family

Lunch in Calistoga with the kids

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged calistoga / family / napa valley / travel tips / winter 2020 by

wearing: lipstick / blue and silver earrings / adidas sweatshirt / long sleeve tee / skinny jeans / nail polish / handbag / hiking boots /

We took some time to explore downtown Calistoga in between visiting the Geysers and the Petrified Forest during our road trip up to Calistoga in the Napa Valley. Downtown Calistoga is super cute! It is filled with historical buildings and shops. My middle child found a vintage store, and my son discovered some old train cars which were converted into retail space. Unfortunately they were not filled with shops to explore, but they did turn into an entertaining spot to take pictures of each of us being silly. haha

Our main reason for exploring downtown Calistoga was to find food! It was lunch time and we were starving. When you are traveling with kids, they can be a bit picky. We were lucky to find a Chinese restaurant in the middle of downtown Calisoga, which always satisfies picky children.

Soo Yuan Restaurant is located in downtown Calistoga and appears tiny from the streets. Once you go inside, the restaurant has plenty of tables, and offers a few large tables for families such as ours. At lunch, you have the option of ordering a la carte, or off the lunch special menu. We opted for the lunch menu, and it was a great choice! They food was sooooo good!

Soo Yuan Restaurant chines food calistoga

I had the prawns in black bean sauce and it was really yummy. We also ordered a pot sticker appetizer which was really good. Everything we ordered was delicious. If you are in the Calistoga area, and are looking for a great family restaurant, I highly recommend stopping in at Soo Yuan! It was delicious and the prices were reasonable too. Love!

We had a lot of fun visiting the Napa Valley with our kids. There is more to do than what we did, so we will definitely be planning another trip there soon with the kids!

Shop my winter sightseeing outfit:

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

Wall art in Napa

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged family / napa valley / outfits / travel style / winter 2020 by

wall art napa cia wall art oxbow public market sushinapa outfit ideas winter

wearing: blue and silver earrings / lipstick / black knit turtleneck / blue scarf / long coat (under $200!) / black belt / skinny jeans / nail polish / black satchel / charcoal boots /

First off, how did we do with nighttime photography? I never take photos at night. I love bright, daytime shade; which is easy lighting for pictures. We played with the settings on the camera, and while these aren’t the best photos we have ever taken, I feel like they came out pretty good. Maybe a little less crisp than I’d like. . .but they work. . .I think?? haha What do you think?

During our family road trip to Napa with the kids, we stopped into Oxbow Public Market for dinner. I had never been to a public market setting before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was a bustling marketplace filled with specialty food shop, mall-style food counters, and ice cream! It was sensory overload as two of my kids settled for pizza since they could not decide what to eat. My husband, and middle child settled on sushi, which I chose too. Like a crowded day at the mall, one of us hovered in the seating area until a table opened up which could seat five, while the others went to purchase our food. It worked well! I snapped up a table, and my food was brought to me by my family. Love that!

The sushi was good, and my husband also picked up a beer at the brewery located inside Oxbow. After we all finished eating, we walked around the market to see what else was there. I found The Olive Presse which is an olive oil company located in Sonoma. I have had their olive oil before, and know it’s hard to find, so I purchased a ton of it! I highly recommend the mandarin orange olive oil; yum!

We also found ice cream, also made locally. I enjoyed an egg nog milkshake while my kids all delved into a sundae, or a scoop of their favorite flavor. The ice cream was really good, I highly recommend it! We had lost our seats while walking around, so we ended up sitting outside to eat our ice cream; despite the fact that it was about 40 degrees outside. Brrr! We had fun anyway!

As we were sitting outside, we noticed the wall art on the CIA at Copia which was situated across the parking lot from Oxbow Public Market. After we finished our ice cream, we decided to try our hand at nighttime photography and take pictures of each other in front of this wall, after all, we loved the colors!

We had to adjust the camera quite a bit, but it was fun, and we got fairly good shots! Unfortunately CIA Copia was closed, so we were not able to peek inside. We will save that tour for next time we are in Napa!

Shop my Napa dinner outfit:

Have you been to Oxbow Public Market, or any other public marketplace? Which ones, and what did you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

napa street style

Lunch at CIA Greystone in Napa Valley

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged family / napa valley / outfits / staycation / travel style by

what to wear in napa valleycia greystonelunch cia greystone

wearing: blue and silver earrings / lipstick / blue scarf / long sleeve black tee / cardigan sweater / black satchel / black belt / bootcut jeans / nail polish / boots /

My middle child is interested in going to cooking school to become a chef, and possibly own her own restaurant someday. So, I knew we had to check CIA Greystone during our road trip to Napa Valley with the kids. This is one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the country, so it is definitely high on my daughter’s list as places she would like to attend.

Greystone was originally a winery established in 1889. The original building has 22 inch thick walls which are made of locally quarried tufa stone. It was designed by Hamden McIntyre. He also designed Inglenook! The winery fell on hard times during prohibition, and went to auction shortly after the Great Depression. In 1950, the Christian Brothers purchased the property to produce wine, brandy, and port. In 1990, Greystone and it’s drink production was acquired by Heublein, Inc. In 1993, CIA, the Culinary Institute of America, which had a location in New York, acquired Greystone and began classes in 1995.

CIA Greystone offers Bachelor Degree’s and certificates in culinary arts, which are known throughout the world. In addition, they have two on-campus restaurants which are equally known around the world; the Gatehouse, and the Bakery Cafe by illy. Off campus they have CIA Copia; which is located by the Oxbow Public Market. We ate lunch at their casual eatery, the Bakery Cafe by illy. The food was delicious, and my kids really enjoyed the experience of touring the school, and getting to eat there too.

You can learn more about CIA Greystone on their website.

Shop my Napa Valley outfit:

We really enjoyed our visit to CIA Greystone. I highly recommend stopping by for a meal if you are in the area.

Stay tuned for more from Napa! Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

kid friendly places napa valleythings to do in napa with kids