Avery's 30th Birthday Bash :: Solvang, CA

I'm thinking it's about time to get back to blogging since it's now been over a month (not to mention a new decade) since my last post. In all honesty, I have truly missed updating my blog, but decided I needed a bit of a break...break is now over and I'm ready to dive back in...I hope. Enough of my excuses.
The weekend of December 10 - 13, was dedicated to celebrating one of my closest friends 30th birthdays in Southern California. Avery and I went to WSU together, caravanned to LA a week after graduating, lived together for four years and have shared a lot of great memories. Being that she has a Christmas-time birthday, we decided to celebrate a couple of weeks early in a Very-Big-Way...minus a few hangovers and geting lost in Hope Ranch the trip went off without a hitch

Hands . Down . One . Of . The . Best . Weekends . Ever

Here's a few stats that express how much Avery is loved and how much our group of friends from college still love to reconnect:

♦ Carrie flew in from Washington DC
♦ Stacie flew in from Boston
♦ Jackie flew in from Ohio
♦ Myself, Jamie, Marge, Spry, Steph, Lynne, Michelle and Rauh flew in from Seattle
♦ Crystal drove down from San Francisco
♦ Shelby drove up from San Diego
♦ And the girls that live in LA - Avery, Lyndsy, Lori, Christy, Jaime, Brooke and Ashleigh

Most of us arrived by Thursday night so we met up for a few cocktails at Nikki Beach in Venice amd then stayed in Santa Monica at the Doubletree. Friday morning, a few of us met for breakfast at Huckleberry with Dett, Tara and baby Jackson. I could have spent hours cuddling this adorable little guy. Considering he was passed around a table of 10 girls, he was perfect! And of course, it was so fun to finally get to catch up with Dett and Tara in person.

Tara with her baby boy

After breakfast, we headed out for our destination - Solvang! Think Leavenworth charm...in the middle of beautiful wine country. We checked into our hotel and headed out to Carivintas Winery Tasting Room. Next stop Root 246 for some dinner and drinks. From dinner a few peeps called it a night while the rest of us enjoyed a bit of a dance party in the rain, in the streets of Solvang to Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas." We then considered calling it a night, but instead convinced the Bradford Wine Bar to stay open a bit longer for us to indulge in some tastings.

Saturday morning we dressed in our plaid tops (yes, this was planned ahead of time), and ventured out on our winery tour excursion via party bus. During the five hour tour, we were able to check out four beautiful wineries...My personal favorite was Zaca Mesa - the grounds were absolutely gorgeous and the wine delicious.

✓ Curtis Winery
✓ Zaca Mesa Winery
✓ Firestone Vineyards
✓ Sunstone Vineyards & Winery

Despite the torrential downpour at times, the day was perfect! We laughed, we sang, we danced (possibly in not the most appropriate places). Pretty much the most ideal girls/birthday weekend on record. Here are just a few of the photos that I captured.

Michelle's best interpretation of Marissa from the OC passed out in Tijuana


Not quite sure...possibly embracing a cool chandelier at Root 246






Apparently, Brooke had had enough smiling and laughing for the day...perhaps partly due to this famous quote..."We'll Split Me In Two and Cover Me in Ice Cream - It's Your Birthday"