Affordable Wine for Any Occasion

As I've mentioned, I'm definitely a wine girl. I do like beer or a cocktail every now and then, but given the option I'll always choose a glass of wine. However, I have a hard time opening an expensive bottle unless it's a special occasion. I tend to save 'special' bottles for holidays or family events, when I know I'll be sharing with my Mom and sister, or someone I know appreciates it. So for evenings at home with Andrew after work or a fun picnic with friends, I tend to gravitate towards more affordable bottles.

Over the years, I've found a few bottles I can count on that I know everyone will enjoy, but won't break the bank. And even more recently, I've tried a few affordable options that surprised me so I wanted to share them with you.

During the summer months, I mostly find myself drawn towards the white and rose varieties. There are so many great options available, but I thought I would share a few of my go-to favorites, that are always popular when I bring them to picnics or gatherings with friends.

Espiral Vino Verde

For Vino Verde, I have to give credit to my good friend Chris. She discovered this at Trader Joes and it's since become a favorite for our friends. If you can believe it, it's only $4.49 a bottle! It's a light, slightly effervescent wine that is crisp and perfect for summer. 

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Yet again, this wine was introduced to me years ago by my friend Chris and it continues to be a favorite. We actually served this at our wedding! Depending on the store, you'll find this for anywhere between $10-$20. Often at Costco it will go on sale for $9.99 or at Safeway you can get a great deal with the buy 6 or more sale. Kim Crawford is a has a nose of citrus and tropical fruits, with flavors of pineapple and stone fruit. The finish is fresh and crisp, another perfect wine for the warmer summer months. 

Larson Family Vineyards, Millerick Road Chardonnay

I wanted to include one of our favorite wines from our wine club in this list. Part of the reason we joined our wine club is for great varietals at an the affordable price. Not only is the winery a great place to visit with spaces for picnics, lawn games, and in a beautiful Sonoma County setting. But they also have great wine. This Chardonnay has notes of pear and green apple with intense citrus fruit flavors. As a part of our wine club we get this for less than $20, and although it's not sold in stores I would say it's worth a trip to the winery to pick up a few bottles!

Rosé has to be the perfect picnic wine. My girlfriends and I love to share a bottle together over brunch or an afternoon visiting one of our favorite wineries. Before many of my close friends moved away from the city, we used to get together to watch The Bachelor every Monday, and usually rosé would be our wine of choice. Because of that, I've found a few affordable options that are great to keep on hand for any fun weekend activities that may come up.

Bieler Pere et Fils Rosé

This is a classic rosé that is perfect for a warm summer picnic. It boasts a delicate balance between floral, herbal, fruit and acidic. With aromas of fresh berries, lavender and white pepper that is ridiculously easy to drink for such an affordable price. You can find this at BevMo for only $9.99!

Conundrum Rosé

Conundrum rosé is another great fruit forward wine with a hint of fresh strawberries and lavender. It's a crisp, light wine that will be perfect on a warm summer day. "The finish brings a lingering freshness thats calls to mind endless, sun-filled afternoons." This one is a bit more pricey, you can find it between $15 - $20 a bottle. 

I tend to go in phases with red wine. It used to be the only thing I would drink, but now I find myself reaching for white wine during the warmer months. However, with hearty meals like steak or pasta, I tend to prefer a full bodied glass of red wine. And during the cold winter months, it is usually all I drink. 

Cline Pinot Noir

This is a classic, red fruit wine with deep color and a lush body. It has a touch of vanilla flavor with a hint of strawberry. I often enjoy Pinot Noir as a light red wine when I don't want something as full bodied as Cabernet or Zinfandel. I love how versatile Pinot Noir can be, complimenting steak or hearty meals, but also pairs well with fish or a light pasta.  I found this at BevMo for just $14.99 a bottle, and for a nice Pinot Noir that seemed like a great price. 

H3 Red Blend, Colombia Crest

This H3 Red Blend (Horse Heaven Hills) Les Chevaux Red Wine was surprisingly delicious. It is a lively red blend, with dark fruit cherry flavor with smooth tannins and a vibrant finish. I loved how it was full bodied, but also had a smooth finish. This is one that surprised me, but I will absolutely buy again. For only $15 a bottle, I thought this was an excellent red. 

These days, there are so many great options for affordable wine. I keep a list in my phone for when I find something new I love, and it seems like there are increasingly more options for good wine at a decent price point. I'd love to hear if you have any favorites that are affordable, leave a comment for me so I can try them out!

Straw Bags for Spring & Summer

One trend I've been absolutely loving this spring are woven/straw bags. Unfortunately, every time I have found one I love it was either sold out or way out of my price range. So, when I stumbled upon the cutest straw clutch the other day, it was in my cart and purchased within minutes!

With our upcoming trip to Kauai for a friends wedding, I knew I'd get a lot of use out of it. I'm already planning my outfits, and I know this will be in heavy rotation. It can be dressed up for a fun evening out, or would look great with a casual summer dress for an afternoon wine tasting.

I also have my eye on a few larger bags that would be great for the beach in Kauai and perfect for Sunday morning at the farmers market. I love these from Lauren Conrad's The Little Market, but I'm keeping my eye out for a more affordable option before I take the plunge. I remember my Mom brought a similar one back from Africa when my parents went, way back in the 90's I think, I should see if she still has it! So funny that I think of her bag every time I see one now. It's so random how some memories stick with you for no apparent reason.

What do you think of this trend? To me, a few bags I've seen look a bit like you're carrying around a basket meant for home decor or storage, but when it's done right I love it! I've linked a few of my favorites below, including mine.

Wanderlust

For as long as I can remember, I've always loved to travel. Growing up, most of our family vacations were camping in places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Joshua Tree and the Red Rocks. I think I always loved exploring new places. I'm very curious by nature, so I find joy in discovering all the wonderful things each new place I visit has to offer.

My love for travel really took off when I studied abroad in Italy for a summer. It was my first time in another country, and I just fell in love with the history and culture. I've now been back to Italy a few more times, most recently with Andrew last fall. That was Andrew's first trip abroad, and although I was a little nervous what he would think, he too was bit by the travel bug and is eager to plan our next trip.

Andrew and I often daydream about our next trip, or even joke about moving to Italy. We frequently send Instagram posts to each other with new places we'd like to visit. I thought it'd be fun to share a list of some of the places we'd most love to visit. We're trying to build up our travel fund so we can take an extended trip at least every other year. Then do shorter trips each year, to places that are more affordable and won't require as much time off work.

Here's our working list of places to visit. I know there are so many more places we should add, but this is a good starting point. What are your top travel destinations?

Ireland

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My parents have spent the past three weeks traveling through Ireland and it's moving further and further up my list of places to visit. They've been lucky with weather, beautiful clear days. I'm an O'Brien, so I definitely need to plan a trip to the land of my ancestors. 

Dubrovnik

image - Marshalls Abroad 

I think I get a lot of my travel inspiration from my parents. Years ago, I remember them telling me about their trip to Croatia and how much they loved it. And I've also been following Marshalls Abroad for years, and Amanda makes it sound like such a wonderful place. It seems similar to Italy in a lot of ways, so I know I'll fall in love right away.

Amsterdam 

Image - The Everygirl 

This city just seems so charming and fun with great restaurants, shops and things to do. I especially want to go during tulip season in the spring to see them blooming. And of course we would want to rent bikes and bike along the river, take a boat cruise and sit at a cafe sipping wine people watching.

Germany

image - Helene In Between

Helene has made me fall completely in love with Germany. I really want to go during the holidays to see the Christmas markets. The villages all look so charming and quintessentially Europe. 

Portugal 

image - Danielle-Moss

It seems like more and more people are traveling to Portugal lately. My boss just went a few months ago and raved about it. He said the people were all so friendly, it had great restaurants and beautiful scenery. I loved Danielle's recap of her trip, and it bumped Portugal a bit higher on my Wanderlist. With the cable car, it also reminds me of San Francisco. I think this image was one of my very first pins. 

Greece

image - Living in Color Print

Another one high on the list is Greece, it is such a beautiful destination that feels so inviting and relaxing. The beautiful streets and colorful blue and white buildings are so charming. And I know the food and wine will be incredible!

Cartagena, Columbia 

image: Pretty and Fun

Recently, more and more friends have been visiting Columbia, specifically Cartagena. It wasn't really even on my radar, but I keep hearing such wonderful things about it. Two of our friends said it was similar to San Francisco, and had great food and shops to see in town. And the islands and beaches are beautiful and relaxing.

France

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I went to France back in 2006 with my parents after my time in Italy studying abroad. My Mom and I spent a wonderful week in Paris, but I am due for another trip. Andrew and I would love to see Paris, the French countryside and the South of France. 

 Switzerland

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Most likely, we will need to plan two trips to Switzerland. One in the winter, and one in the summer. I know Andrew is dreaming of a snowboard trip, and I would love to hike in the Alps. We've thought about doing a Northern Italy and Switzerland trip one summer for hiking and seeing the beautiful mountain towns.

Peru

Peru is definitely high on our list. I've wanted to go since my parents trip years ago, and then a few of our friends have gone recently and it looks incredible. Gal Meets Glam did a complete travel guide for Peru with so many great suggestions, and places I wouldn't have even thought of.

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Banff is somewhere I know we'll go soon, but another one that we are torn between summer or winter. Personally, I would love to go in the summer when we can hike and do more outdoor activities. After our trip to Whistler this year, I've realized how easy it is to go to Canada for long weekends, so I think perhaps this could be one of our trips between longer travels abroad. 

This is quite a list, we better start saving! 

If you have any favorite places to travel, I'd love to hear them! Or if you've done a travel guide, share in the comments so I can check it out.

Highlights From Last Year

I know this post seems about 5 months late now that it's May 8th. But since I've taken such a long blogging break, I thought it might be fun to give you a little glimpse into our lives over the past year. Below are just some of the highlights of our year, and looking back at them all in one place, I am feeling very grateful. 

I've talked a little bit about how I struggled with my new job, and finding balance between work and my personal life. But looking back, as hard as it felt when I was in it, I still managed to have a pretty amazing year!  

Yosemite Valley

Bend, OR

Big Sur

Yosemite Valley - Memorial Day Weekend

Chicago

Santa Cruz

Tahoe 4th

Tuolumne Meadows

Italy

LA Girls Trip

Disneyland

Friendsgiving

Christmas Tree Cutting

Looking ahead, I am excited to document our adventures in real time. And share our journey with each of you! If there is any content you'd like to see on the blog moving forward, please let me know.

We have some fun trips planned for this summer, so I'll be sure to share those details. I'm also working on a full travel guide for Italy, with posts chronicling our entire itinerary, which I am really excited about!

Embroidered Off The Shoulder Top

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I love seeing how other bloggers style things, and get inspired for news ways to incorporate trends into my own wardrobe. I've done a few outfit posts in the past, but they always make me nervous. I'm not always put together, and I don't have a huge budget for new clothes. But, I'm trying to push myself and follow my intuition when it comes to this blog, so here it goes! Hopefully doing regular style posts will help me feel more comfortable in my own skin.

I thought, what is more festive for Cinco de Mayo than this embroidered off the shoulder top?! I love the off the shoulder trend because my shoulders are one area I don't mind showing off. I've worn this top a few times, but today styled it with distressed skinny jeans and wedges for a fun, and festive look.

The festivities are getting started today with a happy hour at work, but really we will be celebrating tomorrow. We're heading up to the foothills for a little Cinco de Mayo fiesta. We'll stay with our good friends in Sacramento, and head up to the party Saturday afternoon. Our friend Chris is an incredible chef/hostess, and I can't wait to see what amazing things she has in store for us. This top will be perfect to hide my chips & guacamole belly, ha!

We plan to relax by the pool, sip cocktails and eat delicious Mexican food. Andrew and I are bringing a signature cocktail to share, I'm sure you can guess what we're bringing! Hopefully it stays warm enough for the outfit I have planned, I don't know what happened to our glorious weather from earlier in the week.

In addition to our party tomorrow, we're squeezing in some family time. My nephews t-ball game is in the morning. I'm so excited because he was born into a family of Dodger fans (tragic!) but by chance, was placed on the Giants t-ball team!! You can bet we're going to be sporting our Giants gear at the game and cheering on our favorite little Giant!

Then, on Sunday the fun continues. We're going with my sister and family to the River Cats game in Sacramento. It's another event for Phillip's little league, and I'm excited to spend some time with my favorite little guys. And our friends will be there too! I haven't been to a River Cats game in years, since I moved to San Francisco I think, but they're always such a fun time.

There is nothing better than spending a weekend with close friends and family, am I right? I hope you all have a great weekend planed, and sneak in a little Cinco de Mayo fun!

My top is Free People from Nordstrom last year, but I've linked a few similar ones for you below!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram so you don't miss out on any of the fun! And follow me on Snapchat [tobrien129] for even more behind the scenes of our weekend. I'm also trying to be better about using Insta stories. Do you all have a preference for one over the other? Let me know!

Have a great weekend!

Blackberry Orange Margarita

With Cinco de Mayo coming up this Friday, I thought it would be fun to share a cocktail recipe with you today. That will give you a few more days to gather ingredients and whip these up over the weekend.

I don't drink hard alcohol very often, I'm more of a beer and wine girl myself. But in the summer I do enjoy a good margarita on a warm day. I think because it reminds me of vacation, and who doesn't love that?!

I'm no mixologist, but I thought it would be fun to get my creative juices flowing and try my best to create a fun tequila cocktail to share with our friends this weekend. I love drinks that incorporate fresh fruit, so I thought muddled blackberries and lime would be a good place to start. Throw in some fresh squeezed orange juice, simple syrup and tequila and you've got a pretty refreshing cocktail! I had planned to muddle mint with the blackberries, but forgot, whoops. And then it tasted so good, I didn't want to fuss the recipe so mint garnish it was!

BLACKBERRY ORANGE MARGARITA

3 fresh blackberries (plus 2 more to garnish)

4 ounces fresh squeezed orange juice

1 1/2 ounces tequila blanco

2 ounce fresh lime juice

splash simple syrup

garnish with a sprig of mint, lime & blackberries

PREPARATION

Muddle blackberries in a cocktail shaker. Add orange juice, tequila, simple syrup and lime juice. Shake with ice until mixture starts to get frothy, about 10 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a salted rim, blackberries, mint & lime wedge.

Makes 1 cocktail

I'm so happy to be back to blogging. After a rough day at the office I came home to work on this post yesterday, and styling the photos completely transformed my mood. Is that weird that styling photos brings me joy? lol

I hope you all enjoy, cheers!

Back to Blogging!

Hello! And welcome back to From Foothills to Fog!

As you might have noticed, it's been quite some time since I've hit publish on a blog post. The past year was much harder than I anticipated and challenged me in many ways. I started a new job in June and quite frankly, it rocked my world. I was in no way prepared for the intensity, demand, and pace of this new position. It was a complete struggle for me the first few months, and very draining. Our trip to Italy turned out to be a saving grace, and provided relief when I needed it most. After our trip, there were some changes at work that helped ease the pressure. And as the year came to a close, I was able to adjust more to this stage of my career, and start to accept it. One thing is for certain, in the past year I have learned a lot about myself. And even more about the dreams I have for my future. 

This year has felt like a fresh start. I feel motivated to follow my dreams, and work hard to achieve them. I've realized that to create the changes I see for myself, I have to change my behavior. I know that it's up to me to create the life I've always wanted. I've been focused on being present, and staying positive. 

For the past year, in the midst of the stress and adjusting to my new job and daily routine, there was something always telling me to go back to blogging. I made excuses because I "couldn't find the time" or "I don't have enough followers" and a zillion other reasons why not to. But when I really took a moment to listen to my intuition, I know this is a passion I should pursue. Even if nothing comes of it, I can look back and know I gave it my all. More than anything, I love the creative outlet blogging gives me and the chance to connect with other bloggers. 

I have a lot of fun ideas for this space, and I hope you'll all follow along. As always, it will be a true 'lifestyle' blog that shares a mix of our daily life, travel, style, home decor, and recipes. I also have some fun plans for posts specifically related to my two favorite places: the foothills and the fog of San Francisco/Bay Area. So stay tuned! I always love reading blogs that in addition to the content they share, really open up and give a glimpse into the real lives beyond the screen, so you can expect more of that from me. For now, my posting schedule will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So be sure to check back later in the week! Or sign up to receive posts right to your inbox. 

For those of you that stuck around, thank you so much for hanging in there. I think you'll find that the new and improved From Foothills to Fog was worth the wait! 

"And suddenly you know: it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." 

-- Meister Eckhart