MrAndrewBradley

It's not secret that I'm not at my house much, but it's a fun life for sure. This week I started in Orange County for meetings at our corporate office and was able to stay at the DoubleTree Santa Ana ... which includes the Meritage Restaurant and Wine Bar . The meetings were very productive and dinner with my marketing colleagues at Seasons 52 was finished off with a few shots of decadent desserts . After 24 hours home, I was back to Napa for our Holiday Party at the Culinary Institute ... amazing food and some fabulous wines , all at one beautiful venue. I finished the week at Bayside for a Christmas extravaganza, featuring the Earth Harp , Lincoln Brewster , and so many other great things focusing on the true message of Christmas. If you're in the area, head to Bayside to be part of one of the upcoming services. Photos for those with iPads .

It's been a fun month. There were meetings and wine tasting in Napa Valley , including my first trips to Cakebread Cellars and the Harvest Inn , and a birthday lunch with the team at Hurley's . There was a quick trip to Clarksburg and Bogle Vineyards (the best deal in wine tasting ... no tasting fee) and a birthday dinner with my parents at Scott's Seafood on the River . I celebrated Thanksgiving with family in Scotts Valley and we were able to work off our turkey dinner at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park , looking at the beautiful redwoods and chasing after a few kids. Back in Napa, I enjoyed a lunch at the Kitchen Door and a holiday party with others in the wine/hospitality industry at Inglenook , before heading back to Sacramento to walk through Global Winter Wonderland at Cal Expo. I finished up with wine tasting in Lodi (my excuse ... had to pick up my parents wine club shipment). Lange Twins was a great way to start the day, followed by Viaggio , and, ...

There's never a shortage of Wine, Photos, Phones, and Food in my life, but this week was a little different. I started the week last Sunday with 95.7 The Game's Raiders Opening Drive broadcasting live from The Meritage , then it was time for wine. I was able to explore the Crusher Wine District for the first time, visiting eight wineries ( Avinodos , The Wine Foundry , Humanitas , Trinitas Cellars , J. Moss , Mi Sueño , Crosby Roamann , Y. Rousseau ) in about four hours, all within 1.5 miles of The Meritage. It was so fun to see all the wineries and taste all of their fabulous wines ... I even purchased a few bottles for all the holiday celebrations coming up soon. After a day of wine, Siena offered the perfect dinner and it was my first time to try the new Fall menu ... Fritto Misto, Brussels sprouts, halibut, and a pork chop (I shared). On Veterans Day Crush held a special event to Honor Our Heroes with a special menu that included some very tasty pork ribs and short...

It's been a fun last few weeks with lots of great food and wine. It started with a quick meal at Chevy's (nachos and fajitas were needed), followed by a great concert with Matt Redman at Bayside , then I was off to Napa a few times. In Napa there were walks in vineyards, a dinner in the Estate Cave with family, friends, and 150 others paired with wines from Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars . A day of wine tasting at Frog's Leap , Castello di Amorosa , and Chandon . Food at Bistro Don Giovanni , Gott's Roadside , Hurley's , Blend , and Siena . Bowling and drinks at Crush , and even a few tours with photographers. Back in Roseville it was all about cleaning the house ... organized the freezer, cleaned the oven, and had the carpets professionally cleaned by Valley Carpet Care . In celebration of clean carpets there was also homemade nachos (baked corn tortillas for the chips) and root beer floats. Photos for those with iPads .

I'm rarely home and I'm okay with that. The last few weeks have been filled with work in Napa, trips to San Francisco, time in Sacramento and Lodi, and yes, even a night or two at home. After the Republic FC lost their first playoff game of the season I was off to Napa where 95.7 The Game had their first broadcast at The Meritage and Crush Ultra Lounge . I arrived at 5:30 a.m. and we were ready for the broadcast to start at 8 a.m., it was fun to see the team work to set up their mini-studio, and great to see Crush full of football fans by about 9 in the morning. There are more broadcasts through January , so I'm looking forward to more and more people finding my favorite sports bar with bowling lanes. While in Napa, I took two day trips to San Francisco , one for a media event with Visit California , including lunch at The Boulevard , and the second to see a Giants game . While there for the Giants game I took the chance to walk through the Ferry Building , headed t...

After a fun men's event at Bayside with Miles McPherson and about 2,500 others, I was off to Orange County for some business meetings. A colleague and I have both been to Newport Beach a lot, but normally we don't have the time to leave the resort (not necessarily a bad thing), but this time we arrived early and took the opportunity to check out Balboa Island and the Peninsula . We enjoyed a fabulous lunch overlooking Balboa Bay , walked along the beach, and then I got to hang out by the pool while reading a new book. As more of our colleagues started to arrive, we finished the night with some great gastropub grub in A&O . As our meetings in Newport Beach wrapped up, we traveled to Irvine for our next set of meetings. Although Irvine lacks a bay front view, it does have the Irvine Spectrum Center , which we took full advantage of when not in meetings. We enjoyed a calorie filled meal at Yard House , while watching the 49ers beat the Vikings and headed to CREAM ...

  It has been a fun-filled (and food-filled) last couple of weeks. I've been to the Oakland Raiders training camp (takes place in Napa), enjoyed some fabulous food at The Meritage and around downtown Napa , including a winemaker dinner with Schramsberg Vineyards . Still in Napa, I also had the opportunity to taste wines at Hall and take a look at some of their famous artwork ... including the crazy jumping silver bunny (not to be confused with Sacramento's Red Rabbit at the airport - same artist though). My parents and I headed to the Bradley Lodge . My mom and I cooked up some tasty dishes, had great wine, and also mixed up some vodka infused orange juice for breakfast. We took a couple of field trips too ... one to West Point where we helped some friends net their vineyards (so the birds don't eat the grapes), before heading to Murphys for ice cream at JoMa's . We also headed east to Lake Alpine Resort for some appetizers and to walk around what is truly ...

Over the last three weeks I have been staying busy with work and trying to have some fun while at it. There have been a few soccer games with the Sacramento Republic , going to two Friday night concerts at Bogle Vineyards , a wine tasting via Skype that focused on the importance of the shape of the wine glass , happy hours, ice cream, and more. I started off with a goodbye party in Napa as one of our beloved managers left for new beginnings, taking a new position in La Jolla . The wine selection, food, and cheeses were all spectacular, including an Irish Cheddar , which is actually made with Guinness . Next up, I was in Roseville to do a "Shape of the Glass" tasting with Trinitas over Skype. I invited a few friends over and we were able to do the tasting virtually, while learning how and why the glass really can make a difference when drinking wine (or for that matter Coca-Cola ), also note that in some cases a plastic cup is better for the wine than the wrong wine glass ...

Over the last couple of years I've been fortunate enough to go river rafting with W.E.T. a few times and this year I invited a few friends on a last minute trip. We decided to go Friday afternoon and we were on the river early Saturday morning (other people on our raft flew in from Texas and drove from Oakland). It was my first time on the Chili Bar section of the American River and it was fun, adding to the excitement .... a friend falling out of the raft in some of the rapids and getting our raft stuck on a rock for a few minutes. Thankfully, no injuries and everyone had a great time. Looking forward to my next trip soon. Photos for those with iPads .

In two weeks I've been to the California State Fair three times, been to four soccer games, headed to Wine Country a few times, and, of course, enjoyed some fabulous food and wine along the way. In Napa I've been enjoying some of the items from Crush Ultra Lounge that I haven't had before, including a fantastic burger and sliders. I've also headed up into the vineyards to see Veraison take place (when red wine grapes go from green to red), and took an opportunity to walk through Downtown Napa and check out the latest installment of the Napa Art Walk . In Sacramento I took full advantage of having Sacramento Republic soccer tickets that included admission into the State Fair, with three trips to the fair, the wine pavilion and farm , county exhibits , and of course food on a stick (chicken kabobs were amazing, turkey leg too). Other food outings included brunch at High Hand in Loomis , happy hour at Florez , lunch at Cabos , and I couldn't resist cele...

It's not often that my family really has true traditions, mainly because we're always up for something new and schedules often change, but Fourth of July seems to be a tradition , at least over the last few years. We continued the "tradition" again this year at the Bradley Lodge . Although we all arrived on different days and I left the earliest, the Fourth of July Weekend was a fun one. We went to the pool , enjoyed some fabulous food, went to the grand re-opening of The Lube Room , headed to the Arnold Fourth of July Parade, and went to Ironstone Vineyards to see Shane Dwight and an hour long fireworks show! I left early Sunday to be back to see the USA Women win 5-2 in the Women's World Cup , but hopefully I'll be back to the Bradley Lodge soon, I hadn't been to the mountains since November 2014. Photos for those with iPads .

In one week, I was in San Francisco twice, once for a meeting with a radio station, plus a seminar on Yelp , then again for a Giants game. Both trips had their pros, but seeing Buster Posey hit a grand slam may have helped trip two win. Between the trips to SF, I was in Roseville (tried a few new places including Four Sisters Cafe and Porters House of Draft ), Napa , Sacramento , and Scotts Valley . In Scotts Valley a friend and I continued to help my brother and his family unpack and get settled into their new house over the weekend. While we were there a few days during the week, I worked during the day (my friend was able to keep helping with the unpacking), then at night we headed out for fun ... dinner at Zelda's in Capitola , ice cream at Marianne's , hanging out on the beach at Seabright , and a fabulous dinner at home. Back in Napa, I took a few hours to walk around the property and snap photos that may end up on our social media over the course of the next f...

Last weekend I headed down to my brother's house to help he and his family as they moved from Redwood City to Scotts Valley . I'm pretty sure the move was so I would come down more often ... now they're only 10 minutes away from the beach . While my brother, his wife, and my parents were going back and forth from the house, I was able to work and kid-sit ... we celebrated National Donut Day and my oldest nephew's last day of school by heading to McDonald's later for lunch. On there final night in Redwood City their neighbors hosted a party, and then we finished packing for the move. We spent the weekend moving and unpacking. By the time I left it was looking like home and I'm looking forward to going back next weekend. After Scotts Valley, I headed north to Napa for a few meetings and back to Roseville, where I dined well (as normal). I had dinner at Chando's Tacos two nights in a row, saw Nick Vujicic speak at Bayside Blue Oaks , went to a friends...

The last two weeks have been full of fun, wine, soccer, and food. I started off in Anaheim for meetings and we took a quick trip to Downtown Disney . Once back in the northern part of the state I headed to Old Roseville to see the Budweiser Clydesdales . Next up, my family celebrated a friend's birthday at Mamma Susanna's in East Sacramento. After a fabulous dinner, we headed to Livermore for wine tasting , lunch at the First Street Alehouse , and met my brother and his family at Concannon Vineyard . My parents and I brought the two middle kids back to Sacramento with a quick stop for dinner in Lodi ... we needed Chinese food from Chop Chop :-). We continued our wine tasting in the Lodi area the following day with a stop at one of our favorites, Oak Farm Vineyards , before going to Lodi's Food Truck Mania , luckily we got to the ice cream truck before the line got too long, the kids enjoyed their cones, I enjoyed my Twisted Cow . To wrap up our tour of various w...