Wine Tasting in Walla Walla, Washington

I’ve reached a point in my increasingly busy life when it seems impossible to say yes to anything. One more thing on my plate and I might actually implode from the stress of it all. But when some of my Bellingham girlfriends decided to plan a wine tasting trip to Walla Walla, Washington, I knew this was something I needed to say yes to. These girls (who are just like my fellow beauties) are all trying their hardest to do it all, too. In fact, when I’m at my limit I take a moment and picture each one of their faces as a reminder that I am not alone, that I will survive, and that I have a wonderful support group of women who know what it feels like to go home and cry at the end of the day but damn they look like they’ve got it together when they drop their kids off at daycare/school the next morning.

These are my Blossom Bitches. I call them this affectionately, of course. The majority of us started out as a small group of women who saw each other at birthday parties; our children attend the same daycare—Blossom. But as the years have gone on, I’m now realizing we play more than our children do! And the fun group continues to expand and include more moms, not all of whom take their kids to Blossom (we’re not REAL bitches) and what has resulted is an amazing group of wonderful women who all have their highs, their lows, their individual beauty, and most importantly, their hilarity.

9 of us mamas went on this trip and as you can imagine, we were a dangerous bunch. We were too loud, laughed too much, and demanded too much from our servers. But we did it all with a smile. There were only two pukers (me) and some of us (not me) even went for a run both mornings. These bitches are hard core.

From left to right: Heather E, Jen, Amy, Nicole and Steph

From left to right: me, Heather C, Sandi and Lynn

We laughed on this trip!!! And as we all know, laughter is the best medicine. Oh, and wine. Can I add that too? And a pimped out limo bus?

Meet Amy. She is the cutest thing alive. She wears blue and white polka dot dresses with yellow tights.

We went to quite a few wineries on our trip, although we didn’t get to every one on the list. On Saturday we went to: Basel Cellars, Saviah Cellars, Northstar and Dusted Valley Vintners. On Sunday:  Adamant Cellars, Dunham Cellars and Tamarack Cellars.

Our favorites were Basel Cellars (great wine and BEAUTIFUL grounds complete with a vacation rental house unlike anything you’ve ever seen!), and Northstar was awesome with a live band and we were able to buy a bottle of wine, throw down a blanket and have a delicious picnic of meat, cheese, and yummy bread.  Sunday favorites: Adamant Cellars was the most understated but most divine tasting wine, and Dunham Cellars hooked us up by giving us our own secluded table outside (wait a minute…) and our own server who brought out wine after wine for us to try.

This is us at Basel Cellars posing by the pool. Don't look so dangerous yet, you say? Just wait.

This is what I like to call the AmberAmyOctopus. We thought this was a good idea at Northstar. Yes, there were people around.

This is Nicole posing in the house at Basel Cellars. We got a personally guided tour from Norita, our lovely hostess who we rented our house from. She works at Basel! Downstairs was a bar, stage (ehem, see above) and movie theatre. We were like giddy school girls. It was super awesome.

I mentioned Norita - she was the best! Here's a link to her listing on VRBO: http://www.vrbo.com/293418. There were 9 beds! Each one of us got our own, which was amazing amazing amazing. It was reasonably priced and not a far drive to anywhere we wanted to go.

I highly suggest a wine tasting trip to Walla Walla! You’ll find lovely wine in an unpretentious atmosphere. Perfect for a girls trip!

Don't you love it when the wind gusts up just in time to add that extra bit of cuteness?

Oh, and a big shout out to those special people who picked up the slack for 9 moms who needed a break. I guarantee it was worth it. Aren't you happy now, bitches? I know I am.