girlfriends.

the tale of two tings got a makeover!

yup, the ting's are telling their tale on a new site.

head on over to TheTaleofTwoTings.com to check it out! 

see you there!


.....

ted talk: is thirty really the new twenty?

a couple of weeks ago, danny and i watched an interesting Ted Talk about the significance of your 20s.

it got me thinking - a lot.

with my thirtieth lurking just around the corner, i've been in my own head reflecting on the last decade. 

thinking about what i would tell 20-year-old me. what i absolutely wouldn't tell her.
what would be that one, magical golden nugget of advice?

an almost 30something, i immediately huffed at this talk's title: "contrary to popular belief, 30 is not the new 20."
but i still hit play and was immediately pulled into this psychologist's 15-minute message.
 it's thought-provoking, on-trend and worth a watch.

doesn't it get you thinking about yourself and the words of wisdom we should be sharing with a 20something? 

the dancin' dans do seafair.

while i was in napa with the girls, danny flew up to seattle to visit shmer's husband, dan, who was also in the US from australia. in addition to getting to spend way overdue time with dan, dyllan & ellie (danny's first time meeting the girls!), it also happened to be seafair weekend, a guaranteed good time. seafair is an annual summer festival in seattle with lots of parties including a big one on lake washington - envision boats tied up to each other, music, dancing, an air show, etc. and despite the unpredictable mercer island summer weather, the sun came out for the boy's day on the lake. 

danny loved getting to chill with dyllan (3.5 yrs), interact with her, teach her things. he said she's super spunky, laughs a ton and is a total sponge. he said ellie (7 months) is a super chill baby and really cute. 

here are the snaps i managed to get off his iPhone. 

oh, these boys together. 

dyllbug the lifeguard.

chillin' with ellie.

double smashed face trouble.

we're watching mr. milo for a week, and are glad to return the favor. hunter is a regular over at milo's house, so it's fun for huntie to have a friend at his pad. and by the looks and sounds of our living room, you'd think we were hosting a little boy's slumber party - sheets on couches, blankets and pillows strewn everywhere, bones, toys, loud wrestling matches, running around & chasing each other... they're pretty cute.  

this is pretty much nonstop around here. 

milo loves to lick hunter's ears. 

we're convinced that milo thinks that if he gets them soggy enough they'll flop down like a pug.

sure guys, you can have the couch. don't let me get in your way. 

seriously. 

homemade bruchetta.

some of my favorite things.

bread. oil. cheese. fresh tomatoes.

i dug around the fridge and  found  pesto & a jar of sundried tomatoes which made for a lovely spread.

recovery day at the spa solage.

the older you get, the smarter you get. not necessarily because your iQ goes up, but because you finally start to learn from past experiences and can foreshadow things. 

we were all joking that if this trip would have been even five years ago, we obviously would have done two days of wine tasting and skipped a boring day at the spa. 

but, we've wised up so saturday morning after wine tasting, we ate a big home cooked breakfast and were off to Spa Solage. it is seriously wine country heaven. wanting to do a group treatment, we opted for the "mudslides" which was a multi-step process of, well, mud. it was unlike any other spa treatment  any of us had had and was the perfect way to quickly recover and refresh. there was a mud sauna, private outdoor showers, soaking tubs and these insane "eggs" that you shook you to choreographed music and resulted in the ultimate power nap. we all walked away like jello. 

following our spa treatments, we headed to our cabana and spent the rest of the day poolside. 

hair of the dog. the quickest way to recover.

each girl got to select her favorite scented oil to be added to her personal tub of mud.

shmizzle looking fabulous in her new hat from the spa.

pinch me.

if you're lucky enough to stay at Hotel Solage, you get bicycles to ride around on. 

per a recommendation from another guest at Black Rock Inn, we had lunch at the restaurant vs. poolside.

it was a nice break from the sun, and an excuse to explore the Solage property. plus, lunch was delicious. 

highly recommend lunch at solbar.

together.

looking outside from the relaxation room. 

why, thank you! and thank you even more for sweetly comping our cabana! 

our view for the day. one of many pools on the property.

drinks. on drinks. on drinks. 

woah there jenny... lookin' like quite the lush with that stash of empty stemware. 

...

after a glorious day at the spa, we headed home to get ready for our celebratory birthday dinner out.

pre-dinner cocktails were a favorite moment of mine. everyone was so happy at that moment. 

group shot outtake #389

simply the best. everything.

we decided on goose & gander for dinner and it did not disappoint. 

delicious & pretty cocktails and small bites to share. 

car + shmer

already discussing the next trip. for real.

after dinner drink in the happenin' basement of goose & gander. the hot spot in st. helena.

i really want to like dirty martinis. but never do. 

i let carlye, the dirty martini expert, order me one for our thirtieth celebration, and...

.... it was really good! no joke. she knew how to get it just right. 

(car, will you text me the order?) 

sunkist from a day at the sap

dirties in hand. 

cheers to thirty.