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 meant to post this yesterday, but my mom was here in town, so things got away from me!)

It’s October, and that means that it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month! As many of you know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2000 - she found the cancer through a self-exam, and it NEVER showed up on the mammogram (so do your self-exam!). She has been in remission since August 2000, and she is an incredible woman!

There are so many things that we can do to help prevent the risk of breast cancer - exercise, watching what we eat (somethings are good for us - others not so much), and maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes breast self-exams (BSE) and mammograms. Throughout the month I’ll be posting things that will help us be more aware!

Here are some links to national sites about breast cancer: FitSugar

Don’t forget to stop by The Breast Cancer Site to click - this helps give free mammograms to underprivileged women, and it’s so easy to go click once a day: The Breast Cancer Site

Here are my other posts about breast cancer: Breast Cancer Posts

Here is one post that I want EVERYONE to read: Inflammatory Breast Cancer

If you have any questions about breast cancer or my family’s personal experience with it, I am VERY open about this topic, and will answer any questions you may have - please don’t take this subject lightly!

Breast Cancer Awarenss Ribbon Gifts originally uploaded by The Taif Healthy City Programme.

Received from Laura:

A - Available/Single? Single AND available
B - Best Friend? I have so many! I guess in real life it would be my roommates, Matt and Ben, my best girlfriends, Stephanie and Brittany, and online, Mouse!
C- Cake or Pie? Mmmm, what a question! Both, as long as they’re chocolate, LOL! Actually, probably pie.
D - Drink Of Choice? Coffee or hot chocolate!
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? Does my computer count?
F - Favorite Color? Blue, hands down, no questions asked!
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Ooo, tough one! Probably bears . . . because you can make them dance
H - Hometown? Born and raised in Georgia, but currently live in Florida . . . as far as a hometown goes, I guess it would be Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, but I really feel like a Georgia girl at heart.
I - Indulgence? Starbucks . . . or something chocolate-y and sinful!
J - January Or February? January . . . you get to start with a new year!
K - Kids & Their Names? Matt and Ben. Oh wait, you meant real children, not my 23 year old roommates that act like children that I have to take care of ;-). None.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Christmas. Sorry, I LOVE Christmas
M - Marriage date? none
N- Number Of Siblings? 1 - my younger brother Bo, with whom I have an excellent relationship
O - Oranges Or Apples? apples!
P - Phobias/Fears? heights - don’t get me started
Q - Favorite Quote? Something my mother said to me that has stuck with me for a long time, and I think about it almost daily “If you ask someone to do a job for you or to help you, you have to accept the way that they do it. Don’t yell at them because they didn’t do it your perfect way - be glad that they helped at all!”
R - Reason to Smile – my family
S - Season? Summer! But the past couple of years I’ve been liking spring a lot too.
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? Tagging Brittany and Bug!
U - Unknown Fact About Me - The past few months I’ve grown to where I HAVE to make my bed in my apartment or I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything that day. However, this is not a trait that has come home with me. Hmm . . .
V - Vegetable you don’t like? If you know me in real life, you know that this is a funny question - I am a very picky eater. I’m gonna go with broccoli, but know that there are many more.
W - Worst Habit? I’ve been trying for 10 years to quit biting my fingernails . . . no success yet.
X - X-rays You’ve Had? Is a mammogram an x-ray? If not, then none. Well, my teeth, they do do that at the dentist office . . .
Y - Your Favorite Food? Give me chicken, cheese, and chocolate and I’m good for life!
Z - Zodiac Sign? I’m a Gemini, but I’m not really into horoscopes . . . like Laura, God’s got me covered.

I got this fun meme from Connexions! I couldn’t decide on 3, so you get 5!!! Please note - no cows were harmed in the making of this post ;-)!

If you’re not familiar with blogtipping, it works thus:

* Choose three or more bloggers you admire and link to them;
* List three reasons why you admire each one; and
* Add one tip for each blogger.

Brittany @ Bitter Amalgamations
1. Brittany is one of my favorite people ever - literally. We’re really good friends IRL.
2. She has one of the best senses of humor I know. I mean, honestly, who refers to their life as God’s sitcom?!
3. She’s an incredibly descriptive writer, and I LOVE to read her writing.

Tip: Brittany’s new to the blogosphere, and she hasn’t really gotten involved yet. She just needs a little encouragement ;-)! Won’t you go encourage her?

Lisa @ Just a Girl
1. Her site always has great design ;-)!
2. I can always find good links over here.
3. Lisa always has great photos displayed through her Flickr

Tip: She got all married and doesn’t post as often, LOL! However, that could be because she just got back from her gorgeous honeymoon in Bonaire :-)!

Leanne @ Intricate Art
1. Want to know what’s going on in the blogosphere? Stop by here!
2. IRL, Leanne is an artist, and she constantly showcases her awesome works and photographs on her site.
3. Who wouldn’t love the mama of the Thursday Thirteen?!

Tip: The rat in the glue trap freaked me out, LOL! No more pictures of rats!

Bug @ An Indian Summer
1. Sarcastic as all get out.
2. Bug speaks her mind and doesn’t care what people think - it’s refreshing.
3. I’ve known Bug since before she got big into blogging, and she hasn’t gotten too big for her britches. She’s still one of the nicest people I know online - love her to bits!

Tip: She’s so good with tech-y stuff, I always learn from those posts, but she hasn’t posted many lately.

Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
1. The mishaps at Shannon’s house are hilarious - I try not to read her blog when I’m in class!
2. She started Works-For-Me Wednesdays, and while I don’t participate, I love reading what other people post about!
3. She uses lots of pictures in her posts, so we always know just what she’s talking about!

Tip: More of a question than a tip . . . you’ve got some major comment-age goin’ on over there - do you respond to comments in your posts? I’m always curious to see the habits of bloggers.