The Best Trip to Napa ever

Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford 

beautiful view from Auberge du Soleil during every meal

Auberge du Soleil spa

Love the Carneros Inn- their design is great.  

Modern, traditional, industrial altogether.

The room we had was the most amazing rooms.  Full kitchen, dining room, living room, outdoor patio (the glass door completely opens), fireplace inside and outside, hot tub, outdoor shower, two master bathrooms.  We did not want to leave!

This is a view of the porch from the living room with the wall of windows that opens up- gorgeous!

Love the huge pendant lights and the corrugated metal

Love the tractor symbol

Love the ceiling and pendant lights in Market

These are the little individual cabins at The Carneros Inn. 

Awesome outdoor fireplace

Huge pendant lights in the FARM dining room

Again, huge pendant lights in bar area

The lights over the bar are actually table lamps acting as pendant lights.  Unique!

Oversized chandelier in the dining room

Love these outdoor fireplaces on the property

Pool at the Hilltop restaurant 

Love an adirondak chair!

Gorgeous

Cool bikes- love the colors

Ehler's Estate- beautiful barn.

Love the stone walls and the wooden beams with the huge chandelier

Darioush has delicious wines and great Persian architecture

Would love one of these in my yard

Cool wine room in the caves at Darioush

Wine and cheese pairing at Darioush

Domaine Carneros

Cuvaison in Carneros- beautiful views!

View from Robert Sinskey Vineyards- lavender!

artichoke flower

Robert Sinskey is an eye doctor so he made his windows look like eyes

Robert Sinskey caves

Farm to Table tasting at RSV

zucchini flowers

Plumpjack Winery

Great outside seating area at PJW

Bottega restaurant in Youtville

Oakville Grocery

During renovations, they discovered an old well.  Pretty cool.

Nickel and Nickel

I like the look of this room at Nickel and Nickel

love these farm sconces

French Laundry- the BEST culinary experience i have ever had- three Michelin stars

They even personalized our menu for my husband's birthday!  

We got to go into the kitchen and meet the chefs

The chefs signed our menus (I had them framed and they are hanging in my kitchen)

Schramsberg- first caves in Napa- all hand dug

Meadowood Restaurant- three Michelin stars

Peju

love the door

I am loving these huge pendant lights

I love this wine bottle chandelier!

Great idea.  I want one.

Vintner's Collective is our favorite boutique wine tasting room

I love this wine tasting menu from Vintner's and I had it framed for my living room.

Here is the framed butterfly wine tasting place mat in my living room

Love how this looks.  My living room has blue walls, gold trim with other metallics with some black and grey, and the butterfly has these colors in it so the matting was done in gold and grey.  I wanted a pop of color so I did the last matte in purple.

I am loving Olioboard and cannot stop!

These are my Olioboards

This is a retro and eclectic kitchen I created.  Love kitchens by Le Cornue

Lacornue usa

Love my new pendant light

This capiz lamp is like a piece of art when the light is off.  It gives a perfect glow so that in the evening, I can turn off the overhead high hat lights and relax.  They carry them in other colors.  The turqoise and the green ones are really pretty too.  I like this light because it's beautiful, it adds some interest to the space and it is out of the way.  Sometimes I think that table lamps are in the way because they take up table space where my wine should go!

Another new addition is a set of wall sconces in my master bedroom.  Again, I got to eliminate my table lamps and clear off the night stands.  The sconces are just for reading light and for visual interest.  We had some molding put in and we could never fully enjoy the molding because the shade of the table lamp was always in the way.  The room seems less cluttered now.

It's difficult to tell from the photo but the sconces are gold with gold shades.  The shades have a gold sparkle to them, which is really pretty.  I recommend adding sconces as bedside lighting.  The molding is really an interesting detail too which is very inexpensive and worth it.

NEW FRAMED ARTWORK FOR MY LIVING ROOM

This is a photo of a butterfly placemat for wine tasting that I was given when I was in Napa CA.  My husband and I went to a place called Vintner's Collective, which is a small tasting room in downtown Napa.  We love it there and we have gone every time we have been to Napa.  The placemat is really pretty and has all the colors of my living room.  I thought, why not frame it?  I added a touch of purple just to give it more pop (I don't have any purple in the room itself).  There are three borders and the frame.  It turned out great.  I had it done at Michael's and got 50% off during a sale.  Good deal.  They do a great job there.

David Rivera Art  dcrartcommissions.artspan.com

My friend, David is a local artist. 

I went to an art exhibit of his in Lambertville, NJ one time.  I got to see his art and I loved this painting.  I felt like I could literally reach out and grab the bread.  My husband and I love our wine and this piece jumped off the canvas at me.  I had to have it.  Someone already owned the piece so I purchased this print and had it framed at the local framing store.  It matches perfectly in my hallway and I enjoy it every time I go up and down the stairs.

I like that I support a friend and his work and that I have something from the community that means something to me.  My husband and I got engaged in Napa Valley and we are going on our third trip there this summer.  

David Rivera

Here are some other amazing images I enjoy of David's......

Portraits-

I believe that this is David's sister.  The skin and the lighting are so detailed!

This image of the lab has tremendous detail.  

Still Life-

This image does not at all do justice to the beauty of the piece when it is seen in person.  It looks more like a photograph than oil on wood.

David commissions work so if you have a photo of something you love or a picture of something, he will paint it for you.  I plan to have him paint an image I have kept over the years of a dawn in Napa.

Starting to redecorate the ugly guest bedroom

I always try to do some sort of home decorating project when my husband goes fishing for a long weekend with his buddies.  Last week, I bought a new duvet and a new duvet cover from Serena and Lily.  It is a combination of corals and blues and I am looking forward to matching other pillows, trim, paint, etc.

Serena and Lily

Love the palette because it is bright but calming at the same time.  It isn't too bright or overwhelming.  I do not think I am going to paint the walls in this coral color but probably a shade of blue of some kind.

I plan to go to Calico Corners today to search for some other colors and prints that will compliment this comforter.  I do not have a swatch so I took a photo with my phone.  I can hold up the photo to some of the potential fabrics while i am shopping.  I don't want to make a mistake and order pillows or trim that don't match.  

I am not going for a completely "matching" room here.  I want to mix patterns and colors so I am going to purposely look for other patterns and shades of coral and blue.  I am going to keep within the shades of white, blue and coral though.