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Thanks!  Love, Ash

Grammies visit to SF!

What a treat and an honor!  My amazing grandparents flew all the way across the country from Chapin, South Carolina, to spend time with Michael and me and get a glimpse into what our life is like in San Francisco.  We had such a fabulous time, but there were a few bumps along the way.

First of all, Nanny & Papa planned their trip to ensure that they would not miss the birth of their first great-grandchild.  Suzanne was due November 3rd so they definitely wanted to be back in SC by this weekend.   Well, as you can see by my previous post, the beautiful Augusta Clare was born early and they had hardly landed in San Francisco when they got the news.  So, the first photo of the trip is of their Friday morning visit to my office -- we put a picture of Augusta Clare on my computer in the background.  :)

Friday morning: Nan & Papa visiting my office.  Photo of Augusta Clare on my comp in background!

The second little snafu was not such a happy one.  Just before arriving, Papa had twisted his foot and sprained it very badly.  My grandfather who is usually very active and quite the fast walker, was forced to hobble around.   :(  

OK - onto the photos!

Friday night: Dinner at Jardiniere - this is where Michael and I had dinner the night we got engaged!

Papa checking out the fancy bar at Jardiniere

Saturday: Napa! 1st stop - Domaine Carneros - known for their sparkling wine

Saturday: 2nd stop - Frog's Leap vineyard - the weather was gorgeous!

Saturday: 3rd stop - Lunch at our favorite restaurant in the world - Bottega!

Michael and Papa outside Bottega - always supporting Clemson!

Sunday: After church walking around Filmore St. while Papa got his foot examined at the ER!

Sunday night: Dinner at the Harper household.  Papa keeping his injured foot propped up.  Self-timer photo!

Monday night: Dinner at local favorite, Zuppa, for delish pizzas

Tuesday afternoon: SF city tour stopping by Palace of Fine Arts

Tuesday afternoon: Lunch at 21st Amendment Brewery - the staff was all dressed up 

There were so many more photos but this will have to do for now.  We miss you already Nanny & Papa!!!  Thanks for visiting!

Love,
Ashley

Announcing... Augusta Clare Zais!

Beautiful Augusta Clare was born happy and healthy at 10:13am on Friday, October 14th -- 5lbs, 10oz and 19.5 inches long.  Augusta was Suzanne's great grandmother's name and her great great grandmother's name.  Clare is my grandmother's name.  Beautiful, southern, classy and meaningful.  :)

After a tough couple of weeks for Suzanne, they performed an emergency c-section Friday morning.  The original due date was November 3rd so although it was a little early, the baby was ready and she has been doing just wonderfully.  Suzanne is taking her time recovering but has already been an absolutely fabulous mom and my big brother Brad has just been the most incredible dad and husband, taking care of everyone.

So excited to be an aunt, so proud of Brad and Suzanne, and DYING to meet my adorable niece!!  I'll be there soon!

Love,
Ash

A Weekend in the Windy City

What a wonderful wedding weekend in the Windy City of Chicago!  Michael and I traveled to Chicago this past weekend to celebrate Mark & Elise's wedding and we had the best weekend EVER. 

The first main event was the Rehearsal Dinner on Thursday night.  It was held at a cool Chicago restaurant with amazing Italian food - Sapori Trattoria.  I think the best part of any Rehearsal Dinner is spending time with everyone and getting to know "the other side" through the toasts.  Mark was one of Michael's roommates and best friends from Boston College so we know him well, but it was great getting to know Elise a little better -- she is fabulous.  After dinner we went for drinks at Kingston Mines Blues Club which was a blast. 

Moira, Kyle, me & Michael

On Friday, the boys were off getting haircuts, manicures (seriously) and straight razor shaves, so I took the opportunity to walk up and down the "Magnificent Mile" on Michigan Avenue appreciating the amazing array of stores.  Later, while Michael took photos around Chicago with the wedding party,

I got a drink at the top of the Hancock building with some of the group.

Tara & Connor, Moira, Tim (w/ eyes shut), Kyle, Demming and me

The wedding Friday night was absolutely beautiful.  It was held at the historic Knickerbocker Hotel (conveniently where we were staying).  The ceremony was so lovely and was followed by a fun cocktail hour leading into dinner.  Table 5 at dinner was simply unforgettable.

Jon Lennon, Connor & Tara Lundy, Michael & me

 After a delicious meal, the party got started and the light-up dance floor was put to great use.

Moira, me, Lennon & Kyle Javes

Following the reception the group had drinks in the lobby and made a final stop at Kerryman's Bar.

Saturday was all about STATE.  State is a sport's bar that even boys might say has too many flat-screen TVs and too much football, but... it's pretty awesome.  After spending the day there with a big group, Michael and I took off for dinner and a Second City comedy show.  Seeing Second City was a major highlight for me, and looking through the Playbill at all of the alum who have come through there -- Steve Carrell, Steven Colbert, John Belushi, Joan Rivers, Chris Farley, Tina Fey... it was amazing.  The show was hilarious and lasted from 11pm until 2am!!  So much fun!!

Then Sunday we flew back to our little home in San Francisco to get ready for a great new week.  We hope YOU are having a great week too!!

It's Wedding Season!

I'm not sure what season everyone else is in, but for the Harpers, it's officially Wedding Season.

Last weekend Michael traveled to NY to celebrate his good friend from Boston College, Dan Ferguson, marry Christine Burke.  Congratulations Dan & Christine!!

Dan & Christine

Tomorrow I am heading to North Carolina to celebrate my sweet friend from Wofford, Elizabeth Frazier, as she marries fellow Wofford alum Jason O'Quinn.  Woohooo!

Jason & Elizabeth

This Friday while I'm in North Carolina, Michael will be attending the wedding of Christie Miranda & Troy Bienemann, two San Francisco friends who have quickly become very dear to both of us.  I'll miss you guys -- know it will be a fabulous wedding!!!

Troy & Christie

Also getting married this weekend are two of my coworkers -- Devon O'Donnell and Mark Chu Cheong.  But not to each other.  :)  Congrats to both beautiful couples!

Chris & Devon

Kathleen & Mark

Then, next weekend, Michael and I will both head to Chicago for Mark Norcini & Elise Linden's wedding!  Mark is another very close friend of Michael's from Boston College.

Elise & Mark

Whew!  I'm exhausted AND excited just thinking about it all.  We are so blessed to have so many friends who have such wonderful things happening in their lives -- I love love.  :)  Expect lots of fun photos and posts to come!

LOVE,
ash

Surprise! Happy Birthday Michael!

On Friday, September 9, Michael turned 29!  Michael loves a good surprise so this year I kept all plans a secret.  I found it incredibly stressful but I think that Michael found it incredibly fun, which makes it alllll worth it. 

Friday morning started with breakfast-in-bed.  This is a long-standing Harper tradition so it wasn't a total shock, but what I made was the surprise.  Swedish Pancakes!  Although this was Michael's favorite breakfast growing up, we have never made it at home so he was totally surprised.  They weren't the prettiest in the world, but they tasted good.

Swedish pancakes, fruit, coffee, juice

Later in the day we met up for lunch at San Francisco's "hottest" new restaurant (#1 on the Eater SF "heat map"), Cotogna.

 We had both been eager to check it out and it did not disappoint.  The pasta dishes were a-mazing.  Definitely want to go back.

After work I rushed home and decorated the house with streamers and balloons.  When Michael got home he had a gift on the coffee table and inside was a Giants t-shirt and 2 tickets to the game that night.  I said, "Surprise!  We're going to the Giants game!"  We're a 5 minute walk to the stadium so we headed over to the game.  As we were walking up to our seats I kept talking to Michael so that he was distracted.  Then, once we were closer, the whole group of friends who met us there jumped up and shouted "Happy Birthday!" as they threw confetti and blew party horns.  That was one of my favorite moments of the night. 

The next surprise of the night came right after the 5th inning.  The Harper family got Michael a "Happy Birthday" scoreboard message WITH a photo!  It was awesome!

Michael seeing the amazing surprise

We celebrated and sang to him over Julie's AMAZING brownies and as we sang the entire section joined in.  All in all, we had such a great time -- thank you to all the friends who came!  And BIG thank you to Dr. and Mrs. Harper who treated the crew to a round of food & drinks!

After the game a group of us headed over to 21st Amendment for some post-game beers.  (Funny enough, 21st Amendment was on the Bar-Crawl agenda for Michael's 28th birthday last year.) 

Cope, Moira, me & Christy at 21st Amendment

Next up was a little bit of a wildcard...we went to a club called "Harlet."  Harlet turned out to be pretty hilarious and really fun as we took over their VIP section and had an amazing dance party. (I'm still not sure why they didn't throw us out.)

Needless to say it was an incredible night celebrating the most incredible man on earth.  :)

Monday in Pt. Reyes!

This is the final post in my 4 part series of Labor Day Weekend posts.  ha.  But picking up where we left off... 

On late Sunday afternoon Michael and I headed from lunch at Bottega in Napa to check out Pt. Reyes.  It was a beautiful drive full of rolling hills filled with lots of cows (no wonder they make such great cheese in Pt. Reyes!) so we took a few detours along the way.  When we finally arrived we headed straight for hotel and I fell asleep for a good 30 minutes.  Wine throughout the day can make one sleepy.  Then we headed out for dinner.  We were a little late and most of the town was closing up, but luckily we found a funny little Czech place that was still open so we enjoyed a unique, authentic meal at Vladimir's.

 

The next morning we got up and headed straight for breakfast at The Station House.  Once we were fully stuffed, Michael and I explored the town a little and then headed out for a hike.  Julie & Brendon Manwaring are Pt. Reyes experts (I think they love Pt. Reyes like I love Napa) so they tipped us off to a fantastic hiking trail.  

The hike was about 2 miles each way and was beyond beautiful, taking us through forests to rolling hills and eventually it spit us out on the beach!  It was awesome!

Michael is a skilled jumper.

I am not so skilled...

 By then we were exhausted and just made one final stop at the famous Cowgirl Creamery to pick up some cheese, then headed home sweet home.  :)

Sunday in Napa

So this is part 3 of 4 of my Labor Day Weekend series of posts.  :)  In true Harper style, we packed a lot in!

On Sunday we headed up to one of my FAVORITE places in the entire world...Napa Valley.  My heart is just happy in Napa.  My entire being is happy in Napa.  Part of the reason I have such a love for Napa might be because this is where Michael and I honeymooned.  But honestly, it is so incredible I think I would feel this way no matter what. 

Our first stop was for a tasting at Duckhorn Vineyard.  The setting was gorgeous and all of the wine was amazing, but one Cab stood out to us among the rest so we took home a bottle of the Monitor Ledge for a special occasion.

Next stop was at Alpha Omega.  They had a delicious and very unique rosé that we picked up but possibly their most memorable wine was a chardonnay that seriously tasted like cream soda.  Wine is so funny.

After Alpha Omega we headed to our FAVORITE restaurant in all the world...Bottega!  Michael and I first went to Bottega on the first night on our honeymoon.  Two of Michael's friends had gotten us dinner there as a wedding gift (thank you Mike & Matty!) and it turned out to be so incredible that we go back as often as we can.  (We even ordered those cups you see in the photo - ha!)

Then we were off to Pt. Reyes!  More on that in the next post.  Cheers!