{12 hours in Napa}

  

A lovely view of the entrance of Round Pond. One of my favorite spots of the day. 

Wine tasting at Round pond, overlooking the vineyards and the owners homes. Their children live in nearby houses. How cute!

A trio of wine and samples of food picked straight from the garden. <3

Loved everything about this moment.

An incredibly delicious sampling of  the 2007 vintage at Opus One.  

Cabernet Sauvignon 79%, Merlot 8%, Cabernet Franc 6%, Petit Verdot 6% and Malbec 1% = heaven.

A light snack at Auberge du Soleil to keep us going.

For only $500-$700 a night you get an amazing view of Napa, and a pool fit for a Queen (or King).

 

After a scenic drive from Napa to Sonoma, per recommendations we found our way to the Glen Ellen Inn. And feasted on saffron mussels and grilled salmon. 

Can't wait to be back... and to think I traded in the Kinzie bridge for the rolling Mountains? 

xoxo

Shiva's - Mountain View, CA

Back to Cali I go! Sorry for the flip-flops but  I'll be spending a lot of time eating in different places either in CA or IL. Last week my oldest friend Liz was in town to help celebrate my birthday. She happened to have work in Monteray so she took a pit stop to visit me then the two of us spent a whirl-wind 3-days in the peninsula, SF and Napa. It was amazing to have her and I'll make sure to post some pics from our weekend/ pre-bday celebration.

The first night she was here we hit the Mountain View art and wine festival. Which is basically the closest thing that I'll be getting to Chicago-style fests. The art/jewelry was great and we opted to sit at a nearby restaurant for a glass of wine. Later that evening we hit Shiva's for authentic Northern Indian cuisine.

We ordered the samosas to start. They were a little small, but packed with flavor.The garlic naan was delish. We also got the butter chicken and the veggie grill. The veggie grill was really flavorful and you could taste the char-grill from the tandoor. Tasty. But my favorite part of the meal had to be the butter chicken. OMG. The best dish I've had in an Indian restaurant, ever. It had honey-glazed tomato gravy all over chicken and it was to die for. I was surprised we finished all of our food since there was a lot , but it was so good we couldn't stop eating!


There are lots of Indiana restaurants to choose from in this region, do yourself a favor and stop here the next time your in the area. The butter chicken is to die for!

I'll post some pics from the SF / Napa weekend shortly! Happy Sunday!

Alliance Bakery - Chicago

Happy birthday to me. Yay. I wish I could celebrate with a cupcake from Alliance, but sadly I'm in Cali and no such cupcakes exist. Alliance is right on Division and can be found with the always colorful cake displays in their front window. The staff is super friendly and the walls decorated with praise say a lot about this little shop. I ordered a red velvet cake for my sisters b-day a couple months back which was heavenly- so don't forget about them next time you are in need of a unique (but pricey) cake. Next door is also a little funky lounge you can chill / study at. I'm sorta in love with Alliance. Wish I had me a hazelnut cupcake and an espresso to start my first day of 27. Sigh.

Jake Melnicks -Chicago

Wanna avoid high priced restaurants when you are shopping near Michigan Ave? Go to Jake Melnick's for some tasty, reasonably priced, ginormous portions. Yes it is bar food... but man does it hit the spot after an afternoon of shopping. When I was home over labor day I went for lunch with my friend Mary and had some pretty yummy food. Makes me salivate just thinking about it...

Here you have the BBQ beef brisket sandwich (ammmazing) and the Turkey burger. Enough said.

{picture of the day}

A lovely community garden off Thomas in Wicker Park.

Listen up you fashion bloggers... this community garden off Thomas would be a perfect photo opp. Especially with the 10 foot sunflowers currently in full effect. I just spend a bi-polar weather labor day weekend in Chicago and loved every minute of it. Hope you had a great weekend! Updates on what I ate while in Chicago to come!
xoxo