Our two year anniversary

Two years ago on St. Patrick's Day, on the corner of Geary Boulevard and 5th Avenue in San Francisco, Brian hopped out of a cab with our mutual friend Steph and my life was changed forever. I'll save the (kinda hilarious) story of how we met for later, because today's entry is a celebration of our relationship for the past two years.

Brian asked me to arrive on base at Coast Guard Island in Alameda at 11 a.m. yesterday. I teetered up the stairs on my heels to fetch him from the ship, then he walked me across the street to the Banners Club, which is a small event facility. The local branch of the Navy League had thrown an event for the Integrated Support Command and Brian's ship, the Coast Guard Cutter Sherman. We bought 40 raffle tickets and ended up winning FIVE times because we had so many darn chances. It was quite fun, and I got to see fellow Coastie girlfriend Kaylee there during the raffle. Below is a candid shot of some of the items we won: 3 bottles of wine, an etched glass wine decanter and goblets, etc.



Next up, we went home to Concord and Brian told me to pack a swimsuit. Puzzled, I reminded him that I have had the flu for over 3 weeks (more on that later) and that I was not in any state to go swimming. He chuckled, then told me that he was going to attempt to throw my guessing game off for the rest of the day by telling me to bring things I might not need. I had to admit, he was doing a great job of leaving me in the dark about our plans. We hopped into his truck after he secretly plugged the destination address into our GPS, and when I saw that the drive time was 1.5 hours, I became even more puzzled.

Driving time estimate for San Francisco: 45 minutes. Driving time estimate for Sacramento: 1.5 hours, but the GPS noted that we were heading north, not east. I puzzled over this secret location until I saw this:



In other words, welcome to Wine Country :)



Our first stop was Opus One winery, which is this odd architectural marvel built into a sloping and perfectly manicured lawn. It looks like the hill featured in the Teletubbies, but larger and more elaborate. We had exactly 2.5 hours to kill before our "first appointment," as Brian covertly named it, so he allowed me to choose a few wineries to try tastings at. As beautiful as Opus was, however, their tasting was $30 per ONE GLASS. The bottles cost $180, and I told Brian I'd rather drink broken glass than spend that much money on a stupid 2 ounce pour of wine. So we took a picture and left :)



Next up was a brand new winery, literally still under construction. The sign designating guest parking was literally made out of cardboard, and I couldn't help but be skeptical as we walked up and saw 3 people lounging in front of the tasting room, drinking water. I assumed they were fellow tourists, until one of the women stood up and laughingly led us inside. Her name was Susan, and she is now officially my favorite wine expert :)



Much to our pleasant surprise, Alpha Omega is a boutique winery with ridiculously great service and wine. We stayed in that one tasting room for well over an hour, asking questions without fear of being judged. She explained how various blends work when selecting grapes from throughout the Napa Valley, and she let us sample proprietary blends both from the steel bins in the back room as well as straight from the oak barrel.



Our wine expert praised us when we were both able to recite the physics behind the Bernoulli and Venturi effects and how they affect wine serving. We bought a bottle of their locally made Chardonnay, and as an added bonus she waived our tasting fee then gave us VIP passes to one of her favorite wineries, Miner.



Brian hurried us out around 5 p.m. so we could make our appointment. I still had no clue where we were going, so I busied myself taking pictures out my open window and enjoying the 73 degree weather. I glanced up briefly to see a castle-like building looming in my periphery, and just as I made an exclamation of appreciation, Brian turned up into the driveway.

He tells me I cursed a few times and said, "Oh my god," but I don't remember :P



We had just arrived at the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant in the Culinary Institute of America. The locals call it CIA, and I think I almost fainted after the valet took our car and we walked in. The place is literally the mecca of good food and wine, specializing in locally grown fare that is always fresh.



Imagine this - the edges of the sole filet were slightly crisp, paired with crunchy bites of toasted almond and perfectly created asparagus risotto. The course literally tasted like California in food form, balanced but diverse and light. I also got to pair this stellar dish with an incredible flight of white wines, all from California vineyards.



The restaurant is built around a central and open kitchen, where diners can watch their food as it's created and see the process through which the chefs prepare it.



I struggled to restrain myself from gasping audibly with every bite and sip. Each course presented a new and completely different flavor, so my sensory overload began to take over even before my first course of goat cheese crostini had arrived.



After finishing dinner at the CIA, Brian loaded me up in the car again and we made out way to our next secret destination. It wasn't until we had literally pulled into the parking lot that I realized where I was and why it all looked so familiar.



We'd arrived at Golden Haven Hot Spring in Calistoga, a place he'd taken me during the first year of our relationship. I spent the next several hours indulging in a mud bath, heat wrap, facial and full body massage, all the while getting to hold Brian's hand and recover from the wine I'd been tasting all afternoon. By the time we were ready to go home, I declared that it was one of the best days of my life. I couldn't be happier.