Last night me and my bubba took an impromptu drive up to Sonoma. We zoomed through the 96 degree heat, peeled ourselves off the scooter, sipped chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet and syrah, and watched the sun go down over the hills. We raced each other at a crossword puzzle (I won), and a word search (he won). We ate burgers and truffle fries, cracked each other up, then rode home listening to joyful music, with a view of the full moon the whole way.  

(From the Bay Area? You must check out Scribe Winery in Sonoma)

 (Mmm, Boon Fly Cafe, we love you.)

It's little evenings like this that I end up remembering most! Have you had a good date night lately? 

Getaway Weekend :: Scootin' Sonoma

I love the strong (and completely unintentional) focus on blues and greens in these photos. It must be spring!

Last weekend, Jimmy and I hopped on our Piaggio and scooted our way from the East Bay, up through Sonoma to Sebastopol, through Guerneville to Armstrong Redwoods, to Dry Creek Valley, back to Sebastopol, to Bodega Bay, down Route 1, to Stinson Beach, over the Golden Gate Bridge, over the Bay Bridge, then home. I thought about adding up the miles and decided against it - but let's just say that's quite a lot for an open-air ride!

We tasted wine, we ate the good foods, we enjoyed nature. But first and foremost, we enjoyed the time on the scooter, zipping through the breeze and sunshine, able to soak every last piece of the ride in. There's something so wonderful about traveling this way, especially for me as the passenger. I get to see, hear and smell everything as it flies by, making every last moment of the road trip feel like part of the fun rather than a means to an end.

Here's a little instagram-vid that I took from the ride:

[Click here for on-scooter instavid]

Where we stayed: The Sebastapol Inn was a great place for our weekend stay. We liked that it was affordable but better than your average chain, and very central to much of what Sonoma County has to offer. Also, Sebastapol in itself is a worth a stopover - it's a very "groovy" little town with a strong community vibe.

Where we ate: This weekend was all about "what looks delicious?", rather than my usual focus on "what's healthy and/or cheap". This was a very fun change. Favorites:

• Angelo's Wine Country Deli in Sonoma is the perfect place for a casual lunch between tastings. Check out the jerky tasting bar (you can't miss it) with complimentary bite-size pieces of every kind of jerky under the sun.

• Ono'z Cafe in Guerneville for Hawaiian - who knew you could get Hawaiian food in wine country? Yummy onion rings + lumpia + an enormous shaved ice will stick in my memory.

• We found the HopMonk Tavern in Sebastapol so enjoyable that we went here twice. Great food eaten with local beer in a friendly-stranger filled beer garden next to a fire. How can it get better? Add a perfectly grilled ham and cheese + chunky tomato soup...that's how.

• The Bodega Country Store (in Bodega) is always a must for us; we find ourselves passing by strangely often and we love it each and every time. There is AMAZING chowder, lots of local knickknacks and flavors, and our favorite kind of gluten-free cookies which is what we grabbed this time on our way home.

• We stopped at the Parkside Cafe snack shack at Stinson Beach for some burgers and chili fries (I told you we weren't focused on health...), which we took over to eat on the beach in the sunshine. 

• The Community Market in Sebastapol is the adorable place where we stopped for morning breakfast and coffees - I wish we had one of these in our town!

What we drank: Though Sonoma and Napa are closer to us and renowned for their wines, we tend to venture out to the Dry Creek Valley / Russian River Valley wineries more often. They are a bit less pricey in general, there's less traffic, and since there is less packed into the area, you can't beat the views. We're wine club members of both Dutcher Crossing and Truett Hurst, which are both amazing, delicious, off-the-beaten path wineries in the area. Check 'em out!

What we did: Besides eating and wine tasting, we had an awesome time exploring Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve (I just can't get enough of those majestic trees), walking around Stinson Beach, and spending time on the scooter, stopping every 5 minutes to get a view of this or a photo of that. 

Have you been to Sonoma County? What was your favorite stop? 

Race Pics + Power Playlist

I hope everyone had a beautiful October weekend! Are you kind of sad that the month is almost over, like me? I love October. But at least I was able to say a lovely farewell- basking in the crisp air, bright sun, and colored leaves all weekend up in Guerneville with friends. We ran, we sipped, we ate, we relaxed, and we played. So fun.

And my race motivation really worked! My playlist was amazing. I listed a few of my faves from the playlist at the bottom of this post in case you've been craving some new workout tunes. And the costumes definitely helped. Watching our Mario and Luigi run around in full-on denim overalls and hearing passersby wonder aloud whether Jim was dressed as a ghost or a sperm really picked up the mood. Plus we WON the team costume competition. (Thanks for the delicious prize wine, Hawkes!)

 But there was one unlisted helper that really helped get me through those last few painful miles. This guy:

Jimmy helped us keep a nice steady pace, and every once in awhile when I felt like I might start dragging, he'd reach out his hand and give me the boost I needed. Towards the end my ankles were aching and my muscles were losing steam, but we knew we wanted a strong finish. So Jim fought through his own exhaustion to grab my hand and help us speed up through the end. Thanks Jimmy - I'll never make you run a 1/2 marathon again! ;)

Here are some more shots from the weekend.

Allie's Half Marathon Power playlist:

                 

:: 13.1 ::

Eek! My half marathon is in 3 days. To be honest, I haven't quite kept up with training the way I maybe should have. Which probably explains why I'm feeling a little nervous. This running thing does not come naturally to me! Hiking, yoga, team sports - yes. But running...my body resists each and every step. Which I guess is one of the reasons I really wanted to do this in the first place; to see what it would feel like to get my body running more than 3-4 miles at a time. To see if I could do it at all.

So the bad news is, I only did a few "long runs" in my training, the furthest of which was 9 miles. (reeeally banking on that whole "race adrenaline" thing to take me the last 4.1 miles on Saturday...)

The good news is, in my training runs every mile after 4 felt pretty good- kind of comfortable and robot-like. Like all I needed to do was lean forward a bit to keep going. Like a segway! Sure, my body felt like it was going to crumble into tiny pieces after each run...but I can cross that bridge when I come to it. (p.s. when I just googled segway I found this link. whaaa??).

The even better news is, I have some awesome motivation lined up for Saturday which I think will help me go all the way:

1. Wine. This is a WINE country 1/2 marathon after all. After the race we'll be rewarded with tastings upon tastings. They even give you a taste during the race if you so desire. I will run for wine!
2. Food. If you've ever been in a long race you know that the good ones have wonderful snacks awaiting you at the end. Nothing inspires me to burn calories more than the thought of replacing every last one of 'em with tasty treats.
3. Hot tub. Our rental house for the weekend has a hot tub. Mmmmyes.
4. Team. Jim and I are running with 8 wonderful friends, and we're all dressing up as the Mario Kart gang for the race. As the blondie of the group I was named Princess Peach...and I'm pretty sure that wearing a crown will keep me going strong til the end.
5. Music. I've been slowly but surely compiling the greatest running playlist known to man. I'd still LOVE some recommendations though - please comment with any favorite songs I should add to my list :).

Wish us luck!

Getaway Weekend :: Boonville

 



 

Where we stayed: Our friends had rented an amazing house called The Other Place, rented from Sheep Dung Properties, and they were kind enough to invite us to join them for the weekend. I couldn't even stand the perfection. It's an adorable and simple cottage perched on a hillside offering 180 views of the Anderson Valley. The sunsets were incredible. There were hiking paths to explore, hammocks to lounge in, games to play and a pond to dunk in. And obviously, as you see in the photos, they are very dog friendly - if it's possible, I think the pups had even more fun than we did. 

Where we ate: Mostly at home, because how can you beat that view?? We also loved the quinoa salad and cupcake (and ambiance) we experienced at the Boonville General Store where we stopped for lunch one day. We also went to the Mosswood Cafe multiple times for lattes, and spying the delicious homemade empanadas in the case we couldn't help but grab a couple for breakfast on our way out of town. I had the basil, bacon and goat cheese variety. MmmmMMmmm.

What we drank: Oh wine country, how I love you. This was our second time up in the Anderson Valley wine region, and we immediately went back to one of my favorites from before: Breggo. I love every vino they offer, and they have lovely Adirondacks outside with gorgeous views. Right around the corner, we discovered the Lichen Estate - and it was one of the most charming tastings we've ever been to! It was located in a beautiful old home, surrounded by old gnarly oak trees covered in (you guessed it) lichens. The sommelier was extremely knowledgeable and we enjoyed some amazing pinot noir around the dining room table. I'd recommend!

What we did: Hmm, if you split up the amount of time spent on each activity ---- it was 20% eating, 30% wine drinking, 20% card playing, 20% exploring town, 10% hiking. 100% watching the dogs play and have the time of their lives. 100% relaxing :).

Enjoy your weekend everyone!