Tag Archives: Vacation

This here is the Perfectly Flawed weekly round-up, so if you missed me on Pinterest & Facebook, this is where I’ll be sharing some of that LOVE on Fridays. Enjoy!

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Earth Day crafts, Chipotle, and More!

This week was the first week of Earth Month. This month for Natural Living Tips I’ll be covering how to green your clean. Yep, we’ll be making homemade cleaning products. Good for the planet and your loved ones!

The family is getting itchy, we need to travel:-). Though we’re taking a family trip to Key West in a few weeks, I can’t help but be thinking of the kids and I’s road trip this summer. I’m having visions of places like these:

After seeing this image on Pinterest, I now must read A Street Cat Named Bob. I’m thinking it may provoke tears in a way Dewey did.

Yesterday the kids and I stocked up on the veggies needed to make our own natural egg dyes. Beets, carrots, red cabbage, yellow onions and spinach. Take a look see here for more.

There is still time to get in on Hybrid Rasta Mama’s giveaway. A one-gallon bucket of Gold Label coconut oil and her e-book. You can enter through April 9th!

Until the 14th to purchase one of Chipotle’s upcycled/repurposed lunch bags, made out of old billboards. With your purchase you get a coupon for a free burrito on Earth Day, April 22nd.

Do you need some cool Earth Day craft ideas for kids? Here you go!

Leaving you with this picture of Addy getting ready to feed the Tarpons in the Florida Keys. She really did love it, can’t you tell:-)?

Peace!

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!

I’m deliriously excited!  Arriving in San Francisco in 17 hours! I’m completely embracing turning 40 in NINE days and I’m starting off the celebration with some personal time in Big Sur, CA, all alone in the trees then I’ll join some of my very best girlfriends three days later for some time in wine country!  This is not my first time here, but I can’t get enough of Northern California, the coast, the country, the unbelievable availability of fresh, locally produced foods.

Right now I have no idea how exactly I plan on spending my alone time, as this is somewhat uncomfortable for me. Rain is predicted on Tuesday and Big Sur is not a place you want to be tooling around in a possible downpour, so I’m planning on spending the day in. The house I’m staying in, The Rainbow House, is a 10 minute or so hike up a steep incline in the trees and I’ve been told that a pack on your back with all food and clothes needed is recommended. Ok then. A quick stop in Carmel on my way there will provide me with all my provisions. I’ve loaded up my I-tunes and Kindle, packed lots of hot tea and a rosemary/mint candle, I’m ready!!

Thursday morning I head back up to San Francisco to pick up my girlies at the airport and we head up to Guerneville, Russian River area! See I’m not a Napa girl. I love the Russian River, Guerneville, Healdsburg, and Sonoma. We have a beautiful home in the hills there. Friday I’ve scheduled a bike ride through Healdsburg stopping at four wineries and a picnic lunch in between and the Saturday we’ll spend some time at MacLeod Family Vineyard again, a private tasting in the vineyard then onto Sonoma Plaza for lunch at Girl and the Fig. After lunch we’ll continue onto some of my faves like Viansa and Cline.

Sunday We’ll breathe deeply in Jenner. The coast here is unforgettable! Ahhhh….!!!

Times Up!
This has been my Sunday 5 minute Stream of Consciousness.

Want to try it? Here are the rules…

* Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
* Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
* Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
* Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
* Link up your post at all.things.fadra.
* Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

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!

I'm a sucker for a castle in the countryside.

I’ve never really be fascinated with France.  Haven’t had the desire to go to Paris like so many do, I’ve always been more interested in Italy, Ireland.  PFMan and I had a wonderful first trip to Italy in Spring 2009, then we took Gavin & Addy to Ireland in March of this year. We could of course go back to either again and again only touching on places we’d like to see and spend more time in.  I do so desire to get back to Italy!  As a family, we have a goal to go abroad once a year, so we’ve been trying to plan the trip for 2012 and we’re having trouble.  The issues, money, time and all of agreeing where to go.

We did a little Family Poll last night to help us decide, everyone had Italy and France listed in the top 3.  Addy is crazed with the desire to visit Paris. She’s eight and badly wants to see the Eiffel Tower.  Gavin is really more interested in going to Venice, Paris 2nd, PFMan would love either, and I, of course, would love to go back to Italy but suddenly I’m interested in the French Countryside with a short jaunt to Paris, and stopping in Bruges, Belgium if at all possible.  Here lies the other dilemma, time. We only have two weeks.

First, let’s back up and explain why suddenly I’m even more interested in giving up my beloved Italy trip for France, the country I’ve not been to excited about visiting.  Not to say that I don’t want to go to France, there have just been other countries that have been higher in priority.  My family background is Italian/German so these naturally interest me more, I’ve never been good at pronouncing words in French so this really intimidates me, I’ve heard they don’t like Americans…. Ok, so back to my new found desire to see France? Well it all has to do with pictures.  Yep.  I’m motivated by stunning images of the French Countryside.  Being a photographer myself, it’s no leap for me to be inspired by beautiful photography and I recently hit the mother load.  You see, I love travel photography, I love food photography so when I stumbled upon this blog post by Cannelle et Vanille about her trip to Southwest France to teach a food styling and photography workshop, I was sold.  Not just because I must be involved with a workshop like this in the future, but my goodness, just look at these pictures!  The setting, it’s storybook and the food, hello!  I want to spend DAYS toodling around here.  Then I started clicking on the blog posts of the other ladies who attended this workshop and saw this!  Here’s the link to the cottage on VRBO.  Oh yes, we are!!  At least we hope to.  The plan is to head there in late March.  The weather will be cold, but the crowds will be sparse and it will also be more affordable.  So here I am somehow being magically swayed into ditching my beloved Italy for two weeks in France, yep, and stopping in Paris of course.  Time to spruce up my French.

Peace.

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!

Love road trips, but mostly when there is time to stop along the way and explore. Even when we drive home from the mountains in GA or TN we make time to stop in Peach County GA to visit Lane Southern Orchards. They have the best Peach ice cream and you can watch them package the peaches too!

The kids and I leave in the morning on our two-day road trip to NY. They are staying with the g-parents for a couple of weeks and PFMan and I are flying to N. CA next Thursday. On our road trip up to NY we will stop in Savannah, GA and Virginia Beach. I think it’s kinda absurd that I’ve been in FL most of my life and here in St. Pete for 11 years and I haven’t yet been to Savannah. It’s only 6 hours away!! I would love to stop at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House for lunch. They are only open M-F from 11-2, so the goal is to leave early enough to get there in time. Mrs. Wilkes is known for the best in Southern eats! They always have a super long line to get in, it’s served family style. Here’s the description from the website:

Inside Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room, four generations of the Wilkes family have worked the ground-floor, keeping the restaurant’s tables laden with platters of Mrs. Wilkes’ legendary fried chicken, beef stew and biscuits. Friends, family and fellow diners pass bowls brimming with her butter beans, collard greens, mashed sweet potatoes and banana pudding.

Hello!  I’m there!  I love to eat regional food while I’m traveling and the kiddos love to try new things too, yay!  I want to live like a local everywhere I go.  I mean really,  stop eating at the chains and seek out the local eats!! 

I haven’t figured out V Beach yet. Probably just tool around the boardwalk, head to the beach, Chesapeake Bay, etc. I’m actually more excited to cross the Bay Bridge-Tunnel, it’s known as one of the seven engineering wonders of the world.

Ciao!

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:-)!

I posted my Perfectly Flawed List last July, so I thought it was time to revisit it, see how the check marks are stacking up. NOT WELL. However, I will be checking off several things here in the next couple of months. If you’re reading this, I’m in Wine Country right now with three of my best-est girl friends. On our itinerary, Sonoma, Coppola, the Coast, San Fransisco. I’m sure I’m having a wonderful time right now, taking crazy amounts of pictures to share with you soon!

In March, PFman, PFkids and I are flying to Ireland for a week. PFman does a live broadcast over St. Patties Day every year and I wasn’t letting him go alone for the third year in a row. NO Way. We are booked at the Kilcullen House in Galway our first four nights. Plan on seeing the Cliffs of Mohar, Aran Islands, Connemara and then heading to Dublin for the Big Day. Oh yes, Guinness Storehouse here we come. Oh poo, this is going to set the diet back again, lol.

The List!

Well, somehow we survived the cruise. I’m not saying we stuck to our new Clean Eating program, we did not. But we didn’t go nuts either. I continued my herbal tea drinking, yes I gave up coffee to eat clean. You see, I was never an avid coffee drinker anyway, just my one cup in the morning and it had to loaded with cream and sugar. Well, no cream & sugar = no coffee, so done with that. I’m really enjoying the herbal teas, I have at least two a day, one with caffeine in the morning, at night a soothing herbal tea blend. For breakfast on the ship, we continued eating our egg white omelet filled with veggies, salsa on the side. I also found a wonderful whole grain bread I topped with lox, capers and a smidge of cream cheese (at home I use Greek yogurt cheese), squeeze of lemon, OMG, so yummy!

I tried to stick to a large salad most lunches, well, except those we spent on the islands when we ate local cuisine, I insist!

Here at the home front we are continuing to educate ourselves and experiment with healthy foods, super foods.  We have found that we all (PFkids included) really love some of the new items, and of course there have been those we don’t.  We are cleaning our produce upon arrival home from the CSE pick-up or grocery store and placing them up front & center in the fridge for easy grabbing.  The PFkids love ants on a log in their lunch, along with the Chobani yogurt.  Ezekiel bread products are a staple now, made with living sprouts, loaded with flavor and good things for the body.  We spread on a mixture of Chobani Greek yogurt combined with yummies like scallions, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, or herbs/spices, top it with sliced tomato and a side of egg whites scrambled with peppers and onion.  Or we load up our Steel Cut oats with cinnamon, warm skim milk and honey, maybe raisins or diced apples.  These are just examples of breakfast.  The kids are enjoying an Ezekiel English muffin with natural peanut butter, banana and honey.

Continuing to eat 5-6 small meals a day to keep our metabolism on high:-), lots of water with lemon and I just started a capsule a day to help cleanse my liver of toxins.  Gotta love your liver, it’s a work horse for you.

We’ll have to cover Mid Meals, Lunch and Dinner another time.  For now… Mangia!

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