By now you have probably figured out that if it involves booze, music, a theme, etc, that I most likely want to be a part of it. As July is quickly coming to a close, I thought it important to highlight the Festivals of the Fall. Let’s face it, Summer might as well be winter in San Francisco with all this fog we’ve had, so let’s make August, September & October the key staycation months of 2010!
Below you will find a complete list (well complete in that these are the things I would like to attend) of Fall Festivals!
It’s been a while since we’ve had an official Saturday Faturday, but I would most definitely argue our most recent takes the cake. In our continuous celebration of Doug’s Summer in San Francisco, we decided to show him how to officially partake in activities on the first day of the weekend.
So on Saturday morning we woke up in the hopes of a full day at Sam’s, however the weather was too beautiful to pass up a Saturday Faturday in the city. So we packed up Lola and headed to East Side West for a little brunch and a lot of cocktails.
What started as a couple of friends meeting for eggs and bloodys, turned into a gathering of friends, strangers and family over margaritas, boozy punch and irish coffees.
Around 12noon we decided to kick things up a notch and determined every hour, on the hour we would play a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors Best 2 out of 3. Here’s a glimpse…
As the afternoon went on, so did the ridiculousness. We traveled from ESW to Paxtis to The Republic back to ESW to Balboa to The Horseshoe and finally settled in North Beach at Fiddler’s Green. Once the bars closed we attempted to hit up In n Out, but unfortunately it was closed and we landed ourselves back in the hood at the one and only Mel’s. (Also recapped by sequence of photos below.)
At Paxti’s: Thinking I’m not going to make it through.
At The Republic: Doug enjoys a basket of fries. Literally.
At East Side West (For the 2nd Time): Mary examines her cocktail intake closely.
At Fiddler’s Green: We dance our asses off.
At In n Out: Mary becomes disappointed it’s closed.
With a promotion at work happening the next day I couldn’t justify getting wasted on the actual St Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, March 17. Yes, a sign I’m actually growing up. Sooo with beautiful weather on our side, Greg and Andy decided to throw their own little Irish themed bash on Saturday afternoon.
Around 11am Greg served me the first of several Irish Car Bombs. By noon several more people joined, including my favorites, Joanie & Chachie (aka my parents) and Steve and Julie, my favorite family friends! Not only was my family there, but little Varni and in-law Varni also joined in on the fun!
Chachie (aka Dad) & Steve / Julie, Joanie (aka Mom) & Nat / Little Varni, in-law Varni & Varni
Even Lola enjoyed a day in the sun! (See Danny does love Lola.)
The day went on…we enjoyed flip cup, beer pong, cigars and good times…One Car Bomb after another, slowly people’s dignity slipped away…
Greg attempted to seduce my mother…
Julie had one too many Car Bombs…
And Brooks, Stina and I figured out what the boys could do with the open space in the family room…
I made it out to Delaney’s that night, but since I had drunkenly brought Lola with me, I only managed to make it through one beer before I decided to head home…Although I did learn she loves the bar just like her mother.
All in all I’m proud to say I made it another year celebrating St Patrick’s Day with my family BUT without peeing my pants! Pat on the back to me…get it?!
Every year Sonoma welcomes people of all walks of life to introduce the newest grapes of the season with a wine tasting event, Annual Barrel Tasting. For those locals in the city of San Francisco, this means a gathering of your most favorite people, a short bus, mimosas and 8+ hours of good times you may or may not remember on Sunday morning. This year’s wine tour included the following players…
Saturday began with an aggressive wake up from Mary, who was ready to start the day around 6:30am. Mind you, we had been out with Milo until around 2:30 am, so I had been asleep for approximately four hours at this point. Thirty or so minutes later I dragged myself out of bed, gave Mary a ride home (that’s right…I still have sleepovers with my friends) and came back to our place to get ready for breakfast.
The key to a solid day in wine country is breakfast. Sure, you can stop on the way and grab 36 mini sandwiches from Burger King, which we’ve done, but starting out the day with a balanced meal will keep you going strong all eight hours. I decided a Burrito Bar was the best bet this year. Scrambled eggs, sausage, sauteed veggies, cheese, guacamole and salsa wrapped up in warm tortillas…what could be more delicious?! Although I take full credit for the breakfast menu, the entire execution was Mary and Kellan…kudos to the chefs!
By 10am we were ready and rearing to go, however our blast off was temporarily delayed due to the late arrival of Lola’s nanny. Since I was going to be gone the entire day I thought it best Lola stay with a friend. Since Greg happens to be totally enamored with the pup, I was thrilled when he offered to take her to the East Bay to visit his family. Around 2pm I received a text message photo with this caption: ”She’s having fun…Hope you guys are too.”
That’s Greg’s nephew, his three legged mini poodle and Lola. You may or may not know Greg, but I know for a fact you’re now in love with him as a result of how adorable this photo is…
So around 10:30 we headed to our first winery. As I mentioned barrel tasting is not just a random Saturday Faturday occasion for my friends, but for all sorts of people…Regina, our personal driver, informed us there were several busses already heading across the Golden Gate.
Regina (Our Personal Driver) & Mark
Upon our arrival to Family Wineries of Dry Creek, we see that three of our fellow buses have already been tasting: Blaire, Brian and my cousin Erin’s crews had also joined their friends for a day in the wine country. The first winery was actually a combination of about six different tasting rooms…everything from bold cabs to sweet sauvs. I’m not much of a wino, but I know what I like!
Milo, Chrissy, Mary and I enjoying our very first tasting of the day.
From there we headed over to Bella Vineyards, which we visit every year. Their caves are so fun during barrel tasting…they have live music, gourmet bbq pork and grists, and of course booze along the way…
It was here we discovered the Tijuana Express! At first glance this motor vehicle appears to be a dirty, filthy taco truck, but once you take a closer look…it’s a fantastic party bus available for rent!
And next we headed to Fritz Underground Winery. By this point in time the the combination of tastings and shotgunning of beers had definitely caught up to a few people…
The only photo I have from inside Fritz winery.
Just as quickly as I had chugged my first couple of tastings, we were asked to leave…Here’s the what went down… Half the group went into the wine processing area (shown above) and through to the tasting room in a matter of minutes. The second half, which I was with, decided to stop and chat with the two wine makers in this processing area for a couple quick tastings. As were were standing around enjoying their tasty reds, Shawn, in his drunken stupor, bet Christie $20 to climb into one of the wine tanks.
(Note: Shawn has only met this group one time prior and that was at the Jersey Shore Party. What Shawn doesn’t know about our friends is that no bet is taken lightly, especially when there’s $20 on the table. One time…I threw down $20 at Savoy just so Mary could get in on a fierce game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. She lost the first two out of three, but at least we stepped up the challenge.)
Aside, Christie began joking with one of the wine makers asking what he would do if she climbed into the tank…He ignorantly replied, “Well I’d give you a kiss…cause I’ve never seen anyone do such a thing.” So now there’s money and a smooch involved…no way she’d turn back. Next thing I knew Mark is laughing hysterically looking into the dark depth of the wine tank and Christie is fully inside, curled up indian style. Unfortunately no one had a camera, not that there was time to take a picture before we were kindly asked to leave.
So the half of us they would no longer served headed down to regale our tale to Regina. She recommended we change our last winery to a place that would better suite our crowd now that we had taken a turn for the worst…
We closed out the day at Dry Creek Vineyards. This place was so beautiful, but unfortunately as we arrived they were closing the doors so we only got one or two tastes inside. Not that we needed anymore. At this point everyone was pretty much in their own world…Lauren had slapped Milo so hard he got a bloody nose, Adrian was making out with Cody, Chrissy was lecturing me on love, etc. Our last photos of the day were taken in the mustard plant fields outside the winery, where as Chrissy was yelling at me about finding Mr. Right, she tripped and fell flat on her face. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it Chrissy?
Our ride home was filled with dancing, napping and In ‘n Out…
All in all…another successful year at Sonoma’s Barrel Tasting.
Have you ever heard the term “Sunday Funday?” I sure hope you have. And if you have not, to clarify, Sunday Funday is when you close out the weekend with something really fantastic; brunch, shopping, flip cup, horseshoes or even a couple rounds of Jenga…whatever floats your boat.
Over the past couple of months we have been making the most of our Sundays, however an aggressive Sunday afternoon can often make for a rough Monday morning. I believe the saying is, “You smell like a Friday night and it’s Monday morning.” No one knows this better than our dear friend Jen who was recently pulled aside at work and given a warning for ‘calling in sick too many Mondays.’ To her defense she was really sick, but to their defense, it was totally self-induced.
So to avoid further corrective action on Jen’s part, we have created a new Sunday Funday, which takes place on Saturday…now officially known as “Saturday Faturday.” (And yes, this sort of horrific rhyming is the result of last weekend’s Saturday Faturday).
What appears to have been a classy brunch in the Presidio is just a facade…
Check out the bill…
Note: The $384.40 total did not include tip as there were only six of us eating. Talk about aggressive…
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