Just Maui'd.

And, as usually, I'm so behind in blogging. Since August, nothing too miraculous has happened...we both celebrated our birthdays, witnessed our nephew's dedication, toured our best friends' wedding venue, and the most exciting part - we went to MAUI!

It was a much needed vacation, and Hawaii in October is basically heaven on earth. I thought I would miss the new Fall weather and my pumpkin-spice obsession, but I was more than happy to give all of that up for a week of THIS:

and THESE:

And this is was our life:

We were blessed to have my parents there with us, and we had more fun than I can even put into words. Morning walks on the beach, snorkeling around Black Rock, eating at all the most delicious Ka'anapali restaurants and shopping in Lahina & Whaler's Village, endless lava flows, late night pool swims, and hula pie...all of which loosely sums up just how relaxed and happy we were. Dinnertime was always the best - just the four of us together, enjoying the moment with a hawaiian music soundtrack playing in the background.

We are so blessed to have such an incredible family to share these moments with. I mean, look at these clowns:

It couldn't have been more perfect...especially Travis. 

It was an unforgettable trip. We can't wait to go back again soon. Mahalo, Maui, for everything.

Until our next vacation,

C+T.

One ring = endless surprises.

It was not a party for Annie's birthday.

But, until August 20th, everyone thought it was. And that was only a small fraction of an intricate plan Annie and I crafted in order to throw an epic surprise engagement party for our best friends, Jason and Jenny.

Rewind - it was a month before the proposal when the idea of a surprise engagement party even popped into our minds. From that moment on, we spent every spare moment we could find planning away. I, along with Annie's boyfriend Mike (who was really just Annie using his Facebook), told Jason and Jenny (and all of our friends) that it was a surprise party for Annie's birthday - and being the kind souls they are, they were so excited to celebrate Annie and agreed to take her out to dinner. What they didn't know was that when they thought they were walking into a birthday party, they were actually walking into an engagement party. Needless to say, the reaction was nothing short of surprise:

We also told all of our friends that it was a surprise for Annie, to ensure that we didn't blow Jason's first surprise: the proposal! So when he finally proposed (3 days before the party) and they announced it to the world, we quickly messaged all our friends to tell them the truth. Everyone was SUCH good sport and so willing to help make the party a huge success! We definitely couldn't have done it without every single person there. And, as you can see, we were all SO excited:

We had such a fun night planned - and it all started with some awesome decor. THANK YOU so much to everyone who came early and helped set up, and a special thanks to my mom and sister for really pulling everything together. So awesome.

Nikki assembling the champagne tower! She was a champ! (pun intended)

Annie and I had prepared a toast, complete with a dramatic reading of a poem we wrote especially for the lovebirds:

 As a second surprise, we prepared a game in which the future bride and groom had to answer questions about their relationship, without looking at each other. We made Jason and Jenny "heads" that they used - the would hold up the head of whomever they believed was the answer to the question. For example - "Who is a better cook?" (Jenny ;) )There were certainly some fun questions where the answers didn't match. ;)

Annie and I testing out the heads!

We ended the night with a video we prepared for them, full of well wishes and great memories. It was great to have all our friends in one place, to celebrate two people we love. We would do it again and again for these two, but we won't put them through any more shock for awhile. :)

Jason & Jenny, we love you. And that's the bottom line. Cheers to you guys, you deserve all that is good in the world. Thanks for letting us all come along. :)

Until our next surprise party (which won't be for AWHILE),
C+T.

My fellow party planner. LOVE her. #PP

Date night on top of the world.

Skyline Boulevard. Props to whomever named that road, because it lives up to its name perfectly. 

I've been going up to Skyline since high school - Big Basin, the road that connects to Skyline, was literally a stones-throw away from our high school, so a trip up there was a favorite Friday afternoon activity. In the winter, it would actually snow near the top. We would anxiously wait to get our of our last class so we could head up there with our coats and have a massive snowball fight. However, it was several miles beyond the point of snow that we were most interested in: the vista. 

Skyline Boulevard is a small, curvy road that isn't always the easiest to drive,but it's SO worth it. 20-ish miles up from Downtown Saratoga, the road randomly opens to the one of the most incredible vista points in our area. There's a small, built in parking lot right up against a railing that overlooks so much of the valley...and depending on the time of day, you get a totally different view. During the day, you can see as far as the SF bay and over the mountains. At sunset, the mountains are glowing and the clouds are rapidly changing colors. At night, the whole view is glittering with lights. All three are gorgeous. 

Since Travis and I try to fit in a date night as often as we can, it was my turn to come up with an idea. We grabbed sandwiches and made it up to Skyline just before sunset. It was the perfect view for a simple dinner date.

Mountains off to the right.

From the parking lot vista point.

The city of San Jose, little hard to see.

Crappy iPhone photos barely do it justice.

The vista point is incredible, no doubt. Seeing the city come to life is a magical experience. However, the best of the night was actually behind us - across the street there are some hiking trails that head up into the hills. Just before sunset, we trekked up one of the paths to the top of a small hill, and caught a sunset like I have never seen before.

Feeling on top of the world.

The hiking trail we took to the top of the mountain.

Top 5 best sunsets I've ever seen.

With literally no one around and just miles and miles of gorgeous land, it was perfect.  If you haven't had the opportunity to visit Skyline, GO. NOW. Seriously. We'll come too.

 

Until our next date night,
C+T.

Loma Prieta rocked our world.

Pun intended.

But I'm not referring to the earthquake...but instead, the WINERY.  To be fair, Loma Prieta Winery gets its name from the infamous fault line it sits on, but luckily the fault line stayed quiet during our visit and we were able to enjoy all the magic this place has.

Our best friend Jason found this hidden gem and was so excited to take us up there to see it. Being the winery lovers we are and hearing him describe the experience, we didn't hesitate to say HELL YEA. We were joined by two of our other great friends, Robert and Amber, and the 6 of us had nothing short of an incredible day. Jason and Jenny grabbed some sandwiches from Zanottos (the BEST) before we trekked up Summit Road to get to the top of the hill...where we found a view like none other:

Photo taken from our picnic table...unreal.

Those of you that know me know that I'm ALLLL about views. I will trek to the end of the earth to find the best view...and I'll admit, this one definitely is somewhere at my top of my list of faves. From the patio of the winery, you can see all the gorgeous vines, the Santa Cruz/Los Gatos mountains, the coast line and the ocean. Talk about a one stop shop. While there is often the risk of fog when heading toward Santa Cruz, this place was crystal clear. We might have actually been higher than any potential fog. It was ahh-maze-ing.

This winery doesn't just have the view going for it...the wine is also REALLY good. They have a special wine called a "Pinotage" - it comes from a rare grape that was initially in South Africa, and now occupies only 25 acres in all of California. It's a beautifully fruity and summery wine, and we had no problem enjoying a bottle out on the patio...along with a bottle of their merlot, which is equally as delicious. Needless to say, the 6 of us came home with several bottles.

As if a great view and great wine weren't enough, this winery has a few other quirks - including a human-sized chess board and a bocce ball court for their visitors to use. We spent a good 4 hours up there without a moment of boredom.

Bocce ball court in the background!

We took our group photo on the chess board, accompanied by that same view and a cute little windmill.

 Los Gatos never ceases to amaze me with all it has to offer. I've been living here for 20 years, and I still discover new treasures all the time. We highly recommend you check this place out...you certainly won't be disappointed.

Until our next winery find,
C+T.