Where's Arnold?

At the end of January, Z and I traveled out of the city to a little town called Arnold. Where's Arnold?  I had no clue before this trip that Z had booked for us as my late Christmas / early anniversary present. With Lake Tahoe to the north and Yosemite National Park to the south, the town of Arnold boasts a truly central location in the Sierra. Arnold is home to Calaveras Big Trees State Park, where the continent’s biggest trees grow. Featuring giant Sequoias over 300’ tall and 30’ in diameter, the park flanks the Stanislaus River with terrific fishing and swimming, too. 

On Friday, we left to make the drive over to stay in the most charming little A-frame cabin. Z did an awesome job finding the home, since I've probably talked his ear off about how beautiful A-frames are and how I would love to stay in one. We were lucky that the owner let us bring our piglet pug along with us too. Finnegan was super excited to run around and hang out on the deck porch of the cabin while we unloaded our car for the weekend. Below are some photos of the exterior of the cabin with a little nosy pug prancing around. If you look closely at the last photos, you might see an emo pug peering out from the glass door because his owner left him inside while she took too many photos of the cabin and outdoor surroundings. More to come shortly!

Bella Vista

Z's parents gave us a groupon for nice French restaurant in Woodside called Bella Vista that we decided to use for our 5 year anniversary dinner. The drive there from the city was a bit scary since we had to drive up a tiny two lane road through forested area. I couldn't help but have flashbacks of all the scary movies I used to watch as a child about the crazy serial killer coming through the woods out to get me while menacingly waving a machete or chainsaw. After driving  the small winding road for what seemed like an eternity, we finally came upon the little cabin-like restaurant. The entrance area had a lovely fireplace going while we waiting for our table to be ready. The tables of the restaurant are facing wall to wall windows where diners can view the city lights amidst the redwood trees. The view was as the restaurant's namesake mentioned--beautiful.

The sitting area in the ladies restroom had the most lovely wood paneling and floral paintings hanging up. I felt completely ridiculous snapping all these photos, but it is not everyday that Z and I go to a nice classy restaurant. For appetizer, Z and I shared a bell pepper soup and some mussels. Immediately following this, the waiter served us a lime champagne sorbet. At this point, I thought it was so cool. (I had already drank 2 glasses of wine since we brought our own bottle to share.) After the sorbet, we had our entrees. I had the special of the night--lamb in wine reduction sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Z had  Veau au Poivre--Sauted Veal with Green Peppercorns in a light Dijon Mustard Sauce with the same sides. We both tried a bit of each other's dishes and everything was delicious. For dessert, we shared a Grand Mariner souffle which was definitely more grand mariner than actual souffle...which was fine for 4 wine glass me.

I decided to wear my velvet dress from Vanessa of The Velvet Bird's holiday collection. All her dresses fit me like a dream and this velvet number is my new favorite dress. I added a cardigan clip of gold roses that I found on Etsy to add a little extra special something to my fancy collar.  If I could, I would probably wear this dress every single day! When we arrived back to the apartment, there was an anxious little pug waiting for us. His eyes were so sad and pleading that I just had to take a photo. Don't worry Finnegan...I only have pug eyes for you.

Outfit Details:
Velvet Collar Dress // The Velvet Bird
Gold Rose Cardigan Clip // Etsy
Black Mary Janes // Ebay
Brown Coat // H&M