Work Hard, Play Hard: Adventures in Napa

My sister and I, and Ellen & Cindy have been on a few sisterly adventures over the last few years.
(And beyond).
This year, my sister found a really fun Groupon Deal for a Limo up to Wine Country. We parlayed that into an overnight in the City as well. And decided to do this adventure up real nice, and skip our annual ski trip this year.

Cindy booked us in an AWESOME hotel, the Union Square Marriott, with an incredible view.
We checked in and were in our room just in time to see the sun setting behind the buildings around us.

We settled in, and decided to make a reservation at a cute restaurant down the street for later that night.
In the mean time we had a little time to kill, so we headed out to the stores around Union Square.
Being that it was the day after Christmas, there were a ton of lines, and sales, and customers.
So many customers.
We ended up just doing window shopping - the lines inside the stores were too overwhelming to justify any casual shopping.

And then we freshened up for our dinner rezzie.
We ended up a cute little restaurant hidden down a pedestrian alley called Cafe Claude.
In fact, we walked right by the alley almost missing it on our way there.
It might have been because we were distracted doing this:

And we ate cheese.
And it was SO good.

And then we traipsed around a bit.
Exploring a few of the hot-spots and not-so-hot-spots around our hotel.
This place seemed promising, but ended up a dud.

Which left us with no choice but to hit up the Starlight Room.
The rotating sign is always calling my name, and after all these years, I had yet to visit.

The view was spectack.
That alone made it worth the adventure.

Well that and the top 100 billboard jams mixed with dated hits on the dance floor made for an awesome night.
Also, spying on the people in the hotel across the way.
Yes, your windows are open, and yes, people CAN see you walking around naked.

We finished the night sharing onion rings and a banana split at Lori's Diner - which seems to be where we always end up on our Union Square adventures.

In the morning, we woke up to the dinging of the cable car line below, and the promise of hot Starbucks coffee across the street.

The day was about to begin and new adventures (in a limo! with mimosas!) awaited us!

Believe it or not, I lived in wine country for three years, and never once went wine tasting.
Also, it was before I was 21, so I guess that is probably for the better.

Also for the better is the fact that at this point I started using my actual camera.

I haven't been in a limo in quite a while, and all I could say was "I feel like I'm filming a Real Housewives episode right now". Those fools hang out in limos a LOT.

The day was clear, the skies were bright, it was a recipe for a good one.

First stop, Beringer.
It was beautiful. Right out of a coffee table book.

And by this time, we were getting hungry. And I really wanted cheese.
So, we headed down the road to V. Sattui.
Where we loaded up on cheese, salami, grapes, and of course, wine.

The sun felt so good shining down on this crisp December day.
Napa just felt happy.
And it wasn't just the wine, I promise.

Our next stop was Grgich Hills Estates.
Which ended up being one of the best parts of the day - although the whole day was great, it's hard to say there was a true best.

But being unexpectedly escorted into the VIP room, given two extra tastings, including a fancy Cabernet, and extra special treatment was hard to beat.

And even though this was our last winery, the day wasn't completely over yet.
We still had one last limo-celebration to have.
Cupcakes for Cindy's Birthday! (Happy Birthday Cindy!!!)

I'm PRETTY sure by looking at these pictures she loved our serenading her with the birthday song.

And then we were DONE.
We put the nap in Napa.
Limo naps all around, while we were driven back to the City.
A good way to spend the day, with my Soul Sisters.
These girls rock.
So does wine.
And Napa.
And cupcakes.

Until the next one ladies...Cheers!