My 28th Birthday

Normally I write about the books I'm reading, but you get this special posting instead. 

Last Friday was my 28th birthday, and it was the best day (weekend) ever.  My aide conspired with my students to make it a special day for me.  I don't know why, it isn't a big day, it isn't 30, but I'm not one to complain.  :)   A few weeks ago I noticed my aide was beginning to conspire more with my students...  I had no idea the extremes she went through though to surprise me.  I got to school and my room had balloons and some streamer things...

The students also decided they were all going to wear green (since it's my favorite color).  Not everyone got the memo, and some students were grumpy they didn't wear it.  I'd post pictures of them (it's cute!), but I don't want to lose my job for posting pictures of them....  However, students did make me some cute banners (in green), and they absolutely DESTROYED my whiteboards...

They also made a bunch of homemade cards



That wasn't the end of it though.  Apparently while my aide and students were sneaking around they took a bunch of pictures holding a "Happy Birthday" card.  Then, a bunch of my students wrote me little cards saying the sweetest things.  Jessie, my aide, put together a beautiful scrap book of all the pictures and cards.  I read a few of them during class (and even squeezed a few tears out for them).  Some students even made me a cake, cupcakes, and other things.  I love my kids,  they were so sweet and surprising all day.

I thought that would be the end of my special day, but no...  things only got better...  My parents decided to take Paul and I to Napa for my (our) birthday!  In the packet my mom gave me with the itinerary, she got the idea for a 10 year celebration from my 18th birthday (where they rented out a dance hall for me and all of my friends). 

Onto Napa...  First off, I  hate flying... I need to get over the irrational fear, but I haven't figured out a way to conquer it yet.  Maybe someday?  We'll see... We went out Friday night to Hanks for martini's and dinner, but I didn't sleep well Friday night.  We left early Saturday morning and flew to Oakland.  My parents rented a ridiculously comfy Buick.  Seriously, nice car!  We drove up to Napa and it was pretty.  It was the first time I have ever seen the Golden Gate Bridge!  We started out at Chimney Rock. 

I sadly didn't take any pictures the first day, but I did steal a couple of pictures from my parents, and I haven't uploaded the pictures from Paul's camera yet.  I LOVED Chimney Rock.  The wine was delicious and the people who worked there were SO nice!  Since my parents are wine members there they poured very generously... Seriously...  My mom told them when she booked the appointment that it was my birthday and they gave me a very special gift.  A ridiculously nice bottle of '06 Tomahawk Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Not only that, the winemaker signed it as well!  The bottle is an extremely nice bottle of wine, that we could never afford... Man, it is tasty!  They opened a bottle and let us try it as well.  We'll save it for a special occasion.  Oh man, so good!

We went to lunch at a little deli for lunch, then went to Hendry's, our next winery.  Hendry's is a cute little winery- he's been on the property for over 70 years, he's a second generation winery owner.  We went on a 2 hour winery tour then went back and had some more wine. 

That night we went to dinner then played a few rounds of Pinochle (which my mom and I lost...)  then went to bed early.  I was absolutely exhausted!  The next morning we got up and drove up north to the Duckhorn Winery.  It is a beautiful winery!! 

 These are a few of the glasses of wine we drank from... This wasn't all of them, but it was a lot.  I loved how he carried them out though!

 I always thought I hated Merlot.  Turns out I only hate CHEAP merlot.  Anything over $60 a bottle is delicious.  MMMmmmmm.  So good!  After we left Duckhorn we drove back down to the Deli to have lunch.  After lunch we went up to the sister winery Paraduxx.  It was very peaceful and delicious (as well).  After a few hours at Paraduxx we went down to Darioush.

Darioush was beautiful and delcious.  We bought ourselves a nice bottle of Duel.  We ended up going on a tour of this winery, too.  We also got to do two barrel tastings that was AMAZING!  They still need to age, but I would've bought a bottle straight from the barrel (it was that good)!  I think Paul's favorite thing was the pistachio's.  They were imported from Turkey and were pretty delicious. 

We (my Dad) drove back down to Oakland where our flight was delayed.  It was a smooth flight, and we ended up getting home around 11:30 Sunday night. 

This was the most wonderful birthday.  Ever.  It was such a wonderful experience, and it was so great! I would definitely recomend Napa to everyone.  :)  Happy Birthday to me!!