Number "1"

I have been having a really great October, like really great.  I'm starting to think it's my lucky month. Why?  Well, the first time I met my husband, MAC, was in October, four years ago.  The first time I won anything in my life was in October, two years ago.  What did I win?  An iPad.  MAC and I had the most lovely outdoor wedding in October last year.  What makes it lucky?  Well, besides the fact that I married the man that makes my heart whole, the rain that started falling the night before our big day had stopped early the next the morning. Yes, lucky.  Oh, and….. MAC and I swam with 8-foot sharks in the Pacific Ocean on our honeymoon that same month, and didn't get torn to shreds.  I'd say that's pretty darn lucky.  Granted, they were  lemon sharks….but still.

For this October, I'm considering it lucky because it's the "October for Firsts."  MAC and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in a highly anticipated weekend getaway to Napa Valley, and I finally mustered up the courage to post my first entry of my new blog!  After months of ogling a number of beautiful blogs and wishing I could have my own, I finally decided to just do it.  So, here I am.  Now, onto my anniversary weekend with MAC.

I insisted that we have a slice of our wedding cake for breakfast before hitting the road.  How was it, you ask?  Delicious!  I'm not kidding.  We were pleasantly surprised at how moist and flavorful the chocolate ganache was.  The vanilla cake layers were just a tad dry, but still very tasty.  And the fondant tasted the same way it did a year ago.  It was so good, we couldn't resist having a second slice!

Our 1-year old wedding cake

Let's talk about the scrumptious goodies we had in Napa…

If you never had an english muffin from The Model Bakery, I feel for you.  If you're in the area, you should go. Don't think about it, just get up and go. But, go early!  Those things sell out like the latest iPhone on its release date.  I know what you're saying - "but it's just an english muffin," right?  WRONG!  These are heavenly little pillows of bread, so soft and chewy, surrounded by a crust with just the perfect amount of crunch.  I could devour ten of them in one sitting.  I probably would have, had I been one of those smart people carrying a six-pack of muffins out of the store.  Why didn't I think of that? Darn! Rookie mistake...

The Model Bakery's renowned english muffin

Whenever I'm in the Napa Valley, I always stop at Bouchon Bakery.  I'm a sucker for their unusually large French macarons. Seriously, these macarons are gigantic!  Easily three times the normal size macaron, not that I'm complaining.  Bouchon's macarons come in a range of flavors that are usually available any day of the year, including pistachio, lemon, raspberry, vanilla, coffee, caramel, and coconut.  But, it's always fun to see and taste their creative seasonal flavors. On this particular day, they had PB&J and fig!  You'll need to restrain yourself from getting one of each flavor….or not!

Bouchon Bakery macarons

A co-worker of mine recommended that MAC and I stop at Woodhouse Chocolates in St. Helena.  His partner is willing to drive an hour just to get a box of chocolates from this place.  So, I figured it must be good.  I also learned that this little shop was on Oprah's Favorite Things one year.  Okay, that sealed my decision…we're going.  One step into Woodhouse Chocolates and you'll immediately feel rich and pretty.  You'll want to spend every single penny you have in your wallet on all their beautiful little mounds of chocolate.  I swear, they must pipe some magical potion through their air vents.  So were they good? Well, l can't say they were mind blowingly great.  They were good, yes.  Our favorite was the English Toffee.  Would I drive an hour to get them? Nah.  I'd rather bake a fresh batch of gooey chocolate chip cookies.

English Toffee, Caramels with Fleur de Sel, and an assortment of chocolates

Well, I feel pretty good that I'll close out this month with a BANG, even with 9 more days still to come in October.  Let's hope my luck hasn't run out!