Bachelorette Party....Sonoma/Napa/San Fran Style!!!

As I mentioned last week, my bach party was coming up and low and behold it happened and we all survived to talk about it!!! What an experience it was....I had such a great time that I will obviously share with you all!!!

The first feat of the trip was having everyone arrive on time into SFO....now this may not seem like a huge task but we had people coming from Nebraska, Baltimore, Iowa, and Denver and in the midst of all the Furloughs going on, we had reason to be concerned. But somehow, someway we all landed on time and within an hour of each other and after Kendra let the Hertz woman know who was boss, we were on our way to wine country....

The drive up to wine country was a blast. No one knew where we were going (P.T.L for iphones/google maps), so that made things a little interesting. But K-Dogg (Kendra Schaa for the local readers) took the wheel and really only nearly crashed one or two times (who's counting), but other than that we were in good hands and arrived with minimal "F" bombs! Night 1 was such a blast....as Jen put it today, "it's been a while since I felt so happy for one evening that I never wanted to end!" This is so true. When we arrived at our resort in Sonoma we had 30 minutes to primp for dinner....clothes were flying, hair spray was fogging the room and multiple perfumes were being sprayed, however we managed to arrive on time at The Girl and the Fig. Once we arrived, we were not sorry....we had some of the best food and drank AH-MAZ-ING local wine and literally laughed until we all cried....like so much my abs hurt the next day (not kidding!). Dinner was on their quaint patio and was truly a magical experience. I loved every minute of it, but the night could not end there. We finished the night with a little visit to the hot tub under the Sonoma stars and continued our friendly banter with a few San Fran locals. Whether they liked it or not, we got to know them and they certainly got to know us!! #iowanice!! This took us into the wee hours of the morning and multiple bottles of bubbles and wine later so we headed to bed in prep for our day of wineries and fun in the Napa Valley!!!!

just getting seated!!!

a little later in the night.....

we are cracking up about my hair....there were moments it looked like i had a rat tail!!! not cute!!!

checking the evidence!!

complete hysteric!!! and notice i discontinued the side pony!?!?

fun fun!!!!

delicious food!!! yumm-OOOO!!!!

and i can't even talk about desert.....delectable.

fun one!!! so pretty!!!

Saturday was day 2 and definitely a day for the record books. I have not seen such beauty in God's landscape in quite some time....well since the last time I was skiing. I do live in the Rocky Mountains afterall!! :). But anywho, way prettier than I ever expected it to be and to say the weather was perfect is a complete understatement. All the locals were saying how lucky we were to experience such rare beautiful weather and to enjoy every minute...umm, yeah, not a problem, don't worry!! The day began with a run/walk for everyone (despite our wine-O headaches) along with delish brunch. Then we were off..... The first winery we went to was called Kuleto Estates and it seriously had some of the prettiest views and most delicious wine. The Estate itself sits on top of a cliff/bluff over looking the entire Napa Valley and you could see for miles. Ane the Estate itself was gorgeous....blooming flowers, sunshine, horses, kind people and yummy wine.....who would not be in heaven??!! We were treated like queens and got to end up trying SIX  different wines that were paired with real yummy cheeses and our host was a delight. She loved us and kept the wine flowing.....so much I bought TWO fancy bottles!!! ;). But I seriously can't say enough about this place.....it's beauty is hard to describe in words!!! None of us wanted to leave. The second winery we went to was a smaller winery and aimed more at the locals, but also fabulous. We lost track of time at Kuleto so we had to rush to make it before closing time and we arrived just in the knick of time.....or perhaps the fact that the host was from Des Moines made all the difference!!!!!!!!!! She treated us to three different wines (all fantastic) for FREE!!!!! I'm telling you, it pays to be #iowanice!! :)) After that my lovely girlfriends treated me to a beautiful picnic/lingerie shower in a park amongst all the beautiful vines!! ;). Such a special moment as each person said a little diddy on why I was special and gave some advice for the future. It was neat and definitely made me teary!! And I now have a whole stash of lingerie I would have never bought for myself. Girlfriends are the best!!! ;). We closed out the night at a restaurant called Cooks, which did not disappoint. However, we had drank and ate all day so our bellies were a bit full by the time we ended up there!! Our night cap came as quite a surprise from my momma all the way back in Iowa!!! She didn't make the bach trip herself, but she delivered what every girls loves....a couples bottles of champagne to the room!!! Perfect way to end the night. Thanks momma!!

beautiful pic....at the vineyard!!!

karen came!!!!! brand new baby and all!!!!!!! she's such a trooper!!!

jamebo and myself....one of many pics since early high school!!! #love!!

i love this picture as well. everything is so green and lush.

and you can't forget about fancy!!!!

meg was our true volunteer photographer!!! love that!!!

denver girls at the vineyard!!!!

the hills and vines did not end!!!

a little bit more!!

so gorgeous

vines!!!!

i love this group photo.....the colors are so bright!!!

notice the lake in the background....the host said she normally doesn't see it b/c it's usually never clear enough!!

so pretty....looking over the whole valley!!

love this as well....but a little windy!!!

group shot....pretty, but silly wind!!!!

the flowers were everywhere!!!

this is where we sat for our tasting!!! just perfect!!!

i couldn't get enough!!!

towards the end of the tasting!!!

right before dinner at cooks!!!

dinner time!!!

dinner time photos

ahhh.....hats off to a great party planner!!!

Sunday was bittersweet as we all packed up to make our way back to San Fran and disperse!!! But not without a little San Fran/Cali fun!!! After dropping a few people off and slimming the group down to four, we took to the Pacific Coast Highway and enjoyed ourselves a little scenery. This is something I have always wanted to do and let me tell you the sights were gorgeous and the day was clear....again, we lucked out!!! But the cliffs accompanied by the ocean and sunshine were astounding. We took tons of pics and made so many visual memories!! After driving up and down the coast a bit and filling the rest of the space on our camera cards, we headed back to San Fran for a little peak at the city. We only had a few hours, so there is more to cover the next I go, but for the initial visit, I think we did pretty good. We walked along the water/Fisherman's Warf and saw all the beautiful sites from there and took in the local company. Next up, after googling the "10 best things to do in San Fran," we went and checked out Telegraph Hill.....and this area of town is GORGEOUS!!! It was the epitome of San Fran or what you see in pictures/books/on TV....the homes were stacked (and crazy cool) and the flowers were some of the freshest and most delightful I have seen in quite some time. Everything was in full bloom and was so bright and colorful, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. We also had incredible views from atop the hill and saw the initial part of the sun setting over the Golden Gate Bridge.....all in all, wonderful experience!!!! After that, WE. WERE. EXHAUSTED and Kendra was slated to fly out for her red eye flight back to B-More. I stayed over one more night with Fancy and we both flew out with the early birds Monday morning!!! And that's a wrap my friends!!!

the cost!!!! love this!!!!

scenic off the PCH

one more!!

the view was so breath taking!!!!

definite framer!!!

the bay in San Fran!!!

the board walk!!

such a clear and beautiful day!!!

the city along the water!! pretty cool!!!

one more!!!

telegraph hill....incredibly beautiful. my pics below do not do it justice!!!!

fresh flowers everywhere!!!

we were right next to these people's homes....so fun!!!

meg and i want to live here!!!

we had to hide and sit b/c a local resident came out of his door!!! we were so obvious though....we could not stop giggling!!!

our sonoma resort.....unbelievable!!!

pool time!!!

i loved this little sitting area!!!

more of the coast!!! love it!!!

coast line off PCH!!

 i wouldn't stop!!! ;)

for real, i would not stop....notice the next few pics!!! :)))

so windy, but i love this picture and thought is was perfect for closing off the post!!!!!

Phewww.....I'm just tired thinking about it again, but would go back this weekend if someone said I had to. It was such a great weekend and I can't thank my gal pals enough....especially Kendra and Jamie who planned so much and orchestrated 7 girls so perfectly. AMAZING!!!!! I felt refreshed when I returned and am officially ready to close out my 30 years of single-hood!!! Good thing, because we are saying "I DO" in 44 days!!!!!! :)))

Okay, as always stay tuned.....AK turns 30 on Friday. If you think of it (and have his digits), let him know how much he is loved!!! 30 is a big deal and I'm excited to celebrate with him!!!!!! :)

Cheers. A-Team