Springtime in Napa

Inglenook

A perk of living in San Francisco is being so close to Napa (& Sonoma, aka world class wine country). Drive just over an hour over the Golden Gate Bridge and you'll feel like you're on vacation. When I moved here I was pleasantly surprised how accessible and casual the wineries can be. Since there are so many (hundreds), over the last few years I have taken a pretty lassez-faire approach to trying them out, mainly relying on friends or events to go to new ones. I'm happy to report I haven't had a bad winery experience yet :)

The latest new-to-me winery I've visited is Inglenook, which is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. I first heard of it while staying in Yountville's Villagio Inn (they had a huge book of local wineries) back in March, and then in April a friend was in town and suggested we go. The Rutherford estate's rich historical legacy is maintained by Coppola, who apparently kept making movies in order to fund his winery hobby. (No judging, just admiration!) With my friends I did the full tour and tasting experience and it was one of the best tours I've done in wine country. I'd love to go back and sit in their little bistro. 

I also visited V. Sattui, for probably the umpteenth time. Their picnic grounds are great for groups and I have a membership that gives access to a smaller tasting room. Sattui has a sentimental place in my heart, too, because it was one of the first wineries I visited when I moved to the Bay Area, introduced to my husband and me by one of our own wedding party members. Our family and friends  also love their wine so we bought a case to give as presents this past Christmas (hence, the membership). On this most recent visit, my friends and I got to taste a cab right from the barrel ("wine futures"). I also bought a bottle of rose, which is now just waiting for me to finish my Whole30 diet.

And finally, another new adventure in wine country was having dinner at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville. My husband and I made use of a gift certificate we got for our wedding (over two years ago) ...talk about delayed gratification. Anyway, we had a fabulous meal, the service was great (our server got a kick out of us testing our French vocab on the clever mural behind us), and we got a kick out of listening to the vacationing family next to us (their youngest kid, maybe a 10 year old boy, gawked at how small his order of 1/2 lobster tail turned out). We had an early reservation, but even at the end of the day, there was a long line for Bouchon Bakery next door - another perk of being a local is having the chance to go to the bakery when it's less crowded!

Inglenook

barrel tasting at V. Sattui

dinner at Bouchon

walking the grounds at Villagio Inn and Spa

Oscar de la Renta at the de Young Museum

the de Young museum

I spent a rainy afternoon checking out the de Young Museum's retrospective on Oscar de la Renta. They had dozens of gorgeous dresses and items from throughout his 50+ years working in fashion. The designer's work was the epitome of elegance and glamour - and yet, practical: even in the '60s he was making ballgowns with pockets. The exhibit, curated by the inimitable Andre Leon Talley, featured pieces worn by notable women such as Dede Wilsey (head of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco which includes the de Young), Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush, and today's red carpet stars such as Amy Adams (love her), Taylor Swift (of course) and Nicki Minaj (pleasantly surprised).

As much as I love wandering through museums, I think the last special exhibit I attended was the (New York) MoMA's Tim Burton exhibit, and I forgot how popular (crowded) they can be. I splurged for the audio tour which helped me focus among the crowd, as well as learn more about the history of the items in the exhibit and the designer's inspirations. The sources of inspiration included Spain and flamenco, which brought back some study abroad and college memories for me - I was dressed nowhere near as elegant as these mannequins, though. Perhaps one reason the exhibit felt like such a treat is that since moving to the Bay, I hardly have any reason to truly dress up. My only disappointment at the exhibit was that you couldn't touch the fabrics or try the dresses on... I mean, I know I was in a museum, but still I dream.

Apologies for the blurry iPhone pics, here are some choice pieces from the exhibit:

New York, New York :)

dresses from: http://www.vogue.com/865470/asia-major/

the dress that Marie Antoinette-era Kirsten Dunst wore in Vogue...

http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/761290/

The look that I totally want to copy:

More links:

The exhibit goes through May 30: https://deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/oscar-de-la-renta-retrospective

Vogue: http://www.vogue.com/13414187/andre-leon-talley-lynn-wyatt-oscar-de-la-renta-de-young-gala-2016/

Life Lately: Exercise, Diet, and Connecting with Others

Baker Beach

We're heading into the weekend and I feel more and more like it's summer, with the balmy weather and long days. Last weekend I had my first real beach day (as in, sitting out in the sun, not hiking to/from the beach) and it's just what I needed. I've had so much on my mind lately, here's some of what I've been up to:

I tried Zumba for the first time and it was really fun. Not sure how I missed the initial phenomenon, but doing it now is good because the music is fun and makes the time go faster. (I don't like a lot of actual workouts, but I like the effects.) My office gym is offering free group classes for the next month so I've decided I should go to at least one during the week. On weekends, I've been going to Pilates and just bought a new pass for the yoga place that I like. I don't have any hikes planned soon so I should probably get on that.

Coincidentally, I jumped on the Whole30 diet bandwagon and have crossed the halfway mark (it's basically 30 days of even cleaner Paleo). I've never done a real diet (I gave up on a juice cleanse on Day 1) but lucky for me, a couple friends were also doing Whole30 so the partnership and accountability really helps. Honestly, the first couple days without bread and added sugar were worrisome, but since then I've felt great. Of course I still psychologically want pizza and the like, but my body doesn't crave these foods like it used to. I thought it would be tough to go without alcohol as well, but the truth is my hangovers just kill me now that I'm 30. And knowing how great I feel without all this in my body is going to make me avoid the unhealthy stuff more (if not totally, since hey, I still like french fries). The diet's also made me be better about food prep and cooking at home rather than relying on take out. At the end of the 30 days, I'm supposed to start reintroducing the ingredients that I temporarily eliminated and see how my body reacts so I can make longer term adjustments to my eating practices.

In terms of mental practice - Have you ever sought advice from someone and come out feeling lighter and more confident about a given situation? I had some good business/career conversations with folks in the last week or so, and they helped me think through some challenges I'm facing. Not much else to share on that, just that it's good to reach out to others, they usually are more than willing to help.

Finally, I have never successfully been part of a long-term book club, and I actually don't think I know anyone who has. A couple friends at work and I were joking we need to have an 'article club' since we already share good news articles with each other, mainly on tech and overall business and finance. Here are some recent articles I found interesting:

Tory Burch on owning her ambition: Fortune
What's behind Facebook's success: Wired
Tech companies with the best engineering talent: Fast Company

Individuality and the School Uniform (harkens back to my recent post!!): The Billfold

Recent photos from around San Francisco:

Baker Beach

El Techo

Smokestack

Smokestack

my mocktail at Smokestack