Category Archives: Photo LOVE

After my 3-day solo trip in Big Sur, I met up with some of my very best girlfriends at the San Fransisco Airport. After stopping for lunch in Sausalito (which I LOVE) and then onto Trader Joe’s in Santa Rosa (oh, we’re getting one here in Sarasota this year:-), so excited!!!), to stock up with goodies, we finally made it to our VRBO in Guerneville around 7p. The property is beautiful, right on the Russian River, there is a Main House, the Cottage and The Town homes, nicely decorated with all the amenities. Sweet! Very different then my eclectic Rainbow house in Big Sur. We all un-load, Maii whips up a salad for dinner and the chillin’ begins. Some food, wine and conversation. Maybe a little too much wine, well, for me anyway:-).

The next morning we have to be in Healdsburg by 10a to meet Tommy and Mike, our guides for our biking adventure in Wine Country. PFMan and I did a combo biking/kayaking trip in July with the same company, Getaway Adventures. Ask for Tommy to be your guide, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a misty, cold day, but we’re troopers and we all gear up, ponchos and all, to prevent the skunk marking up your back on a wet day, ha. Off we go. Our stops today are, De Lorimier, Bella Vineyards and Amista . We had lunch at Amista, the guides had prepared a wonderful feast of salads, cheese, fruit, etc. We were famished and everything was wonderful!! Back on the bikes for our return trip, a total of 17 miles. Woot!

On Saturday, I had arranged to take the girls to The MacLeod Family Vineyard. This would be my 3rd trip, I just love this family and their wine! Every experience is a different one, you learn so much about their passion, their love, a truly unforgettable experience. This time George MacLeod the father and founder of the vineyard took all us ladies on a hayride through the vineyard, he had many stories and kept us laughing and learning. And did he say he’s 90?? Can’t believe it, he’s so sprite, so sharp too! A wonderful man. After the tour we joined his daughter-in-law Marjorie, in her home, for the tasting. We were the first to taste the new Rose’ and Sauvignon Blanc, they had just bottled them two days prior. All the wines were amazing. PFMan and I had joined their wine club on our trip in July. The MacLeod Rose’ is my favorite, it comes with the April shipment, I can’t wait! I can’t tell you about this family without mentioning Panda, the wine dog. You simply must go meet her and the MacLeod’s if you’re in the area. Tours are by appointment, run about two hours beginning at 10:30a. In July, PFMan and I will be bringing our children with us, Marjorie said they get to do apple juice tasting, sweet!

On our last day we took a nice walk through the Redwood Trees in Armstrong Woods and then drove to the coast, stopping in both Jenner and Bodega Bay. Jenner has beautiful brown sand beaches, enormous waves crashing into the rocky coast and lots of drift wood and fun colored pebbles which kept some of busy for quite sometime. Continuing down the coast to Bodega Bay (of The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock). We stopped at Spud Point Crab Company for their infamous Clam Chowder, highly recommend, then to Bodega proper to see the Birds house in person!

I really can’t think of a better way to have brought in this next decade. Happy 40th to me:-)!
Peace!

So, I’m 40! I’m not too surprised that I’m embracing it with love, I have been working towards this acceptance after all. I wanted to ring in this next decade in a BIG way, so off to Northern Cali I went. My first three days were spent alone in the Redwoods between Carmel and Big Sur California, one of my favorite places. Landing in San Francisco around 12:30 my first stop was Baja Fresh for lunch. I can’t help it, ever since PFMan and I lived in Vegas, years ago, I have loved BF and don’t miss a chance to eat the veggie burrito. Then down the coast I go. HWY 17 is spectacular, a curvy, tree-lined drive, just breathtaking. I arrive in Carmel to do some shopping for my stay. I’m determined to go veggie while I’m here so I stock my cart with organic produce, strawberries, asparagus, & pistachios. I’ve brought my herbal teas from home as well, oh and chocolate with sea salt:-). I turn down Palo Colorado Rd. to head to Don Loui’s. This image above is the point where Palo Colorado Rd. meets the Pacific Coast Hwy. Turning off down Palo Colorado was magical. See I’m a dreamer in the sense that I love environments that transport me, and when you turn onto this road you are placed immediately into towering redwoods, like a land of fairies. You twist and wind amongst the quiet giants, houses placed into the sides of the mountains like they’ve been there forever, all blending in with the trees, completely part of the forest.

Here I have my bag of goodies, camera & backpack (which was packed in my luggage and now used to haul only the few items I’d need for this portion of my trip), and up the mountain I go. Not too bad, about five steep switchbacks, with little treasures at every corner. Then the Dragon House appears, unbelievable! I’m through the Dragon house tunnel and onto the Rainbow House where I’m staying. Don, the innkeeper, is an eccentric. He’s been on this property since 1983. Then it was him, the land and a tent. The Rainbow house he built first. Yes, him and his son. Previously he was a contractor and landscaper by trade and it shows. Today there are 4 buildings, The Rainbow & Dragon House (rentals), his own home and an octagon above the rest with windows looking out over the mountain and Pacific Ocean, used for yoga and/or meditation. Beautiful, peaceful! He’s created many trails all around the property as well.

Though I highly recommend staying here alone, as a couple or small family, this is not for everyone. Forget a warm shower and none at all in the Rainbow House. Luckily I like going rough and dirty, ha. There is no oven and only a propane burner for stove top, and it’s QUIET (aside from the very loud frogs and owls at night:-). I like to think of the house like a tree house on crack, seriously! And since I like being transported, it was perfect for me, like a kid again.

So what’s a girl to do all alone in the mountains? Hike, hike, eat at her favorite restaurant in Big Sur, play words with friends, ha, take lots of pictures and hike some more. To my chagrin there was no big AHA moment or anything, just time with myself which in itself is a BIG deal for me. In my past being along has been very difficult. A good friend of mine text-ed me while there questioning how I was doing alone. He said he talks to himself a lot when alone, lol. Me too:-). And I did, much of it in my head, some out loud. But I was comfortable with it, the oneness, and that’s a BIG deal!

Please enjoy some of the many photos I took while on this part of my trip and look for a post on me joining the girls in Wine Country soon:-)!

Peace!

Previous trip to Big Sur with my honey:-)!

Eggs Benedict with Meyer lemon dressing.

One of my goals for 2012 is to cook more at home, with fresh ingredients, using what’s on hand with less waste. I love to cook, I love cookbooks, so this year I’m making it more of a priority. This past weekend our close family friend, Britt, spent the night on New Year’s Day. We had made Grilled Salmon and a Fennel salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing from my new X-mas gift cookbook, Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, (I highly recommend by the way). I was so excited to make this at home. PFMan and I spent a few days in Big Sur in July and fell in love with the Bakery. Though all the food we had in our 9-day trip to Northern California, my absolute favorite meal was the simple salad of fennel, greens, herbs and Meyer lemon dressing at the Bakery! So I’ve been itching to get the cookbook and PFMan didn’t let me down for the holiday!

Anyway, we had plenty of dressing leftover, as well as a French Baguette, some greens and a hunk of ham in the freezer so I whipped up a beautiful new recipe for Eggs Benedict on Monday morning.

Believe it or not, I’d never poached an egg before. So I got on-line, of course, and had that figured out in under five minutes.  I have to say I was very pleased with my first try at poaching.  Anyway, the Benedict went like this. Cut baguette into slices, lay on cookie sheet, brush with olive oil, toast in oven.  We plated four slices per plate as the base of our Benedict. Then we placed the ham, which had been previously cut into thick slices and heated in a skillet, on top of baguette slices and then a dollop of salad greens. Next came the poached egg, a drizzle of Meyer lemon dressing and some chopped fennel tops to garnish.  It was a crowd pleaser.

On a cookbook note, I’m also really enjoying Jamie Oliver’s At Home Cookbook.  It’s about his garden and the recipes inspired from the beautiful bounty that grows there.  Very inspiring to eat healthy, fresh and sustainably.

Salute!

I can’t help but look back at PFMan and I’s trip to Northern California this past July. We went to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, a bit early. I’m planning on going back in February to mark 40 years here on earth. Can’t think of a better way then to be surrounded by girlfriends, sipping wine, hiking in the redwoods, biking through wine country, etc.

PFMan had such an amazing trip. We did all of the above, took an incredible pedal ‘n paddle tour in Healdsburg, a town we absolutely LOVED! We booked the excursion through Getaway Adventures, our guide Tommy was super personable, knowledgeable on the wine growing process and the area. We started with a bike tour leaving from the Alexander Valley Campground, through the beautiful countryside filled with vineyards, first stop Robert Young, AMAZING wine here! This was one of three wineries we became members at and one of our favorites of the trip. Their Chardonnay is so rich and creamy! Then we headed to de Lorimier. Also good, but the highlight here was the beautiful pergola under which Tommy had set-up a seriously yummy spread of meets. cheeses, homemade salads, etc. Sweet! Time to sit back, relax before heading out the the Russian River for our 5-mile kayak trip back to the campground. A wonderful day, I highly recommend it!

So that was just one day, we also met with some very good friends, who in previous years had moved to N. California, for some trippin’ through wine country. It’s hard to pick a favorite day, but this one ranked high. On a friend of Wendi’s recommendation we ended up at Viansa. OMG! LOVE! This was our favorite vineyard/winery of the whole vacation. It felt like we had stepped off the train in Tuscany. The wines, every one we tasted, were all amazing, of course we became members, ha. They also have a large selection of marmalade, honey, sauces for everything and very unique I must say. I walked away with Truffled honey, and Chardonnay Carmel sauce. You can easily picnic here. They have a deli of sorts with packaged meats, cheeses, salads, and fresh baquettes. We grabbed a bottle of wine, an assortment of noshing grub and headed out to a table. This was one of the best lunches ever. Great friends, beautiful view, great food! Then we moved onto Cline Cellars and the goodness never ended.

We simply had way too much fun on this vacation. We spent a total of nine days in N. Cali, six of those in Wine Country, three nights in Guerneville (Russian River area, Redwoods – Hello!) and three nights in Sonoma, on the Plaza. We stayed at the El Dorado Hotel, right across the Girl and the Fig restaurant, a favorite of mine! We were also able to make it over to Bodega Bay, (Alfred Hitchcock – The Birds). Wowzer, COLD! But we had some super splendid clam chowder soup at the Spud Point Crab Co. and took the stunning drive up the coast to Jenner Beach. Watched the sea lions basking in the sun and playing in the water, took a nap in the car at Goat Rock, a walk in Armstrong Woods…. Enough said!

Other places we enjoyed immensely!

Willow Wood Market Cafe in Graton, Ca! – In the area? You must stop here.
The MacLeod Family Vineyard – I’ve been here twice now and will be going again. Call and make an appointment for a tasting/tour, you won’t regret it! Here’s a bit on the Vineyard when I went with my girlfriends this past February, this is becoming a trend:-).
Harvest Moon Cafe (just love the name) The ambience and food were both very good – in Sonoma on the plaza.
Spoonbar at Hotel Healdsburg!
Zazu – Farm to table in Sonoma
Also – The first three days of our trip were spent in Big Sur, you can check that out HERE!

Peace!

We’ve been here now exactly 19 days and it’s already been quite the adventure. We’re starting to make new friends, finding our farmers and markets, yep we have both close by. In fact, we recently learned that we can walk, yep, walk to The Dam Ranch (only .6mi from our house). They have fresh eggs, chickens, goats milk and cheese. We also visited the Miakka Farmers’s Market this past Saturday. It’s located at the Crowley Museum and Nature Center.

It’s so wonderfully peaceful out here, a little creepy too. We love to camp, primitively, so we’re not strangers to the dark, the crickets, critters moving in the trees, bugs, etc. But it’s something about having so much space, and it’s sooooo dark. I love it though, and I’m sure we’ll get used to this. We’re on a two-lane country road and our neighbors are only about 2ish acres away from us on two sides, a bit further to the rear of the house. It’s like we have our own nature park really. So many beautiful old Florida oak trees with hanging moss. The moss glows in the late afternoon as the sun shines through it, beautiful!

Then there’s the spiders. We have many banana spider friends, AKA Golden Orb Weavers. Yes, they do weave a golden orb, it shines in the light a glorious yellow hue. We had a Wolf Spider stop by the other evening. We, well PFMan, gently removed him from the house against his wishes. I’m usually the bug remover, but I’m trying to break PFMan in a bit. We had our friends over the other day and the kids found a Jumping Spider that had placed his web in a poor location, the walkway from the house to the walled garden. Just glad it didn’t jump on me while removing his web. I like spiders, but I don’t want them on me.

The Verizon man found a Gopher Tortoise in the yard behind the studio. Watching Lilith, our Corgi/Beagle mix, was loads of laughs as she saw the tortoise for the first time. She had no idea what she was looking at and really wanted to investigate. Poor little tortoise probably just wanted her to shut up. PFMan witnessed a family of opossums in the yard a couple of nights ago. Did I mention we pass soooo many moos and naaaas to and from our home. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of seeing those cows grazing. Love seeing the mamas with the babies. I haven’t gotten my camera out yet to capture them or the horses yet, but you can bet I will soon! For now I’ve just taken tons around the house.

Our dog Bear is not the Country dog, having already sprained her ankle, gotten into a Spur field (covered!) and has gotten her neck stuck in the gate leading to the pasture. That was fun, NOT! Everyone is still alive!! We’ll continue our adventure, we still have many boxes to empty and have been selling and buying furniture as needed. So it’s coming along.

Peace & enjoy the images:-)!

Pacific Coast Highway!

This was the first of three locations where we stayed while in California, it was magical! Big Sur is breathtaking, it harbors a vibrant energy that you can feel everywhere you go.  We ate our most favorite meal of the entire 9 day trip here at the Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant.  It was so incredibly simple, a salad of Bibb lettuce, shaved fennel, fresh shaved parm cheese and a beautiful Meyer Lemon dressing.  Sublime!

We choose to use VRBO.com to find a home rental to stay in and we hit the jackpot. On top of mountain, about 1100 ft. up, the view of the coast was amazing and the house… their are no words! No TV, phone, computer, complete peace, just the two of us.

Take a look for yourselves!
Peace!

Well, so much for me being on top of Mother Earth Month.  So busy with a charity event, the 3rd Annual 4th Street Dreams hosted by Tanya Sharkey Photography and WildSugar Photography. We bring together restaurants from up & down 4th Street in St. Petersburg, along with many other great businesses, to raise money for the Children’s Dream Fund.  We’ve been busy bees getting this thing put together.  We even have great children’s activities this year including Sophie’s Face Painting, an animal balloon artist and airbrush tattoo artist,  two story tellers, Olga Bof with Cheeky Monkey’s Books and Toys and Suzin Carr author of “I Choose” and “I Choose Too” and hoop dance with Be Hoopful!

I’ve also officially paired up with WildSugar Photography, Teresa Wilds has moved into to the studio with me, she specializes in the most amazing newborn, baby & child photography which is a perfect compliment to my specialties of pets, high school seniors & head shots/modeling comps.   We’re so excited, so much going on.

Well, that’s it for today, don’t forget about Earth Day this Friday the 22nd! Do something good for the earth, if you haven’t already this month and I’m going to really try to get some earth friendly info posted this week!

4th Street Dreams Event Info:

April 28th
6-10p
2720 4th Street North, St. Pete 33704
10+ restaurants, kid’s activities, music, beer, wine
supporting local business, fun for all
raising money to support a wonderful local charity!

For more information call Tanya at 727-424-0236:-)!
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Continuing our journey in Ireland, we spent a day driving through a portion of Connemara in West Ireland. I had been told it was possibly the most beautiful countryside in all of Ireland, and since I can’t compare it to any other Irish countryside, I whole-heartedly agree! We did half the loop, starting in Galway City, heading west towards and through the Eastern Boundary of Connemara, Maam Cross. Our first official stop, aside from the many ‘pull aside the road to photograph sheep’, was the little town of Roundstone. This is still the favorite town we visited on our trip. It was almost a ghost town this time of year, not many businesses opened yet for the Spring. We stopped into O’Dowds, on the pubs in town. It was cold, so I had an Irish Coffee, so cliche’, and we ordered chowder, which we had as often as possible, it was both necessary with the temperatures, and better than most in the States.

We chose to take the R340 south, then a coastal country road West to R341 south to Roundstone, this allowed us to witness so many adorable yet breathtaking coastal towns and lots of sheep!

1st Part of Drive

The lovely creatures on the way to Roundstone:-).

Next stop Kylemore Abbey.  We left Roundstone going north, then East through Clifden.  Oh, I wished we had had more time to explore Clifden, it was breathtaking coming up on the town.  Much larger than Roundstone, we only had time to drive through to make time for Kylemore Abbey and getting back to Galway City for dinner.

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Kylemore Abbey, the stunning structure rose up out of the ground, almost glowing.  It was overcast by the time we arrived and it began to rain before we walked over to the Abbey. Really, it was just magical in this weather, with the steam coming off the lake and the grayish sky.  Personally I was drawn to the Gothic Church on the property, being a fan of this style of Architecture.  If we’d had more time we would have also toured the Victorian Gardens as well.

On the way back to Galway City, we stopped briefly in Leenane, home of the only Fjord in Ireland. Amazing how the mountains drop down into the river like that.  I can only imagine what seeing them in places like Norway must be like.

The fjord in Leenane, Connemara.

We could have easily spent a week just exploring Connemara, beautiful countryside and quaint coastal villages, and have I mentioned the mountains.  I was really ignorant arriving in Ireland, I had no idea they had mountains the size we saw.  Snow-capped and beautiful!  All a part of the Connemara landscape, and I haven’t mentioned yet the warmth of the people.  We found that the Irish are born raconteurs, they love to tell a story.  If you ask an Irishman a question, ask knowing you may learn some history.  A very open, helpful people they are.  So much so that prior to our trip we had read to get lost, ask for directions, it’s a great way to meet and learn about the locals.

Cliffs of Mohar, The Burrens and Dublin still to come….

Note about the sheep: And in case you are wondering about the different colors sprayed on the sheep . . . this is a branding technique. When it come times to round up the sheep, their ownership can be sorted out by their colors. I dubbed them sherbet sheep:-)!

Galway City

The Luck of the Irish that is.  We just returned home from our family trip to Ireland, kinda piggy-backed on PFMan’s yearly trek out there to broadcast live for St. Patty’s Day.  This would have been his third year in a row and I was not letting him go without us this time!

We flew out several days prior to the broadcast, finding our way by car to Galway City where we called home for our first four nights.  We stayed at the Kilcullen House B&B which is about a 10 minute walk outside of the City Centre, close enough to enjoy the city, but a distance from the noise.  Many times while walking in Galway I felt as if I were a character in a Dickens novel or a miniature in a Christmas Village scene.  I love that, the old worldliness of it. 

Our favorite food in Galway was hands down found at Ard Bia in the Spanish Arch.  It’s located in the Arch which is very medieval in style, but once you walk inside, it’s the small, cozy and very eclectic eatery.  It was love at first site.  The menu is so creative, using local and sustainable produce and meat sources, which I love!  My favorite entree was the St. Tola goats cheese & pistachio cracked wheat cake with wilted greens, garlic yogurt & muhumara.  I will crave this until I return! Honestly we couldn’t decide what to order so we had them bring us the two most popular starters and mains.  We were NOT disappointed.

Other places we enjoyed eating: McDonagh’s, O’Grady’s on the Pier (actually in Barna on the coast near Galway), and Griffin’s Bakery! McDonagh’s is THE place to go for your required Fish n’ Chips, with many different fish types to choose from you can’t go wrong here. O’Grady’s was recommended to us by Emer and Russel, the Inn keepers at Kilcullen House. It’s located in the tiny coastal village named Barna, just outside of Galway. Located on the pier, great views and the BEST chowder I’ve ever had in my life, no kidding! Griffin’s Bakery, originally founded in 1876 also recommended by Emer & Russell. OMG, we each picked a pastry and thank goodness we got four, they were all DELICIOUS. Again, the BEST scone ever. I could have died happy.

I have to stop here, with the food, I haven’t yet mentioned the PUBS, or the Irish Countryside or our time in Dublin or…. So, you’ll have to stay tuned and for now, enjoy the pictures.

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