Margherita Pizza

For those of you who don't know, we love us some homemade pizzas in the Stephens Casa.

Brad, makes his family's dough recipe and I come up with the ideas for toppings and such.

It generally ends well.

When on our ski trip we saw someone make a margherita pizza and I knew we had to try it at home.

The one main thing they did that I had not seen before was put mozzarella slices on top of the dough and sauce BEFORE putting any toppings on.

I think this makes a HUGE difference.

Next.

Fresh basil and tomatoes.

And, a little bit more shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake and you get..

This!!!

OMG! Totally delicious!!

One thing I didn't mention is that you should put your dough crust into the oven at 400-degrees for 5-minutes BEFORE you put anything on it, then put your toppings on and bake for 10-minutes.

We also made a white pizza again.

They were all delish!

Homemade pizza nights are our favorite!!

Beary 1st Birthday Party to Die For

If you're into frilly 'girlie girl' birthday parties this post is for you!

Before I start, we only wish we could have been in attendance to this first birthday party.

Remember our friends from San Francisco that we went skiing with just a couple of weeks ago?

Well, their daughter Dylan Sierra turned one over the weekend and after seeing the amazing party pictures I asked if I could post about it just so you all could see!

Theme: Bears

(there is also a back story to the bears since Dylan's daddy played for the Cal Bears back in the day)

Party decor: BIANCO in Los Gatos, CA

Party Venue:  Beth and DJ's home in the Marina District of San Francisco

No detail was left out.

Beth started planning Miss Dylan's birthday bash weeks in advance.

Down to what 'Miss D' would wear.

 Over 100 guests were in attendance and they were welcomed with festive decor from the minute they reached the front door.

Balloons.

 My personal favorite - a birthday girl picture on the front door.

 And, of course, a birthday bear to get this 'beary' first birthday party started.

 As, I mentioned the goal was for this party to be 'girlie' so there was a paper mache' dress in the front entrance.

 Along with a paper mache dog created to look like the family's white Labrador retriever named, none other than, 'Cali Bear'.

 Speaking of bears...

Dylan received a big new bear with a big bow from her Daddy, DJ, for her birthday.

 And, from her Mommy she got a new birthday outfit complete with monogram.

 Bears were everywhere!

Even though, this bear, named Coco lives in the house year round getting decorated for each season and holiday.

 'Beary Temple and Bearilyn Monroe' were also part of the party decorations.

 Along with a bear tea party that was going on.

 Other party decorations included a Spring theme.

 And, balloons and flowers to die for!

 Including kissing balls.

 And, candy from Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City.

 While guests dined on several appetizers to begin there was also a backyard BBQ.

There aren't a ton of pictures of food but I'll share the outside decor with you.

In case you're not familiar with SF, it's sorta a big deal to have a decent size living space outside when living in the city.

So, this backyard is pretty cool in my opinion.

There were more Spring like decorations outside.

With different areas for guests to sit.

Including this bar, a couple of other tables(not pictured)

 and, this cute little sitting area next to the herb garden.

 Overall, a pretty amazing party for a special little girl.

 Who, is very loved.

(some of the birthday gifts)

 Not only by her Daddy...

But, by all!

There you have it!

The one thing you might have noticed is that there was no cake.

There was a dessert bar but Beth wasn't into the 'let's watch the baby smash the cake thing'.

She said it is not her thing and that Dylan is too little to understand or remember.

In my opinion, it was NOT needed!

Pilot Mountain Hike and Winery(s) Visit

My weekend consisted of my absolute favorite things to do.

Go hiking and a winery visit...or maybe two!

My partner in crime was Kelli since Brad isn't big on hiking like I am.

(He had a guy's night out.)

Our destination was Pilot Mountain State Park about an hour and 45-minutes from Charlotte.

I had been here once years ago but didn't hike.

Instead I only enjoyed a picnic with my Mom.

There are several trails in the park and while we originally planned on hiking this one particular route that I read about online, when we got there it was WINDY so our plans changed!
Even though it was 80-degrees here on Thursday the weather turned off cool this weekend and the high in that area was only about 40-degrees.

Combine that with being on top of a mountain and it was cold!

No worries though, right? You burn more calories exercising in the chilled air!
We chose to hike the Grindstone Trail.

4-miles round trip. We started at the top of the mountain and walk down and then back up.

At the very beginning Kelli spotted rock climbers.

It's one thing to hike on a windy day but to rock climb?
No THANKS!

The wind was so bad we saw a tree snap and fall right in front of us on one trail.

Needless to say, we weren't the only ones on Pilot Mountain.
The trails were pretty crowded for February!

The trail was scenic.

You had views along the way but hiked into a campground then we turned around and made our way back up.

Pretty steep on the way back.
I was surprised.

My butt even hurts today!

There are a lot of steep steps.

Which explains why my backside is sore!
LOL!

Good times!!

After our hike we drove over to our favorite, The Harvest Grill at Shelton Winery.
I'm such a creature of habit but I adore this place.

The food, the atmosphere, everything! We didn't even go inside the actual winery.

Just the restaurant!

If you recall, I had my bacherlorette party here and when we went for a day hike this summer Kelli and I stopped here.
As usual, the vines are bare this time of year.

Shelton is by far my favorite winery in the Carolinas.
Their wine is GREAT!

Kelli and I started out lunch with a cheese board and an assortment of fun condiments to taste with.

Then she ordered the shrimp and I had boring ole' soup.
It was all delish though!

I expected nothing less.

We were running short on time but I was determined for us to stop by Raffaldini Vineyards on our way home.
We had stopped here for my bachelorette party but the actual winery was closed for a wedding so we only go to go to a side tasting room.

So.. I really wanted to go back!

First off.. the grounds are breathtaking!

By far the best view for a winery in NC.

Very popular for weddings.

We're told you can rent the entire place out for 10K.
Of course, there are different wedding packages but the deluxe is 10K.

Since it had been 2 and half years since our last visit we did a quick tasting.

And, I hate to say it...
But, their wine is not good.

But their servers and staff is great!

And, again..

The views and grounds are awesome!

I would go back for that simple fact!

They don't have a restaurant but they do have cheeses and other items you can buy.

After that we made our way back to Charlotte.

I had big plans to make shamrock cookies but after dinner with LuLu I was BEAT.

I came home and went to bed by 10pm.

How lame am I? HA!

How was your weekend?