Santa Barbara, I Love You

I have spent a little over a third of my life in Santa Barbara. From 2001 as a UCSB freshman to 2012 as an adult ready for life's next adventure, the last 11 years have been a wonderful dream. I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity of living in this city and I will cherish every moment. One of my friends asked if I am sad about leaving/would miss this place, and I knew that although I'd miss this Santa Barbara, it is time.

So thank you Santa Barbara for welcoming me and being my home all of these years. I will not soon forget it, and I will be back.

My Colorful Heart

The My Heart necklaces receive a little revamp and a drop of color in this new collection. With each heart individually hand formed, I added my favorite colors using seed beads and rose gold beads, and both qualities are perfectly fitting for the name My Colorful Heart. 

The uniqueness of each size brings an exclusive appeal to each necklace while the color complements any skin tone. 

They hang beautifully alone, and look so wonderful all together. Also, look out for more colors as the season changes.

These heart necklaces are how I currently layer for Fall.

An Evening with Rifle Paper at Urbanic

We spent Saturday night at Urbanic (one of my favorite shops) to attend their meet & greet with Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co (my favorite stationery company!!). It was a mellow night of hors d'oeuvres, drinks, LA friends, and paper. Besides all of the wonderful paper goods and stationery supplies carried at Urbanic, there was a whole section dedicated to Rifle Paper with the new holiday collection and exclusive Los Angeles print available. I began getting into the Christmas Spirit while browsing the greeting cards and postcards and wrapping paper, even bought some Christmas place cards and labels to get ready early. And of course I had to purchase the LA print. It represents LA, my home.

Table full of goodies! I want it all.

 

New letter/floral garland.

The Los Angeles print is the first art piece I put up and is now happily displayed at our new place in LA :)

Right now we are shuffling back and forth between SB and LA, have 2 apartments and are still packing! It's a bit crazy but things are moving along nicely. By next week we say good bye to SB and hello to LA, and as much as I want the time to fly, I also want it to slow down. Hope your week is going well :)

Donut Snob

Last Saturday we stopped by the Williams Sonoma store in Santa Monica for some awesome donuts by Donut Snob. First discovering this amazing artisanal at the Unique LA Summer Show, I'm now obsessed with these hand made bites of awesome. Each donut is hand formed, then delicately layered with a variety of ingredients. Flavors like salted caramel, campfire (s'mores!!), and peanut butter have me hooked.

Hope you like the tasty photos.

Orange Zest Pistachio. 

 

Oinker!!

 

Salty Caramel Pecan.

Campfire!

 

The Berry Best.

 

The donuts definitely make me go nuts ;)

Little Macaron

Sweet little bite!

Hope your week is sweet!!

Friday Favorite: A Little Gift

One of my favorite things when selling is when someone buys a piece of jewelry from someone else. This week a customer ordered 2 matching necklaces for her 2 sisters. It was such a touching and thoughtful gesture, definitely made my day. I hope the necklaces make the sisters' day, too!

This weekend we are gearing up for the big move. Boxes are beginning to take over, but we are so ready! Hope your weekend is full of favorites.

Feelin' Golden and Colorful

Anchored at the center with slightly curved gold fill tubes, these necklaces ascend symmetrically with layers gold fill, pyrite, gold fill beads, and seed beads. Inspired by California, the Golden State, I wanted to keep things golden and bright while the variations of sizes and textures adds interest to just above your collar bone. Still in a summer state of mind (it's been wonderfully warm in Southern CA) the colors reflect cool ocean blues on a sunny day and sunset pinks with a deep palm tree green.

 

To complement the necklaces are similarly sweet bracelets. A less intricate take on my I Heart Friendship bracelets, these add a dainty kick to your arm candy and are so fun to wear layered.

Hearts sit at the end of each string of beads because it's always nice to end with some love.

Happy Thursday friends!

Best of Santa Barbara

Each year the SB Independent puts out a "Best of" list that includes restaurants, boutiques, events, foods, and drinks. I try to vote each year, sometimes my favorites win and sometimes they don't. And since we will be leaving our beloved city of 11 years (12 for my husband) it's time for my own "Best of SB" list.

Best Beach: Ellwood Beach. No matter the day (random Saturday or holiday weekend) this beach was like a sanctuary. Never too full, we always enjoyed our own little plot of sand and sun.

Best Nachos: Rudy's. These are my favorite nachos of all time. They're simply chips topped with chicken, cheese, beans, guacamole, and sour cream. One plate feeds 2 and is under $10!
Other awesome places to eat are Rose Cafe, Edomasa, and Your Place Thai.

 

Best View: SB Courthouse Clock Tower. From up here, you can get a 360 panoramic view of all of downtown SB.

Best Ice Cream: Mc Connell's. I'm not a big ice cream person but I am a huge fan of Mc Connell's. There is just something special about freshly made ice cream and flavors like cinnamon and macadamia nut :)

 

Best Flowers: SB Mission Rose Garden

 

Best Farmers' Market: All of them! Fresh vegetables and fruit all year round, in various locations around the city everyday of the week!

 

Best Festival: Fiesta! The spirit in the city and confetti all around make the first weekend in August always a great time.

 

Best Concert Venue: SB Bowl. Nestled in the mountains, cozy and intimate, and about 1/3 the size of the Hollywood Bowl,and the SB Bowl always brings an amazing concert. And the pit provides such close proximity to the acts on stage. It's stellar. Favorite bands seen at the Bowl include Snoop Dogg, 311, No Doubt and Phoenix.

 

Best Food Festival: Avocado Festival in Carpinteria. Such good savory dishes and avocado ice cream.

 

Best School: UCSB. I had an amazing 11 years here (as a student and employee) and would not change a thing for the world. And Kobe has his summer camp here, too!

 

Best Town: Isla Vista. The best parties and the best friends existed here. It will always be part of my "home".

Best Art Installation: Chromatic Gate. A burst of color right by the Pacific Ocean.

 

Best Isla Vista Restaurant: TJ's Grill (now closed) so Bagel Cafe!! My favorite bagel was the Delux Melt with is your choice of bagel (I chose the everything bagel) topped with sun ripe tomato cream cheese, tomato, red onions, cheddar, and slices of avocado. The bagel is put through a toaster oven for a few minutes and comes out deliciously.

 

Best Winery: Firestone. We served their wines at our wedding and loved the tasting experience at the winery. 
 

 

Best Church: Santa Barbara Mission. It is grand yet understated, a parish we called home for years, and we got married here. I will always have a special place in my heart for this place.

I will surely miss this beautiful place.