, Healthy Valentine's Day

Of Knowing YOU ARE LOVED!

To our kids, Jen and Lowell,

 Chris and Melissa, and 

Laura and Robert

May your day be filled with Love and Romance!

Enjoy the sweetness.....

And some time for just the two of you...

To Our Lovely Friends...

Without you, life would be very sad.  
Thank you for all your love and support and
 the best of yourselves which we always are privileged 
to see and enjoy!

Have a wonderful loved-filled day!

 

http://pinterest.com/onedesigner/hearts-valentines/  

if you enjoy Pinterest...check out my Valentine's pins  at the link above