A New Outdoor Space

Since I've been back and forth between San Francisco and home lately, I've made it my mission to create an outdoor space in what used to be a garage in my parent's backyard. Santa Barbara's relatively moderate climate calls for an outdoor space that is both comfortable and cozy for those "winter" evenings, and I think that an outdoor living space is the perfect thing to accompany the pool and lush landscape we already have outside. I've been looking through Pinterest for some inspiration, and started watching HGTV ("Design on a Dime" is a new favorite!) for some additional ideas. It's going to be a DIY summer. 

Bits and Pieces

Bits and pieces from the Carmel trip.

The stairs remind me of steps in Santa Barbara, right on the outskirt of the mall, where we used to meet as teenagers on the weekends. Our parents would drop us off and pick us up hours later after we had shopped and ate our little hearts out.

Oh, Hello

If it wasn't obvious by the lack of blog posting these past two weeks, I took a vacation.

I'm not sure if it was needed, as my work has me traipsing throughout the USA searching for the latest travel spots, foodie finds and motor trends, but it was lovely nonetheless.

Santa Barbara is never a bad place to end up to during the holiday season, but we couldn't help but escape bit from the central coast to Northern California's wine country. Carmel is filled with wine bars, art galleries, unique shopping, lots of tourists, excellent restaurants and the beach - not to mention the famous 17 mile drive - and it was an essential escapade.

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!


I hope your weekend is filled with lots of adventures. 


{taken at Santa Barbara's butterfly reserve}

Beckman Winery

While home, we had a few extra hours to see bits beyond Paseo Nuevo - so we headed to the wine country. One of our favorites is Beckmen Vineyards, a small winery and vineyard that gained quite the international attention when President Obama choose it for his inaugural dinner. Far from the glitz like other wineries (ahem, Firestone), Beckmen has but one small outdoor patio that resembles something your friends had in their home growing up, a few simple benches and lots of grassy space. Simplicity at its best. 

Santa Barbara Girl

Though I've been living in San Diego for nearly a decade {gasp!}, I still consider Santa Barbara my home. While the city has changed a lot since I left - there are now more chain stores than I'd like to admit - there are a few simple pleasures I love to enjoy when I return home for the holidays. Until those sporadic dates appear, however, I recently discovered the adorable Samantha from Could I Have That. She helps ease my Santa Barbara nostalgia with her high fashion posts, foodie bits and Santa Barbara landscapes.

sweet treats

This weekend was all about family, and eating. 

Before all the celebrations began, we headed to 

one of my favorite sandwich shops that instantly 

brought back childhood memories - the owner 

hadn't changed a bit, there were piles of classic 

soda pop in the coolers & locals still flocked 

there by the dozens. It was a perfect treat before 

all the sweets the next day. 

Play time

A few weekends back, I got to play tourist in my home town. After driving up early on Friday morning, Santa Barbara introduced new colors with an evening at the Four Seasons. The perfect weekend started with a tour at the famed hotel.