Sonoma Valley

After the wedding, we woke up bright at early, well, now so bright. It was 3:30 am. We had to drop Mike and Blair off at the airport for a 6:30 am flight. We headed to Marin county, just north of the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco to go to Ali and Dan's house. I haven't seen Ali and Dan in a couple years! Glenn since May 2008. It was wonderful to catch up. After a quick nap in the car (so we didn't show up at 6:30 am) we arrived and hopped in the car shortly after to head to Sonoma Valley. Just a quick hour up the road.

I think we lucked out and had a beautiful day. Sunny skies and no rain. We went to 5 different vineyards and walked away with a case of wine, 6 bottles of which we will get in March 2013. We bought futures, wine that we tasted straight from the barrel and isn't quite ready to be bottled yet.

For lunch we stopped at a 'country store' aka 'deliciously yummy high priced deli' to grab some sandwiches to go. We ate them on the patio of our next vineyard. Perfection!

I don't think I'd be so sad if Glenn ever got stationed in California! 

Glenn was definitely in his element too. I leave all our wine purchasing up to him because he does such a great job. Can't wait to taste the rest that we bought.

Thanks for driving us around and letting us stay with you. Miss you, friends!

"Shopping"

So I'm getting better about my shopping during my lunch breaks. Except now I just take pictures of things that I wish I could buy and show them to Glenn. Some are for inspiration, ideas, things I could DIY... but mostly things I want to buy! I have a million of these pictures on my phone that I really should delete. :)

Happy administrative professionals day!

Yeah, I fall in that category now... But my flowers are pretty.

California Wedding

We left last Saturday for a week long trip to California and Phoenix. It was beautiful and we got to see our family and friends. It look 6 flights and waking up at 3 am twice, but it was wonderful! We left on Saturday because the wedding wasn't until Sunday evening. We stayed at a rental house that Glenn's sister found on vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner). It was only $140/night and it had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We stayed there with Blair, Mike and Cheryl. I'm going to have to start looking in to that in the future. It was so nice to have access to a fridge, stove and all the kitchen equipment we needed. There were even spices in the cabinet.

On Saturday evening, we attended the "rehearsal" dinner at the bride and groom's friend's house. Which was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. I want a tennis court and pool if I live in Cali.

Glenn, Cheryl and Blair

Me, Blair, Cheryl and the bride, Jill.

On Sunday morning, we headed to Santa Cruz to check out the area. There was a long pier with tons of sea lions that were entertaining to watch for a bit. 

 We found a restaurant on the beach for lunch and sat outside. We learned quickly about California 'microclimates'. It would be beautiful in one area, we would drive 20 minutes and it would be freezing. We had to make a quick stop at the Gap so I could buy a sweater to wear with my dress that night.

The wedding was held at a restaurant with a view of the river and a fun trolley car that takes you down the hill.  

The ceremony was short and simple, held on the steps overlooking the patio. Jill wore a pretty teal dress and there weren't any bridesmaids. It was sweet and easy.

We had an amazing dinner and enjoyed the company of Glenn's family, some of which I met for the first time.

Good call on color coordinating, family, we look good.

Congrats Kyle and Jill! 

Glenn and his uncle Kyle, the groom!

Next stop, San Francisco!

Aurora Laura Rohring

While Glenn and I were in DC the other weekend, we got to catch up with our friends, the Rohrings. They were stationed with us in Japan and when they left, Angelica was pregnant. I finally got to meet Miss Charlotte Hana. She was a cutie and even let us enjoy our late lunch and chance to catch up! When we lived in Japan, Angelica joked that she was going to name her Aurora Laura Rohring. With the way that the Japanese mix up their Ls and Rs, it was pretty funny. Arora Rora Roring is how it would have ended up sounding. Charlotte Hana is a little bit better I suppose.

It seems now that we are back in the States, most "Navy" cities that we visit, we have a friends or two in that town that we have the chance to catch up with. Now if only my family and friends lived in these cities, we would be great.

Ella Ann!

The little lady whom I threw a shower for last month made her appearance a few weeks early! This better not mean they are moving early.

She looks beautiful and just like her daddy. We can wait to meet her tomorrow!

I had dreams all night about her since I was getting texts from the hospital that she was on her way.

We can't wait to meet you Ella!

Daiso

Glenn and I went shopping at a 100 yen store today! Well, technically it was a $1.50 store, but that just doesn't sound the same. Hichews and strawberry pocky sticks! Yay!

House happenings

Two weekends ago we finally got around to using that old door that I posted a couple months ago. We found it in the back room of a thrift store down the street. I bought it with the intention of making a headboard so I bought a door that was at least 60" wide (for our queen) and that had the panels space such that I could cut it around 60" and it would be symmetrical.

We scraped and sanded the old paint which came off pretty easy along the edge, but on the panels it stuck pretty well so we just left it.  Then we gave it a good sand again and then started building.

I didn't a little research online, put a few of those together with the tools available and this is what we came up with.

Originally I thought to use a 4x4 for the posts but without a table saw it was too difficult to make notches. We decided to do 2 1x4s on each end a 1x6 on top and a little trim underneath. We found an old 2x2 in the yard and put that at the bottom to reinforce the 1x4s. I filled all the holes and a few gaps in the trip piece with wood putty, sanded again and primed and painted it!

I used the leftover paint from the china cabinet in the bathroom so it is Benjamin Moore impervo paint in white dove.We attached it to the bed frame with 3 1/2" bolts with a few nuts and washers.

Hopefully the pictures explain a little more clearly. I make the plan and Glenn does most of the executing. I think we did pretty well. What do you think?

 The door cost us $30 and the wood pieces cost about $30 and the putty and paint were leftovers. A lot cheaper than the $500 headboards I was looking at online! I told Glenn that now I want a matching foot board, but I think I'll wait a few months before I ask him to make me something else.

Dave & Jen Visit

Family! It was so nice to have Dave & Jen visit. They came all the way to Japan and I am so grateful to have my family come visit. This trip wasn't nearly as exhausting as their trip to Japan though. We took it easy and relaxed and enjoyed eachother's company.

Our first stop was Colonial Williamsburg which I am now an annual member. Woot. Only because they were running a military promotion. I'm not that in to the Colonial Era, but it was pretty cool to see the old buildings and businesses. It didn't hurt that we had a beautiful day.

And the baby lambs. Those didn't hurt either. Sooooo cute.

We saw the Hunger Games movie on Friday which Jen and I are both fans of. Loved it and then saw Wicked on Friday night. Also loved it.

 What's a vacation without an awkward family photo, right?

Thanks for coming to visit. See you in a couple weeks in NC!

St. Paddy's in Oceanview

Here's an oldie post as well! Man, this job is really killing my blogging. For St. Patrick's day we headed to Oceanview, an neighborhood along the shore just north of us. We missed the parade last time we lived here somehow. I don't know how though because it was a shit show. Think college football tailgating, but with more jello shots. The ground was literally covered in tiny plastic cups and lids. At one point we saw the car behind us throw several handfuls of jello shots from there car into the car stopped next to them at the red light. We also learned that those attending the parade were under the impression that any attire is appropriate as long as it is green. Booty shorts over green fishnets. Not a problem. "I (heart) drunk bitches" tshirts. It's green so of course it is ok. Glenn and I's personal favorite (not really) "Shut up and take it in the a$$" green tshirt. Really?!

Best people watching ever. Wowzers. Plus the parade had at least an hour of Shriners. That is a lot of mini cars.

Happy Easter St. Patrick's Day!

Japanunion

When Dave and Jen were in town (which I still have to post pictures of!) so were our friends Chris and Gizelle from Japan. You may have read about them in any of hundreds of Japan posts. We were next door neighbors in Japan and hit it off right away. They moved to FL and then TX in July of 2010 and I haven't seen her since then until a couple weeks ago. They were in town for househunting leave because they are moving here! They found a great house and bought it which *hopefully* means they will be sticking around for a bit. Yay! Like we say in the Navy, it isn't "goodbye" it is always, "See you later!"

Chris, Gizelle and another Japan friend, Logan, joined us for dinner and Wicked on Friday night. It was great to catch up and we can't wait to get together more in the future.

See you soon Morans and drive safe!

Ella Ann's Baby Shower

Before I started working and had lots of free time to party plan, Marcy and I planned a pink & purple themed baby shower for our friends, Amy and Zach and their soon to be daughter, Ella. It was a couples shower except two weeks before the shower, our other couple halves got sent to Jacksonville a week later than planned. Boo. The extra 4 hands would have been wonderful, but I think we did a pretty good job! I also loved throwing a party in our new house! They layout worked perfectly just as we hoped when we saw it during househunting!

I had fun making lots of pennants with leftover scrapbook paper. We decided to decorate with those because they matched the inviations we ordered off of Etsy.

Zach and Amy got a ton of adorable gifts personalized for their little one to be. I can't wait to meet her in another 5 weeks!

It was fun to do a couples shower too because several people got gifts just for Zach like his "Daddy Diaper Duty" kit.

I got Amy and Zach an "E" from Restoration Hardware for the baby's room. For such a planner and organizer, I have been so impressed with Amy's restraint in decorating the baby's room. She hasn't decorated anything since they are moving ACROSS THE COUNTRY 3 weeks after the baby is born. Gotta love the Navy life!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm going to be a little devastated when they leave. At least we have another couple months and they have two houses that they have to come back East to check out occassionally.

We had about 25 people for the party and made tons of food to munch on. A few of Zach's favorite - chicken dip and cheeseburgers- and a few of Amy's- veggies, fruit and cherry limeade!

We had a short reunion with our little Kingsville foursome as well! The four of us all met while our hubbies were stationed in Kingsville, TX. We all lived in the same neighborhood. It was fun to catch up again.

We had a little table set up on the side where people could decorate onesies and diapers for Miss Ella. I was pretty impressed with people's creativity! They turned out so cute. I also made a small scrapbook where people could write a word of advice for Amy and Zach. I put it together with her ultrasound pictures and a few from the pregnancy. I used my Cricut cutter on the scrapbook as well and I think it turned out pretty darn cute.

I think Amy and Zach had a great time. Can't wait to see that little baby!