My Wine-tastic Birthday Surprise - Temecula, CA - November 21st, 2015

For as long as I have known Robbie, he seems to outdo himself each year for my birthday surprise, and this year was no different. I really enjoy surprises, and I'm sure it's hard for him to keep to himself. He always has great ideas!

Robbie came up with this year's surprise weeks in advance, and it was hard for me to not get it out of him! All he told me was that the event was going to take place on November 21st, and to be ready in a dress by 11am that morning. That really threw me off. Where could we be going dressed so fancy in the middle of the day?!

I tried to contain my excitement that morning, but I got all fancified and waited until 11am. It was finally time to leave, and Robbie led me out the door and down the stairs in a blind fold. Oh boy. What in the world....! We were just outside our apartment when he took off my blind fold, and in front of me was a stretch limo! I was pretty pumped, but I still had no idea where we were going! As I was stepping into this awesome limo, I had my head down because limos are kinda hard to get into. Then, as I was getting in, I heard tandem voices shout "surprise!" I look up and it's our good friends Rachelle and Kevin from Vegas!! Mind, blown! How Robbie kept this a secret from me for weeks is beyond me! I was super excited to spend the day with them, whatever we were doing! The limo was stocked with a bottle of champagne and glasses with birthday napkins, it was lined with awesome lights and we had complete control of the music! It even had a moon roof!

As we started driving away from our apartment, it became clear that we were going to be spending the day wine tasting in the Temecula Wine Country!! This was my very first time wine tasting. Robbie is not a drinker, so I wanted to wait until we had visitors! This was obviously the perfect opportunity. The limo was sold as a Wine Country package. We got 4 hours worth of the limo to take us to 3 different wineries, and each winery we chose included tasting tickets, usually 5 tasting tickets at each!

Our first stop was the Robert Renzoni Winery. This one was chosen first for its restaurant, perfect for lunch! Rachelle and Kevin had already been wine tasting before, so they showed us the ropes. The winery was beautiful. It reminded me of a barn, with a wine bar lining 3 walls, perfect for spending a ticket to get a tasting! In the center of the floor were little gifts to purchase, and our timing was perfect, just before Christmas! :) After our first 2 tastings, we headed to their restaurant where we ordered a nice meat and cheese plate before our wonderful pasta main dishes! This day happened to be a high of 81 degrees, so we enjoyed our meal outdoors amongst the beautiful scenery of wine country all around us!

After we were finished at our first winery, the limo took us to our second stop, South Coast Winery Resort and Spa. This winery, by its name, is a resort, and it definitely felt like one. We got our first glass of wine, and headed out to the deck where we looked out onto a ton of greenery, and a beautiful waterfall. We couldn't see wine country from where we were because the resort was so large. It was still a very beautiful winery, however. We had 5 tickets at this winery, but I only used 2, as I noticed the tickets didn't expire until January 20th. I will definitely be heading back there before then!

Our final stop was Faulkner Winery, and this winery offered the most stunning views of wine country that anyone can ask for! This winery was older, but it had outdoor wine bars, which was perfect as we were able to grab a picnic table looking out at the view! Robbie secured an extra half hour of the limo so we could enjoy the last winery without being rushed! This winery is also where Rachelle turned me on to mulled wine. Think hot apple cider, except wine. It was delicious!

Sadly our wine tastings came to an end, but we still had a few more hours before Rachelle and Kevin had to head back to Vegas. On the limo ride back, we popped the bottle of champagne and enjoyed the bubbly!

After we got back, we played a game of Settlers of Catan, our game of choice whenever we get together! It was just like the Vegas days! Before we said good-bye to Rachelle and Kevin, we had time to grab dinner. It was the best way to end the best birthday surprise!

It was so great to see Rachelle and Kevin knock my socks off when I stepped into that limo! They are the only reason I miss Vegas!

It's going to be difficult to top this birthday surprise!

"Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words." -Plautus