He surprised me.  He told me when but not where.  “After Christmas, just us.  We need a few days to get away and just relax,” he said.  Never one to keep a secret, Matt wanted me to guess where.  He wore his poker face as I listed off places.  “You’ll just have to wait and see,” he said with a smile.

It’s our new Christmas tradition.  Instead of buying each other gifts that we probably don’t really need, we go somewhere.  Just the two of us.  Our schedules throughout the year are busy and often times don’t align.  I never get to see him as much as I would like to.  Spending time together is what matters most to me and I’m never one to turn down a trip.  So needless to say, I was excited for whatever he had planned.

It was a trip to Napa.  And I was thrilled.  I love Napa Valley and even though it isn’t too far away, we rarely make it up North to visit.  A few days away from it all was just what we needed.  Besides wine tasting and plenty of good food, I took a lot of pictures.  The Napa area has always had a special place in my heart photographically.  Years ago when we were in college, we came up to Napa for one of my photography classes to shoot.  It was one of those days I will never forget as I began my journey with photography.  My favorite subject matter in college was shooting anything abstract or graphically strong.  Hard lines.  Looking for subject matter in unlikely places.  Although the subject matter of my photography has dramatically changed, it was in these years of college and my love of the abstract that really helped me develop my own style.  My vision, my eye.  My perception through the lens of my camera has changed a lot over the years and my aesthetic continues to grow.  It reminded me of where I had been, showed me where I am now and helped me continue to dream of where I want to be in the future.

It was such a great trip; a chance to clear my head, relax and get ready for the year ahead!  Below are some of my favorites.

First stop…checking into the Avia Hotel in Napa.  This place was amazing.  The rooms were modern and chic with so many great details.

Every breakfast was spent at Bouchon.  I talked about this place in an earlier blog post found here.  Simply divine.

One of our favorite spots in wine country.  Castello di Amorosa. There’s castle in Napa?  Totally.  A little cheesy perhaps, but it really is beautiful.  And fun fact for all you fellow Bachelor fans out there.  As you may know, a few seasons ago, Jake and two girls came to this winery on one of the episodes.  According to the show, they spent the night here on the episode where they made Vienna look totally crazy.  But while we were here, we overheard one of the tour guides saying that they in fact never stayed overnight.  The whole thing was made up for TV.  So much for reality.  Too bad I’m still totally hooked on that show.  It seems to suck me in every.single.time.

This is after setting the self timer and running up a ramp like a crazy person to make it in the shot in time.  I just can’t seem to get over the fear of handing my precious camera to some stranger.  Instead, every picture of the two of us is either self-timed or with my point-and-shoot (which I will happily hand to someone else to take a picture of us).

One of my favorites from the trip.

I have a crazy obsession with doors.  All types of doors.  I have hundreds of pictures of all different kinds.  I especially like the door on the left side.  It was actually a door within a door which makes it doubly cool.

And two more snapshots of us.  Thanks to my hubs for a fantastic trip!

Happy Monday!