The In Between

We're hanging out in between lately.  In between big trips, moves and celebrations.  We're coming off our wine high, cleaning up our current house and preparing for upcoming celebrations of marriage and another year in the life of Andy Wendling. 

The in between also means wandering around Lowe's pretending to be home owners.  It means sitting on the beach with many magazine tear-outs, dreaming of our soon-to-be new house.

It means grilling out at our current house with a favorite bottle of wine and discussing our next steps.

And, in between big trips, we travel to local places that we've never tried.  This week it was Matt's Casbah.  I suggest the calamari!

Please ignore the glass of wine on-deck.  Gotta order before happy hour ends :)

What does your in-between look like?

Adventures in Napa

We wrapped up our San Francisco and Napa adventures with a few more stops through the Napa Valley.  We headed North to visit Von Strasser Winery.  Here, we were lucky enough to take a quick tour through their wine caves.  Hidden in the back was a large dining table surrounded by wine.  I couldn't help but day-dream about exquisite dinner parties in this cave including a mandatory rule that guests leave with a little more wobble in their step.  I'm sure these dinners exist and I'd love to be a fly on the wall at one of them.  {Actually, one time I heard a comedy routine making fun of that saying.  Because, really, when you say you'd like to be a fly on the wall at something, you're really saying that you'd like to be someone that those people trust enough to be at said event.  So, yeah, I'd like to be someone that the people at Von Strasser trust enough to come to their dinner parties.  Ohhhh, I digress...}

From there we made a quick stop at V. Sattui to grab some bread, cheese, and meat giving us the endurance to finish the day.  We made the decision to forgo tasting at this stop so we could fit in a recommendation from Tom at Whitehall Lane, and we were glad we did.  Our stop at Miner Winery was worth it.  As self-proclaimed pinot-lovers we were excited to see a few pinots on their flight. 

This is another of those small(er) wineries that is worth visiting.  Every wine we tasted was better than the one before and we walked away with a number of bottles to enjoy in the comfort of our home.

The final stop of the day was Artesa Winery.  And, what do you know, they were ready for us!

The architecture and views alone were worth the stop here and the wine was an added bonus.  We spent time with Austin who has visited every winery in Sonoma County - whoa!  The combination of Austin's knowledge, the views, and fantastic wine left us ready to return.

CHEERS, everyone!

Be Your Own Wine Expert at Whitehall Lane Winery.

I’ve loved wine for as long as I have been able to sip it – and maybe even before!  So, when I got the chance to head out to San Francisco for a conference with Wyndham’s Women on Their Way, I knew that a trip to Napa was in my very near future.  I explored the region quickly last year but it was my intent to further penetrate the wine-saturated area on this trip.  And, that’s just what we did.
I had an aggressive itinerary and prepped my cohorts on the beautiful drive from the Parc55 Hotel to the Napa Valley.  Step 1?  Cross the Golden Gate Bridge…

Our first stop of the day was to Whitehall Lane Winery.  This small(er) family-owned winery actually sits in St. Helena and owns approximately 110 acres of vineyards which produce around 50,000 cases of wine each year.  Now, I have to say, this was the best experience I have ever had tasting wine.  Each person we encountered was excited to welcome us early on this Friday morning and welcome they did with a delicious initial pour of their Sauvignon Blanc.  I’m not much of a white wine girl but this could easily become my new summer wine! 

From there we were given the opportunity to sit down and discuss their wines with Vice President, Tom Leonardini II, over a pour of three single vineyard cabernets {2008 Reserve, 2008 Leonardini Vineyard, 2008 Millennium MM Vineyard} and specially selected meats and cheeses {including prosciutto from IOWA}.  Tom was so great and down to earth when discussing wine with us and we all agreed that, at the end of the day, wine is meant to be enjoyed with food and friends.  The best advice he gave us was to be our own wine experts.  If we like a wine and it meets the objective of bringing together family, friends and great food then guess what, it’s good! 

I cannot recommend this stop more.  So, if you’re ever in the neighborhood - actually, make a special trip - stop by Whitehall Lane Winery and I would suggest picking up a few bottles of the 2008 Leonardini Vineyard Cabernet – I wish I had grabbed a few more!

Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up the trip through the Napa Valley with thoughts and pictures from Von Strasser , V. Sattui, Miner and Artesa Wineries.

Traveling Through Life.

The past few weeks have kind of been a blur.  A really awesome blur – one with rainbows and sunshine and amazing opportunities scattered within.  But, in reality, it was a blur of conferences in Vegas with accountants, conferences in San Francisco for Wyndham and an extended weekend to celebrate an early anniversary that is right around the corner.

I woke up in San Francisco, a city that I had not explored much of, at the fantastic Parc55 Hotel, grabbed some strong coffee on a stroll through town with Andy and then hiked through a park with friends in tow.  And only after we had worked up a sufficient appetite did we stop for some great food and beer at one of those cool places that seems to appear out of nowhere – The Monk’s Kettle.

Somewhere between the beer, hike and exploring, I was asked about the idea of writing about our wanderlust.  The question was whether you have to always be traveling in order to write about travel.  I answered in a way that I think I’ve always known.  We don’t always have to be boarding a plane to be writing about our travel because we are all traveling through our own lives.  Our journeys will look different and sometimes they may include the first outing with a new baby and other times they will be a literal cross-country excursion.  At times we'll walk right across the street and into a country concert while at other times the travel will be for work.  But, no matter where or when, we're all creating an account of our lives through the direction of our choosing. 

So, throw your travels into a bowl, mix them up and see what your blur looks like.  Right now I’m excited to share the colorful travels we have experienced lately from Florida to Vegas to San Francisco and back again. 

And stay tuned for some thoughts on the Napa Valley coming later this week.  As a preview...

Home.

As we look ahead at a few months that are filled to the brim with travel plans, I have been fully appreciating my time at home the last few days. Home has been a consistent theme in my life in recent months.  Overall, it's been a strange concept for me these last few years. 

Sometimes it has a lot to do with the actual walls we live in and sometimes it has way more to do with where we are in life.  The whole concept is made fuzzier when Andy and I utter the words; "we're heading home."  (I truly think no one really knows if we mean we are heading to the place that holds our belongings or to Iowa - the place that has a serious hold on our hearts.)

All the while we continue to search for a house to make our home for the foreseeable future - the place where we'll build upon our current life.  And, in doing so, I can't help but acknowledge the Peter Pan inside me that doesn't want to grow up - the nagging feeling that says I should run to a million different places before settling into this next chapter. 

What I know is that life typically presents itself in the exact fashion it should.  So, while we braced ourselves for the news that we'll be staying in Florida a little longer than expected, we were presented with an awesome opportunity to make the most of it.  And, somehow, the contradicting voice of the tree that wants its leaves to blow in the wind while simultaneously putting down roots, is satisfied.



What it looks like to make travel plans at the Wendling house.

I’m so excited to have the opportunity to add to the adventures on this blog with Wyndham’s Women on their Way.  And, I'm humbled because I know I have all of you readers – ahem – voters to thank.  So, while I sketch out intricate travel plans for the next year, please know that Andy and I thank you for reading, caring, sending good vibes, forgiving my typos, soaking up our words – our good & not-so-good times – and leaving comments that help us to reflect on our travels, marriage and, well, life!

Jameson David

I'm lacking sleep today so I'll let the Dixie Chicks do the talking...

Lullaby

"They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough, is forever enough

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never, never giving you up

I slip in bed when you're asleep

To hold you close and feel your breath on me

Tomorrow there'll be so much to do

So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough, is forever enough

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never, never giving you up

As you wander through this troubled world

In search of all things beautiful

You can close your eyes when you're miles away

And hear my voice like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough, is forever enough

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never, never giving you up

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough, is forever enough

How long do you want to be loved

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never, never giving you up

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never, never giving you up."

{The song "Lullaby" was written by Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Dan Wilson.}

GPS

When Andy and I travel, I love the GPS.  I enjoy the false sense of security it gives – where to turn, how fast to go and exactly when I will be there.  Andy, on the other hand, has to look up the route before we travel it (even when using the GPS).  Although he acknowledges the benefits of our faithful Garmin, he also jumps at the opportunity to yell or argue with it when things don’t go as planned.  And, somewhere in the middle, is the best way to travel. 

I’m in Iowa this week – sans Garmin – in uncharted territory.  I’m anxiously and impatiently waiting on my niece or nephew to arrive.  I expected to cook dinners for my sister’s new family.  To see a belly full of life and laugh while we guess what the baby’s, well, everything will look like!  But, as we all prepare to take on roles never assumed before – Aunt, Mom, Grandma, Dad – we move forward with a nerve-racking mixture of complete confidence and utter vulnerability that I wasn’t expecting.

And, right in the middle of these new feelings, there is the opportunity to reflect on the type of people we want to be for this new life.  We can find that happy medium between arguing with the unexpected and planning for it.  We can learn from our vulnerability, reign in our confidence, and move forward.  Though there is no ETA for the arrival of this new life, somehow I think this little being will be here at the exact moment we are ready.

Signs of fresh beginnings everywhere!