Our 48 Anniversary Was A Happy Time Away*

The Sebastiani Theater, Sonoma, CA

1934 the first movie was shown here.

We wanted to take just a little overnight trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary on June 15th.  June is a busy month and there are lots of important dates we commemorate in it.  Our wedding, our baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ on the 10 June 1978 and our family anniversary (Our temple sealing) on June 23, 1979. We have to be purposeful in setting time aside for this type of get away or we just rush by it with a dinner and call it good.  These three events just require more because they have been so critical and so important to us in terms of how things have gone in our lives on a daily basis.

We chose Sonoma as we had recently rediscovered its charm and vintage feel.  Something we appreciate so much more than when Jim went to Sonoma State University. 

We arrived mid-morning and the first thing we did was orient ourselves, find our hotel, etc.  Then we parked the car and went exploring the visitors' center and The Town Square and a few shops around the perimeter.  The Visitors' Center is very nice and very informative.  Then we strolled around the big Square and I looked into some of the fun shops.  I saw this sign at the very beginning of the walk and was sorely tempted.  Hehe!

Jim is very patient to let me browse around but I know it is not his favorite thing to do so I hurry.  But since he is neither a drinker or a sport enthusiast and it was 10:25 in the morning I figured I better not drop him off!  So we wandered around for awhile and took some fun photos.  It started to clear up and be sunny!

Beautiful fountain in this little tucked away 

Plaza off The Town Square.

Brazilian-sized ferns?

Sonoma is quaint and laid back and 
a very relaxing feeling prevails here.
So inviting!

I love to look at the way the shops do their

 merchandizing by how
 they display their wares.

Jim...not so much.

We did some driving around the countryside taking in the sites and enjoying the rural setting. We saw a sign that said "Cherries For Sale."  We love cherries so we stopped at a fruit stand and bought some to put in our console between our seats for a treat. The grower had lots of baskets so Jim said we'll take one please. The guy swooped up the basket and dumped them into a plastic bag. 

We took off and I pulled out a cherry. I got a double cherry and said. "It's a sign!"  Jim looked at his and discovered he also had a twin. We soon realized that nearly every cherry was a twin. 

Not really a sign after all.  ;-/

Just a way to sell your 2nds!

The sun kept peeking out all day long, then ten 

minutes later it would be all gray and overcast.

We picnicked here and then walked about the length

 of a football field. There was a half an hour
 between these 2 photos in the same place.

This House was built in memory of Jack London 

by his wife Charmian

"The House of Happy Walls"

Jack London is buried near this home.

He loved his Valley of the Moon

and lived and wrote and ranched

here until his death at 40.

Located right outside Glen Ellen, CA

The interior of the home is quite grand but the

 Interior Design is "Early Curator."

That translates to too much brown, too little color 

and not much pizazz and quite austere.

Jim said just say,"The ranger did it!"  

This was my favorite thing in the museum.  

Jack London's Creed!

SO Jim Mattson that I laughed 

out loud when I saw it.

Our Hotel Room

4th Window from the Left

Window View of the Sign

Our USie in front of the Bright Orange Door

Sandwich Board on the Street and the Menu

Before dinner we did a little shopping  
At Figone's for our 
favorite infused olive oils.

Some oil and vinegar from Figone's and the Market.

So creative this girl of ours...
Jen made this with the little girls on Mother's Day!

Love Our Jennifer's Artsy Spirit
I want to design one too!

Campers For Sale in a window on The Square

Then we hung out in the park

 people watching until our reservation time.  

It was all so convenient and 

no hassles with parking because

 we walked.

So Pleasant

The Girl And The Fig Menu

This was divine especially the dessert!
I loved how they served it in a small coffee mug!
Not overwhelming you with calories.
It is a very lively restaurant with lots of buzz.
It was a lovely evening.

James brought his bike and took an early ride

 while I was getting ready for day two.

He discovered a cool Farmers' Market

so we went there to check it out!

The Biker Dude!

We bought some tiny cherry tomatoes

 that were pure heaven!

And some Cherry Balsamic Vinegar~Yum!
Cherries seemed to be a common thread 
on this trip.

The market and the original 

Williams-Sonoma

each had men cooking

Jim loves to watch!

I loved their copper display

I am copper crazed.

If we had and endless cache of cash

 I'd love to have this wall display
 in our kitchen!

Of course they have every 

fanciful and quality piece of

 cookware and tableware known to man. 

 Next Stop Bartholomew Vineyard & Park

One of our favorite picnic places.

The private home of the vineyard owner.

Reminds me of the vineyard home that was

 our class project in my 2004 design class in Napa.

My first redesign experience was life-changing.

The woman of the home cried like a baby 

when she walked in & the redesign

 our class had done in her home
was revealed to her.

So Back to the Park

This is the first time we have taken time to get into
the vineyard and see it from a new perspective. 

See the tiny green grapes hanging 

down at the bottom of the vine?

A beautiful and immense tree right
 next to the residence.

 We always take our siesta here. 
Yep we do!

Cornerstone was our next and final stop 

before heading home.

This is one of our favorite places to visit.  

They have beautiful gardens, 
fun and unique shopping and a restaurant 
called Park 121 that is excellent 
and reasonably priced.

You may choose inside or out.

We chose outside when it was time 
for a late lunch. 

This store is unique.  It is one of our favorites. 

 Inside is more for the ladies and

 outside is all kinds of salvage 

that people have

 transformed into "design."

There are no bargains here.

But it is a fun place to explore.

$15,000...It's yours!

They also have a lot of these kinds

 of stone pieces 

for outside. I was annoyed with

 the round mirror as I 

could not get a picture here 

without showing up in it.

So we gave into it and took another USie.

Perhaps better with a pitchfork in Jim's hand 

like that American Gothic Painting of the 

Farmer And His Wife 

by Grant Wood.

We ordered the last two things & shared.

We didn't get the add-on bacon.  

The equivalent of ordering 

a diet soda with a 1000 calorie meal. 

 Funny! Sheesh!

 My first sandwich 
since last November!

No permanent damage!  
Yahoo!

2 little cuties exploring this stone 
alligator bench.  So BOY! 

On our way out we passed through 
this store to our car.  

This whirly-gig thingy was cool
 with its moving parts

 & dragonflies. 
It was so reminiscent of summer 
when we were kids.

Where have all the dragonflies 
gone anyway?

But this was our favorite thing of the day 
in the way of stuff!

This tiny camper was so fantastic.  
We did a little daydreaming

about how cool this could be to own.  
We signed up for their

 brochure and hit the road for home.

Bedroom and Kitchen only
a very light load with Most of the
essentials!

We got home just before 5:00 having missed 
all the traffic.  A miracle!
We had a lovely evening, 
not telling a soul we were back. 
 Perfect.
We enjoyed our date night & watched 
one of our favorite movies. 

"Life is Beautiful"  

A pretty accurate description of how this 
short Get Away 

& 48th Anniversary felt.