2. Go wining in Napa/Sonoma

The second item on my 24 before 24 (the golden birthday) list was wining in Napa or Sonoma! I had been to Napa a couple of times, but never to actually experience what Wine Country is all about. This weekend Sean took me to Castello di Amorosa, a winery in a castle. A castle! (P.S. All photos are by Sean!)

<3

On a drawbridge!

 A beautiful view of Napa behind me!

We took a tour of Castello di Amorosa which included some fun stats (it cost $40 million to build the place, not including actual vinting gear!), seeing a consecrated Catholic chapel, a very cool hand painted grand hall, where and how they ferment white and red wines, a very curious and certainly disturbing torture dungeon, and cellars full of barrels of wine! We had a barrel tasting, a very young (2 year old) Cabernet Sauvignon, which was delightful.

I quite like young vino!

As you can see above, my boyfriend is super cute.

Barrels and barrels!

We tasted a number of wines, brainstormed adjectives (we are quite the wine connoisseurs, you know), and rated them. We tried their chardonnay, described it as "wedding-ish, fruity, and winey" and gave it a score of 70/100. We tried two reds, a merlot (one of my favorites, which was described as "dad, would go well with steak, and tannins!, average score between the two of us: 50) and the Cabernet as a four year old ("oaky, rubbing alcohol, hydrochloric acid" - one of us liked it, the other didn't...). They paired the Cabernet with dark chocolate with sea salt, and accordingly it got two scores. 50 without chocolate, 60 with.

Our favorites were the sweet wines. We tried three: One called Simpatica, which got a combined score of 84! A muscat called Il Raggio del Sole, which got a combined score of 84.5. And, finally, one called La Fantasia, which was sweet, yet complex. It received the highest marks by far. A combined 95. It is the official wine of Sean and Natalie. :-D

From their website:

Tasting Notes:
An Italian style sweet and sparkling wine with is lower in alcohol, with bright aromas of cherry, exotic flowers and wild berries. Lovely black raspberry, plum and strawberry flavors in the mouth and just a hint of sweetness leads to a creamy, round finish.


Totally delicious, very sweet. Just like our love...
...I'm sorry, but I had to say it!


This outing was simply one of the most enjoyable I have had in a long time, which says something because every outing with Sean is a blast. It was so fun to go discover something new, a random castle in the middle of Napa, and a tasty, new wine.

1. Leave the country. (Canada!)
2. Go wining in Napa/Sonoma. (At Castello di Amorosa, near Calistoga, with Sean!)
3. Go backpacking.
4. Walk across the Golden Gate.
5. Finish my master's degree.*
6. Have a gluten-free beer tasting.
7. Buy my first diamond. (Nose stud!)
8. Crochet a baby blanket. (Or... type a baby quilt!)
9. Ride a roller coaster. (Disneyland!)
10. Take a midnight walk on the beach.
11. Make gluten-free pasta.
12. Paint.
13. Take a tap class in San Francisco. (Changed to Davis as I found a class offered here!)
14. Write my own sexual autobiography.
15. Do an entire roll of instant film using strangers as subjects.
16. Get over fear of touching raw chicken. (Rubbed raw chicken down with butter and stuffed it with garlic!)
17. Play the California lottery. (Lost!)
18. Hold a newborn baby. (Held little Daphne Kate!)
19. Create a signature cocktail.
20. Make my own goat cheese.
21. See the San Francisco Ballet. (Saw the San Francisco Symphony with Sean!)
22. Take the train to Reno.
23. Have my photo taken at 1 Infinite Loop. (Snapped by Sarah!)
24. Be a tourist in Salt Lake City. (Showed Sean around my beloved, and sometimes bizarre, hometown!)

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#14. Write my own sexual autobiography, etc.

It's 3:30 AM and I can't sleep. So I decided to finish up writing my sexual autobiography. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Obviously, I won't be sharing it with you, Dear Blogosphere, or anyone else for that matter, but I will say that I talked about how my family, boyfriends, growing up Mormon, education, media, and my development influenced the sexual person I am and the values I hold today. 


Some of you might be wondering why. In the past, I have TA'ed for a human sexuality course. The final paper is a sexual autobiography. Since I've read 500 or so of them, I decided to try writing my own. If you feel so inclined to explore what/who influenced you, here is the prompt:


"The autobiography is an analysis of the development of your “sexual self”. It should attempt to answer the question, “How did I become the sexual person I am today?” by considering your own development as it relates to the developmental issues discussed in class and by considering what has influenced your beliefs, attitudes, values and behavior in the area of sexuality and intimate relationships (e.g. parents, religion, culture, media, peers, experiences).  It is not the case that one needs to have had intercourse or be sexually active in order to be able to write this paper.  It is also not necessary to disclose any personal information beyond what is comfortable for you in order to write a thoughtful paper."


It's certainly an exercise in critically thinking about past events and influences. :-)


In other news: I am so looking forward to Monday, when my mom, Emily, and Daphne arrive! :-D I need to get my apartment spruced up and ready to entertain/host this weekend. YAY! 


Also, iOS 5 is SO COOL. I was not underwhelmed in the least. I love the new notifications, the Cards app, and being creeped out by the Stalker app. Oops! It's called Find Friends. It's like Google latitude.... Anyway, ALSO, Sean got Foursquare so we are in a big old competition now (he is rather competitive, but I will rise to the challenge)! I got the Overshare badge today. Haha. (Wow, am I really blogging about an overshare Foursquare badge? Overshare much?!)


And, finally, I haven't be blogging as much because (1) I am busy and (2) I am addicted to Pinterest. See?


OK, that's all.


-N


1. Leave the country. (Canada!)
2. Go wining in Napa/Sonoma.
3. Go backpacking.
4. Walk across the Golden Gate.
5. Finish my master's degree.
6. Have a gluten-free beer tasting.
7. Buy my first diamond. (Nose stud!)
8. Crochet a baby blanket. (Or... type a baby quilt!)
9. Ride a roller coaster. (Disneyland!)
10. Take a midnight walk on the beach.
11. Make gluten-free pasta.
12. Paint.
13. Take a tap class in San Francisco. (Changed to Davis as I found a class offered here!)
14. Write my own sexual autobiography.
15. Do an entire roll of instant film using strangers as subjects.
16. Get over fear of touching raw chicken. (Rubbed raw chicken down with butter and stuffed it with garlic!)
17. Play the California lottery. (Lost!)
18. Hold a newborn baby. (Held little Daphne Kate!)
19. Create a signature cocktail.
20. Make my own goat cheese.
21. See the San Francisco Ballet. (Saw the San Francisco Symphony with Sean!)
22. Take the train to Reno.
23. Have my photo taken at 1 Infinite Loop. (Snapped by Sarah!)
24. Be a tourist in Salt Lake City. (Showed Sean around my beloved, and sometimes bizarre, hometown!)

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8. Tie a Baby Quilt

Tying Daphne's quilt in March.

I was reminded that I have been involved in blanket making for Daphne! So, voila, #8 checked off!


1. Leave the country. (Canada!)
2. Go wining in Napa/Sonoma.
3. Go backpacking.
4. Walk across the Golden Gate.
5. Finish my master's degree.
6. Have a gluten-free beer tasting.
7. Buy my first diamond. (Nose stud!)
8. Crochet a baby blanket. (Or... type a baby quilt!)
9. Ride a roller coaster. (Disneyland!)
10. Take a midnight walk on the beach.
11. Make gluten-free pasta.
12. Paint.
13. Take a tap class in San Francisco. (Changed to Davis as I found a class offered here!)
14. Write my own sexual autobiography.
15. Do an entire roll of instant film using strangers as subjects.
16. Get over fear of touching raw chicken. (Rubbed raw chicken down with butter and stuffed it with garlic!)
17. Play the California lottery. (Lost!)
18. Hold a newborn baby. (Held little Daphne Kate!)
19. Create a signature cocktail.
20. Make my own goat cheese.
21. See the San Francisco Ballet. (Saw the San Francisco Symphony with Sean!)
22. Take the train to Reno.
23. Have my photo taken at 1 Infinite Loop. (Snapped by Sarah!)
24. Be a tourist in Salt Lake City. (Showed Sean around my beloved, and sometimes bizarre, hometown!)

Eleven down. Thirteen to go!

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24 Before 24 Update!

It seems the blogosphere (or at least my mom, haha) wants to know where I am in completely my golden birthday to do list! Voila.

1. Leave the country. (Canada!)
2. Go wining in Napa/Sonoma.
3. Go backpacking.
4. Walk across the Golden Gate.
5. Finish my master's degree.
6. Have a gluten-free beer tasting.
7. Buy my first diamond. (Nose stud!)
8. Crochet a baby blanket.
9. Ride a roller coaster. (Disneyland!)
10. Take a midnight walk on the beach.
11. Make gluten-free pasta.
12. Paint.
13. Take a tap class in San Francisco. (Changed to Davis as I found a class offered here!)
14. Write my own sexual autobiography.
15. Do an entire roll of instant film using strangers as subjects.
16. Get over fear of touching raw chicken. (Rubbed raw chicken down with butter and stuffed it with garlic!)
17. Play the California lottery. (Lost!)
18. Hold a newborn baby. (Held little Daphne Kate!)
19. Create a signature cocktail.
20. Make my own goat cheese.
21. See the San Francisco Ballet. (Saw the San Francisco Symphony with Sean!)
22. Take the train to Reno.
23. Have my photo taken at 1 Infinite Loop. (Snapped by Sarah!)
24. Be a tourist in Salt Lake City. (Showed Sean around my beloved, and sometimes bizarre, hometown!)

Ten down. Fourteen to go!
Three months and one week left!

Easy.

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A California Kid in a Utah World

So Sean here blogging from sunny Northern California.  Natalie asked me to guest blog on here about my recent visit to Salt Lake City.  First off though, here's another to cross off the list.

#24 Be a tourist in Salt Lake City  :)

The view of Salt Lake City from the University of Utah campus

So I know this is a long awaited post considering people have been bugging me about posting this for the past week.  So sorry about that!  I just ended up getting a little bit busier than I'd like.

Anyways, I flew into Salt Lake City two Wednesdays ago and was greeted by the beautiful Natalie with a big hug and smile that stretched from cheek to cheek.  It looked a little something like this...

:)

On Thursday morning, I walked out into the front yard of Natalie's Mom's house and was greeted this view.

Mount Olympus

Later on in the day, Natalie took me to one of her favorite places in Utah...Cafe Rio!  At first, I thought it was all right, but boy did it grow on me.  I liked it so much, that we went back once more before I headed back home.

Sweet Pork Barbacoa Burrito Enchilada Style!

After munching on some Cafe Rio, we headed out to Bountiful to hang out with Daphne, Emily, and Taylor.  They're so cool and welcomed me right in.  We ended up staying there a lot longer than we expected, but it was totally worth it.

We then headed down to Temple Square to check out the Mormon Temple and temple grounds.  I was a little bit hesitant at first, but it was pretty cool.  All I can say is that it felt like I couldn't be any further away from home.  Definitely worth checking out.

What's up Moroni?!

Thursday was action packed so I was looking forward to heading back to Natalie's Mom's house to get some sleep.  The deck in their backyard is so sweet.  It's so nice to just hang out there and watch the sunset with a cool breeze.  It looked a little something like this.

Mill Creek sunset

On Friday, we headed up to Snowbird and Park City so I could let out the inner-snowboarder in me.  They were nothing like what I imagined and they were so close.  I'm used to driving an hour and a half up to North Lake Tahoe to Northstar so a half hour drive was nothing!

Later that night, I felt like driving around and snapping a few shots so we headed to the Capitol.  I really like how it's positioned on a hill that overlooks downtown Salt Lake City.  It's so picturesque.  I took so many shots, but here's one just for the Utahns.

State of Utah

On Saturday, we visited Ali over at Silver Bean Coffee.  She is by far the smartest, most educated barista to ever brew a pot of coffee.  She was greeting customers left and right and wowing them with her barista skills.

I guess she likes to smile while making coffee.

We ended Saturday hanging out with Natalie's family in the backyard and watched Ben as he grazed around the lawn.  Here's a picture of my favorite tunnel digger...I'm talking about Ben, not Natalie :)

A girl and her bunny

I had a lot of fun in Salt Lake City and can't wait to go back and visit.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Salt Lake during the winter to hit the slopes and of course to see everyone again!

So here we are back in California and enjoying the California sun.  Hope all is well with everyone, and I bet you guys can't wait until the next Sean guest blog appearance! ;)  Later!

Until next time Utah!

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Home and Love and Daphne

Hello from the Beehive State! I've had a fantastic weekend and I'm so happy to be home. Here are the updates!

On Thursday, I noticed this posting on Sean's wall from his sister...

On Friday, Sean and I went to Old Sac, walked along the river, and took some fun shots of the Tower Bridge. Here's one I snapped using Instagram...

We got together on Saturday as well and had a nice day relaxing, browsing, and playing Monopoly (he kicked my butt)... and I found out what he wanted to be special. Lets just say he kind of likes me and I sort of like him. ;-)

Today, I made my way to the city by the salty lake, and my iPad knew just what to play me:

Flying in was beautiful as usual. For example...

We went straight from the airport to meet Daphne! She is sweet as can be. The most beautiful girl in the world. She makes the most darling sounds, especially when she's sleeping, and she has these little sweet hiccups. She is absolutely wonderful to cuddle with. I could cuddle all day! Now for the photos...

Her little hands and feet are just the most darling things! I love her to pieces.

Finally, this photo involves an inside joke within my family but it's pretty cute so I'll share it...

I'll do my best to keep you posted, blogosphere! I'm having a blast nestled in my Rockies!

-Nat

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One Infinite Loop (#23) and the SF Symphony (#21)

Knocking things off the list!

Last week, Sean, his siblings, and I went to dinner in Cupertino about as close to the Apple Campus as one could be. Sarah snapped this photo as proof that I made it to my mecca (yeah, ok, I am a bit of a fangirl).

I plan to return soon as they have a company store! I am going to get decked out in Apple wear. Just wait.

Then this weekend, Sean took me to the SF symphony where they played a few string serenades. It was a very lovely evening and concert. As we walked to Davies Hall, I thought about how wonderful it is to be in California, where I've always wanted to be, and have it be everything I could wish for.

Photo to come. For now, this will have to suffice.

Good times in the Golden State!

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Beaches and Science, Frittatas and Sofas

There's a random list for ya! I am enjoying the beginning of what will be a late night, complete with my sweet nerdtastic Star Wars pajamas. The past few days I've really enjoyed the new Matt Nathanson album (guilty, guilty pleasure). For example...

I spent the weekend in the bay area with Sean and his siblings. It was a much needed vacation (moving is much more time consuming and stressful than I remembered!) and was SO much fun. I don't have many photos at present, but I will share the best of the handful I took! I have a couple of fun instant photographs that will get scanned some time soon. Regardless...

On Friday, we drove down to his sister's place in Sunnyvale, had dinner and I got my photo at 1 Infinite Loop!!! Knocking items off the 24 before 24 list!

On Saturday, Sean and I went to Santa Cruz for lunch, shopping, and sight-seeing. We ended up at the Seymour Discovery Center at UC Santa Cruz, where I got friendly with some sharks and various sea creatures, and explored Sean's birthday party/sister's wedding spot. It is beautiful. I don't think I could ever tire of seeing the ocean. And some choice photographs!

At the Discovery Center.
That's right, fools. Science is important AND exciting!

Simply breathtaking.

Sean is the next scientist!

We spent the evening with his family, enjoying veggies and meats via grill and a hilarious game of Scattergories. On Sunday, we all went to the Pride Parade in SF. I had a very good time and picked myself up a little sunburn! Then we went to dinner and... well, [laughter].

And voila! back in Davis. Today I got a number of ducks in order. Including meeting and acquainting my sublessee with #3. She said a wonderful thing as we walked inside. "Oh, it's not as cute as it was in the pictures! I loved all of the color." I also picked out a sofa, courtesy of my sweet mom! Yes, that's right... I'm not getting a LoveSac which disappoints the adolescent Natalie very much but the adult Natalie will admit that it's probably a more appropriate piece of furniture for my living room. Plus... it's pretty darn spiff:

I also did a little bit of cooking for dinner -- christening my fantastic oven. I made my first frittata tonight! It was delicious. I had several different recipes but in the end got creative. First...

In very faint letters above the three holes, is the instruction guide to operating my oven. "Light Here." Yep. You actually light the oven. Fortunately, nothing blew up. Eyebrows are safe. And the frittata?

Goat Cheese Frittata

Not bad for my first one! Delicious goat cheese, red bell peppers, sweet onions, and broccoli! Why I have never done this before, I do not know. It's brilliant! It's like a puffy omelet sent straight from heaven. I will be making more of these soon.

And... back to work. *Sigh*

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Gradmutation, Mooving, and Substitutions

I am sure that all you blog stalkers were missing the graduation posts. Well, it's your lucky couple of weeks! Those of us on the quarter system are just starting to get prepared to don the most ridiculous outfit people seem to take seriously (any opportunity to wear academic regalia is an opportunity to snag!) and get our pomp on.

Check it:

What it is.

I'm getting a little bit excited, I won't lie. The quarter will be over, I'll be hanging out with my mom and younger sister for a few days, and I'm really excited to meet everyone's families and for people to meet two of the most important people in my life! It's going to be a celebration.

Commencement is on June 9, after I proctor an exam that morning and grade it that afternoon (unless I can bribe another grad student to do it instead... any takers? Seriously...). But the real fun is going to be on the following day when we have a graduate group party. My adviser will say nice things about me, I'll get a little engraved cowbell, and I'll feel pretty great about myself.

It's a strange graduation because, well, I won't be getting my degree. So I'm going to be a Mistress of Science* with that asterisk denoting my expected conferral date of September 2011. I don't really get a break from grad school, so it's not really the end or beginning of anything. I will be back on campus the following week working as a grad student researcher and studying for the preliminary exam. That's the thing about grad school. It never ends.

Never-the-less, I get to wear a hood and funky sleeves! ...Think how excited I'm going to be when I get to wear some stripes!

NEXT: Mooving. I realized today when my upstairs neighbor was quite possibly running on a treadmill in tap shoes that I will be out of my little apartment of love, the Nat Flat #1, in less than a month! That's all I have to say. YAY.

Finally, a few substitutions to my 24 before 24 list! #8. I'm doubting that I'll learn how to crochet and crochet well enough to make a blanket by Thanksgiving. So, I'm cross-stitching a birth record. I have a mean satin stitch! #21. Instead of seeing the San Francisco Ballet, I'm going to hear the San Francisco Symphony. Smiling. That's what I'm doing right now.

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Rainy Days, Papers, and a Little Diamond

I'm listening to Billy Joel while I blog. Billy is the chicken noodle soup of music to me. I grew up listening to him, watching his concerts on TV. There's a Billy song for every moment, every situation. For instance, Billy Joel on a drowsy rainy day sings "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Falling of the Rain." When I'm feeling like a love song, I've got "You're My Home" and "If I Only Had the Words (to Tell You)." When I'm feeling a little feisty, it's all about "Stiletto" and near the end of the quarter, with paper deadlines a few moments away, I'll put my turntable on 78 and play "Running On Ice" -- I particularly like the line about being a statistic.

Anyway, I had a nice day out and about. I went to tea list. where my friend Sarah just got a job. I hung out there grading papers for about five hours and enjoyed two cups of chai, their iced tea of the day, gluten free cookies and some tasty fruit (who knew honeydew could have so much flavor?!). These papers are killing me, so I have to get them over with. A fun fact according to the author of the last paper I read? Puberty starts at birth.

I don't have much else to say on that topic. OK, one more thing. Not one paper is formatted correctly. Not one. It's effing APA! It's not rocket science, people. TOP 10 PUBLIC UNIVERSITY according to the U.S. News and World Report. Really.

On a more positive note, over a week ago, I received a new schnozzola stud via mail. It has a teeny tiny diamond and I think it looks very cute and sophisticated. See below:

So that knocks #7 off my Golden Birthday to do list!

Now, to get back to grading. It hurts, Dear Blogosphere, it hurts. Enjoy one last photographic evidence of May showers and flowers!

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Back in the States and Chicken (#16!)

Just a bunch of fun random photographs from yesterday. I'm still pretty exhausted from traveling but I think by tomorrow I'll be back to normal... I hope!

Awesome Canadian snacks.
NOTE DOES NOT CONTAIN WINE
was a little warning on the back.

Obligatory plane photo.
Goodbye Montreal!

Greeted by birds of paradise in San Jose.
Warm and sunny. Yay, California!

Made dinner with Caitlin.
Got over my fear of touching raw chicken!
Just pretended that it was never part of a living thing...
Or that I was going to consume it later!

We make mad delicious good foodstuffs.

 And back to the grind!

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Bienvenue à Montréal! (#1!)

Bonjour! Just a quick post with photographs. Mayra and I got in about midnight here and to our hotel at about 3 AM. It was a late night but I'm at least 60% bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Leaving Chicago with our declaration cards.

ROGERS!

The oven in our hotel room gives directions en Francais!

Delicious snacks.

And today, the fun begins!

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