What Ifs

Do you have any big what ifs in your life? I do. We all do, right? I wonder things like what if I hadn't changed my mind about what kind of grad school to do or what if it had worked out with that guy in college? I also wonder random things like what if I had been born in a different country? How would I feel about America if I was not from America? What if I could sing? Perform magic? Ok, I'm getting off topic. I have a very active imagination. I also believe something that some would probably not agree with. I don't believe that there is only one person in the world that every other person could be happy with. I'm sort of stuck in a theoretical circle. You see, I completely believe that Ben and I are meant to be together. On the other hand, I also believe that if I had never met Ben, I could still be as happy as I am with someone else. I don't know if I would be as happy as I am with Ben. I'm just saying I believe it is possible. I know, so unromantic for someone as hopelessly romantic as me. My point is that I think our lives start out with infinite paths ahead of us which are more or less equal in terms of our happiness. There are also paths which lead to unhappiness. Of the happy paths, our lives are a process of narrowing those paths. We decide who to be friends with, what schools to go to, who to marry, where to live, and so on. If we had chosen differently, we would still have what if thoughts. In the words of Tim McGraw, "Well you do what you do and you pay for your sins and there's no such thing as what might have been, that's a waste of time, drive you out of your mind." I don't regret the way my life is now. I love it. But I'm a curious person, I'll still wonder sometimes. Do you?

I love you Banana!

If you are one of my facebook friends, or you've left me a voicemail or email recently, you can tell that today I am catching up on a lot of things. One of those things is reading some of my favorite blogs. The wife of a guy I went to college with had a post recently on funny text messages because smart phones sometimes help too much. It reminded me of an email I got from Ben about a month ago. We have some nicknames for each other and sometimes sign our emails to each other with them, but this email was signed with something I hadn't seen before - Banana. One of my nicknames for Ben is Benoni. His ancestors are french and some were named Benjamin but used Benoni, sort of a version of Benjamin, as a nickname. Sometimes Ben signs his emails Benoni, but this time his phone changed it to Banana. He didn't realize it before he sent the email, so I received an email signed Banana. I love you Banana!

I'm Still Here

I did get a job. I received the offer in July, went on vacation in August, and started work the day after coming home from vacation. I haven't had a moment of free time since! As you can see, I still have the blog. My hope is that I will have more time to post in the future. I have pictures to post as soon as I can find the time to download them from my camera.

Napa Valley

We recently spent a few days in Napa Valley. I want to move there! The weather is wonderful, the food is great, the wine is outstanding, and the scenery beautiful.

I saw two Teslas in Yountville. This is Ben's dream car (only not in Orange).

Some of the things we did and my reviews:

The town of Yountville was our favorite town in Napa Valley.

Hope and Grace Tasting Room, Yountville

We loved their wine, the people were nice, and the tasing room had a good atmosphere.

Silenus Vintners Tasting Room

Beautiful setting. I loved that they represent several small wineries so you get to taste a wide variety.

Ma(i)sonry -

LOVED the atmosphere. The wine was good. It has an awesome outdoor tasting area with a fire pit. We met the owners around the fire pit the night we were tasting. They were very nice. Ma(i)sonry is also an art gallery. This is a must see even if you don't taste the wine.

Girard Tasting Room

Good wine. This place and Hope and Grace had the nicest people, and one of the girls working there is an Auburn Alum!

Cakebread Winery

If you do the reserve tasting, the room you are in has a breathtaking view of the winery. Loved the wine.

Robert Mondavi Winery

I hate to say it but this was our least favorite tour/tasting. It is a good tour to see the process but it was way too commercial. It also didn't help that we had some really annoying people on the tour with us. However, we did meet a really nice Norwegian couple.

Cornerstone Cellars Tasting Room, Yountville

We like the tasting room, but these were our least favorite wines. This was taste specific for us. They had several wines from vineyards on Howell Mountain that we didn't like. When we were at Cakebread we had a wine from vineyards on Howell Mountain that we didn't like. We realized that it was the taste from Howell Mountain that we don't like.

Chateau Montelena Winery

We unknowingly visited when they were not doing tours so we didn't see the barrel/bottling area of the Chateau. The Chateau is beautiful. This is something we had on our list to do because of Bottle Shock. The movie is great! The wines were good and we had a great conversation with the people we met tasting.

Yountville Deli

Great sandwiches!

Bouchon Bakery

I loved this bakery! We ate lunch here a couple of days and I would go back while I was waiting on Ben to finish working. They have a great courtyard with a big shade tree. It was so peaceful for sitting and reading.

Hurley's

This was was Ben's favorite restaurant of the trip. The outside seating is great! One thing we really loved was the weather. We broke out the wrap and long sleeve shirt and the waiter brought a patio heater over by us. The food here is great and they have no corkage fee.

Bottega

I really liked this restaurant. It is owned by Michael Chiarello. We met Michael Chiarello. Our dinner was great and we had one of his wines that we really liked. The calamari was to die for! The patio has great fireplaces.

Mustards Grill

We loved Mustards! They have a garden beside the restaurant. We walked through the garden before we ate, then ate some of the foods we saw growing. This was the best "California cuisine" we had.

Bistro Jeanty

Every time we asked a local about good restaurants, we were always told Bistro Jeanty. It lived up to its reputation!

Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes

Hey, you can still need shoes even if you have a closet full of them.

In addition to all the working on the house, traveling, family things, and everything else, I am submitting applications and going to interviews for a job. Maybe when things get more settled, I'll post more often. I'm not sure if I'll get a job or where it will be, but hopefully I will. At an interview I went to yesterday, the interviewer told me that he thinks my law school's graduating class this year only has a 50% employment rate so far. Wow! He also said that many experienced attorneys are looking for jobs, like people in all industries right now. I'm looking for something specific, so there aren't as many possibilities out there for me, but we'll see how it goes. . .

Yikes!

I haven't written a new post in over a month. We've been busy. We had the outside of our house painted and a door replaced. Also added a security system. If you don't have one, think about it. You can save on home insurance (ours monitors for break-ins and fire). I'm also still working on painting the inside of the house. Oh, and Ben went on a work trip to France a couple of weeks ago. I was very jealous! Here are a few if his pics:

Groupon

Do you use Groupon? I signed up a month or two ago for deals in my area. When I signed up, the Bham area was still in the works. They just started offering deals this week, and I love it! Check it out.