1. Wine tour
2. Relax and hit the spa
3. Fine dining
Don't forget to pack:
1. Cute yet comfortable outfits for wine tasting and sass it up for a night out.
2. A designated driver! Definitely don't want to be driving around after all that wine tasting.
My Bachelorette Party Weekend
Simply Perfect!
THURSDAY 8/4/11 THRU SUNDAY 8/7/11
NAPA, CA
Where to begin? My bachelorette party weekend was simply perfect and even better then I had imagined...
THURSDAY ~ the party begins!
An ambitious 6 of us So Cal girls (including Tami from Chicago who flew in the night prior) got on the road @ 7:00am on Thursday and embarked on our adventure in the ginormous brown kidnapper van (I'm not being dramatic, we were up there with the truck drivers). We sped up to Napa with nothing in our way and arrived before all the flights, so, of course we found the adorable downtown Napa area to be on our way and had our 1st toast of the weekend on an outdoor patio over looking the Napa river :) Cheers!
Slowly but surely the girls arrived (13 by Fri eve!) at our Bachelorette Villa on the Silverado Canyon Golf Course - the almost 4,000 square foot house w/ 4 Bedrooms (with a huge master suite) and 4 bathrooms, on the 9th hole of the golf course. The house was shaped as a 'U' against a hill behind the house, so the pool was perfectly situated in the middle of the 'U' with sliding doors opening from the family room (one side opened to golf course and other to pool - stunning) and 2 bedrooms. Take a look for yourself; the pictures don't do it enoug justice:
Thursday night was the kick-off to our 3-night slumber party! We drank wine while enjoying the sunset overlooking the golf course, did a few dance numbers around the pool deck, and taught the SHS gang how to all jump simultaneously in pictures (although I think we're still learning). We just really enjoyed each other's company and riduclousness for quite the magical evening, ending with some dirty dancing lifts followed by a midnight swim.
FRIDAY ~ Spa Day!
Friday was a day for everyone ... Nicole, Tracey, Linds & myself went to the Silverado Canyon Spa for the morning/afternoon while the rest of the group hit up the Sterling Winery. I can't speak for Sterling (although Aaron & I have been and its a very fun experience!), but the spa was just what the bachelorette ordered. We lounged in the hot tub while drinking fruit infused water (which we stocked up on before we left) before we got called in for massages. I had a Hawaiian massage, which is very unique and I was beyond relaxed and in a state of bliss the rest of the day! We took advantage of the resort amenities and relaxed another few hours before meeting the rest of the group back @ our villa.
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| Have to take a gondola ride to get to Sterling Winery at the top of the hill |
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| View from Sterling Winery |
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| Sterling Winery |
Friday night I was adorned with a sparkly headband veil & we had dinner in a private/back room in Norman Rose Taven. It was such a quant place with all stone walls setting an alluring atmosphere. The menu was great, right up our ally with an array of food from disco fries (ask Amy), gourmet grilled cheese to a tasty seafood special. The waitress was fun and the wine kept flowing! I have two favorite memories of dinner:
1. Our game of telephone, ending with me "I have gazpacho on my ass and it looks like a troll". This is nothing close to what Amy started with, great work team!
2. When Linds came up with the great idea for everyone to share their favorite memory of or with me. Honestly, it warmed my heart <3 nothing but love for my lovies!
After dinner we tried to find some night life in downtown Napa and there wasn't too much going on in our general vicinity, so we made some friends along the way. We ended up in a questionable ;) bar, that told us it was illegal to serve vodka in Napa, hmmm, wonder what Tami bought us a shot of? The dance party didn't last that long, so all of us piled into the big brown van (later named Grandpa Jack's Mobile Wineyard. Wineyard = Jamie Polowy gibberish) and headed back to the Villa for another midnight swim.
Our night ended with a very generous showering of bachelorette-y presents, so sweet! These girls know me so well ...
SATURDAY ~ Wine Tour Day!
Right when our 'wine bus' arrive to tour us around all day, Miranda bought us all white (of course mine was pink) jumbo bling rings that light up, fantastic! And so DLO was born (drinking lights on! (or off depending)) and used as our group homing beacon to find us all the rest of the day and night (it did come in quite handy in the busy and/or dimly lit places). With our 'wine bus' in route, we popped the jumbo bottles of champagne and toasted morning mimosas to our fun filled day ahead. We worked our way around Napa Valley for 4 fantastic wineries:
1. Andretti Winery (Oak Knoll District) ~ Yes, Mario Andretti the racecar driver's winery. It's a cute boutique winery and we learned alot about wine making (from our life-loving and very hung over guide, Ruth) and enjoyed our first tasting of the day in the private event area reserved just for us!
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| Andretti Winery |
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| Grapes ready to be harvested at Andretti Winery |
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| Rows and rows of grapes harvesting at Andretti Winery |
2. V.Sattui Winery (St. Helena) ~ was mobbed! They have great food - a fabulous deli and freshly made-to-order bbq! The tasting room was in the midst of the madness and we jumped right in the mix. Thank goodness for DLO so we could find each other and make our way to the next ....
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| Inside V. Sattui Winery |
3. Rubicon Estate Winery (Francis Ford Coppola's Winery; Napa Valley) ~ the grounds were stunning and the wine was quite higher-end and tasty, yum! The estate felt like an old historic mansion, and when we finished tasting we were able to go up the grand stairs and check out old movie memorabilia, very authentic.
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| Love the charm at Rubicon Estates, Frances Ford Copula Winery |
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4a. Chandon't (too full for us, oh well their loss)
4b. Domaine Carneros (located in the heart of Carneros, South of Napa) ~ is a beautiful new mansion on top of a lush hill with a huge outdoor patio tasting area. We were wrapping up our tour of Napa here and had a speedy tasting of some delish Pinot Noir (my fav). The perfect finale!
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| The long walk up to Domaine Carneros Winery, but definitely worth the walk to relax and enjoy some vino outside on the patio |
Saturday night all the girls wore black dresses (looked so gorgeous and super sassy!) and I was in white w/ my sparkly headband veil. We had dinner Allegria, a quiet but chic Italian Restaurant in the middle of downtown Napa. Being a tad wined-out we opted for some Mango Bellini’s, I believe I found my new pomosa! Dinner was great; everyone really enjoy their meals.
After Friday night's bar experience we decided to follow our ears, over new friends & found a happening local bar w/ a boisterous female vocalist accompanied by her buddy on the keyboard/dj booth. Well, when you walk in with 13 girls, you're just bound to take over the place; so we just owned it. We had a blast, the crown was so nice and friendly! The served vodka (yay!), not just wine and the band just loved 'Team Bachelorette' and in addition to all the shout outs & sing alongs they let Amy and Jamie play as back up in their band. The fun just went on and on ....
And guess how we ended the eve? Not only w/ a late night swim, but we finally got to use the jacuzzi (in the master bath, of course)! All of us in one jumbo jacuzzi turned into quite the photo op. As everyone drifted off to sleep somehow Amy, Katie, and I (and Brandi hung around long enough to snap pics) had a Britney choreographing sweat-filled dance party in our bikinis - weekend complete! (Ha)
SUNDAY ~ day of sadness :( We all departed Sunday morning to say good-bye to our weekend of awesomeness! I'm still pooped & cannot wait to sleep in this weekend while Aaron is away in Chicago for his bachelor party.
A huge THANK YOU to Nicole for organizing this amazing weekend and Tami to arranging all the dinners & wine tour - everything worked out flawlessly; and to all my girls there - Nicole, Tracey, Tami, Jamie, Lindsay, Rachelle, Kim, Brandi, Miranda, Julia, Katie & Amy (and even a few not there - Chele, Julie), you all were so generous and filled with fun and love and I couldn't surround myself with a better group of girls!
Added by Tiffany on Thu, Aug 11th 2
Truly amazing share about bachelorette party weekend! I am in love with this bash. I too want to host a grand bachelorette bash as we would be getting married soon. But I just need recommendations for some nice affordable Chicago event venues. Could you help about it?
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