So many choices near Kenwood

There are so many winery tasting rooms along this stretch of Sonoma Valley's Highway 12, this pole isn't tall enough to show them all. It stands in Kenwood, just a shout away from a new store with an incredibly friendly proprietor. Daniel Green will warmly welcome you into the small but mighty space that is Victory Vittoria, a "collaboration of friends" that is packed with second-hand home decor gems, clothing, and great jewelry finds. Parking can be challenging right in front of the store (at 9255 Sonoma Highway – that's also Hwy. 12), but there's more space to the south of the building off the highway.

It's hip to be off the square

h2hotel's pop-art inspired lobby

h2hotel is the latest hip lodging in Healdsburg to pack 'em in. The name even sounds like a text message. On a recent Thursday night, each of h2's 36 rooms was spoken for, and the rates are not for the budget-minded. (Recession? What recession?) Located a bit south of the Plaza, the hotel is starkly elegant, but with colorful lobby furniture (wide-wide-wide-wale corduroy loungers with '60s-style upholstery prints) that would look appropriate in Austin Powers's flat. Another point in the hotel's favor: upstairs hallways left unadorned, with no tired and tacky watercolors of vineyards anywhere in sight. What a relief.

eeek! a Mouse!

The entrance to Stanley's gallery

Today I literally stumbled upon artist Stanley Mouse on a sidewalk in Healdsburg. He was unloading an SUV packed with some of his fine art portraits for a special show this weekend at his new gallery called Rockin Roses –– The Art of Rock and Roll. The gallery features a collection of Stanley's most famous skeleton-themed and Grateful Dead-inspired artwork, created when San Francisco was the epicenter of American rock music. Stanley was busy overseeing the installation of several large fine art pieces in a style far removed from the iconic rock images that made him a legend. Can't make it to the show? Check out the merchandise at www.rockinrosesart.com.