Happy (Chinese) New Year

I went wine tasting and forgot how lucky we are to live so close to a fast paced wine growing area. It's not Paso Robles or Napa but it certainly works for a cold, wet and rainy day.

Pics from South Coast Winery.

The front area had these beautiful potted plants displayed and we had a nice, relaxing and yummy lunch

Our next winery stop was a small guy on the outskirts of the wine region.

After we tasted, we walked outside and said hello to a few friends. I was just a tad nervous (um, can you tell?) to be near this guy - he was rescued and the owner warned us about his nervous temperament.

My friend Andi at one of our wine stops.

I found this cute "B" at Anthropolgie and decided it would go nicely between two prints from Paris, in the kitchen.

D installed these faux wood blinds and while normally I am not a fan of blinds, these will work until we blow out this wall and start our kitchen remodel

My favorite phrase for 2009.

My family celebrates the Chinese New year (my father is engaged to a Vietnamese woman) and received our red envelopes this afternoon from my dad. This year the envelopes were very different than last years.

Envelopes from 2008

2009's envelopes and one of our favorite sayings.

We don't own a Buddha statue so we placed our big bowl of fruit near our owl cookie jar.

He kind of looks like Buddha. It is tradition to place a large bowl of food (usually fruit) at Buddha's feet in honor of prosperity, good health and plentiful food in the coming year.

Happy New Year and may 2009 bring you good health, happiness and fortune.