Fire, Wine and Sunshine

Outside it is pouring rain again in Brooklyn, as I am sorting through my recent vacation photos. Over the past few weeks/months design business has been good. Steadily increasing and so good in fact, that I am moving my little operation out of the house and into a studio/office here in Brooklyn in just a few weeks. I can't wait! But that's a topic for another time. Business has been so good that I desperately needed a vacation.

Brad and I headed out to San Fransisco, home of Amanda, for a camping, wine drinking, sunny, adventure filled week. We also marked out 2 year wedding anniversary while we were there, but that too is a conversation for another time. We flew out Thursday night and on Friday morning, after stocking up with more food, beer and wine than we would ever consume, we headed to Big Sur with Amanda and her gang of friends. Over the next three days a music festival took place at the Fernwood camp ground where we stayed, but we didn't pay much attention to that. We were too busy playing, feasting, drinking, hanging by the fire, doing yoga on the beach, hiking and enjoying the epic scenery of Big Sur to stop and listen to the music. It was a fantastic weekend.


After we returned to San Francisco on Sunday night, Brad and I unpacked, repacked and headed out the next morning to wine county. But not before loading up on pastries and espresso at Tartin, mmmmmmmmm. Over the next two days as we traveled through beautiful, sunny Napa and Sonoma valleys, the stress of my Brooklyn life could not have been farther away. We spent the days going from vineyard to winery to vineyard, having a blast collecting a case, bottle by bottle, of our favorite wines to bring home. In between the drinking, we ate! The first day we had lunch at Mustard's Grill and then dinner at Cyrus (thanks to a reservation from John Holdredge, who also entertained us and shared his delicious wines earlier that evening) before falling asleep with very full bellies at a bed and breakfast in Healdsburg. The second day we picnicked on deliciously local, gourmet sandwiches while looking out over Lake Sonoma as we made our way through Dry Creek and the Russian River Valley on the recommendations of our new wine country friends. We hit a farmer's market in Sonoma and treated ourselves to some Tamales en route back to the city. That night we gathered Amanda and headed to Berkeley for a wonderful dinner at Chez Panisse. A most memorable finale for a really great trip.


Did I mention we had breakfast at Tartin AGAIN, before heading to the airport Wednesday morning? (WATCH THIS VIDEO!) Yes we ate a scone.

We finally returned to find this article in the Times, after trying to spotlight Organic and Biodynamic wine makers for out own collection. Fantastic!

You can view all the trip photos on my flickr stream HERE!

The Wig Rides Again

The holiday season was off to quite a start with Heather N' Brad's Holiday-O-Rama. The holiday spirits, including rosemary and cinnamon vodka, bourbon-spiked homemade eggnog, single malt scotch and a variety of Christmas ales, flowed freely in our crowded apartment. The $1.99 present swap couldn't have been a bigger hit - even if Brad hadn't invented the double-or-nothin' coin toss - and the word on the street is that a great time was had by all.



Once we cleaned up and recovered from the festivities, a week of Christmas shopping and holiday preparations ensued. Brad and I had some delicious Christmas Eve Eve dates with close friends and our own little present exchange before heading off to visit our families. The holiday itself was spent in New Jersey were Brad decorated our new car with Christmas Eve vomit and I cooked a Christmas day feast for the Marold clan.

After that we headed to Colorado Springs for a little Thomason time, and if all were going according to plan we'd be in New Mexico right now gearing up to ring in the New Year in Santa Fe, but the weather just won't let that happen. Today is day two of being stranded in Colorado because the interstate has been closed since Friday, and with just 12 hours of 2006 to go, we're weighing our odds on a standby flight back to Brooklyn in time for midnight. At this point I'd say festivities have pretty much ground to a screeching halt.

This Is An Expensive Blog Post

Maybe it's for the privilege of doing it in a overpriced bathrobe, but the internet is costing me $9.99 for 5 hours here at The Richmond. The little info card says the service is available for 1 daily fee, but when I signed on at 10am, it warned me the session would expire at 3pm. Oh, and the connection? Spotty.

Today is day 3 here in Miami and I am in fact sitting in a hotel robe watching the palm trees sway outside the window in front of me. Brad is over at the convention center installing some sculptures in his gallery's booth at Art Basel. I opted out after helping with a 9am-7pm on my feet day yesterday that left my dogs barking. And besides, I have all this important computing to do - emails, internet browsing, blogging and of course updating this year's amazon wish list* for receiving Christmas presents.

Since our arrival we have already managed to go on a shopping spree and take in a movie, as well as many restaurant meals, but tomorrow the real fun begins. The art fairs and accompanying parties will commence and Brad and I will slather on the sunscreen and hit the beach.

Maimi goal number: Return home to snow and freezing temperatures with a tan.

*Gifts accepted regardless of religious/holiday affiliation. Contact me for shipping information if you're feeling generous.

Vacation