Wedding Week Begins

Bachelorette Party, Vineyard Style

My last "single" weekend was a lot of fun.  It started on Saturday morning with my Bachelorette Party.  Yes, you read that correctly - Saturday morning.  Everyone met at my place at 9 AM for (a yummy cup of Kona and then) a day trip to Temecula for some wine-tasting/"Vine Crawl." :)  I should mention the girls were very patient with the bride being late to start the party - oops!  Sorry ladies!  :\

The Bachelorette and her Trusty MOH

Donning my very special Minnie Mouse ears veil, we started at Wilson Creek.  I immediately loved this place when Danielle told me about the doggies that are usually wandering around the tasting room...and the wine was really good too!  I wanted to buy a bottle of everything I tasted!  Instead, I settled on one and somehow ended up with two!  I'd love to go back to this place!  The atmosphere was great, the service was great, and they're dog lovers...so why wouldn't I wanna go back?

My special "Bachelorette" wine glass

Next stop was South Coast.  This place was a-rockin'!  The tasting room had a great vibe to it - it was like being in a bar in PB except with a more mature crowd ;)  The service was also great, and I was equally impressed with their wines.  Another place to visit again!

The Bachelorette and her Vine-crawling Friends

By this time, our tanks were, um, full, you might say...and we were all ready for lunch.  So we headed over to Callaway and ate in their vine-side restaurant for some tapas and yummy watermelon sangria.  Great South American-influenced food, and our waiter was fun too.

Bachelorette Lunch

The tasting room was a bit of a disappointment, however.  I was not very impressed with the service.  They had signs everywhere telling you NOT to leave with a tasting glass because they "aren't included in the tasting price."  (Tacky?)  The wine was O-K...a little too dry for my taste, but I would've been okay with that if the service was better.  I think I was so used to great treatment we received at the other two places that I was quickly disappointed in the lack of attention we got at this place.  Needless to say, I won't be bringing Matthew back to this one.  The tasting room was buzzing just like South Coast's tasting room, but the service we got was dismal at best.  (Sorry to seem like I'm complaining or ranting, but I guess I was quite surprised because of the difference in service between this winery and the others we visited.)

Overall, it was such a FUN day with my friends drinking good wine and sharing fun memories.  One of the especially fun parts of this day was when someone would approach me, say congratulations and ask "When is your wedding?"  I got to say "Friday!"  :)

Giddy Bachelorette next to a cork replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

We arrived back at my place to a very happy puppy who greeted us wiggling her butt and folding herself in two (like a taco or cashew) competing for attention with Matthew...Guess who won in the end? ;)

Last "Date Night" as an Engaged Couple

We had planned to have a special date night on Saturday night since guests were due to start arriving (we thought) on Sunday.  So we sipped yummy Almond Champagne (from Wilson Creek - thanks Danielle!), had a nice, romantic candlelit dinner, and exchanged gifts with classical Christian music playing in the background (David Nevue channel on Pandora, in case anyone's interested) and a nice, warm fire in the fireplace.  The exchange of gifts was fun, and my favorite part was the after-dinner cuddle on the couch in front of the fire :)

The engagement period of a relationship is such a fleeting moment, merely a slice of the relationship as a whole...I'm really happy Matthew challenged me in the beginning to keep from planning right away.

Sunday Funday

We received a surprise Sunday morning - we thought Matthew's best friend was arriving, but it turned out he arrived this morning (Monday) instead, so we got an extra day to ourselves, and of course we spend some of that time doing wedding stuff ;)  Although, I think the highlight of Sunday for me was when we took Sophie over to Fiesta Island.  This dog is so incredibly fun to watch on the beach, I can't even believe it!  I really do have a beach dog!  And I just think that is so cool!!  SDBeachGirl has a beach-loving dog! How cool is that?!

Sophie in Doggie Paradise

If I lived closer to the beach and took her there more often, I'm pretty sure it would not have taken me almost 3 years to discover this, but now that I know, we will have to make more frequent visits to the beach!  Sophie happily (no, exuberantly) ran up and down the beach, running in the water, barking at the waves...running up and down, up and down, barking at the waves...and not paying any attention to the other dogs!  I've never seen her have this much fun without other dogs.  It was quite a sight to behold.

Here's a video of the SDBeachBoxer in action:

This was probably one of the nicest Sundays we have had together in a long time, and I think it was partly because we didn't have any of the "Sunday blues" involving thoughts like "Ugh, we have to work tomorrow."  Nope, not this time!  Cuz it's "Wedding Week!" :)

Saturday night at dinner, Matthew said "We're gonna have fun this week."  I think it was then that I realized how excited I am for this week.  We really are going to have a fun week, spending it with our girls/guys, with friends coming into town and family we don't see often enough.

I'm glad the weather forecast is looking so promising so far, but I'm even happier to be able to see friends and family who are coming into town to share and celebrate our special day with us!

I gave Matthew a card with a fun picture that had this caption:  The simplest joys are the best...

...and I realized...the simplest joy of them all is Love - to love and be loved.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians 13:13