A Few in Film

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Film is just so good some times.

These were taken at the Padaro Grill in Carpinteria

way back at the beginning of the summer.

Padaro Grill is one of my favorite places in the Santa Barbara area.

A sprawling grassy lawn,

a beach view that goes on for miles,

and always an open picnic table for your burger and shake.

Or in my case, your wine.

It's southern California at its finest.

Montecito

Just developed a roll from months ago, 

and fell in love with these photos from a trip to Montecito.

It's so peaceful there,

quiet and beautiful.

Santa Barbara: The Urban Wine Trail

For Christmas last year, I gave Brian a sea cave kayaking adventure in the Channel Islands, 

off the coast of Santa Barbara.  

We decided to make a whole weekend out of it, 

and planned a Saturday in Santa Barbara and set the tour for Sunday.  

Luckily, Sunset had just run a whole feature on Santa Barbara 

and the so-called "Funk Zone."

(Do you read Sunset Magazine?  I'm a big fan.)

The name was so awful that I just had to read the article,

and they had me at "Urban Wine Trail."

So I threw my bike in the car, packed my funky pants, 

and we set off to find this magic "zone"

where streets were supposedly lined in wineries and hipsters.

And I'm happy to say,

Sunset totally delivered.

Some deets.

The Urban Wine Trail starts near East Beach and 

takes you past tasting rooms for lots of California wineries,

especially from the Paso Robles area.

Some of the wineries have live music on weekends,

and there are food trucks.

And it's easily bike-able, or walkable!

*Heaven*

We started our tasting at Whitcraft,

which was a tiny little tasting room with the most delicious red wines

and the man who led our tasting was super knowledgeable and helpful --

he even marked all the places we should go on a wine tasting map for us!

This place had the best wines of our trip.

Our second stop was Carr.

This place was hoppin.

They make their wine on site, so there were barrels in the back,

and they had cheese plates (clutch).

From Carr, we rode our bikes into the heart of the Funk Zone

(just sounds wrong)

and parked them on Anacapa Street,

where there's a string of tasting rooms all in a row.

We hit up Kunin first, which had a great zin,
and conveniently,
the Burger Bus was parked right outside.
YUM.

 Our last stop was Municipal Winemakers,
which was the most hipster stop of the bunch,
and of course, the one I loved the most.
It felt like home to this San Franciscan.
And I wanted to hug everyone who worked there
(maybe from all the wine?).

Also, this table.

We left in a happy daze, wishing the day could last longer.

 I kind of want to do this every weekend.

Morning Light

Santa Barbara Saturday

Brian and I spent Saturday visiting his grandparents in Santa Barbara.  As always happens on these visits, we ate well, we drank well, and we slept well (for 11 hours!).  Our trips there are always so restorative.

{a strata for lunch, homemade by moi!}

A little enclave of paradise.

Desert Style

Brian's grandparents lived in Palm Desert for a long time, and when they moved to Santa Barbara, they brought their (awesome) desert style with them to this amazing southwest-inspired home. 

His grandmother collects the most beautiful American Indian antiques and artwork, and the whole place walks that perfect line between comfort and design. 

  

As her husband says, "she's a buyer and keeper of knick-knacks, but not a seller."  Gotta love grandparent humor.

And they have puppies :)

What could be cuter than grandparents and puppies?