10th Anniversary

The weekend before Christmas, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our first date. (I can't believe it's been a decade!) We don't celebrate this one very often, but it was also a fantastic excuse for a getaway at the end of a hectic quarter.

So Chris planned a lovely, relaxing trip to Calistoga, which is at the northern end of Napa Valley and is known for its mineral hot springs (pictures from the trip here). We stayed at a decadent resort called Solage, where we got a massage, and basked in their "Mudslide" treatment. Bliss. It was cloudy and drizzly for most of the trip – perfect weather to soak in hot water and hang out someplace cozy.

I loved this particular fountain, which looked like a cube of pure water, with fire burning on top. We thought we should be able to say a magic incantation and cause Callandor or Excalibur to emerge. Dorks to the core!

The resort also provided us with a couple of bikes so we could avoid driving as we went wine tasting. (Apparently it's not illegal to bike under the influence?) Happily, the sun was peeking through the clouds as we biked to the highly recommended Vincent Arroyo Winery, about a mile away.

They wine tasting is free, and when we tasted the wine, we could see why; we definitely bought lots of it before we left. The balsamic vinegar is SOOO delicious too! We also met J.J, Bodega, and Nameless, the black lab, brown lab, and cute marble-patterned cat, whom their wines are named after every year.

When we finished with wine tasting, we biked over to see the nifty Old Faithful of California, which went off about every 20 minutes.

I couldn't resist feeding a llama at their petting zoo.

For dinner, we went to JoLe, which is now probably my favorite restaurant of all time. We had the four-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and it was some of the most excellent food I've ever had. I didn't even believe in wine pairings (i.e. that it makes much of a difference) until that night. My favorite was the ice wine (very sad I forgot what it was called). I also might have a new favorite food: foie gras, which I had never tried before. And the scallops were to die for; I let Chris have the last bite and he was like, "wow, maybe you do love me". Haha.

We've come a long way from the Valencia Macaroni Grill in 1999!