Entries from Palmabella's Passions tagged with 'Slow Travel Get-Togethers'
Carmel GTG: Saturday
I was up bright and early on Saturday morning. I had a nice walk, leaving Brad asleep in our hotel room. Two double lattes later, we set off for breakfast with our old friends, Lynn and Gary, who live in...
Carmel GTG: Friday Night
We left home VERY early (5:45) for a drive to Ontario airport and a quick flight to San Jose. From there it was about an hour drive to Monterey, and a quick stop at Del Monte Shopping Center. We had...
Weekend in Monterey-Carmel
It was the Second Annual Slow Travel Monterey Get-Together! Friday: We left home at 7 a.m. for a 10:00 flight from Ontario to San Jose. We arrived at 11:00 and picked up our rental car. By 12:15, we were at...
Slow Bowl Super Bowl Sunday
After brunch on Sunday, we joined those who stayed for the day to watch the game, or who had short enough drives or later flights to hang out for the annual "leftover picnic" and tasting at Castoro Vineyards. It was...
Sunday Brunch at Artisan
Sunday Brunch at Artisan was another highlight of our Slow Bowl weekend. Beginning with the great coffee, 12 of us enjoyed delicious food. The beignets were served in a canning jar with powdered sugar and fresh berry jam. How...
Saturday Night at Slow Bowl
Here are a few more photos of Saturday evening's festivities. There is always plentry of wine, plenty to eat and lots of laughter!...
TWO MORE DAYS! Party Prep...
I have two days to finish the last of the "do ahead" things I can make for the Great Slow Travel San Diego Gathering! I actually am rather "stuck" for what to write about today, as aside from work,...
Alma Rosa and Avant
While we were sipping wine at Palmina in the morning, it rained. By the time we left around 1:00, the sun broke through, and we had a beautiful 15 minute drive to our next stop, Alma Rosa. At Alma Rosa,...
Slow Bowl IV: Palmina Winery
Make a Smilebox photobook...
Slow Bowl IV: Friday
We had SUCH a great weekend with Shannon, Nancy, Krista and Steve at a very tiny Slow Bowl IV! I have much to blog about this week! Instead of our usual destination of Paso Robles, we visited the Santa Inez...
Party Food
I loved having a pot luck! The food was wonderful! Let's start with the antipasti table. I don't have photos of everything, as I got called away by one of the cooks, but trust me, it was all great! You...
Get Together with Friends
Brad and I have hosted a Slow Travel GTG every October for the past three years. This year, we decided not to have one for two reasons: financial, and because of the 2010 Slow Travel Gathering in San Diego in...
A Mini Get Together
Saturday night, Ann and Scott hosted a lovely dinner party at their home outside of Seattle. They have the art of hosting and cooking great food down to a science. Marta was also able to join us for an evening...
Slow Bowl Saturday
Saturday morning began with a Starbucks delivery of a Venti Nonfat Latte and a Cafe Americano at 7:10 AM to our room. My version of "breakfast in bed" from Jerry and Paul. Brad loved having other men wait on me!...
Slow Bowl: Friday
We left early Friday for the 5 hour drive to Paso Robles. It only took Brad a little over four hours, but we had some "uncomfortable" moments in the car when the cheesecake, lemon cookies and taralli went flying around...
We're Off to Paso Robles
It is not even 6 AM, and I am up and blogging. I am so excited. This morning we are driving to Paso Robles for the THIRD ANNUAL SLOW BOWL! This is my favorite GTG of the year. It is...
More Party Recipes
Shrimp Dip This is a no-brainer! 8 oz. cream cheese (softened) 1 pint sour cream 2 packages of powdered Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix 1 pound salad shrimp (bay shrimp) Mix together the night before to let it get "friendly"....
Spicy Corn Salad and Hot Artichoke Dip Recipes
Spicy Corn Salad (Brad grilled 12 ears and tripled everything except the cheese.) 4 ears of corn, grilled and cooled 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 green onions, chopped 1/2 of a red onion, chopped zest of 2 limes juice...
Party Menu
As promised, here is the party menu for the 2008 Desert GTG: The items with a * are do ahead and freeze, and the items with 2**, the caterer did (I had to order 3 things from her to...
3rd Annual Desert GTG
We had a BLAST! Check out all the photos here. EVERYONE asked, "When is the NEXT GTG?"...
Friday Night at Amici
We started off the official Desert GTG by gathering for dinner Friday night at Amici Italian Trattoria. We had the perfect size private room for our group of 15 early arrivals. Here was the great menu selected for us: Starter...
Party Soon
Just a little over two weeks, and it is time for the 3rd Annual Slow Travel Desert GTG! I am in high gear PARTY MODE! I have lists for my lists. What this actually means is, every day there is...
Pinot and Ponies 2
We spent the afternoon at Del Mar race track with Shannon, Sharon, Cheryl and Tom. It was warm and beautiful, and we had great seats on the finish line in a nice shady section that was convenient to everything...
Pinot and Ponies Day 1
It was a Chamber of Commerce sunny day in San Diego. Brad and I spent the morning at the beach in Oceanside, had great fish and chips for lunch in Carlsbad, a quick shopping fix in San Diego, and checked...
Slow Travel GTG Roma: May 19, 2008
A few Slow Travelers met at our apartment for a drink and appetizers at 6 on Monday evening. Here are Sherry (Mimi), and Shelagh (SJ). Tony (da Roma) and Flaminia entertained us with stories of Rome. We enjoyed getting acquainted...
A Different Way to Travel to Italy
Last night Brad and I sat outside and talked about how our Italy travel has changed in the past few years. Yes, we have SLOWED DOWN, thanks to our membership in the Slow Travel community and the philosophy of staying...
MY Highlights of Savannah: My TOP 10
Where to start? There were so many! I will start with my own personal hero:Brad! My very dear husband, always a treasure, has been amazing this whole past year with regards to the Gathering. He listened as our plans progressed,...
Sunday at Vic's: Behind the Scenes
Here is the "Behind the Scenes" version of Sunday morning. Kathy, Brad and I went to Vic's at 9:15 to do a run through with the projector, laptop and THE MOVIE. We had tried it on Friday. Everything worked,...
Saturday Night at the History Museum
Saturday was quite a day! I was caffinating by 7 AM after a late night of wine, and 4 hours sleep the night before. "Behind the scenes" we dealt with preparing all the door prizes to transport to the fort...no,...
Lady and Sons
Saturday at 12:15, we met for lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady and Sons. 34 of us hung outside, happily waiting for our reservation that Marcia had organized in advance. I love the awning above us that says, "Savannah...
More Gingerbread House Fun
Here are a few more photos of friends at the Gingerbread House: Brad and Gail Pauline and Jan Randy, June and Marcia Shannon and John Barb and SandraK Sandi and Bill Nancy, Gail and Palma Wow! What a fun night!...
The Gingerbread House Party
I'm still WAY behind on blogging the Gathering, but here are a few highlights and photos of the Gingerbread House evening: Guests were greeted at the door with a glass (or two) of prosecco: Passed hors d'oeuvres welcomed the crowd:...
The Gingerbread House: Friday's Venue
Everyone has arrived in Savannah! (well, Charisse is almost here!) Friday evening's event is at the beautiful Gingerbread House. Here are a few shots before the crowds descended: The living room: The Garden: The food table is ready: We're READY!...
Friday Afternoon in Savannah
Friday: We had some free time today to enjoy the wonderful city of Savannah. We took a nice sunny walk with Gail, John, Sandi and Bill, down to the river. The Spanish moss on all the trees is wonderful. We...
The Great Savannah Gathering
I'm having SO much fun, I have been a very busy, naughty blogger! We arrived in Savannah Wednesday night, and have been going full speed since! Thursday we had lots of party preparations, and happy greeting of our planning team....
Andiamo...a Savannah, Y'all!
3:30 AM. We're off to the airport in an hour! I am caffinating. My next post will be LIVE from Savannah! SO EXCITED!...
Planning the Savannah Gathering: Behind the Scenes
I have been on the planning committee for the Slow Travel April "Great Gathering in Savannah '08" for over a year. Our committee has met weekly to plan this event since December of 2006! It seemed so far away...
Bunches of Brunches
Slow Travelers are not slouches when food is concerned. We have a group of great cooks and good eaters! After bellinis, part of the group began with an appetizer of "Smoked Gouda and Porter Fondue, garlic toast, andouille sausage, and...
Brunch at Artisan
This topic could take DAYS, as I took photos of everyone's food! We met on Sunday morning for brunch at 10. Going through wine withdrawal, many of us began with their version of peach bellinis. 24 attended brunch, but...
A Jolly Trolley
There is something very festive about a group of friends together on a trolley! This was a great way to travel between wineries. Only Charlie, our driver, had to watch for cars. The rest of us could eat, drink,...
Slow Bowl Saturday
After everyone was caffinated, or breakfasted, we met at the cottage, or Melody Ranch for the carpools and trolley to begin the wine tasting. Our first stop as a group was Castoro winery. We had a fabulous lunch, provided by...
Live from the SLowbowl
Last night we kicked off the Paso Robles SLOWBOWL 2008 with vino, friends, and a "Mac and Cheese Smackdown". We had three yummy Mac and cheese baked versions (by Marcia, Stephanie, and Palma), and even Dave's fried Mac&Cheese cubes! Appetizers,...
S.F. Slow Travel GTG
We walked from our hotel, three blocks to The Grand Cafe, and ordered a glass of wine in the bar. Soon Sharon, Shannon and Colleen arrived and joined us. At 5:30, we found the rest of our group, Judy and...
The Morning After: Sunday Breakfast at Keedy's
How we could eat agin, I'm not sure, but we all met at Keedy's at 10:30 for breakfast. Keedy's is a Palm Desert Favorite for breakfasts and lunches in an old diner setting with formica tables and a soda fountain...
Saturday's GTG
ALl the GTG photos have been posted on Slow Photos. You can see them here. The "Something Italian in a bag" mixer was fun. People were very creative! I'll try to remember what people brought. We had olive oil, balsamic...
My Dream Team
How can I thank the amazing group of friends/house guests and hard workers who helped me behind the scenes? I will sing their praises in a blog post! It goes without saying that my wonderful husband helped for weeks before...
Acqua Pazza
We met for dinner at Piero's Acqua Pazza at "The River", an upscale movie, dining, shopping complex with lots of water features. Everyone seemed pleased with their menu selections. I didn't take food photos, but saw LOTS of pear-gorgonzola salads...
Behind the Scenes:Friday
Thursday night, our amazing friends began to arrive for the GTG weekend. Gail, John and Sandi landed in Palm Springs shortly after 9, and arrived just as I had made the last of the 48 panna cottas. We enjoyed some...
The Party's Over!
It appears that everyone had a good time! Next, let's go BEHIND the scenes...(coming soon)...
Party Planning: October GTG
Some of my friends have asked me, "How do you cook for 48 (or more) people for dinner without getting stressed out? " I PLAN! Some might say I obsess. I make lots of lists, spread out the tasks, start...
A Fabulous Foodie GTG in Vancouver: Part 2
Our next stop was the amazing Bosa Foods: "Italissima Quality Gourmet Mediterranean Foods"! I thought I had died and gone to Italian food heaven, or been zapped to a beautiful new grocery store in Italy. This place was an Italian...
The Fabulous Foodie GTG: 1st Stop
By 8:30, I had consumed a mug of hotel coffee, and a venti Starbucks nonfat latte. I was capable of complete sentences, so we met Ann and Scott, our gracious chauffeur for the day. We headed to meet the...
A Vancouver Welcome
We left Seattle around noon, and headed to Vancouver, British Columbia. My first and only previous visit was at age 20 when I was "in love" with a cruise ship bartender named Peppi. I took an Alaska cruise with...
"Pinot and Ponies"
Saturday, we picked up Shannon in Ocean Beach and headed to the Del Mar Racetrack where we met Sue, Marcia and David. Marcia and Dave's friend, Vladimir, a horse trainer, generously gave us seats in his box. Cheryl and friends,...
An Italian Evening
Friday, we arrived in San Diego a bit before Brad's business meeting. I dropped him off at the appointed place, and had two hours to spend before picking him up. Oh darn, there was a Nordstrom down the street! I...
Our Last Night in Italy
We crammed everything in our luggage and prayed we will not be over 70 lbs for each big bag! They were full and heavy! We asked the front desk for help with our luggage, and a big brawney Italian man...
Umbria Slow Travel GTG
Where to start? This was the MOST fantastic opportunity to meet so many wonderful Slow Travel friends from Italy and the U.S.! We arrived at the lovely Villa Rosy, outside Assisi to meet our hosts and hostesses, Janet, Alan, and...
Monday in Cortona
After our drive through the sunflowers, we returned to Cortona for some shopping. I’ve been pretty well-behaved over the weekend. I bought green sandals and an unusual pendant from Alessandra at Il Girasole. The design is made of petals, leaves...
Citta di Castello with Judith
We got another early start for our visit to meet Judith in Citta di Castello. It was about an hour drive where we passed by Foligno, Spello, Assisi, then north through new territory for us. We were parked and in...
Girasole, Todi, Dinner with Barb and Art
I was up at 6, had coffee, showered, and we were on our way by 8 for another Umbrian adventure. We dropped of Brad’s laundry shortly after 8 in Montefalco, then headed to Marsciano, and up the hill to San...
Lunch with Jane, Ken and Casey in Buonconvento
We left Montalcino for our short drive to meet Jane, Ken and Casey in Buonconvento. They greeted us a few minutes before noon at the designated bar across from the train station. We hugged like old friends, though it was...
Pisa and Florence
July 2, 2007 We had a lazy morning, beginning at 8 a.m. when we picked up a few gifts at the San Lorenzo Market, stopped at the Internet spot, and lingered over a couple of lattes. We got our car,...
A Relaxing Sunday
Sunday, July 1 I got up at 7, caffeinated, and we spent an hour at the Internet spot across from our hotel. Then we had another latte and a cornetto at the corner caffe, and I read while Brad went...
Dinner with Nancy and Bill at Trilussa
We had a wonderful early dinner at Trilussa, an Italian restaurant in Cathedral City, with Slow Travel friends, Nancy (Nancyhol) and Bill. After a glass of wine or prosecco, we made our menu selections. Conversation was lively about travel,...
ST Southeast GTG in Brevard: April 2007
The Brevard GTG was a whole week ago, and there was so much to blog about, and so many photos, that it is time I finally get to the party itself! On Friday night, we met around 5 p.m. for...
Our Hosts' Beautiful Home
One of the highlights of our weekend was meeting our gracious hosts, the Candlers. Linda and John welcomed us to their lovely home on grounds of the Brevard Music Center. Linda feels about France, the way I do about...
Dinner at Flight
We cruised the Main Street of Hendersonville (actually called Main Street), and looked at choices for dinner. Melanie had recommended a wood grill/wine bar called "Flight". It looked like just what we were looking for. There was a very cool...
Arriving in North Carolina
After less than 3 hours of sleep, the alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 3:45 a.m.. We were on our way to the Ontario airport by 5 a.m., and our 7:20 flight to Denver left on time. We...
A Lovely, Windy Evening
Sheena, Nikki and Jen came to dinner on Wednesday night. With our prosecco or wine, we munched on appetizers until Brad (our BBQ chef) came home at 8 from Pasadena. We had quite a lot of wind, but it seemed...
Salad Supper with Sheena
Sheena, Nikki and Jen came over for a very casual outdoor supper of salads. We began with a couple bottles of prosecco, and some parmagiano with Italian lemon honey. We moved out to the patio for dinner. We took NO...
Dinner with Jerry in Padadena
For several months, Slow Travel friend, Jerry, from Canada and I have joked about being "twins separated at birth". We both enjoy travel to Italy, cooking, baking, shopping, entertaining, and seem to think alike on various topics. Around the holidays,...
Slow Travel GTG at Mozza
On Saturday, we ran a few early morning errands, and by 10:30 we were off to Los Angeles. Our first stop was a bead shop, where I purchased beads for three new pieces of jewelry: some red coral to mix...
Slow Travel Friends and GTGs
Just two years ago I was planning our trips to Italy with a stack of guidebooks in front of me. I was led to a site called slowtrav.com a couple of years before I actually showed up on the...
SLOW BOWL Part IV: Finale
COMMONALITY: Travel, appreciation of good food and wine! COMMUNITY: Old and new friends sharing. FRIENDSHIP: LAUGHTER: CELEBRATION: These photos say it all. What a wonderful group of generous, helpful, kind, and interesting people! Brad and I managed to be the...
SLOW BOWL Part III: Saturday Night's Dinner
After the wineries, and shopping, we had a little downtime, and Brad took a quick nap, while I read and freshened up. Soon friends gathered at the cottage, and appetizers appeared as the chefs worked their magic. There was obviously...
The SLOW BOWL: Part II
Saturday morning, I woke up at 7 to an almost eerie foggy winter scene. My guess is that it was somewhere in the 30's. BRRRR. Good things we had that lovely fireplace in our room, and I brought my flannel...
The SLOW BOWL: Weekend in Paso Robles
Last Friday, I packed and loaded up (10 trips to the car), picked Brad up in Pasadena, and we headed north to Paso Robles for a Slow Travel wine weekend GTG. We arrived at the rental cottage, and unloaded clothes,...
October 2006 Slow Travel Desert GTG
As a perk of premium membership on Slow Travel. I get this cool blog! Travel, planning more travel, especially to Italy, reading about travel, cooking, eating, entertaining, jewelry-making, scrapbooking, and endless hours on Slow Travel/Slow Talk, keep me busy enough....
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