Ashley & Paul Get Hitched!

September 18, 2011

Back from Beijing, nothing fights off jetlag better than a weekend in Napa Valley, right? Will and I headed up to St. Helena on Friday afternoon for a weekend dedicated to celebrating the nuptials of our good friends, Ashley and Paul. Whee!

Friday (9/16)

On Friday, we 'checked-in' to our VRBO that we rented (awesome, by the way!) and then settled into enjoying the surroundings.

In the evening, we headed over to some other folks' VRBO for a bbq, and then to another place for a pre-wedding party.

Saturday (9/17)

On Saturday morning, we had a nice sleep-in, and then the girls (Sue Hee, Sandy, Wendy and I) went for a 4+ mile run. Post-run brunch was at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, and then it was time to get all spiffed up for the wedding!

The ceremony as held at Ashley's parent's amazing property in the St. Helena hills:

Ashley's 'mah-weed'!!!

After the ceremony, we headed back into town for the reception at the Harvest Inn:

Sunday (9/18)

On Sunday, we had to pack up our gear and get out of the beautiful VRBO (wah!), but here's a pic of most of the crew (sans Sandy, who had already headed out):

Ashley's parent's once again opened up their home for a wonderful post-wedding brunch:

What an amazing weekend! Huge congratulations to Ashley and Paul!

The Boxing Room

September 20, 2011

On Tuesday night, Will, Key, Wendy and I met up for dinner at a new restaurant called The Boxing Room, located in the former Citizen Cake location in Hayes Valley. The new restaurant has a nice open, industrial look, and features Southern Louisiana cuisine from Justin Simoneaux.

I had a few raw oysters from Cortes Island (BC) to start (yum!):

I had to have the Southern Fried Chicken with corn maque choux, buttermilk mashed potatoes and gravy (with shredded pork!). Delish!

For dessert, Will had the bananas foster split, which was pretty amazing:

Overall, The Boxing Room was a good meal and nice ambience, and had an intriguing menu that entice me to go back to try other items. The trend of new and good restaurants continues...heaven for a foodie like me!