seven eight nine

you can't see it but there was a fiery pink sunset going on when i took this photo tonight. i was headed inside to watch So You Think You Can Dance with the girls. the white little lights over the back door, the pine tree in the background, karen and laurie making snacks and pouring wine for our show...

july is going well.

summer school

On my walk from home to work downtown today, I passed the international language school on Chapala. Whenever I'm around that area I see young fashionable foreign students milling around, just out of class, heading towards State to shop or get some food. I love trying to figure out where they are from, imagine what their story is, how well they speak English... Today there were dozens all gathered outside, and it seemed that they had maybe just started a session and were new to Santa Barbara; they had that first few days of school buzz, and were slightly hesitant as they made their way in front of me towards their new adventure that is downtown SB.

"show me what i'm looking for..."

I went to a free concert tonight at Bay Cafe, near the beach. A local radio station was sponsoring it, and Carolina Liar was the main performer. I like their song on the radio and thought it would make for a fun Monday night. Meg and I were enjoying our delicious tacos under the mid-evening sun, and as the band got going, I heard a familiar accent. I thought they were all from Carolina for some odd reason, but at least one of them definitely wasn't. I didn't continue to think about it until the accented band member starting talking again. Later the lead singer, speaking American, told the crowd a story about how a song was written about his experience with the Swedish summer, since the rest of the band is from Sweden and he's the only one from North Carolina. Ha! I thought I recognized that particular way of speaking English... and that preppy funky style. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and spontaneous night, complete with the opening singersongwriter guy doing a fun cover of Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. No joke.





Two of the band members, Carolina to the left, Sweden to the right.

sky and sea

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
- Jimmy Dean

golden rain

it was an amazing fourth of july.
i love this holiday, mainly because it's in the summer and there are fireworks. i adore fireworks. i thought the palm trees might block our view of the show, but it was one of the most memorable fireworks displays i've ever seen precisely because they were framed by the silhouettes of those tall lean symbols of california beach life. i had my jaw agape the entire time, falling in love again, as i so often do, with this town. the golden shower of sparks that rain down slowly after they explode are my very favorite. i will never forget the scene of them falling down over the palms and the beach and the harbor, thousands of people around gazing in awe, capping off a day where i was in total amazement at just how festive and vibrant my hometown was everywhere i went.





quintessential santa barbara, except for the fact that a usually car-filled boulevard by the beach was closed to traffic, except for the bike and pedestrian kind...



and this photo because this dear friend knows how to do holidays and good times, complete with the appropriate colors...

strawberry rhubarb crisp

Mom & Brad came to town, and, claro que si, I had to take them to Blush to try the most amazing dessert in town. If we'd gotten a photo of our ping pong tournament earlier in the night at The Neighborhood, I would have added that here too... these people are fun.

sangria summer

Quintessential summer night in Santa Barbara, the Thursday night free concerts in the park... oldies music and hundreds of people dancing in the most carefree way... sangria and a picnic with friends...