July 18, 2008

Wine Country & Tea

Last week while I was on vacation back home in California (yes, I will always be a California girl at heart) I took my mom wine tasting for her birthday in SoCal’s version of wine country—Temecula Valley.

Here’s a pic of my mom posing by the Zinfandel grapes. Isn’t she cute?

We ate lunch at the Ponte Family Estate Winery, which was very yummy. As we were sitting there sipping on our sangrias (so goooood) and enjoying the scenery, I noticed groups of women going in and out of the huge tent nearby. Then I saw another group of women wearing black shirts that said, “(Name of bride)’s Bridal Entourage” in hot pink writing. It seemed that even on my much-needed vacation I couldn’t get away from bridal showers. But then, it had me thinking how nice this place would have been for the bridal shower bash. I know my friend would have liked it. The scenery was beautiful and the atmosphere was low-key. You can check out all their pretty pics here.

If I ever have to plan a shower (or a wedding…hey, a girl can dream) in California, I’ll be sure to keep this place in mind.

While I was home, I also went to one of my favorite places to have tea, The Huntington in San Marino. It’s home to a library and numerous botanical gardens and art collections. I usually make it a point to go there whenever I’m back home with two of my favorite gals, Nichole and Devlin. This is also a fabulous place to have a bridal shower. Whenever I go, I seem to always see a bridal group. The tearoom is cute and has the best buffet of finger sandwiches, cheese, fruit, salads and desserts. The chicken sandwich and mini fruit tart are my favorites. I also love the chocolate chip scones and rose tea. If you’re lucky enough to go there around Christmas time, they have a Christmas tea that is amazing! I’m getting hungry just thinking about all the food. If I ever have a bridal shower in SoCal, I’d want it to be here. And if it were to be here in NYC? My pick would be the Milk & Cookies Bakery. They have the best ice cream cookie sandwiches ever! I'm such a kid.

On this trip to The Huntington, I wanted to see their newly opened Chinese Garden as well as their new photography exhibit, “This Side of Paradise.”

Here are a few pics of the Chinese Garden:

So pretty. If you’re wondering if the The Huntington does weddings, they don’t. But they do allow appointments for wedding pictures—which I’m sure would be absolutely gorgeous. Remember the scene in The Wedding Planner where J. Lo and Matt are looking at statues? That was filmed here!

Even though I couldn’t escape bridal showers on this trip, I did come up with some ideas for the one I’m currently planning. I also found out about Nichole’s totally fun and fabulous bachelorette party that I will, sadly, not be able to attend since I’m all the way across the country. But hopefully, Nichole and Devlin will share some non-scandalous photos with us. (Hint, hint, girls.)

Posted by Lori at 10:12 a.m.

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