Headed to Healdsburg

Last Monday, Hayes and I went out on another one of our wee tourist adventures. A while back I read an article in C Magazine that featured same day road trips. At 12 pm I was trying to decide where we should go and I remembered I still had the magazine, so I started flipping through the pages. There was a tiny picture of a place that looked interesting and the description was enough to get me in the car... for 1.5 hours.  We arrived at 2pm and had the perfect amount of time to soak up this sweet little town. SHED, the place I wanted to visit, did not disappoint. Divided into sections; cook, farm, a Kombucha bar, a coffee bar, a bistro, a grocery store and an area dedicated to outdoor supplies, it was the perfect combination for this agrarian wannabe...in time. My favorite was the the produce stand and the area dedicated to bee keeping (I'd like to start a hive). 

Hayes and I walked around the square and dipped in and out of charming stores. I found oil cloth sold by the yard, to place under Hayes' highchair, in the hopes of making post-meal clean up a bit easier. I tasted the local coffee and came across a shoe repair store selling amazing sandals imported from Mexico (they were closed and I was sad). Hayes enjoyed relaxing in his stroller and taking in the the newness of, well, everything. The little mister and I ended the evening back at Shed to enjoy one of their delicious pizzas. On our drive home we passed vineyards, pumpkin farms and trees with leaves turning color. Autumn is my favorite season which made the 1.5 hour ride home a pleasure. *My old car made a sound when the gas tank was near empty and my new car does not, which made for a moment not so pleasurable when I nearly ran out of gas. I didn't though, so it was a lovely day beginning to end. 

Happy Labor Day!!

We were definitely looking forward to the long weekend and kicked it off with a dunk in our "pool" and a coffee date with papa.  This little of ours loves water and he loves cups.

Saturday morning we had a relaxing start to the day by making breakfast. When I was in Brooklyn a couple of years ago, I ate at a place that served baked grapefruit. This is my take on that dish. A pinch of salt, a bit of brown sugar, a few mint leaves and under the broiler it goes, until the edges are brown. Bam! You're done.

 Hayes was able to wear his mini Sperry Top-siders for the first time. Thank you Greg and Taylor! This was his first time wearing hard sole shoes. Why are miniature man clothes and shoes so darn cute?

 We were busy squeezing our baby and catching up with our family, so we only managed to get a few pictures of Andy and Shilpa's baby shower.  We ate, played games, ate some more and were just plain excited about all of the babies about to arrive.

                                     

The little mister was lucky to be loved up by his "bay area grandma" and grandma Joanne. He also met his Uncle Jim and Aunt Gerri for the first time, as well as many of his cousins. He and Uncle Jim played in the water, had many conversations (secret guy ones of course) and they even had matching outfits.  It was a lovely celebration and we are just so happy for Andy and Shilpa. We are patiently waiting for their sweet bundle of baby boy goodness to arrive. May I add that it is rare that I attend a party where the majority of the food served is vegetarian. This party was just that and I ate like a queen! I spied a little person who may have been as excited about the food as I was.
           
The next day we put on our best denim on denim and readied ourselves for a day in San Francisco.
We walked the Embarcadero, ate lunch at Gott's and took in the incredible weather. Hot and blue. We ended the day by driving out to Tracy for some block party fun. Hayes was especially fond of the the tiki torches.

   
                                     

Our last day of the long weekend was spent mostly at home. Playtime, gardening and enjoying the fruits of our labor (the tomatoes are taking over our garden but I'm not complaining) seemed like a natural way to start the day.

Papa wanted to go browse the Labor Day sales and I wanted to get my favorite cupcakes. We did just that and also worked on our family selfies. We turned our little babe into art, his little toes dangling outside of the frame. Papa laughed while Hayes attacked his chin. Hayes made this funny "O" mouth. This is what he does when he is interested in something and wants to hold it, or taste it. In this case a water bottle. Water bottles are a big hit around our house. We ended the evening by having an indoor picnic. Papa had the last of his birthday cake, I made s'mores in the toaster oven and Hayes got his tiny hands on some cantaloupe.  It went by so quickly but we sure had a relaxing weekend. We hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend.

 He smiles or we do, but never at the same time.