Francis Ford Coppola, more or less anyway
(see previous post for explanation)
xo,
Lauren
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
"Seriously?"
I have lots to catch up from the events of the last two weeks, but I have decided to devote this particular post, in part, to my mom. (Mom, you can thank me later). My parents and grandparents recently visited me here in the city. So recently that it's hard to believe they've already left, but I'll touch on time moving at a ridiculous pace in a later post.
This wasn't exactly a 100% relaxing vacation for them, in fact it was mostly a "lets get Lauren moved into her apartment" kind of a vacation. We did however manage to squeeze in some fun here and there. "There" happened to take place in Napa Valley where we were taken on a little tour.
The day started out pretty normal... we got picked up by the tour guide in San Francisco and made our way to Napa. The day consisted of blue skies and the kind of gorgeous weather that makes you forget about the to do list piling up in the back of your mind. Needless to say the winding drive through the hills and valleys on our way to wine country was nothing short of breathtaking.
Our first stop was Trefethen Family Vineyards. Since this was my first go at a wine tasting I didn't really know what to expect so I let the "adults" take the lead. Once inside, we made our way to the wine tasting room. Now for the record, yes, I'm in college, yes, I've been in college for... a while, and yes, I've had my fair share of fun nights out, BUT this was the first time I'd had a drink... before noon! With my parents and my grandparents!
I will say I didn't realize all this until afterwards. I was more preoccupied with how I was going to "taste and spit" and still appear dignified with the inevitable wine dripping down my chin. You can imagine my relief when it appeared the common practice was to taste, SWALLOW, and then dump (from your glass) the remaining amount of wine you no longer wished to ingest.
My relief and dignity was short lived when my mom pointed out my wine mustache a little later.
It was time for vineyard #2. As we drove up I was too preoccupied with changing my socks (long uninteresting story) to notice what the guide was telling us. If I had been paying attention, I would have heard him say we were arriving at none other than Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard, Rubicon.
As we piled out of the car we started to take in our surroundings. It was truly spectacular, emulating a certain peacefulness that couldn't be easily duplicated. The landscaping was meticulous. We started walking towards the main building. Before reaching it, we came to a smaller house with a sign stating it was the oldest in Napa and very much a historical site. This is where it gets interesting (the part of this post devoted to my mom).
A man emerged from the front door. I didn’t pay much attention... until he looked up. Was I seriously standing just feet away from Francis Ford Coppola? Thats a big YUP! It was at this point the previous conversation in the van about this being his vineyard started to find its way into my brain.
I ran a little a head to make sure my dad was seeing this when I hear clicking from behind me. My first thought, “sweeet my mom is taking pictures, this is awesome.” THEN I heard her say. “SERIOUSLY?” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mr. Coppola standing in front of the house checking his blackberry (celebs really are just like us haha). I knew without even looking that my mom was upset that this “man” was blocking her nice little shot of the house. I turned around as he preceded to walk to his car, get in and drive away.
No matter, my mom had pictures! In complete and total excitement we made our way to the main building. It was really beautiful and the Coppola family created a little museum in the front entrance way, behind the stairs, and upstairs as well. A bit of trivia for you, Rubicon is home to the first ever wine tasting room. Some ship captain from way back in the day built it. Anyways the experience was just incredible and the wine was quite tasty. I enjoyed it a little more being that it was a little later in the day ;) They also are on their game at Rubicon and served bread and cheese to go along with it. They got an A+ because I had not had breakfast yet and it was going to be a little while before lunch.
Long story...longer... at some point, walking through the little museum I believe, I asked my mom about the picture of Mr. Coppola. Her response went something like... “well you didn’t tell me it was him!” (I will take absolute full responsibility for this) Oookay long story short we are now the proud owners of a picture of Francis Ford Coppola’s lower half. I will be adding it to this post later in the week.
I love that my family always has these kinds of stories. Life is so fun and interesting with them... I’m sure a “Noraism” story will present itself in the near future as well.
xo,
Lauren
This wasn't exactly a 100% relaxing vacation for them, in fact it was mostly a "lets get Lauren moved into her apartment" kind of a vacation. We did however manage to squeeze in some fun here and there. "There" happened to take place in Napa Valley where we were taken on a little tour.
The day started out pretty normal... we got picked up by the tour guide in San Francisco and made our way to Napa. The day consisted of blue skies and the kind of gorgeous weather that makes you forget about the to do list piling up in the back of your mind. Needless to say the winding drive through the hills and valleys on our way to wine country was nothing short of breathtaking.
Our first stop was Trefethen Family Vineyards. Since this was my first go at a wine tasting I didn't really know what to expect so I let the "adults" take the lead. Once inside, we made our way to the wine tasting room. Now for the record, yes, I'm in college, yes, I've been in college for... a while, and yes, I've had my fair share of fun nights out, BUT this was the first time I'd had a drink... before noon! With my parents and my grandparents!
I will say I didn't realize all this until afterwards. I was more preoccupied with how I was going to "taste and spit" and still appear dignified with the inevitable wine dripping down my chin. You can imagine my relief when it appeared the common practice was to taste, SWALLOW, and then dump (from your glass) the remaining amount of wine you no longer wished to ingest.
My relief and dignity was short lived when my mom pointed out my wine mustache a little later.
It was time for vineyard #2. As we drove up I was too preoccupied with changing my socks (long uninteresting story) to notice what the guide was telling us. If I had been paying attention, I would have heard him say we were arriving at none other than Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard, Rubicon.
As we piled out of the car we started to take in our surroundings. It was truly spectacular, emulating a certain peacefulness that couldn't be easily duplicated. The landscaping was meticulous. We started walking towards the main building. Before reaching it, we came to a smaller house with a sign stating it was the oldest in Napa and very much a historical site. This is where it gets interesting (the part of this post devoted to my mom).
A man emerged from the front door. I didn’t pay much attention... until he looked up. Was I seriously standing just feet away from Francis Ford Coppola? Thats a big YUP! It was at this point the previous conversation in the van about this being his vineyard started to find its way into my brain.
I ran a little a head to make sure my dad was seeing this when I hear clicking from behind me. My first thought, “sweeet my mom is taking pictures, this is awesome.” THEN I heard her say. “SERIOUSLY?” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mr. Coppola standing in front of the house checking his blackberry (celebs really are just like us haha). I knew without even looking that my mom was upset that this “man” was blocking her nice little shot of the house. I turned around as he preceded to walk to his car, get in and drive away.
No matter, my mom had pictures! In complete and total excitement we made our way to the main building. It was really beautiful and the Coppola family created a little museum in the front entrance way, behind the stairs, and upstairs as well. A bit of trivia for you, Rubicon is home to the first ever wine tasting room. Some ship captain from way back in the day built it. Anyways the experience was just incredible and the wine was quite tasty. I enjoyed it a little more being that it was a little later in the day ;) They also are on their game at Rubicon and served bread and cheese to go along with it. They got an A+ because I had not had breakfast yet and it was going to be a little while before lunch.
Long story...longer... at some point, walking through the little museum I believe, I asked my mom about the picture of Mr. Coppola. Her response went something like... “well you didn’t tell me it was him!” (I will take absolute full responsibility for this) Oookay long story short we are now the proud owners of a picture of Francis Ford Coppola’s lower half. I will be adding it to this post later in the week.
I love that my family always has these kinds of stories. Life is so fun and interesting with them... I’m sure a “Noraism” story will present itself in the near future as well.
xo,
Lauren
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