Celebrating our 10th and 11th

Anniversaries.  Last year, we didn't really celebrate our anniversary much, other than going out to dinner.  Our focus was on getting through the summer as a family, so we vowed that, as long as everyone was healthy, we would celebrate our big 10-year anniversary with a little trip (and celebrate our 11-year anniversary at the same time).

We were just babies.  Fresh out of college.  High School sweethearts.

{  Yes, this was before all photographers went digital. #weAREthatold  }

We wanted to go somewhere we had never been before, just to mix it up a bit (without leaving California or going too far).  So, we headed up to Northern California, with a stop in Napa for lunch, to a really pretty hotel...in the middle of....hardly anything.  Alas, we did lots of driving.  And made lots of jokes along the way. So by the time we arrived, we were ready for dinner...and there was, conveniently located RIGHT next door, a fantastic "saloon" with delicious menu options.

{  Only 20 feet from the door of our room!  }

The next day we did a little exploring and wine tasting in the surrounding areas...but only after our morning massage appointment.

The biggest winery we went to, Ceago, also grows and harvests their own lavender.  Though we were only a few weeks late before they harvested it, they were kind enough to send me home with a dried bouquet.

{  The grounds and building were lovely  }

{  More lavender, and it smelled wonderful  }

We did some more driving and made our way through some towns that had another winery or two, including one town smaller than our hometown.  We asked the tasting room attendant what she would recommend for lunch, and she offered three pizza places and a sandwich shop.  The sandwich shop won (and was truly delicious), but that doesn't keep us from laughing at that "podunk winery town."

We wound up later that evening driving into St. Helena (which we love, but was still an hour and a half from the hotel) for dinner.  We stumbled upon this "cute little restaurant," named Archetype, and decided to have dinner there.  When we walked inside, we were amazed by how big it was and it became an instant favorite.  Light, airy, the perfect decor (we could've moved right in), an open kitchen (which is always fun), and food that was simply to DIE for.  Smoked salmon stogies.  Strawberry smash for sipping.  Salmon with fried artichokes and fennel.  Bacon-crusted halibut.  I. have. no. more. words.

{  Archetype...amazing from top to bottom  }

When we drove back to our hotel after dinner, the restaurant was abuzz and it looked magical.

{  Future back yard ideas noted  }

We drove the next day to Fort Bragg and walked around a bit, did a bit of beer tasting (nothing to write home about), and explored the botanical gardens.  HANDS DOWN one of the most beautiful places, ever.  It certainly didn't hurt that they have a dahlia garden that was in full bloom and dahlias are my favorite.  I may have taken a hundred hundreds of pictures, but will spare you with just sharing a {hefty} handful of favorites.

{  AKA "Heaven on earth"  }

{  I don't remember the name of this flower, but the ruffled petals were deliciously breathtaking  }

{  "Prince of Peace" fuchsia  }

{  A full, beautiful bud  }

{  Ready to pop  }

{  Dahlias and succulents anyone?  }

{  Dahlias "as-big-as-my-face"  }

{  Sweet, little blooms  }

Needless to say, I was in heaven.  And hubby lovingly obliged while I snapped photos of each dahlia {no joke}...then took a panoramic on his phone for me.

We ate a delicious steak dinner in Fort Bragg that night, before driving down through Mendocino and then starting the two-hour drive back to the hotel (where we probably stopped for drinks and dessert).

Our last morning, after packing up and enjoying breakfast on the patio, we drove towards Sonoma to stop at any winery we decided sounded good along the way (but not too many because we had an IKEA trip to make before heading home).  It had been too long since we had been to the area and explored some wineries.  Out of the blue {it's really so hard to miss, don't you think?}, we saw one winery we had been to a couple of times before, and we knew they had a nice deli and picnic area so we could enjoy some lunch.  It had been ten years since we'd been there, and it only seemed to have changed a little.

{  Ledson Winery  }

Quaint, isn't it?  We went inside for our tasting, grabbed an $8 bottle of cold riesling in the deli, along with a mini baguette and a prosciutto and mozzarella roll, which they kindly sliced for us, then headed out onto the lawn in the beautiful 80-something-degree weather...plastic cups in hand.

{  Picnicking on our quilt!  }

{  A close-up of their glorious fountain  }

{  Some sweet ladies were kind enough to swap photo ops with us  }

It was fun to tell the kiddos we picnicked at a "castle."  We must've spent two hours eating our lunch. It was the perfect, relaxing way to finish up most of our trip.  A detour to IKEA and some traffic later, we were happily home to pick up our littles, who were pretty darn excited to see us, too.  We were so grateful to be able to celebrate our anniversaries the right way this year.

Now, is it too early to plan for next year?