SPONSORED POST: This is a paid post. The Road to The Good Life chose to work with La Crema Winery for their dedication to handcrafted wines at reasonable prices. All opinions presented are my own.   When warm weather arrives I like to be ready for spur-of-the-moment mini-vacations. I have a picnic basket and couple of coolers packed with essentials ready to go. And I also have a couple of same-day or next-day delivery services queued up on my iPhone ready to deliver charcuterie, cheese, olives, and fruit.   When was the last time you had a picnic?   Not all of us are lucky enough to live in the country or minutes from a beach. But, we don't need to. All we need is a well-stocked picnic basket and a little patch of grass, a park bench, or a roof top and a little sun.     For me, a picnic basket is just a boxed or bagged lunch like mom used to make when you headed out to school. My favorite lunches were those in which she tucked a thermos of tomato soup t...

Everyone can use a vacation, but not everyone has a bank of PTO or vacation. The answer? A hometown mini-staycation. Earlier this month to celebrate Opening Day, cubes and I played hometown tourist. Our destination for our adventure was AT&T Park by way of Fisherman's Wharf. Our transportation? One of Gates' favorite animals: a duck! It's been awhile since cubes and I took a day. The last time was in August right before Burning Man; it began with such promise, brunch at Mission Beach Cafe and ended with an ER visit. In October, we had planned two days to ourselves to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary; instead we spent our anniversary at UCSF Parnassus. So, when I was offered an afternoon on The Bay for Opening Day, I jumped.   Well, first I asked cubes if he'd be up for the adventure. cubes is not a sports fan (hockey excluded) and definitely not a baseball fan. Somehow, when we were first dating I had gotten the idea he was a sports fan and more specificall...

This summer we're spending quality time together as a family and participating in the 2013 Summer Bucket List Challenge to ensure we do. Often people think summer means expensive trips. It doesn't have to be that. Join me and others tonight, Wednesday, May 22 2013 at 6:00PM Pacific/8:00PM Central/9:00PM Eastern on Pinterest for a dose of inspiration.     Want to spend quality time together and have the chance to win amazing prizes? Oh... and participate for FREE? There's still time to join us. So far, over 3,100 families have taken the Summer Bucket List Challenge . Simply register and you'll get tips for creating your list and staying motivated while having the chance to get prizes.   How are you spending your summer? Join our Pin Party tonight and show us!   Along with me, Jenny of The Happy Family Movement ; Ellie of Creative Geekery Blog ; Jennifer of Jennifer Witt | The Blog ; Anna-Leigh of My Lens is Ruby Red ; Casey of Phreckle Face Photography ; Megan ...

This month while we introduce Gates to her paternal great grandmother and hang with family a couple of my friends are joining me on the blog. My last guest blogger is Mindy from Budget Fairy Tale . Mindy and I met during an Alt Channel class. Alt Summit SLC isn't crazy big, but we almost missed an in-person connection. As luck would have it, we ran into each other at the Friday night parties, Mindy coming to my rescue for ideas for dairy-free food options. Mindy is one of the sweetest people I know, please give her a warm welcome. -Eden!     Hi, my name is Mindy and I blog at Budget Fairy Tale , where I tell the story of my life as an ordinary girl, trying to live the princess lifestyle the best I can! I'm so happy Eden has invited me to guest post on The Road to the Good Life to tell you all about my hometown - Los Angeles. Everyone thinks of Los Angeles as all beaches and movie stars, but it's so much more than that. Here are some of my favorite low-key and budget-fr...