Tweet The Napa Valley is alive and kicking and ready for another year of harvest!  That was pretty evident from this week’s trip up to the wine country to savor more of it’s lodging, food and wine ~ and cheese, olive oil, salted caramels and gorgeous weather!   No more empty vines resting and asleep. 
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Tweet By: Yolanda Zaragoza I, for one, have great respect and love for Pope John Paul II. In 2009, I went on a pilgrimage to Poland: Following in the Footsteps of John Paul II.  He was a special man, chosen by God for a special mission. Karol Józef Wojtyla, was born in the small Polish
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Tweet By:  Yolanda Zaragoza Gouda Cheese! Here in Holland, I got the chance to visit one of the Dutch cheese farm shops, Henri Willig. We stopped by at the Alida Hoeve Cheese Farm in Volendam, a North Holland “cheese-cover farmhouse,” and de Vriendaschap Wooden Shoe Factory. Both are open to the public, free of charge,
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Tweet By:  Yolanda Zaragoza The tulips have become an iconic symbol of Holland. The bulb fields are in Lisse, between Leiden and Amsterdam. The flowering season begins in March with the crocuses, the daffodils, and the narcissi. From April to the middle of May, the hyacinths and the tulips burst in colors like field rainbows.
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Tweet I hit many birds with one road trip this last couple of days.  Right after our family’s Easter celebration, we borrowed my 3yo grandson and my husband and I celebrated a belated birthday down in Monterey.  As expected, I had a lot of photo ops and I didn’t miss a thing! The Monterey Bay
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Tweet By Yolanda Zaragoza Last year in April, I joined a pilgrimage to Poland: In the Foot Steps of John Pail II. One of the memorable parts of this visit was going to Czestohowa (pronounced as Chestohova). We visited the the fortified monastery of the Pauline Fathers which houses the Black Madonna, a sacred icon
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Tweet I was at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon yesterday for about three whole hours.  I went to every chocolate nook, corner and booth.  I was surrounded by chocaholics and bits and pieces of morsels to taste.  I even went prepared with my ziploc bags to take some home to ‘sample’  because I knew
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It was evident from the get go that we had to pick up the rest of our crew whom we had left back at the hotel and share our discovery. Imagine jaw dropping OMGosh moments that led from one thing ~ to another. From the museum, we were escorted ~ to his villa. Carlo Marchiori’s world, and inside his head.

Tweet I am hoping that this morning’s heavy and sudden downpour is IT for us here in enough-already-rain California.  This morning,  I took  my dog for a walk and noticed the flowers in bloom and it reminded me that I was taking similar photos last year too.     Funny how noticeable  things become when your eyes
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Tweet A few months ago, I had the pleasure of being part of a press group invited to visit downtown Napa.  Not Napa Valley ~ but the city of Napa instead.    It was a three day two night visit, some of which I already featured HERE.  One of the highlights of that weekend for me
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