Hey kids, I’m on a bit of a food kick lately, so if you’ll indulge me, today I feel like talking about cheese yet again.  In fact I made up a cheer just for the occasion.  “Cheese is good, cheese is great, cheese be the one you’re glad you ate!”   Pay no attention to those grammatical errors, and please just focus on the message. 

I’ll be back to painting something soon I assure you, but today I need to talk about one of the most important things in my life and that is cheese.  Not just any cheese, or your ordinary mass produced American chunks of cheddar, no I’m talking about the cheeses that come from the artisans.  Gather round friends, because I’m about to share with you the secrets to serving a perfect cheese course. 

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Hello!  I hope you had a lovely weekend, we sure did!  I thought today the perfect day to share a few images from our anniversary picnic from last year.  We were married on September 5th which is Labor Day weekend, so naturally we celebrate every year on that weekend as well.  We decided to keep it close to home last year, so I thought rather than dinner at a local restaurant, why not style an elegant picnic right in the center of the Sonoma Plaza for just the two of us?

Here are a few scenes from our outdoor table for two.

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Greetings all, Amanda and I are back this afternoon with another round of inspiring links this week in our continuing ‘Best of the Blogosphere’ roundup, here you go! 

The House of Fifty blog featured Tiffany’s 5 savvy tips for designing a room on a budget.  Tiffany’s post offers practical ideas for planning a room to express your style.

Emily tells Sharon a thing or two about dropping $30,000 on a rug mostly unseen in her bedroom designed by Martyn Lawrence Bullard.  We love the ‘fabulous for less’ design board she put together, way to go Emily!

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We spent our Saturday dedicated to one small goal: to catch a fish!   When you have little ones, and it’s their first fishing experience, you want to guarantee a result.  We’re so lucky, there is a place close by where you can go fishing, where the trout are plentiful, and they clean the fish for you once they’re caught.  Hagemann Ranch is a trout farm on the way to Bodega Bay, no fishing license is required, and they also supply the bait and poles if ya need ‘em! 

Here’s a glimpse through the lens of my recently discovered iPhone app called CameraBag.  I discovered it a few weeks ago and I’ve been having so much fun with it!  CameraBag gives you a variety of different filters, ranging from ‘Italiano’ to ‘Instant’ (like a Polaroid) to ‘1974’.   Here’s a look at our family friendly adventure through the lens of these CameraBag filters.

ColorCross filter

Walk the dock at Hagemann’s and you’re guaranteed a good time, simply bring or rent bait and poles.  This pond is filled with rainbow trout just waiting to be caught. 

Magazine filter

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The weather has been so amazing the last few days, so we’re definitely planning on a relaxing weekend.  No obligations, no schedules, no projects, just a weekend of outdoor bliss.  We’ll be taking full advantage of summer and packing up some gourmet goodies in our picnic basket, off in search of adventure. 

We haven’t decided where we will go yet, maybe Sonoma, perhaps Healdsburg, maybe even the beach, who knows, but our destination will surely be a place where we can lounge for hours and watch the kiddies play as the sun sets on a lazy evening. 

We’ll be looking for something that feels like these images . . .

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