Wine Country

"Wine is bottled poetry."  Robert Louis Stevenson.

Sonoma. Surprisingly short drive from "The City."  The loveliest first few days of 2014. A few highlights captured in photos:

The amazing Fremont Diner serving Four Barrel coffee and the best biscuit starters.  Best meal of trip.

Wine and Bocce.

 Trucker hats and festive nails.  Madewell chambray top. Zara pants. Fremont Diner trucker hat.  Kenna-T leather jacket. 

Wine country views while cruising in a convertible listening to jazz. Channeling Sideways.

Sharing meals with the best of friends, including at Ad Hoc. (Good but not great and slightly disappointing given the hype.)

Giving Back

There are some people who, for a living, unequivocally do good for the world based on choice.  Having not dedicated my life's work to teaching or curing cancer, one of my goals is to surround myself with people who do. One of my best (and smartest) childhood friends who now lives in SF teaches a GED program for at-risk youth and teaches special needs, under-served children. (Yes, two different programs.)

So, how do I help? Buy fundraiser ticket to support one of the non-profit programs. Attend benefit. Buy new dress. Realize I suck and decide to do more this year.

Cynthia Rowley dress. Jewelry: Hermes, Michael Kors, Kate Spade. Coach shoes.

Merry and Happy Everything!

Hoping you had a wonderful holiday season and wishing you a beautiful start to the new year!  For me, 2013 consisted of travel, love, fashion, food, family, friendships and a move to SF (where I will be spending half my time in 2014) and of course, capturing it all via this creative outlet.

This year, my family decided that a last-minute trip to Las Vegas was the best way to spend Christmas (obviously...), and I have to say that Bellagio is still one of my favorite hotels...

With the Chihuly public installation covering the lobby ceiling...

And the flower display never disappoints - even with the shameless advertising...

The painfully fake snow...

The fluorescent lighting and the unnecessarily long line for the Bellagio Cafe (suffered through solely for the bananas foster waffle).

Not pictured: Though I've been to Vegas more times than I'd like to admit, this was the first time I went to Lotus of Siam, one of the top three Thai restaurants I've been to outside of Thailand (off the strip in a sketchy strip mall but suitably ranked as one of the best restaurants in Vegas).  Highly recommend it!