Life has been quite busy for us lately. Last week was my birthday, so we were busy having all kinds of fun!
Tuesday started off as a normal day at work. We did have the office celebration for my birthday and also a co-worker's birthday as well. We each got our own dessert and my choice of dessert was to make her make a guava cake for me. So yummy! That really perked up my day to have me looking forward to Wednesday which was my actual birthday.
Husband was giving no info and sharing no ideas with me so I didn't know what he had in mind, and since last year was a total fail for birthday fun day, I was nervous. However, when I came home from work on Tuesday, he was ready to start the celebrations. He took me out to dinner to our new favorite "The Flaming Grill." I tried the ostrich burger and it was FABULOUS!! I highly recommend it to everyone! We had a lovely time chatting and enjoying each other's company. He did fess up that the birthday present he was planning probably wasn't going to show up so his plans were in the dirt. I suggested our good 'ole stand by of going up to Apple Hill and do wine tasting and a picnic and also included we could do some letterboxes as well. He was down for that, so we set our plan in motion for the next day.
Wednesday started with hubby making me a wonderful breakfast including toast made from his home-made bread and fresh squeezed orange juice. (he's so good to me.) We then got our act together and got ready to head out for a day of fun. We stopped at Bon Air for some sandwiches then headed up the hill. Our first stop was a letterbox at High Hill Ranch, and boy was that one hard to find. Husband has turned into quite the box sniffer. He finds them when you thought they were not to be found. After that one, we remember that there was a winery right up the road, so off we went to do some wine tasting. Our next letterbox was in the same area, however the place was closed so we couldn't get to it. I guess we'll just have to go back up there during the Fall when they are open. Oh well. :^D
Since the other letterboxes we were going after that day were up at the top of the hill, we decided to go to our favorite winery next, Jodar. Going wine tasting in the middle of the week is always a treat. You don't have to elbow through crowds and you can take your time chatting with the employees. This is what we did at Jodar and had a wonderful time talking to Lisa about all sorts of things. When Lisa learned that it was my birthday she said that I get a free bottle of wine since I was a wine club member. Well, heck! What a great surprise. I already was picking up 2 bottles of Merlot from the wine club, so I decided on a Cab-Frac. We had her open one of the bottles of Merlot for lunch and we headed outside to enjoy our picnic in the sun.
The weather was perfect, the wine was tasty and the company was the best of all. We sat and enjoyed our lunch looking over the American River chatting and just having a very relaxing time. Just as we were finishing lunch, husband's phone rings and he lets it go to voicemail. After we finish our lunch, he checks the message and it's from a local bike shop that he had submitted a resume to, so he calls them back. They want him to come in for an interview the next week! Ya-hoo!!! I told him that if he got the job, that would be the best birthday present ever. We have our fingers crossed and are hoping for the best, but not getting our hopes up too high just to have them crushed again.
After the phone call, it was getting late and we were ready to head home. So, down the hill we went to hit 5 o'clock traffic. Yay! By the time we got home, we were exhausted and ready to just chill from our day of relaxation. LOL! Hubby promised to make me pizza for dinner but said that he wanted to use the sourdough he has been working on instead of regular pizza dough. I agreed thinking, it can't be all that bad, and it wasn't! It was thicker than his usual thin crust pizza, but still super yummy and flavorful. I tell you, that boy knows his breads!
The rest of the week flew by and next I knew it was Saturday. Time for more birthday fun! We were planning on going to Jaime's Bar & Grille with my best friend, her mom (my "auntie") and her husband. I checked the website on Friday and noticed that they are not open on the weekends! FAIL! What to do?? So I emailed my auntie and we decided on an Italian restaurant near our house that we like, Volturno. Saturday comes around and we are up and busy doing chores. I'm cleaning the inside while husband is mowing the yard and cleaning up outside. We get done around 2p and decide we have time to get in a few letterboxes before we have to do dinner. I call my friend Jennifer (who introduced us to letterboxing) and see if she wants to join us. We meet up at the first location and go hunting. After searching around a local park for a good 30 minutes we finally call that one "lost" so we head to the next location. Jennifer said that she tried to find this one, but couldn't and we were surprised because the clues aren't that difficult, so off we go. We get to where the box was hidden, and no dice yet again. :(
We arrive at the third location and follow the clues. By this time, I'm hot and cranky because we haven't found anything and these clues have us walking all over the place, but we find the box and all is well! After doing our stamping, we re-hide the box and head back to drop Jen off and get home to clean up and get ready for our guests.
Waiting for everyone to arrive, we decided to open a bottle of the Jodar Cab-Franc we got for my birthday and to enjoy that with some of hubby's home made sourdough bread, home made garlic oil and nice balsamic vinegar. Oh what a treat that was. Especially since we hadn't eaten since breakfast! Our guests arrive and we head out for dinner only to discover that Volturno's was closed! What?? It says it's supposed to be open! It appears another business has fallen victim to the bad rap that Del Paso Blvd. has. I now have 5 pairs of eyes glaring at me as to "where do we go now?" I quickly think in my head and come up with some different options and we settle on Serritella's, a great Italian restaurant in Carmichael. We climb back in the cars and head up to there and thankfully, third time is the charm for a great dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Overall, the week was wonderful filled with birthday goodness. My favorite things were spending great time with my husband, and the painting my best friend did for me. She hasn't painted in many years and for her to pick up the brushes again for me really made it special. Photos to come of all of the birthday goodness, but felt I had to share the story at least.
Tuesday started off as a normal day at work. We did have the office celebration for my birthday and also a co-worker's birthday as well. We each got our own dessert and my choice of dessert was to make her make a guava cake for me. So yummy! That really perked up my day to have me looking forward to Wednesday which was my actual birthday.
Husband was giving no info and sharing no ideas with me so I didn't know what he had in mind, and since last year was a total fail for birthday fun day, I was nervous. However, when I came home from work on Tuesday, he was ready to start the celebrations. He took me out to dinner to our new favorite "The Flaming Grill." I tried the ostrich burger and it was FABULOUS!! I highly recommend it to everyone! We had a lovely time chatting and enjoying each other's company. He did fess up that the birthday present he was planning probably wasn't going to show up so his plans were in the dirt. I suggested our good 'ole stand by of going up to Apple Hill and do wine tasting and a picnic and also included we could do some letterboxes as well. He was down for that, so we set our plan in motion for the next day.
Wednesday started with hubby making me a wonderful breakfast including toast made from his home-made bread and fresh squeezed orange juice. (he's so good to me.) We then got our act together and got ready to head out for a day of fun. We stopped at Bon Air for some sandwiches then headed up the hill. Our first stop was a letterbox at High Hill Ranch, and boy was that one hard to find. Husband has turned into quite the box sniffer. He finds them when you thought they were not to be found. After that one, we remember that there was a winery right up the road, so off we went to do some wine tasting. Our next letterbox was in the same area, however the place was closed so we couldn't get to it. I guess we'll just have to go back up there during the Fall when they are open. Oh well. :^D
Since the other letterboxes we were going after that day were up at the top of the hill, we decided to go to our favorite winery next, Jodar. Going wine tasting in the middle of the week is always a treat. You don't have to elbow through crowds and you can take your time chatting with the employees. This is what we did at Jodar and had a wonderful time talking to Lisa about all sorts of things. When Lisa learned that it was my birthday she said that I get a free bottle of wine since I was a wine club member. Well, heck! What a great surprise. I already was picking up 2 bottles of Merlot from the wine club, so I decided on a Cab-Frac. We had her open one of the bottles of Merlot for lunch and we headed outside to enjoy our picnic in the sun.
The weather was perfect, the wine was tasty and the company was the best of all. We sat and enjoyed our lunch looking over the American River chatting and just having a very relaxing time. Just as we were finishing lunch, husband's phone rings and he lets it go to voicemail. After we finish our lunch, he checks the message and it's from a local bike shop that he had submitted a resume to, so he calls them back. They want him to come in for an interview the next week! Ya-hoo!!! I told him that if he got the job, that would be the best birthday present ever. We have our fingers crossed and are hoping for the best, but not getting our hopes up too high just to have them crushed again.
After the phone call, it was getting late and we were ready to head home. So, down the hill we went to hit 5 o'clock traffic. Yay! By the time we got home, we were exhausted and ready to just chill from our day of relaxation. LOL! Hubby promised to make me pizza for dinner but said that he wanted to use the sourdough he has been working on instead of regular pizza dough. I agreed thinking, it can't be all that bad, and it wasn't! It was thicker than his usual thin crust pizza, but still super yummy and flavorful. I tell you, that boy knows his breads!
The rest of the week flew by and next I knew it was Saturday. Time for more birthday fun! We were planning on going to Jaime's Bar & Grille with my best friend, her mom (my "auntie") and her husband. I checked the website on Friday and noticed that they are not open on the weekends! FAIL! What to do?? So I emailed my auntie and we decided on an Italian restaurant near our house that we like, Volturno. Saturday comes around and we are up and busy doing chores. I'm cleaning the inside while husband is mowing the yard and cleaning up outside. We get done around 2p and decide we have time to get in a few letterboxes before we have to do dinner. I call my friend Jennifer (who introduced us to letterboxing) and see if she wants to join us. We meet up at the first location and go hunting. After searching around a local park for a good 30 minutes we finally call that one "lost" so we head to the next location. Jennifer said that she tried to find this one, but couldn't and we were surprised because the clues aren't that difficult, so off we go. We get to where the box was hidden, and no dice yet again. :(
We arrive at the third location and follow the clues. By this time, I'm hot and cranky because we haven't found anything and these clues have us walking all over the place, but we find the box and all is well! After doing our stamping, we re-hide the box and head back to drop Jen off and get home to clean up and get ready for our guests.
Waiting for everyone to arrive, we decided to open a bottle of the Jodar Cab-Franc we got for my birthday and to enjoy that with some of hubby's home made sourdough bread, home made garlic oil and nice balsamic vinegar. Oh what a treat that was. Especially since we hadn't eaten since breakfast! Our guests arrive and we head out for dinner only to discover that Volturno's was closed! What?? It says it's supposed to be open! It appears another business has fallen victim to the bad rap that Del Paso Blvd. has. I now have 5 pairs of eyes glaring at me as to "where do we go now?" I quickly think in my head and come up with some different options and we settle on Serritella's, a great Italian restaurant in Carmichael. We climb back in the cars and head up to there and thankfully, third time is the charm for a great dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Overall, the week was wonderful filled with birthday goodness. My favorite things were spending great time with my husband, and the painting my best friend did for me. She hasn't painted in many years and for her to pick up the brushes again for me really made it special. Photos to come of all of the birthday goodness, but felt I had to share the story at least.
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