We are going here.

Friday we leave for Santa Fe, New Mexico. We have never been there but hear it is cool. A good mix of food, shopping, outdoors and relaxation. Hopefully we have good weather and can take time to sun, hike and spa.

We are staying at Encantado which is apparently an Auberge resort...although I'd never heard of it until a couple of months ago. I found it online and got a great deal on the room so we figured why not try it. It looks nice and they are supposed to have a great spa. We will see.

San Fran & Napa

In April my Mom and I both headed to San Francisco to spend some time with Matt. We arrived on Thursday evening and met Matt downtown near our hotel. We went to a great local place for dinner called The Thirsty Bear. We shared several tapas dishes and had some great microbrews. On Friday Matty had to work so Mom and I set out to do some shopping. Although we didn't spend too much time in the stores we both walked away with several new items. I bought new sunglasses and a jacket and pants from lululemon. Mom got a shirt on sale from Banana and the same sunglasses I got but in a different color.

Friday night Matty picked us up from our hotel on Market Street and we headed towards the Warf for dinner at a local Chicago style pizza place. We enjoyed great pizza and got the chance to catch up. Saturday we headed up to Napa to do a few wine tours and to have lunch. Ben's client owns two wineries in Napa so we were able to get complementary tours and tastings while we were there. Chimney Rock was great and we were lucky enough to have a private tour where we saw the vineyards, where they make the wine and the warehouse where they store the wine before heading into the tasting room. We all ended up buying some wine and were able to get a great discount. Following Chimney Rock we headed to the famous Mustard's Resturant for lunch. When Ben and I were in Napa this time last year, we also ate at Mustard's and again, it didn't disappoint. The food was great and we left full. We headed to Rutherford Hill for our second tour and tasting. At Rutherford we were able to walk their man built caves where the barrels are stored and to taste while in the cave. Although we thought the tour at Chimney Rock was better we were able to do our tasting while in the caves so that was a pretty cool touch.

After a pretty long day in Napa we had to hit up the J Crew outlet on our way back to the city. I got some great deals at the outlet and then we headed back to Oakland for dinner. We ate at The Fat Lady which is a restaurant near Matt's house. We actually ate there when Mom and I first went to visit Matt in San Fran. Again the food didn't disappoint. After dinner we said goodbye to Matt and headed back to our hotel for a decent nights sleep before our flights the next day.

Overall we had a good visit with Matt and will have to try and get another trip planned out there soon. Here are a few pics from our visit.

Christmas Recap Part 2

On the 26th we flew from DRC to Key West to meet up with Ben's family. We were lucky enough to be flying out of Detroit the day after that crazy guy decided to try and blow up a flight as it was headed to Detroit. We got to the airport early expecting a long delay to get through security. You wouldn't have even know there was a terrorist threat the day before. We breezed through security and made it to Key West with no issues.

We spent the next 10 days or so chilling in Key West. This year we stayed in the same house that we have had for the last several years. We spent our days laying in the sun, reading and relaxing and our nights enjoying the yummy food.

After some time in the Keys we picked up a rental car and hit the road headed to Miami. We got a great deal at the Four Seasons in Miami, 2 nights for the price of 3. The hotel is in a pretty urban environment but has a great outdoor pool area and gym. Side note - in the 3 days we were there, 2 difference pro basketball teams stayed there, the Hawks and the Celtics. It was pretty funny standing next to the whole Celtics team when I got out of the elevator. :)

While in Miami we were able to lay out by the pool (although it was a little cold), hit the gym and get a massage at the Spa. We also made it into South Beach for some great dinners. I've done a brief recap of the restaurants below.

Acqua (Four Seasons Miami) - The first night we arrived in Miami we decided to stick close to the hotel and had a lovely dinner at Acqua. The atmosphere was pretty bland but the food was great. I had bacon wrapped scallops and Ben had fish. We also had homemade raspberry sorbet and vanilla bean ice cream. Yummy!

Nobu Miami - On Monday night we headed into Miami Beach to try out Nobu. I've heard of Nobu for years and was so excited to finally try it out. Now I won't lie, a large portion of why I wanted to got to Nobu was the chance that we might see someone famous as Nobu in NYC, LA and Miami are known as celebrity haunts. But as much as they are known for being a celebrity hot spot, they are known for having great sushi. Nobu is located in The Shore Club hotel and I wished the weather was warmer because the outside environment at the Shore Club looked awesome. I would have liked to be able to hang out outside and soak in the atmosphere. Maybe next time! Ben and I shared a warm dish of spicy shrimp and rice to kick things off and then ate our faces off in sushi. The food tasted great and was so fresh. No celebrity sitings but still worth the trip.

Prime One Twelve - On Tuesday night we went down to South Beach again, this time to check out a steak place. When Ben and I were in South Beach years ago, we stayed in a hotel right across the street from Prime One Twelve but couldn't get in while we were there. This time we planned in advance and I'm so glad we did. This place was awesome. The portions are huge so it is best to go when you are hungry or with a group in order to share salads and sides. Ben and I ended up sharing a wedge salad, a ribeye for two and mac & cheese. It was a great meal all around. We topped dinner off with dessert or fried Oreo's. Yeah that's right, fried Oreos. Yummy! I also couldn't believe how busy the place was on a Tuesday night. We left around 10:00 and there was probably 60 people still waiting to be seated. If you are in Miami and looking for a good steak with great atmosphere I would highly recommend this place.

Finally we flew home to DRC on the night of the 6th. It was tough to come back but we had a great time recharging our batteries before heading back for busy season.

Christmas Recap Part 1

As always we spent Christmas in Detroit with my family. This year we were lucky enough to see both my Mom and my Dad. My Dad and Linda sold their house in North Carolina and are in the process of building one in Atlanta. In the meantime they were staying in MI for a few weeks. On the 23rd Ben and I were able to celebrate Christmas with Dad, Linda and Linda's mom. We chatted, opened presents and had my favorite food for dinner, pizza! It was great to see them and catch up. Hopefully we will be able to visit once they are all settled in the new house.

On the 24th we hosted Christmas at Mom's house. As always the food was wonderful and the company even better. My aunt, uncle, cousins, grandma and some family friends were all there to celebrate. Rather than doing a gift exchange this year we did a gift card white elephant. Everyone had a great time and walked away with gift cards to spend. I think this will become an annual tradition!.

Usually we leave for Key West on the 25th, but this year we didn't leave until the 26th. As a result, we were actually able to open our gifts on Christmas this year. And in keeping with my Mom and J.W.'s tradition, we headed for dim sum for lunch. You wouldn't believe how busy this place was! Who knew so many people liked Chinese food on Christmas.

Tree Trimming

Two weeks ago Ben and I made the trek to Home Depot to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. We happened to choose to get our tree on one of the coldest days of the year so far. Burr! We literally took all of 3 minutes to select our tree. $38 and 5 minutes later we were headed home with the tree strapped to the roof. We got the tree in and set up but waiting until last Tuesday night to decorate it. The theme for the tree is the same as last year. Simple!

Maybe next year I will bite the bullet and get new ornaments. A few pictures of the holiday decorations are below.

Animal!

So Lucy's hair was so long that every time she scratched or got her hair wet from being outside, it matted. It got so bad that Ben and I ended up shaving her body. We wanted to do her face too but it she was too squirmy so we left her face alone. As a result she looks like Animal from the Muppet's. Can you see the resemblance?

Happy Birthday!

A big shout out to Ben on his 35th birthday. Hope you have a great day!