July 26, 2013--10 years!

Friday---oh Friday, how you were the best day of my married life.  The entire day goes in the books as -the best day ever--.  It was filled with so much romance and sweet moments that really just took my breath away.  It's a day I would relive over and over and over again.  One thing about this vacation that made it SO special was that we were away and celebrating on our actual anniversary.  This doesn't happen too often.  We either will celebrate early or late doing something little on the actual day of...but not this year!

Our alarm clock went off at 4:30 and we had to be out the door by 5:15.  We had a hot air balloon ride scheduled for that morning and needed to be at Chandon by 5:30.  This was one of those bucket list experiences---one of those 'once in a lifetime' moments, and having it on our anniversary was the icing on the cake.

I was a little nervous about riding in a hot air balloon, but it was not the least bit scary--at all.  I was on my phone posting pictures to instagram and looked up and we were in the air.  I had no idea we were even moving.  You really do become 'one with the wind' so it is not the least bit windy or bumpy.  It was so smooth and so beautiful.  The group we were with were really fun too.  You stand in a little pod type thing in the basket--2 to a pod.  Matt and I enjoyed ourselves so much and just took it all in.  The couples near us were from Scotland and Australia.  We really enjoyed them, swapping turns for pictures, and their accents were fun to listen to.

Our fun crew!

The couple next to us took this picture above and sent it to us.  It's one of my favorites now.  One of the sweetest moments on our flight was when Matt pulled out our vows from 10 years before.  We tucked away in our little corner of the basket and shared them again.  It was beautiful and so special.  More then than 10 years before.

Our landing shadow!

After our balloon ride we had breakfast and mimosas outdoors at Chandon.  It was such a gorgeous morning and having breakfast and coffee after we were all finished was so nice.

Once we left Chandon we had time to drive around and drop in to a few spots that looked neat to us.  One place we drove up to was Luna Vineyard.  It looked pretty and we had time to kill so we stopped on by.  It was so nice and actually ended up being the only winery that we bought their wine to be sent home to us.  It was really, really nice.

Up next was Del Dotto Vineyard.  This was quite the wine tour.  The entire tour was done in their caves and was barrel tasting only.  So neat trying the wine before it every goes to the bottle.  We really, really enjoyed Del Dotto and tasting wine that sells for hundreds and hundreds of dollars. 

Del Dotto (taken fro their website).

The entire tasting was done in their cave by candle light.  Just beautiful.

After Del Dotto we had time to kill again and did what we do best---just drove around exploring our surroundings. 

Our final tour and tasting of the day was at Schramsburg--the bubbly!  Mmmm!  This one was really fun because we had yet to do the bubbles, so it was very very interesting and learning what it takes to make a bottle of sparkling wine was A LOT of work.  That price tag definitely makes more sense.

The 'wall' behind the tasting table and in the picture below is nothing but bottles of sparkling wine.  It'll stay there for years and years before it ever hits the shelves.

A real man carries mama's purse.  By this point in our trip my purse weighed about a million pounds---I needed a break.  Sweet thing kindly volunteered.

I have to say we were 4 for 4 in the reservations we made.  All wineries were recommendations from friends and a co-worker of Matts.  They were spot on in experience and information.  We loved all 4 and can see why they were people's favorites.  We'll gladly pass them on too to others. 

After Schramsburg we wanted to go grab a snack and then find us a place to veg out for a little while.

We went to this little dive type spot called Guyigni's---again another recommendation from a friend.  It was the best sandwich complete with the guigni guice--so good in fact we had to bring a bottle home with us.  

This next part of our day might just be my most favorite part of our entire week.  We stopped and spent a few hours at V Sattui.  We have been here before and we loved it, and it was nice to go back.

Oct 2009 V Sattui---best open faced caprese sandwich ever!

Matt and I walked the property for a little while, shared some wine, and found us a little bench off to the side.  We were finally able to share our cards.  In our world, giving cards to one another has always been a big deal.  We sat on this little bench for quite some time.  Sacred things were spoken on that bench...a lot of reflection, talk of us now, and the future.  Things were said on that little bench that will forever be in my heart.  We shared our vows again....this time alone, just the two of us on that bench.  It was one of my most treasured moments.

Our vows

I never loved him more than at that moment.

We made dinner reservations earlier for Friday night because we thought it would be a good idea to start getting back on the good ole Central time zone.  We had reservations at Bottega.  This is a place I have always wanted to go to because I am a big Chef Michael Chiarello fan.  This meal was the meal of all meals.  Best of the week and that is saying a lot because all week had been perfection.  I'm talking eyes-roll-in-the-back-of-your-head-every-bite-you-moan kind of meal.  The menu was so inventive, so different.  Each course we thought it couldn't get any better.  Fantastic and a perfect conclusion to our day.

This man of mine turned up the notch romancing me all day.  It was an anniversary that I'll never forget---ever.