MrAndrewBradley

Well Birthday Week 2 (see Birthday Week 1 ) officially came to an end on Saturday, after a marathon of eating out for seven of the last eight days, plus a trip to The Meritage Resort and Spa to attend Flavor! Napa Valley . I enjoyed two complete Thanksgiving meals at Bayside while learning about its plans for 2014 and beyond at its main campus, the North Campus (closer to my house ) and the hundreds of projects it supports in the region and around the world. Then there were dinners out with friends .... Happy Hours at Ruth's Chris Steak House and Mikuni Kaizen , appetizers at Mas Cocina Mexican and I even cooked some tasty pasta with vegetables and chicken to eat for lunch when I was at home. All of that food was amazing, but attending Flavor! Napa Valley's " The Appellation Trail: Tasting Napa Valley " with the team from The Meritage Resort and Spa was simply incredible. The best way to describe it is to think of any "Best of" or "Taste of"...

Honestly, I don't really celebrate my birthday very often, but every so often lots of other events seem to creep up on it and it makes it a celebration that lasts anywhere for a few days to a few weeks. This year it will be a two week celebration. It started last Saturday with dinner at my parents' house (cioppino), cake and gifts. On Sunday we headed to The Melting Pot to use a Living Social deal (and celebrate). Monday I ended up meeting a friend at Chevy's to use my free birthday entree coupon, then I took a few days off from eating out and headed to Napa on Friday. At The Meritage Resort and Spa I enjoyed one of my favorite burgers at Crush Ultra Lounge and they surprised me with a beautiful chocolate cake for my birthday. Later that night I attended a screening of Philomena   as part of the Napa Valley Film Festival at the Napa Valley Opera House . Although I hadn't planned to stay overnight at The Meritage overnight I was able to and wake up to a break...

It's been almost a month since I've been able to update my blog and it has been a busy, crazy, sad and exciting month. It started off with a tri-tip filled business round-table meeting with a few Placer County small business owners who all attend various churches in the area. Then I got news that my uncle's health was failing faster than we thought. Nine weeks earlier he was diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live. My parents had been once to see him and his family earlier, but with that news, we booked our tickets for that Saturday with plans to stay, visit and be with the family for about two weeks. Sadly, he passed away before we arrived, but I will always have the memories of trips with he and his wife, most recently our Pacific Coast Cruise . My mom and I headed to my brother's house in the Bay Area on Friday, where my dad met us after work and we left from SFO to CLT and AGS early Saturday morning. The Charlotte Airport, complete with rocking ch...

I started off my weekend with a salad from Taco Bell and a concert at Bayside featuring Jason Gray, Laura Story and Steven Curtis Chapman ... always fun to see some of the artists sing songs live that I hear on the radio , while also getting to see some friends too. Saturday, after a waffle for breakfast, I was off to Napa and The Meritage Resort and Spa for their inaugural Brew Fest event. Although I didn't get to fully indulge (I had to drive home) I did get to sample a few of the beers from Napa Smith Brewery (their seasonal Crush brew will hopefully be available year-round at Crush Ultra Lounge ), Samuel Adams, Hanger 24 , Speakeasy and Lagunitas (the glasses were small and I didn't let them fill the glass all the way). Beyond the beer, the food was all amazing, I don't know the names of everything, but it was German and it was great from handmade pretzels to schnitzel and spätzle to dessert, strudel with homemade ice cream! I ended the day with chu...

There's nothing wrong with old, but this week has been a week of "new." I started off by going to my favorite Napa resort ... The Meritage Resort and Spa for meetings and to meet with some reporters who haven't been to the property in awhile. They were able to see the new Vineyard Deck and take a look at what the rooms in the main building will look like in a few months as they are all being upgraded. Continuing with the new, we ate lunch at Siena Restaurant where their newest chef prepared a special menu for us including scallops, lamb chops and a dessert medley (to share). For dinner I went to Angéle on Napa's Riverfront for a rustic, yet gourmet French dining experience. The next morning I woke up and worked for a few hours when my laptop screen decided to go black. I tried a few fixes, but nothing worked, so I took it to Office Depot , where after a few hours of resting they were able to get it to work just fine. I took it back and it went off again ...

After a going away party for a friend who is moving to the East Coast at The Park Ultra Lounge in Sacramento I met my parents for dessert (they had dinner too) at Seasons 52 to celebrate their 42nd Anniversary! Although 41 was celebrated in Barcelona and 30 was in Australia, I think they still enjoyed a nice dinner. After a few midweek runs, Friday I needed to get out and went to Mikuni's for time with friends and sushi ... I actually had a Bento Box for the first time (at Mikuni), it was really good and quite filling. After being at Mikuni for a few hours we needed a change of scenery and went across the street to Crush 29 for their late night happy hour to enjoy a little more wine (and in my case a few chicken sliders). Saturday, didn't quite go as planned ... my car battery died, but after getting it jumped by a neighbor I headed to Walmart , had a new battery installed (and ice cream while I waited), then headed to Bayside for church before meeting up with a...

On Tuesday I was invited by Placer GROWN to a lunch at Sinclair Family Farm to learn about some of the fresh produce grown and livestock raised in Placer County. We also learned about Placer GROWN Week , which kicks off on October 5 and wraps up on October 13. The afternoon started with a green salad tossed with feta cheese and pomegranate seeds, followed by homemade beef stew and paired with a selection of wines from Viña Castellano . During a very educational talk by the Placer County Agricultural Commissioner , we enjoyed apple cobbler with just the right amount of vanailla ice cream on top, and, of course, a little more wine. It was fun to learn about the rich history of agriculture in Placer County , including the fact it used to be one of the world's top tree fruit producers and I had no idea that rice was grown near the city of Lincoln. After lunch and learning about Placer GROWN Week, we got a tour of the Sinclair Family Farm, including a sheep dog demonstration (t...