OK, I finally have a chance to post about our trip!

First, AJ, Bo, and I met up in San Francisco.  It was a little weird that Bo and I were on vacation together without my parents.  I guess we’re really grown up now, huh?  LOL!

The first full day was our big sightseeing day.  We took a sightseeing tour bus that drove us all around town and showed us everything.  It took us to the top of a hill where we could see the whole city - it’s so big and hilly!

And then the bus took us to Golden Gate Bridge:

Then we traveled to Muir Woods, which was a beautiful state park.  The redwoods were so gorgeous!  So, of course, AJ had to act goofy in the middle of them

Then, that night, we went to see Al Capone’s old haunt - Alcatraz:

The next few days we spent exploring the city, including visiting the original Ghirardelli store.

We also spent an afternoon at Haight Ashbury, which is a place I’ve been wanting to visit for YEARS!  We also smoked a little hookah in a hookah bar at Haight Ashbury, which just seemed too appropriate.  This is a horrible angle for me, but look, I was there!

Then we met up with my parents and we all headed to Napa Valley!  We had the best time.  We probably went to 15-20 wineries.

AJ and I slowly collected a case’s worth of wine to bring home with us . . . until we went to the last winery.  We had tours at several of the wineries, and tastings at almost everyone, but the last winery we went to was a little different.  At Del Dotto, we did a barrel tasting - we tasted the wine straight from the barrels that were in the caves!  It was so cool!

This was some of the best wine that we have ever tasted, and since the vineyard is a smaller vineyard that only sells wine from the winery (not in stores or resteraunts), we bought another half case of wine there, LOL!  We’re going to let the wine age, so AJ and I used a Christmas gift certificate I had saved to by this AWESOME wine fridge.

So, I guess can check off #37 on my 101 in 1001 - I’ve been to California!  For all the pictures, see my Flickr.

Then, Mama, Daddy, and Bo all went home and AJ and I went to New York for a couple of days.  We saw August: Osage County (which was soooooo amazing) and American Ballet Theatre’s production of Sleeping Beauty (which meant a lot to me - Disney’s movie has been my favorite movie since I was 2, and I’ve always wanted to see the ballet).  We also got to spend some time with my best friend Stephanie.  She lives in NYC now, and she’s never had a chance to meet AJ.

So, we’re back now, and completely exhausted, but we had a truly great vacation!  I think I’ve decided to give wine tasting/journaling another shot now that I’ve been to Napa and have a bit more knowledge about the whole thing.

Oh, and while I’m posting, we can also scratch #69 off of my 101 in 1001 list - over the past year I’ve really switched a lot of my grocery purchasing to organic food, and I try to consciously pick the organic options, even if they do cost a little more!

I have ALWAYS been obsessed with the Nutcracker. When I was younger, I danced in the Nutcracker every year with my dance studio. When I learned to dance on pointe, my first performance in toe shoes was as an angel in the Nutcracker.

When we moved to Florida, my new studio didn’t put on a production of the Nutcracker, and this devastated me as I had fallen hopelessly in love at this point. I had to stay involved somehow, so I started a collection. Today my nutcracker collection is quite extensive, and I am so thrilled that I have my Christmas decorations in North Carolina now because I will be able to put some of them up in my apartment! No worries, I’ll post pictures when that happens

I was thrilled when my senior year in high school, the women’s chorus that I was the president of at my school was offered the opportunity to sing the vocals at the end of the first act. I was thrilled to be involved again with my favorite ballet and a now required part of my Christmas. It was fantastic to be able to participate in this show in a new way, and I still sing along when I hear the soundtrack!

And now, it’s all coming full circle. Today, here in graduate school, I am in my box office rotation. And every five minutes or so the phone rings and I sell a few Nutcracker tickets to children and their grandparents . . . does it sound cheesy for me to say this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy?

I love the Nutcracker . . .