On Friday night we decided to venture up towards wine country. Taking the 154 25 minutes up into the mountains, you arrive upon a secluded, desolate road, called Stagecoach, make a left and you will end up at a place called Cold Springs Tavern. It’s so serene and peaceful, you feel like you are in another world. We got to see some old friends (and new), who the mister used to play in a band with.
Thank you Santa Barbara for another fun-filled night.
Me and the mister had a very impromptu the other day, and got to spend some quality time together at the beach. We used to go to the beach every day after work, when we first started dating. Then life started and we took the beach for granted. Not that we don’t go to the beach but it always seems planned. We decided we need to get back to our after work (mind you we are both done working at 2:30) beach time.
Happy Friday!!!
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This weekend was such an amazing time with friends. We started at The Palace, for the free breakfast, proceeded up State Street and ended up at Alameda park. We shopped, danced and ate. It was so nice to get out and enjoy what our beautiful city has to offer. What a fun time!
Hope everyone had an epic weekend!
My favorite time of year has arrived in Santa Barbara, Summer Solstice! The Santa Barbara Summer Solstice parade began in 1974, as a birthday celebration for a popular artist and mime, Michael Gonzalez. The parade grew into a gathering of over 100,000 spectators from around the world. The soiree originally had started at the Sunken Gardens and now has moved to Alameda Park. Come out and play this weekend. There will be over 75 different vendors, music and even a drum circle, for anyone who wants to participate.
Alameda Park, Santa Barbara
June 22, 4-9
June 23, 12-7
June 24, 12-5
Blackberries are one of the top ten antioxidant foods, they are packed with polyphenols helping to prevent cancer and heart disease. They strengthen blood vessels, and improves eyesight. The high tannin content of blackberries helps to tighten tissue, relieves intestinal inflammation, and helps reduce hemorrhoids (lovely), and stomach disorders. Blackberries are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, manganese and fiber.
Here is an easy recipe for blackberry-blueberry cobbler
Blackberry-Blueberry Cobbler
1 1/2 c fresh blackberries
1 1/2 c fresh blueberries
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 c fresh orange juice
2/3 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 375
Combine berries, sugar and orange juice in a lightly greased 8 inch baking dish, set aside.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a medium bowl, add butter and beat egg and vanilla extract together. gradually add flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are combined.
Drop batter over berry mixture.
Bake 35-40 minutes
HAPPY BAKING!!!
FYI: Santa Barbara Farmers Market Saturday
I Madonnari was this past weekend, as I posted about earlier in the week. The artists were amazing. We have posted some pictures from the festival and the yummy food we indulged in. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
This weekend we have Madonnari, or street painters, transforming the Mission plaza using pastels on the pavement to create 150 vibrant and colorful, large-scale images. Santa Barbara is the first to bring this romantic festival to the western hemisphere from our sister festival in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy.
The festival benefits the Children’s Creative Project, a non-profit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
To engage the other senses, live music and an authentic Italian market will be held adjacent to the painting. Enjoy an array of Italian cuisine and specialty items.
Location: Corner of Los Olivos and Laguna Streets
May 26, 27, and 28
10-6 Daily
Admission is free!!!
DIVERTIRE!
“Mobilize” was the theme of this years Earth Day. This year marks the 42nd year Santa Barbara has held an Earth Day festival.
Santa Barbara created one of the first Earth Day festivals in the nation, back in 1970. This year’s festival was divided into seven earth-friendly sections: featuring a kid’s corner, an eco marketplace, and even a beer and wine garden. Another section was the bike zone, where bikers had a place to park their bikes. The green car show, which featured 50 of the latest earth-friendly cars. The last section was a learning section for being more energy-efficient. Using reuseable bags, getting LED light bulbs or even using a water filtration system instead of water bottles.
My husband and I went on Saturday and cruised around, enjoyed some music and bought a couple of items to support the locals. I decided to go back on Sunday with our friends. The vibe is so great at festivals, especially Earth Day, that I wanted to soak up as much time at the park that I could. I posted some pictures below of the super-earthy day.
Enjoy!!!
Rasta
Beer and wine garden
Kids rolling around a mobile Earth
Dave and I exhausted after a full day
Three of our best friends
Hand weaved basket from a local artist
My husband and I decided to detoxify our home. After reading nonstop, about all of the possible dangerous chemicals in our home, we decided to go buy plants for starters. If you can believe it, indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air. Between cleaning products, aerosols, air fresheners, paints, carpet and disinfectants, they all cause harm. Children and adults spend 90% of their time indoors, which means improving indoor quality should be top priority. A great way to combat this problem is to cleanse your air with indoor plants. All plants convert carbon dioxide to oxygen and some actually remove chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde from the air. The following is a list of plants that are known to function as efficient air detoxifiers and remove toxins from the air, as well as producing essential oxygen. By the way all of these plants are low maintenance and high-efficiency.
Peace Lily
Chinese Evergreen
Snake Plant
Daisies
Spider Plant
Dracaena
Ficus
Philodendrons
Aloe Vera
English Ivy
Boston Fern
If you live in Santa Barbara we recommend:
7 Day Nursery:
3301 State Street
805-687-8036
We bought Dracaena, Boston Fern and Snake Plants.
Goodnewssantabarbara 