Holman Ranch Vineyards - Carmel Valley

I was recently invited to attend an overnight press trip to Holman Ranch to not only experience their beautiful wedding and event venue but to taste their wines.  Holman Ranch is a gorgeous ranch nestled in the Carmel Valley that it is full of history dating back to 1928 when it was first built.  Many Hollywood celebrities would escape to this exclusive hideaway to relax including Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Marlon Brando. 

The ranch has changed hands a couple of times over the years and was most recently purchased by the Lowder family who wanted to not only continue hosting weddings and corporate events at the ranch but to make estate grown wine and olive oil.  We were hosted by the Lowder's daughter Hunter and her husband, Nick, for the overnight trip.  

We first stopped at their tasting room in the quaint little town of Carmel Valley to pick up our key to our room .  Their rooms are only available to people using the ranch for an event (wedding, corporate, etc).  While we were there we were able to sample their estate wines which include Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris (my personal favorite of their wines), Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Rose of Pinot Noir.  They also have tastings and sell their Extra Virgin Olive Oil at their tasting room.  

After we arrived at the ranch and got ourselves settled in our room,  Nick greeted us with a glass of Holman Ranch wine and treated us to a tour of the beautiful property.   After the tour we we had a deliciously catered dinner paired perfectly with their estate wines out on the patio behind the Carmel stone hacienda.  

The next day we were given a tour of the rest of their property which includes 19 acres of vineyards, stables and their wine caves.  Their vineyards are in the Carmel Valley American Viticulture Area which is similar to France's Appellation d'Origine Controlee.  The climate and soil create a wonderful environment for their Burgundian Clones.  They produce about 3,200 cases of wine a year. 

If you are down in Carmel Valley, I would definitely recommend stopping at Holman Ranch's tasting room to sample their estate wines! 

*This trip was sponsored by Holman Ranch, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Cheers,

Cheers to the Weekend - Road Trip 2013

Sunset off the Pacific Coast Highway!

Cheers to the Weekend!  Since this is the first year of Kindergarten for us, we are getting used to having to take our holiday breaks at the same time everyone else is.  This next week is ski week at Landon's school.  Growing up we had Spring break but there was definitely not a ski week!  Instead of heading up to the snow to fight holiday traffic in Tahoe, we thought we would head south on a road trip to Carmel and San Diego.  We might be legitimately insane to get in a small confined space with three kids under six and drive for 10 hours!  But we are going to try it! 

View from our suite!

Carmel Valley Ranch has s'mores every night for their guests! 

First stop on #Roadtrip2013 is Carmel Valley Ranch!  You might have remembered that we came here a year and a half ago when Charlotte was only two months old.  We are here for three days and then we are heading down to San Diego with quick stops in Santa Barbara and Orange County for lunch and dinner.  Follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Vine to see updates on #Roadtrip2013! 

Do your kids have ski week?  Going anywhere fun? 

Don't forget to enter my Valentine's Day jewelry giveaway! 

Cheers,

Carmel Beach

I took over 800 photos while we were on vacation in Carmel Valley and Capitola.  I have been procrastinating in editing them, so I decided to post about the trip in phases.  These pictures are from our second day of vacation hanging out on Carmel beach.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, but the kids still had a lot of fun running around on the beach.

I have a lot more to share with you including our stay at Carmel Valley Ranch, lunch at Earthbound Farms, Monterey Bay Aquarium, dinner at Marinus at Bernardus Lodge and our time at the Rose Cottage in Capitola.

Earthbound Farms - Carmel Valley

Today is your last day to enter the Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar $50 Gift Certificate Giveaway! Leave a comment HERE and you are entered!

Carmel Valley Ranch

On Monday we are checking in here.

I am excited to have a lot of morning lattes here on our deck.

A lot of swimming and lounging here.

Hanging out here in our suite.

Maybe a couple of bubble baths here.

Watching the kids play here.

Eating lots of delicious food and truffle fries (per Caitlin's recommendation).

Definitely some of this.

Definitely NOT this since I am VERY allergic to bees.

 I'm the kids are going to love this!

I am very excited to be heading down south for a week of vacation on Monday.  The kids and I really need some Daddy not working time! We are going to be in Carmel Valley for five days and then headed to Capitola for two days.  I will be posting Instagram photos to the blog while I am gone! Have a fabulous weekend, week and Labor Day! See you on the other side! 

*I will be posting the winners of the DVD Giveaway (later tonight) and the $50 gift certificate to Fleming's Steakhouse (next Saturday). 

all images via

Babymoon in Carmel

We had a fabulous three day weekend down in Carmel for our babymoon. It is so nice to be able to take time as a couple to enjoy each other's company.  It allows us to focus on just the two of us, even if it is only for a little amount of time. Even though I love our "alone" time, I also miss the bambinos like crazy when we are away from them.  But I think it makes us better parents when we have the "us" time.

We were so lucky to have an absolutely gorgeous weekend to take our little trip down south to Carmel.  We left around 1:30 on Friday (two hours after our intended departure) and headed down Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay. We stopped at Sam's Chowder House for their lobster roll. After Sam's we continued on south towards Carmel with a quick stop in Santa Cruz at The Penny Ice Creamery.  I am not sure if I read about it from another blogger or on Daily Candy, but I remember that there was supposed to be this outrageous organic ice cream shop with the word penny in it. It was so worth the 20 minute stop! I had the coffee chocolate toffee ice cream in their homemade waffle cone and it was so delicious.

We finally made it down to Carmel and checked into our favorite little inn, Tally Ho Inn. It is in the perfect location being one block off of the main drag in Carmel, Ocean Avenue, and a couple blocks up from the beach. 

We were able to visit our favorite cheese shop, The Cheese Shop (you can't help but leave there with two or three wedges of cheese).  We enjoyed a drive along 17 mile drive, buying baby girl's "bringing her home from the hospital outfit", dressing up the baby bump with some sparkly baubles for an amazing dinner at Highlands Inn at the Pacific's Edge restaurant and soaking in the sun and ocean at Carmel beach.