Sonoma Grand Prix

A day of firsts! We were lucky enough to get invited to the True Car-Virgin America suite at the Sonoma Grand Prix this weekend and my family joined us for a day of learning what racing is all about. We met the drivers, got to see the cars up close and personal and even got to go in the pit during the race! The food and drinks were fabulous and it was really neat to do something new and learn about the “Indy Driving World.” Us and 40,000 people left the race and started the 2 hour drive home on a one way rode so we decided to kill sometime and have another first… Wine tasting in Napa! We sipped champagne at Domaine Chandon and then enjoyed dinner at the Oxbow center (Pinot and pizza!) and made sure to try some oysters (another first) and buy some artisan cheeses to take home. Such a long and wonderful day!!

Concorse Italiano

Driving back from Concorse Italiano today… It was a gorgeous day in Monterey… Filled with beautiful cars, fabulous people and… wine :). We enjoyed VIP access to the hospitality suites, learned a lot about exotic cars and enjoyed the fashion show and delicious lunch spread. We ended the day with wine tasting in the Monterey coast and dinner at C at the Intercontinental… Fabuloso as the Italians would say! 🙂

Entertaining

I’m working on learning the art of “quick dinner parties.” Sunday was a long, productive day (Bloody Mary brunch, gardening, house deep cleaning) and we still had time to have my family over for Sunday dinner! Sunday morning I marinaded chicken souvlaki and refrigerated it while we scrubbed and dug all day. After a quick shower I whipped up a Greek salad (using all farmers market finds – cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, bell peppers, red onion, dill and Valbreso feta with fried olive bread and olives), grilled chicken souvlaki and peppers, and rice. Served outside on our patio with a Patz and Hall chard… It was the perfect summer night! Opa!