Hello again! Can you believe it’s already April? I’m not sorry to say good-bye to winter!
I’m getting excited for some upcoming trips. My husband and I will be heading up to the Bay Area soon because he has a work retreat in Sonoma. Sounds terrible right? The resort where we are staying in Sonoma is a newer one and it looks amazing. I love spending time in the Sonoma/Napa area because my mom’s family is from there and I spent lots of weekends there with my grandparents. While a lot has changed since I was a kid, the smell of the vineyards always brings back fond memories.
We’ve been on several of these retreats in different parts of the country so I have a basic idea of what I’ll need. I’m very Type A when it comes to packing and I also tend to over-pack, so it helps me to plan ahead instead of just throwing random pieces of clothing in my suitcase and hoping what I brought will work. Plus, I have to be organized since my clothes are split between the Bay Area and San Diego. What I do like to do is make sure that most things I pack are in the same color family so I can mix and match.
The best part about a trip like this one is that I can leave the fancy clothes at home. (Not that my clothes are all that fancy anyway!) The Sonoma area is at its heart a farming community – one that produces world-class wines. Places there tend to be rustic and laid-back. It’s the kind of place where all I want to do is drink wine, eat good food and be outside in nature. Luckily it looks like during our stay it looks like we are going to have some nice partly cloudy days with no rain so that simplifies things a bit in terms of packing.
Some things to consider when packing for a trip to wine country in Northern California…
A couple of casual shirt dresses that can be worn with cute flats, sandals or tennis shoes – I have a neutral midi t-shirt dress that I bought at Athleta last year that I love. Athleta carries tall sizes which fit my 6 foot frame. Unfortunately they don’t carry the exact one anymore, which is too bad because I’d love to get one in another color, but I found a few others that are similar. There are tons of different styles, lengths and fabrics to choose from this time of year. Dresses are a one-and-done outfit and they save room in your suitcase.
A couple pairs of jeans – Jeans are acceptable almost anywhere these days. (Although don’t get me started about people wearing them to Broadway theater performances – do we really need to be that casual everywhere?) It’s so easy to dress jeans up with a cute top, bag and shoes or go casual with a t-shirt/sweater/sweatshirt. I like to bring a longer pair with fuller legs that I can wear with flats or heels along with a more straight-leg style, plus a pair of white jeans. My current favorite jeans are a wide-legged pair I snagged in the sale room at Anthropologie last year. While they aren’t available anymore, there are lots of other great options and styles. Below I have paired some denim options with some cute tops that can be dressed up or down.
Springtime in Sonoma can be warm during the day and chilly at night, so a couple of jacket/sweater options are never a bad idea. I’m planning on bringing a denim jacket and a light linen jacket for daytime and my packable travel down jacket in case we’re outside at night. I’m also bringing one or two hats for daytime. I usually throw in one activewear outfit too in case our plans involve hiking or biking. I have the baseball hat pictured below and it’s my favorite hat because it goes with everything. I’m also loving the Madewell Oversized Bomber Jacket, it’s such a great neutral color.
I’m looking forward to our trip to Sonoma and I hope to share about it in a future post. I’m also thinking ahead to the end of April when my husband and I will be heading to the Mediterranean for our first cruise. We’re starting in Athens and ending up in Venice and we will be exploring different countries of the eastern Adriatic. Should be super fun. Of course that means more packing! Stay tuned!
If you missed my last post The Barn Redefined and Wine Tasting at Carruth Cellars you can find it here. Hope you have a great week!
