Would You Like a Little Cheese with Your Wine? Day 2

One thing Leslie shared with us all during her presentation on day one was the old French supersition surrounding sex and toasting. She said unless you wanted to have bad sex for SEVEN years. you must always make eye contact with ALL the people you are toasting. As you can imagine, Curtis took this to heart, and nearly bore holes through the eyes of every women within toasting distance. 

Since we had already been introduced as a married couple, and he was the only male guest at the Gathering (a wine mister, they called him), Leslie kinda embarrassed us, and good-naturedly commented of Curt's toasting skills that he was going to have great sex. Well, we were so exhausted from drinking and touring that we promptly fell asleep at 9:00 PM and woke just in time for breakfast one day 2. C'est la vie!

Luckily we were well-rested for Day Two of the Gathering which started with a tribute to Leila Janah for her amazing work supporting women. Samasource, a nonprofit she founded four years ago, connects people, especially women, living in poverty to microwork — small, computer-based tasks that build skills and generate life-changing income. The same concept inspired her to co-found Samahope, a new site to crowdfund surgeries in poor countries. Leila was beautiful and well-spoken and truly takes “Helping a Sister Out” to a global level.

Leila Janah being honored for her work with Samasource! Such an inspiration!

Afterwards, the stunningly beautiful Danielle Smith hosted an interactive workshop entitled  ”You On Camera: Getting Comfortable with Video.” Danielle is the mastermind behind Extraordinary Mommy and she shared tons of tips for vlogging beginners. Being comfortable in front of the camera is essential in this day and age of visual and video media, so Danielle had volunteers from the audience practice vlogging. I was too scared to do that, but I am definitely participating in her 7-Day Video Challenge, where she encourages you to film video for 7 straight days to get comfortable being in front of the camera. I am super excited to start getting some vlogs out on Hems for Her after hearing Danielle's tips. Follow Danielle on Facebook and Twitter.

Curtis and I LOVE cheese so we were super excited for the Wine and Cheese Pairing Workshop hosted by Cabot Cheese. We tried five different cheeses paired with five different wines and it was such a fun (and delicious) experience. I can't wait till it warms up and I can host my own wine and cheese party on the back porch! Yummy!

Cheese and Wine- It doesn't get better than this, trust me!

As if we weren't full enough, we then headed out to local favorite Don Giovanni for a traditional Italian meal complete with amazing garlic bread and lasagna with homemade pasta noodles! Immediately after lunch we toured the intimate and rustically charming  Chappellet Vineyard & Winery. Since 1967, the Chappellet family has been hand-crafting critically acclaimed wines on the rocky slopes of Pritchard Hill. Chappellet was one of the first Napa Valley wineries to plant cover crops and adopt no-till farming practices, and today the entire vineyard is farmed organically. We walked through the property and vineyards and tried several delicious wines. I loved our hosts at Chappellet, Candace and Jessica, and even owner and winemaker Cyril Chappellet showed up to answer questions and show us around. 

Lunch at Don Giovanni- more wine, garlic bread, beet salad and a decadent dessert.

We spent most of our tour at Chappellet on the hillside.
It was truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen!

Tired yet? After leaving Chappellet we traveled to Quintessa for MORE wine and cheese! Quintessa produces one singular estate wine in the highly acclaimed Rutherford appellation of Napa Valley. Each year, the red meritage wine is a blend including some or all of the five varietals grown on the estate: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenere.  The property itself was absolutely breath-taking, definitely my favorite, and the tour was laid-back and relaxed. By this point in the day we were all very "relaxed" and chatty, and I had some of my best conversations while inhaling cheese here at Quintessa.

We were outside a lot on Day Two, so I paired my trusty boots with another Eloquii dress from Gwynnie Bee. I threw on an old, cozy sweater  to help keep the hillside winds from chilling me to the bone! Again, I saved a ton of space and time by shipping my Gwynnie Bee clothes back the day I checked out of the hotel. I came home with a suitcase filled with souvenirs, instead of dirty clothes! That's the best kind of vacation, right?

And check out this AWESOME and INTERACTIVE Instagram collage! I'm in love with it :)