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

Our Weekend // Sonoma Wedding

This past weekend, we had our friend's wedding in beautiful wine country.

It was great reuniting with all of the our college friends {the groom was a fraternity brother of Ryan's} and of course all of the Beta wives/fiances/girlfriends.

Every detail was accounted for...loved the letterpress touch!

We got some rare couple time in!  ;)

Beltane Ranch...the beautiful venue!

Love this girl!

Gang's all here!

Ryan's best man and his beautiful wife!

The kiss!

The table setting.

And the sun setting on a perfect evening!

We always have a great time when we all get together, and lucky us, we get to celebrate again together next month as another fraternity brother gets married...yay!  To top off the weekend, I got to see one of my best friends on Sunday for brunch.  #perfectweekend

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

xo natasha

Anniversary Weekend Wrap Up::Sonoma

As most of you are aware, yesterday was our two year wedding anniversary and we chose to spend the weekend in Sonoma.  Wow...let me just tell you...not only was the wine superb, but the food was SPECTACULAR!  By yesterday, we were ready to head back...happily full and rested!

 We got into town Friday night and headed to Della Santina's for dinner...it was truly one of the best Italian dinners I have had in a long time.  We ordered the caprese, panzanella, gnocchi, and pesto linguine.  The gnocchi was my favorite...I might have eaten all of Hubby's dish!  Oops!

 Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Sunflower Caffe...the lattes were amazing!

 And so was the peppered bacon waffle...WOW!

 There were adorable shops in downtown Sonoma...I especially loved this crystal chandelier...

 And this wine bottle chandelier...

 And these adorable vases.

 We were fortunate enough to stay at a cottage on a winery...the Chardonnay Rombauer winery, that is!

 One of my favorite wineries was the Little Vineyard...amazing wine and views!

 I  love the seating there...would love to recreate this look in my own yard!

 The Larson Family Vineyard was also a favorite of ours!

 Dinner that night was none other than the girl + the fig...every flavor was pure perfection and the outdoor seating was divine!

 We got to experience new cheeses...

And delectable desserts...caramel and dark chocolate?  Lavender vanilla creme brulee?  I died and went to Heaven!

 Here are all the wineries we visited plus the amazing bottle of champagne our hosts left for us to enjoy!

Imagery Winery
Little Vineyards
Valley of the Moon Winery
VJB Vineyard & Cellars
Larson Family Winery
Kenwood Vineyards 

For Sunday Brunch...we went to El Dorado Kitchen and I immediately fell in love with this huge farm table!

Of course, no wrap-up post would be complete without our picture!  :)

Hubby thoroughly spoiled me throughout the weekend...I am a lucky girl!  We had the best time and can't wait to go back soon.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

xo natasha