Travel Diaries | Boston, Massachusetts

Last weekend my dad was in Boston for a work conference, and at the last minute...and I mean really last minute...my dad invited me to come out to see him for 24 hours! I had about 20 minutes to pack my bag and head over to Penn Station to catch my 5:00 train. It takes about 4 1/2 hours to get from NYC to Boston by train. I got to my hotel around 10, and had just enough time to have a quick drink at the hotel with my brother and my dad.

My dad was in his conference from 8-5, so Ethan and I headed out to explore the city.

This building reminded us of the flat iron building here in NYC!

After my dad was done with his conference for the day he took Ethan and I to a quick dinner before I head to head back to NYC!

Beautiful Boston sunset!

 Jumped on a super quick flight back to NYC!

It was such a whirlwind trip that I didn't even get any pictures with my dad or Ethan! But, thanks anyway daddy for bringing me along! Nothing like being spontaneous!

XOXO

Shelby

Bryant Park

During the holidays there are so many things to do here in New York. One of our favorites of the season is to visit the Bryant Park Winter Village. They have holiday shops, and the only "free" ice skating rink in NYC. It is free to skate, you just have to pay to rent skates if you don't own any yourself. 

The big hit with Ashley and I, and our friends is the almond hot chocolate. There is a stand in the park that sells about 40 different kinds of hot chocolate. Personally I haven't made it past the almond just because I like it so much, but my friends have tried the others and they are phenomenal!

I met up with Allix, Marielis, and Daniella for a much needed night in the park.

We are right in the middle of our final projects for the semester, so a girls night out was exactly what we needed to relive a little stress!

This wouldn't be a blog post of mine without a funny picture! This mannequin in the onesie stand was a little to hippy for me!

Bryant Park is one of my favorite holiday spots, and I go all the time. I've already been twice again since this night! If you come to NYC during the holidays this is definitely a must see!

XOXO

Shelby

Napa | Day Two

We spent our last day of the trip exploring some of the little towns in Napa Valley and taking in a few more wine tastings before heading back to San Francisco.

Wine Tasting #8: Grgich Hills

We learned about this winery at a wine tasting at our hotel our first night in Napa. A representative from the winery came to our hotel, let us taste a couple of their wines, and told us some of the history of the vineyard. What excited Shelby and I is that they offer grape crushing!! They are the only vineyard in Napa that does this and the weekend we were there happened to be the last weekend of grape crushing for the season. My only exposure to grape crushing was from an I Love Lucy episode and Shelby and I thought it would be a fun way to end our trip.

It was pretty chilly that day and as the grapes sit outside they were FREEZING but it was still really fun.

As part of the grape crushing you put your grape footprints on a t-shirt that you get to take home.

We did a tasting here too and bought a few more bottles. Our favorites were the Chardonnay, the red Zinfandel, and the Cabernet.

After the tasting we walked around downtown Yountville. There is some cute shopping and some of the area's best restaurants are located in this town.

 As per usual Shelby and Dad are sitting on a bench on their phones

 We had lunch at Bottega and it was SO yummy. Chef Michael Chiarello was a James Beard semifinalist in 2012 for best new restaurant.

 We sat outside on the patio by a giant fireplace. Perfect atmosphere, perfect service, and perfect food.

Wine Tasting #9: Duckhorn Vineyards

Unknowingly we saved the best wine tasting for last. This winery was recommended to us by several different people so we decided to make it our last stop on the way out of town.

This was the only tasting where we were seated and didn't feel rushed. Most of the tastings we did were just standing at a bar. I loved that each wine we tasted came with a card we could take home listing all the facts about the wine. That makes it so much easier to remember what we liked and what we didn't. However the only wine I didn't like was the white...we got to taste 5 of the best red wines I've ever tasted.

The best (and the most expensive) wine we tasted was a bonus pour we received called The Discussion. Best. Wine. Ever

After the tasting we explored the vineyard a little bit. The one thing we didn't get to do this trip that I wished we had is a formal tour of a vineyard and getting to learn a little more about the wine making process.

Back to San Fran...

Our hotel for the night was right on the beach.

This was Shelby's first trip to California and this was her first time ever seeing the Pacific Ocean. It was way too cold to go walk along the beach though.

And the day ended with another perfect sunset. 

Shelby and I were slated to take the red eye back to NYC that night but I ended up getting very sick right at the last minute. So, Shelby flew home without me and I stayed an extra night with my parents (lucky that they had a hotel room) and flew back the next morning. Kind of a crummy end to a great trip.

However, overall, it was a great trip and we came away with a lot of wine that I cannot wait to drink! : )

Until Next Time

XOXO

Ashley