The last day with our friends we spent in downtown Santa Cruz. After the trolley to the beach and lunch on the pier, we all went on the log-ride on the Boardwalk. It was hoot.
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cherjoy
Don’t you just love Saturdays? I do. It’s our day to run to the grocery, catch up on errands, do something new and end with something low-key. This past Saturday was a typical example. We like to always hit up the Aptos Farmer’s Market at Cabrillo College. It’s pretty wonderful. The pastry tent is the best. This time I tried the almond scone. Rob likes the blueberry carrot cake muffin and local coffee.
After we stocked up on fruit & veggies, we stopped at Rob’s favorite barber.
Our “new” consisted of seeing Shakespeare Santa Cruz at UCSC with my new boss. The weather was absolutely beautiful and every street on the campus gives you an ocean view. We had front-row, center-stage seats for The Man in the Iron Mask. The matinee was staged in the outside amphitheater under the redwoods. We brought lunch and snacked on seasoned almonds. The performances were powerfully delivered and laughable at the right times.
We ended the day at the beach of course. I have my eyes on a new eggplant recipe and Lucy was excited to be out of her cone. It was the perfect end to an eventful day.
What do you like to do on Saturdays?
Have you ever bitten into a pink pearl apple? At Robert Sinskey, I got to pick one right from the tree branch and eat it. To my surprise, when I bit in, the flesh was pink! It was so crisp and sweet {just the right amount of sour}. We were all intrigued and then infatuated {two “i” words there for you}!
{Photo by One Pretty Place}
Before we headed back to Santa Cruz to meet up with the boys, we stopped at the Oxbow Market in downtown Napa… and guess what we found more of? Pink pearl apples! So, we bought some; see below.
It was the perfect end to our Napa getaway. These apples are so cool – see if you can find them in a market or farmer’s market near you!
In our case, we did! This quote, along with many others, had us smiling and giggling during our Napa getaway. Some of my favorite girls came up from Phoenix to sip wine in Napa and see the new little town we live in. I was so excited to go to Napa; I’ve always wanted to go. I’m a lover of red wine {and California} so it was perfect when I could experience it for the first time with my good friends. I’m going to admit, I took awful pictures in Napa. Just awful. So, I’m going to send you to Kristin’s blog for all the details. She documented each winery outing and her pictures are beautiful.
Our first stop was Robert Sinskey, then Frog’s Leap, Grgich Estate and Folie a Deux. Here were some of the highlights:
Robert Sinskey – the biodynamic and organic garden & vineyard, charcuterie and Four Vineyards Pinot Noir was lovely. Kristin’s narration is nice, too.
By Frog’s Leap, we were all a little warm. Sweating even. Walking onto Frog’s Leap was like walking onto the plantation – charming staff, shady, wrapping porch, rocking chairs on the patio, more organic gardens and vines, and best of all – corn hole! It was such a beautiful day. Kristin’s pictures are here.
Grgich Estate wasn’t as exciting as the first two, plus my pictures were fretful. The only one I was proud of was the one of Kimmy and I:
And I took NONE at Folie a Deux, so you’ll have to head to Kristin’s blog for those pics. It was the best weekend with my friends. Don’t know what I’d do without them!
We had some visitors last weekend and I wanted to do something extra special for them, seeing that it was their first time to Santa Cruz. I got a little crafty and put together welcome bags for each of my girlfriends. Heather, who is amazing at Calligraphy, helped me with the cards. I saw similar bags on Etsy but decided I could do them for cheaper. So I did.
I opted for some beachy gifts: sunblock, Santa Cruz memorabilia, a cold drink and a glass fish bottle topper to theme up with our Napa trip. I accomplished all of this for less than $50. That’s a win in my book!
We also had a birthday to celebrate so I picked out something local and “manly” for him as well .. and added a label.
