Schue Love: Anniversary

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Anniversary Weekend in Sonoma

This past weekend, we celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary in Sonoma. We hadn't visited since 2011...10 years ago and it was every bit as charming as we remembered. Here's a quick recap of what we did!

Stay:

We stayed at the El Dorado Hotel + Kitchen, which is right on the Sonoma Square and across the street from The Girl + The Fig. We loved the location and the vibe of the hotel. It was always buzzing with people coming in to dine and the rooms were well appointed. Our had vaulted ceilings, which made the modest-size rooms seem larger, and it overlooked the pool area.

Dine

Our first stop was Folktable at Cornerstone Sonoma, which is about a 10 minute drive from downtown Sonoma. It's a casual eatery with counter service. The food and atmosphere was excellent! We also found out that they host live music on the weekends in their courtyard! Lots of cute shopping nearby too.

We made reservations at the Walt tasting room, which is a few steps from our hotel. Walt is a sister wine of Hall Wines...and if you're ever in Napa, their winery is definitely worth stopping by!

A couple doors down from our hotel is a hidden speakeasy called The Beacon above The Taub Family Outpost. The whole property is gorgeous and well-appointed. The cocktails use all fresh ingredients and it was a great spot to stop by before dinner!

Probably the most special meal of the weekend was at EDGE, which is part of Stone Edge Farm, and the location is just a block off of Sonoma Square, which is key since it's a 4-course wine pairing menu and they are very generous with their tastings! ;) The service was top-notch and so memorable! We tried food that we would normally never order, like duck pate, but it was all delicious!

We loved having the Sunflower Caffe next door to our hotel. We would stop in for a quick coffee between meals and also enjoyed brunch there Saturday morning. It's counter service and they have a large back patio for those that want to dine-in.

My Dress + Hat + Stemless Champagne Glasses that I am now coveting...

We spent Saturday wine tasting at Gloria Ferrer. It was a last minute change as we felt a light sparkling was more palatable in the heat than day drinking red wines. I was really blown away by the property! It sits high on a hill and overlooks the valley (see first photo!). I'd highly suggest the cheese pairing too!

For a sweet treat, post-wine tasting, we stopped by Sweet Scoops, which is also conveniently located right on Sonoma Square.

Dressed for dinner outside our hotel!

My Dress + Heels

There were too many amazing dinner options to choose from, so we decided to get drinks and appetizers at The Girl + The Fig, since it's right across from our hotel and we love their food from our trip before. We get the charcuterie and the peach + burrata salad. Both were hits!

For dinner, we almost skipped Layla at Macarthur Place since it's a little bit off the square but I am SO glad we didn't! It's in the gorgeous MacArthur Place hotel and had an amazing ambiance...probably our favorite of the weekend. They greeted us with sparkling rose wine and we enjoyed a ton of small plates, cocktails and dessert. Would highly recommend!

As I said above, we loved the buzz of our hotel and stopped by the bar for a nightcap before calling it a night!

On Sunday, before we headed out, we sat out on the patio at Taub Family Outpost and had this amazing acai bowl! Which was just what I needed after an indulgent weekend! Like I said above, the whole property is super charming and they even have a little wine shop you can peruse for gifts!

Shop + Experience

If you have time to shop between wine tasting and meals, I enjoyed checking out the following:

Sonoma Loop for High-end Women's Clothing

Sign of the Bear Kitchenware for an amazing collection of kitchen items

G's General Store for a curated selection of clothing and household items

Fairmont Spa for an indulgent massage experience!

We hope it's not another 10 years before we go back! We had an amazing time!

xo natasha

PS...for additional wine country posts:

Sonoma

Healdsburg for a Night

Healdsburg Weekend

Girls Weekend in Napa

Anniversary Getaway to Wine Country

We celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary this past week, traveling to Healdsburg for a two-night getaway. After visiting earlier this year, I was dying to get back and to show Ryan. It was the perfect amount of time to unwind, relax and reconnect.

We kicked off our stay by going to Bravas Bar de Tapas. I highly recommend eating outside and enjoying a cheese board + their large selection of tapas. Ryan got the Thai One On cocktail and is was delicious! Super refreshing after a long drive!

Afterwards, we walked the square which has a ton of super cute shops, restaurants and wine tasting rooms. We scheduled a tasting in advance at Banshee Wines, mainly because the tasting room is super cute! Their wines are really good too!

My shirt {under $30!}

Afterwards, we stopped at Noble Folk Ice Cream and I got the Lucky Charm flavor!

One of the better decisions we made was to stay at a fun hotel, H2Hotel Healdsburg, on the square. As always, I booked a week in advance via the app HotelTonight and we got a great deal {use NSCHUE to get $25 off your first stay! Totally not sponsored, but have to mention!}. The hotel was SUPER cute and modern. It had ivy crawling all around the building, an amazing spoon fountain, free jugs of water and snacks in every room, plus a salt-water pool! It was heavenly!

An added perk was that Spoonbar is on site and they make some of the most amazing hand-crafted cocktails I've ever had. This one was the rosemary margarita...yum!

For dinner, we went to Wili's Seafood & Bar for oysters and other delicious seafood!

The next day was our wine tasting day, so we grabbed coffee at Flying Goat and checked out Shed before heading out for the day!

If you can only go to one winery while in Healdsburg, trust me and go to J Winery! The flight of champagne is out of this world and you must do the cheese pairing. I've never had a more unique pairing of cheeses before. It's quite the experience!

Afterwards, we grabbed deli sandwiches at Oakville Grocery and headed out to Bella Vineyards, where the tastings happen in a cave, and Preston Farm and Winery, an expansive property with a lot of family history.

For dinner we headed to Valette, which was probably my favorite meal of our trip. The food and service was amazing and the entire experience was special. It's a great place for an anniversary dinner or date night. Be sure to order their house made charcuterie and save room for their bread, butter and jam dessert!

We ended our trip at Shed for breakfast. Their Belgian waffle is to.die.for!!!

It was such a fun weekend and especially nice to really reconnect with my husband! I tease that even though we are pretty good about date night, there is something about the 24-hour mark that really makes a difference!

xo natasha

Anniversary by Year Gift Ideas

This past Friday was our sixth wedding anniversary {you can see our wedding photos here!}. I always struggle with gift ideas but love the idea of following the traditional gift themes. Some of them, however, are a little odd, so I hope this helps you think outside the box if you find yourself in the same quandary!

1 Year: Paper

Personalized stationary is a great gift for the first anniversary. You can personalize it with your new monogram or names. Another idea could be tickets to a fun show or ball game!

2 Year: Cotton

I don't care who you are, new sheets are always a good idea! And these are my absolute FAVORITE!! They're Pure Beech Sateen and they are so so soft. They feel like a million bucks but they are at a great price point. This would be a sure winner for a second anniversary gift.

3 Year: Leather

This handsome leather strapped watch is unisex so you can both have the gift of leather. I also love the idea of a weekender bag to get away for a quick trip!

4 Year: Fruits & Flowers

There are a couple ways to have fun with this theme, without going the obvious route. Though, let me be clear, a bouquet of flowers is always a great anniversary gift, regardless of the year! ;) But some other ideas are a pretty new bottle of citrusy perfume {guy version is a favorite too!}, a nice candle or a fruity wine.

5 Year: Wood

There are a lot of directions to go with wood, but I tend to think of terms of practicality! Whether it's new kitchen utensils or tools, like this handsome cutting board, there are a lot of options. Another fun one might be a special bassinet...which can be a keepsake for your baby and grandbabies! ;)

6 Year: Candy

This one is easy...but there are some fun ways to take it to the next level. I love specialty candy and Nordstrom now sells Dylan's Candy Bar and Sugarfina, which makes those treats a little more accessible! Yum!

7 Year: Copper + Wool

For something fun, I love this copper coffee set! Super fancy, don't you think? I also love this copper cheese set. However, if you're looking for something more practical, you might go the wool route and buy a new area rug, like this or this!

8 Year: Bronze

Keeping in the same vein of the copper gift year, I love these bronzed cheese knives...which would pear great with a unique cheese and a nice bottle of wine! Another idea might be to update your bed with a handsome bronzed nailhead headboard.

9 Year: Pottery

Nine years post wedding likely means that you have some chipped dinnerware, so this is a great time to update your plates or add some new bowls or dessert plates in to mix it up!

10 Year: Tin

Tin?! Other than a play on words, I don't get this gift idea. But in the spirit of this post, I love this recipe tin that would make a great accompaniment with a BIG kitchen appliance like a mixer, juicer, or a Nespresso machine! Also pans or a new knife set is a nice way to splurge {albeit, not very romantic!}. Or diamonds...diamonds seem appropriate for a big milestone like ten years!! ;)

I hope this helps and that you are all enjoying the weekend!!

xo natasha