Aisle Hi-Five

On flying solo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 20:43:00 +0000

Up until yesterday morning, my fears about Joe leaving the country for a month had all been very selfish.

What if I have a panic attack and he's not there to calm me down?

What if I have an allergic reaction when no one is around?

What if I have to drive anywhere farther than an hour away (because he always does the long drives)?

What if I actually don't miss him every single day -- will that make me a terrible wife?

What if I, what if I, what if I...

And then as we sat in church during the second set of worship, Joe put his arm around me and squeezed harder than usual, resting his head on my head. I turned to look at him and saw tears in his eyes, and I asked him, "What's wrong?"

"I'm really scared," he said.

And suddenly I saw this whole situation from his eyes:

A 16-hour flight...

An 11-hour time difference...

A place where he may or may not be safe to express his religious beliefs...

Where he doesn't speak their language...

Where it's hot as balls (sorry for the imagery, but seriously)...

And where he will know NO ONE.

Oh hey, Tabitha...this might actually be harder on Joe than it will be on you. Get over yourself.

Maybe being apart for a month will help me to realign my focus in our marriage, because the selfish tendencies have wormed their way in pretty deep. I would like Joe to come home to a wife who didn't just kill time for four weeks, but who prayed for him every day, cleaned the house up a little better than usual, and missed him so badly that she can't wait to jump his bones the second he walks through the door.

Lord, help me become that wife.
Don't let me waste these next few weeks wallowing in my selfish self-pity.
Help me to see Joe the way you do, and to learn to love him better during this time apart. Less of me, more of you.

Quick February fitness update, March goal, and a race!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:48:00 +0000

So February came and went in a flash, didn't it?

As I mentioned in my last post, Joe and I set out to do a push-up challenge where we'd build our way up from a few push-ups a day to eventually doing 50 the final day, for a total of 600 push-ups throughout the month. I wasn't the best partner in the effort and didn't really encourage Joe to join me when I would decide to go out into the living room for my push-ups, so I ended up unintentionally leaving him in the dust...oops! So, I've got to work on being a better workout partner. :-) Anyway, I finished the challenge, although I did most of the push-ups on my knees and never really FELT like I was getting any stronger, but I did see a little more definition in my shoulder and upper arm muscles. I guess we'll call that a win! (I still want to work on doing push-ups on my feet instead of knees, though, so the 30 Before 30 video will have to wait a little while longer...and let's not even talk about that list because my birthday is 33 days away and I CAN'T EVEN.)

My goal for March is a leg and core combo that I adapted from a couple different 30-day challenges, and this time Joe is on board again and we've established a better system to help us stay on top of it TOGETHER! So hopefully we'll both come out of March with some awesome legs and abs, haha.

In addition to the leg & core challenge, I'm also signed up to run a new (to me) 10K in just a few weeks -- the Orchard 2 Ocean run, down in Carpinteria! I stumbled upon this one while looking for some local races to help motivate me to keep running, and I really love that it's raising money for the Carpinteria and Summerland school districts! Sometimes I'll pay for a race and feel like, "Why am I spending all this money to run when I could just run for FREE whenever I want?" But races like this make a lot more sense to me because my money is going toward a good cause.

This is the 23rd annual O2O run, and I had the privilege of speaking with Patricia, one of the people in charge of organizing the event, to find out what it was all about and what to expect on race day. There will be a 5K, 10K, and a 1-mile Fun Run, followed by a delicious continental breakfast, complimentary massage from local massage therapists (yes please!), and of course a race T-shirt! The first place winners of each race will also be given flowers and avocados from local orchards, so if I win (HAHAHA said the slowest runner ever), I'll have to give my avocados to someone who isn't allergic to them. But I think that's a super cool prize, don't you? Last year, more than 600 people participated in the event, so I'm sure they're hoping for even more this year!

Patricia and I are working together to have some sort of fun giveaway during the event for a random winner who uses the designated race hashtag on Instagram, so that should be fun, too!

I'm excited to come back and recap the race here afterward, but in the meantime, WHO WANTS TO RUN IT WITH ME?! It's March 21st, so that gives you almost 3 weeks to dust off those running shoes and train a little bit for any of the three distances! Click here to sign up on Active.com and then let me know if you're gonna do it.

Are you planning to run any races in your area this year?

Tell me all about it in the comments!

2015 Fit Goals - January update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 19:12:00 +0000

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to try to run 60 miles in January.

Well.

Tomorrow is the last day of January, and unless I somehow decided to run 33 miles in the next day and a half (uh, no.), I will not be meeting that goal. Still, I realized a couple weeks into the month that my 60 mile goal was rather ridiculous, considering it would have meant running an average of 2 miles a day (during a time of year when it gets dark at 5 PM and I am not in a good early-morning-workout habit).

Add to that the fact that I hadn't run AT ALL (like, not one single time) since last September, and I basically set myself up to fail this goal, because ramping up from zero running to ALL THE RUNNING will inevitably take its toll on a person's body. (Especially a person who is days away from the dreaded 3-0, but I digress.)

So sure enough, mid-way through the month, my right foot started to hurt in an ominous way, and although I was so tempted to "power through" and ignore it in the hopes of hitting that 60-mile mark, I was smart enough to take it easy and give my foot a rest. Fortunately, it seems I avoided a real injury, and I've still been running a couple times a week after taking a few days off -- but very cautiously and always paying extra attention to any potential pains beyond the usual soreness.

All that to say, tomorrow morning I'll run some distance (at least 3 miles), and I will have run about 30 miles in January rather than the planned 60.

And I am completely okay with that! That's 30 more miles than I had run in the previous 6 months combined, so it's a great accomplishment in my book. I'm hoping to keep up with running once or twice a week, because I do have some 10Ks (and maybe even a 15K) in mind to sign up for this year.

Plus, I never EVER get tired of seeing this kind of stuff on my beach runs:

But February will bring on a new monthly fitness goal to focus on, and I'm actually pretty excited about this one! Joe is gonna do it with me, so hopefully we can help motivate each other to stick it out.

Our plan for February is to work our way up to being able to do 50 push-ups! I found a 30-day push-up challenge on Pinterest, and I modified it to fit in 28 days (with rest days every third or fourth day). And this plan keeps it more interesting by having 5 different types of push-ups, so we'll start out doing one or two of each type, and eventually be doing 10 of each type at the end of the month!

(And don't you worry -- I didn't forget that one of my Thirty before 30 goals is to be able to do 30 push-ups! You can bet I'll be getting it on video when I reach that goal.)

Are you going after any fitness or health goals this year?

Tell me about it!

Let's pretend this isn't my first post in 3 months...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 00:30:00 +0000

Welp, so much for 31 days of dedicated blogging helping me get back into a regular routine, huh? I just don’t even know where the last few months went, to be quite honest with you.

In fact, all of 2014 happened before I had really accepted that 2013 was over. And I suspect that’s kind of how life is going to be for the next 80 years -- after all, the older I get, the smaller a fraction each year is in the grand scheme of my life, right? (Let’s not even talk about the fact that I only have 80 days left of my twenties.)

Here’s what seems to happen in my brain every time I remember that I have a blog:

Oh yeah, I wonder how long it’s been since my last post.

{logs in and sees how long it’s been}
Oops, that was a while ago. So much has happened that I could have written about since then!
Alright, I’m gonna write something.

{opens up a new post draft}
*Sigh.* How do I explain my absence without saying the same thing I always say (which is basically, “Oops, oh yeah, hi bloggy world!” and, “I promise I’ll be back on here more regularly!”)?
I know what I’ll do! I will go on a fun new adventure and then ACTUALLY write about it within a few days so that it’s fresh in my mind and then I can write a really good post.

{goes and does fun thing...}
(Weeks or even months later) Repeat Step 1.

All this to say, I’m not promising anything anymore.

I loved doing my 31 Days of Santa Barbara series. I loved it, I was so dedicated to it, and I feel really proud of pretty much every post I wrote (which cannot always be said about my past attempts to blog every day for a month).

But it didn’t exactly reignite a spark for writing so much as it made me even more excited to go and exist in the “real world” -- especially this little part of the real world that I get to live in. And I'm not sorry for that, because while I do miss having such great blog-world connections, I am so grateful for face to face relationships.

Still, I know how much it helps me to write about things that happen, so that I can look back years later and have a better picture in my mind of that particular moment in time.

So...somehow I’ve got to find a better way to stick this thing out.

Anyway. Here is a list of a whole bunch of things I would have blogged about in the last few months, if I was a good blogger:

Going to my first real competition with "Got Country!" and all the fun we had that weekend (plus, Joe surprising me by showing up in San Dimas when I thought he had to stay home)!
Petting (and falling crazily, unexpectedly in love with) miniature donkeys during a fun fall day with my lady friends. (Also, almost getting lost in my first ever corn maze.)
Dressing up as Rosie the Riveter for Halloween.
Finally taking John & Kelly (my brother- and sister-in-law) up to Los Olivos for wine tasting!
Going to my second competition with "Got Country!" -- IN VEGAS -- and all manner of shenanigans that occurred. (But definitely would not have mentioned the horrific experience of sewing yards and yards of sequins onto our performance skirts, because that is a memory best forgotten.)
Embarrassingly (but not so much that I wouldn’t post about it on the internet) confessing that I burst into anxiety-ridden, asthmatic tears right after the Vegas performance, and took a ridiculous teary-eyed selfie while I was trying to calm down in the bathroom. (I don't even know what was going through my brain, honestly.)
Getting brand new, super cute, and SUPER discounted cowboy boots! (These last 3 bullets would have all been in one giant Vegas recap post, btw.)
Having a lovely time, as always, at our annual weekend in San Francisco for the Dickens Fair and our usual stops at Boudin, Buena Vista Cafe, Ghirardelli Square, Pier 39, etc. (Also shamelessly posting this picture of me looking probably the cutest I have ever looked while being bundled up in cold weather clothing.)
Checking one item off my 30 Before 30 list - ice skating outdoors! (And how I selfishly did not even ask my husband if he wanted to go or liked ice skating at all, which he didn’t...but he still amazingly took me ice skating and was a trooper.)
Hosting another fun Christmas ladies’ night, complete with a Secret Santa gift exchange, silly games, amazing group photo outtakes, and a ridiculously cheesy Jonathan Taylor Thomas Christmas flick.
Enjoying a fun Christmas celebration with my side of the family, complete with my littlest nephew (Ezra) being his usual adorable self and learning people’s names. (I’m “Tub” and Joe is of course “Joe” because he has the easiest name ever.)
Surprising Joe’s parents by showing up a day early to their house for Christmas. And also, Joe’s evil but hilarious gift-giving trick: he sent me on a treasure hunt wherein I opened 7 heinously ugly pieces of jewelry before getting to the 8th and ACTUAL gift, which was a gorgeous pearl and diamond necklace. (Also I managed to take almost zero photos at Joe's parents', so you get this selfie of me in the awesome Christmas fascinator Kelly made me last year.)
Getting dressed up in our 1920s costumes for a super fun New Year’s Eve murder mystery party, during which Joe’s character was murdered and mine was basically a horrible person, and how it was kinda fun acting that part, but don’t tell anyone I said that. The most fun was exclaiming to Michelle, “I hate you so much!” and then immediately whispering, “No but I love you, I didn’t mean it!”
And lastly, setting out to achieve a new fitness related goal every month of 2015. January’s is to run 60 miles, and already I’ve gone on several sunset runs during which I have been completely astonished at how beautiful a place I get to live in.

There. I blogged!

31 Days: Giveaway Winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:20:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's NOVEMBER?!

Me neither.

Quick post today just to announce the winners of the two giveaways I posted during the 31 Days of Santa Barbara series.

The first giveaway was for a cool trucker hat from Sweat Outdoors, and the randomly selected winner is...

Michelle!

The second giveaway was for TWO people to each win a $25 gift card to Sambo's, and the randomly selected winners are...

Mary (aka Mom)

and Megan!

I'll be contacting you all to get these prizes out to you ASAP!

Thanks to everyone for entering, for tagging along all October to read about my favorite things about Santa Barbara, and for generally being awesome people. Now stick around, because hopefully it won't be another gazillion years before I get inspired to post again!

Photo Finish!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

It’s the final day of October and the last day in this series! I must say I am pretty amazed that I made it through this thing without missing a single day. And I’m really happy with how it turned out; I don’t think any of my posts were just “fluff” like a lot of posts I’ve done during past write-every-day challenges.

Anyway, for this very last post, I thought I'd just dump a bunch of photos of some of my favorite places and memories in Santa Barbara over the last couple of years. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series, and maybe you’ve even found some new things to explore in the area!

There’s still a few hours left to enter my two giveaways, which are here and here – don’t miss out on a chance to win a cool trucker hat or a $25 gift card to Sambo’s!

Let the photo dump commence. Happy Day 31, everyone!

(click any photo to enlarge!)

Playing Tourist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

I don’t know if you know this, but Santa Barbara is kind of a major tourist destination. (Ha ha. Like anyone is surprised by that.)

And as a “local” (I can say that now that I’ve been here over half a decade, right?), it’s easy to forget about some of the typical “touristy” activities that Santa Barbara has to offer. But every once in awhile, Joe and I will pick one of those things and do it, imagining we don’t actually have the insane privilege of being able to do it any old time we please.

Instead, we’ll be like, “Wow! I didn’t know there was such a thing as a beautiful courthouse!” or, “What is this crazy contraption that can travel on the city streets AND in the ocean?”

Here are a few of my favorite things to do when I feel like playing tourist:

Head to the courthouse and walk up to the clock tower for a 360 degree view of Santa Barbara.

Part of the exquisite view from the clock tower, with my bff Ashton
who came to visit (perfect excuse to play tourist)!
Visit the Botanic Garden and mosey around admiring all the prettiness, soaking in the peace and sunshine.
Take a tour on the Land Shark!
Go to Stearns Wharf, walk the pier, have some ice cream, and wave at all the people paddling in the ocean.
As previously mentioned this month, have a picnic at the Mission, monkey around at the SB Zoo, sunbathe at Hendry’s Beach, and go wine tasting in the Funk Zone!

Joe getting friendly with our giraffe buddy!

And here’s a couple touristy things I have yet to actually experience (hint hint, Joe – date ideas!):

Museum of Art
Ty Warner Sea Center
Concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Rent a surrey bike and ride around downtown

Tune in tomorrow for the very last day of this series!

Don’t forget, I have a couple of giveaways and deals that end TOMORROW, so be sure to click over to the starred posts in the lists here and enter or get the scoop on some sweet deals!

Festivals

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

Santa Barbara (perhaps like a lot of other cities) has a LOT of different festivals and events throughout the year. There’s Fiesta, Summer Solstice, the Lemon Festival, the International Film Festival, the French Festival, the i Madonnari chalk art festival, and tons more that I have yet to explore.

Fiesta (or more formally, Old Spanish Days) is probably the one that Santa Barbara is best known for, and I must admit that until last summer, I had never actually experienced any of the Fiesta festivities! It usually falls right around Joe’s and my anniversary, so we’ve always been out of town or otherwise, ahem, busy. But last year it was the weekend before our anniversary, and I got to go out on the town with my Soulmate Neighbor (who is not actually my neighbor anymore) Michelle, and it was a blast!

We had dinner and drinks at American Ale, walked around downtown and smashed confetti eggs all up in our hair (and purses and shirts and cars...), danced at a little Mexican bar I didn’t even know existed, and had a generally amazing time. We even managed to escape the crazy crowds and take a late night stroll on the beach to talk about Deep Things and Jesus and stuff, which was maybe my favorite part even though I guess that’s not officially a “Fiesta-sanctioned” activity.

American Ale!

Confetti all over!

Walking to the beach!

This lovely lady.

Then there’s Solstice.

Let me tell you a quick story about the first time I learned about the Solstice Parade. One Saturday a few years ago, I decided to go downtown for some shopping and leisurely walking. Traffic getting downtown on a Saturday around 10 AM was a little more congested than usual, but I thought nothing of it. I parked, walked into a store, and about half an hour later when I came out, the streets were FLOODED with people and there were all manner of weird things happening in the middle of State Street. Someone was inside a gigantic bubble, rolling around and doing some weird acrobatics or something.

I immediately thought to myself, “Is this Fiesta? I thought that was later in the year.” I asked someone what was going on, and they looked at me like I was from another planet and said, “This is the Solstice Parade!” And then I booked it out of there as fast as I could (which is to say, very slowly because ALL THE PEOPLE). See, back in those days, I was still pretty introverted and averse to large crowds, especially when I wasn’t mentally prepared for a crowd, much less a crowd that was so dense I couldn’t even walk back to my car without brushing up against at least a hundred people.

I have not ventured back to the Solstice Parade since that day, but as I mentioned a couple days ago, I did co-host a solstice party last summer, which I think was way better because I was surrounded by all the people I actually WANT to be in such close proximity to, and I didn’t have to go far to get back to my own cozy home.

I’ve been to some of the other festivals in town on occasion, but I definitely hope to explore more of them in the future! I missed the last couple Lemon Festivals, which is just so, so sad since I LOVE me some lemon meringue pie, lemon beer, and lemon cotton candy. Next year!

BRUNCH: Domingo's & Cajun Kitchen Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

I’ve already written about a couple of my favorite brunchy spots in Santa Barbara, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention these next two as well. And we've already established that I am kind of obsessed with breakfast, so seriously, wipe that look of surprise off your face!

Domingo’s is the first place Joe took me for pancakes when I moved to Santa Barbara. He said it was kind of a hole in the wall, but that they made amazing breakfast, so I was already pretty on board with it. And sure enough, they really do make some delightful pancakes, waffles, hash browns, omelets, biscuits & gravy...basically all things breakfast! (And yes, they do apparently serve lunch, too, but I literally have no idea if anyone ever actually gets lunch because all I see on people’s plates is breakfast. Smart people.)

I also love Domingo’s because the staff is very friendly and accommodating if you ever have any issues or special requests about your food. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than five minutes for a table there, even if we come with a larger group. And bonus for Joe and me: it’s walking distance from home!

So if you’re not afraid to try out a place that may not look super fancy-schmance, definitely give Domingo’s a try. It’s clean, quiet, delicious, and best of all, pretty dang inexpensive too! (I know, what?! I thought there was no such place in these parts.)

Next up on my list of go-to brunch spots in town is Cajun Kitchen Cafe. This may sound weird, but the #1 reason I keep coming back to Cajun is that they carry green Tabasco sauce.

Let me back up. Several years ago, Joe and I visited his birthplace, Boulder, Colorado, and we went to this amazing breakfast joint where our server offered us an array of hot sauces for our meals. One of the choices was green Tabasco sauce, and I had never seen it before. The server noticed my curiosity and urged me to try it, claiming that green Tabasco on breakfast food is basically the greatest thing ever.

And he was right.

And ever since then, I have been on the hunt for places that have green Tabasco sauce (side note: Chipotle does, and no I absolutely do not go there like twice a week and pour the stuff all over my tacos and chips ohwaityesItotallydo).

So, my first time going to Cajun Kitchen was after I volunteered for the SB Marathon a couple of years ago (cheering people on and making sure no cars were driving on the parts of the road that were blocked off for the runners). My friend Megan must have known she had some making up to do for talking me into waking up at like 4 AM on a Saturday, and inviting me out to breakfast with the other volunteers definitely made up for it...especially when I found out they had my favorite green sauce.

Okay, but aside from my ridiculous addiction to that stuff, Cajun Kitchen does ALSO have really, really yummy breakfast foods, AND the most amazing blueberry muffins ever. Their breakfast options tend to be plenty filling, too, so you definitely get a bang for your buck there. Plus, there are several locations to choose from, each with its own ambiance and vibe.

Seriously, when this is an option, what is even the point of lunch?

Shoot, now I just want to fast forward to this weekend and figure out a reasonable excuse to eat at all FOUR of these places I’ve mentioned in this series! (PS: Did you enter the giveaway for a Sambo’s gift card yet? Time is running out!)

Home, Entertaining, & Neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

As much as we all know it sucks that Santa Barbara is such an expensive place to live, I must say I have grown to love the little condo that Joe and I call home. It took me awhile to accept it as “home” and not just “that place I live until we move into something bigger,” but once I decided to embrace it, I really began to appreciate our cozy space.

For one thing, a smaller place equals a lot less to clean and organize! And seeing as how I’m still trying to make a habit of keeping things tidy, I am definitely glad to have less square feet in which to make my epic messes. It’s also been really fun to do little decorating projects and looking up ways to maximize small spaces on Pinterest. (For the record, we actually have a lot more storage space in our condo than one might guess!)

Joe and I love to entertain, and our place has proven to be pretty great for game nights, movie nights, potlucks, and Bible study or small group gatherings. We have a projector mounted up high in the wall above our couches, and it projects onto the opposite enormous wall of our living room. (And hey, that’s one less wall for me to worry about decorating!) Plus, Joe installed a great surround sound system, so we are all over the action movies, is all I’m saying.

Our living room, which is one of my favorite things about our home.

We’ve also hosted a couple of pretty large parties, and while the space does get a little crowded, I think it’s actually been kind of fun, and it doesn’t allow anyone to hide out in the corners being anti-social. (Not that we even have any anti-social friends. Everyone we know is super friendly!) I hosted my friend Julie’s baby shower a couple years ago, and I think we had about 18 people in the living room at one point. But even crazier than that, we had a Christmas party last year and I think there must’ve been around 25 people crammed into the living room, dining room and kitchen! That was an amazingly fun evening.

Kitchen overflow during our 2013 Christmas party!

One other thing I like about where we live is that we’ve had some pretty great neighbors over the years. There was Jeff and Leah (and eventually their son John), who moved in right around the time I moved to Santa Barbara when Joe and I were still dating. We had lots of fun game nights and dinners with them, and we even took them with us to San Francisco one December for our annual Dickens/Monterey weekend!

Then when Jeff, Leah, John, and still-in-the-oven Abigail moved to Alabama (boooo), two amazing ladies (who are now two of my favorite people ever), Natalie and Michelle, moved into their old place. That whole situation was a blessing, because Michelle and I found out we work together, and all of us also go to the same church! We hit it off right away and had many game/movie/dinner/ladies’ nights, and we jointly hosted a fantastic summer solstice party that was a big hit with our friends and other neighbors.

Me with Michelle, Natalie, and our awesome piñata at our solstice party last year.

Then when Natalie and Michelle ~~ditched me~~ moved out for totally valid reasons that had nothing to do with me, our other neighbors Brian and Shannon moved literally across the walkway into the girls’ old place, since it had a second bedroom and they had just had a baby boy. And THEN by pure happenstance (aka the brilliant plan of God), another couple from our church, Eric and Becky, moved into Brian’s old place! Those two are also super sweet, friendly, and good-neighborly. Becky is the very same Becky who did our five year photo shoot, and she's also in my Beth Moore small group this season!

So basically, today’s “thing I love about Santa Barbara” is the blessing of being “stuck” in our current living situation, and realizing that it’s what we make of it. I spent the first couple years of marriage just wishing to move on to the “next” place, and then finally realized that it was much more enjoyable to make this “now” place a place I could love to live in for another five or ten years. And now that I've done that, I think it’ll end up being pretty bittersweet whenever we do move on from this condo (and say goodbye whichever neighbors we may have when that time comes).

Weekend Wonder: Sea Lions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

{Weekend Wonder is a little mini-series I'm doing within “31 Days,” where I show you
a picture of something in Santa Barbara that I love, along with a short blurb about it.}

(Click to enlarge)

I love to visit my sea lion buddies whenever I go kayaking at the Harbor. There’s always at least a couple of them out on this buoy – snoozing, sunbathing, or totally posing for the camera like the guy in front there. Ah, to live such a carefree, sun-soaked life! (Oh wait, I kinda already do!)

Weekend Wonder: Palm Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

{Weekend Wonder is a little mini-series I'm doing within “31 Days,” where I show you
a picture of something in Santa Barbara that I love, along with a short blurb about it.}

(Click to enlarge)

I have a special place in my heart for palm trees, because they remind me of my desert hometown. Looking up at this one, with the sun beaming down through the palm fronds, I felt a sense of connectedness between my childhood home and my current home, my younger self and this weird, responsible, adult human I’m apparently becoming. (When did THAT happen?)

The Funk Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

Because it’s sadly NOT my Friday off today, I am of course daydreaming about things I could be doing right now if I didn’t have to be at work. And one of my favorite ways to spend a relaxing Friday afternoon (or Saturday or Sunday for that matter) is moseying around the Funk Zone.

The Funk Zone is basically this little section of streets (pretty much all within walking distance of each other) full of places to eat, drink, shop, and explore. I don’t think I have even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to seeing and experiencing all that the Funk Zone has to offer, but I definitely have discovered a few instant favorites that I frequently visit when I'm headed down that way.

The first and best place is the Santa Barbara Winery, and I’m not just saying that because two of my lovely friends, Michelle and Brooke, work there. They have delicious wines, a calm and relaxing vibe, and a very cool barrel room that gets rented out for events like birthday parties and belly dancing performances. As someone who is not usually a big fan of white wine, let me tell you right now that you MUST try their orange muscat. It is fantastic! And if you don't believe me, well: they just won Best White Wine in the 2014 SB Independent Readers’ Poll so they must be doing something right!

Deidre and me at SB Winery on a rainy day!

This is the barrel room at SB Winery, during
Michelle's birthday party earlier this year!

Then there are a few other wine tasting rooms that I like to visit every now and then, including Corks & Crowns, Drake, AVA, and Municipal. There’s a lot of others too, but those are the first that come to mind as the ones with my favorite vibe, flavor, or all-around pleasant experience.

Corks & Crowns does a cupcake tasting every Sunday!

Moving on to food spots, I must admit I really haven’t explored a lot here yet! I’ve been to Red’s a couple times (and hosted a work party there last year), Metropulos once, and Lucky Penny once. I really enjoyed all three of those places, so I dunno what's keeping me from going more often. I also keep meaning to check out the Lark and Seven, and one of these days I will make it happen! But I hear from plenty of people that those and many other eateries in the Funk Zone are fantastic, so you pretty much can’t go wrong.

I think this happened at Municipal Wine awhile back.
Who doesn't love a good backgammon game while tasting wine?

Sis-in-law Kelly and me at AVA when we had
a Carnes family day in SB this summer!

If you’re a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities and places to check out in the Funk Zone, here’s one great way to pick your starting points: get an Axxess book and check out the places that have offers and discounts in there! I know SB Winery has a deal, as do several other tasting rooms, eateries, and more.

What are you waiting for?

Axxess Card

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

You may or may not have heard of Entertainment.com or the “Entertainment book” depending on where you live and whether it’s available in your area. Well, Santa Barbara has its own version of an entertainment book called the Axxess Card. It’s basically a card (and accompanying book) that is chock full of offers and discounts at local businesses, including restaurants, auto shops, golf clubs, salons, and a ton of others.

You pay $30 for your membership, and it’s good from October through the following December (15 months!). The card itself has a tiny grid of numbers that coordinate with each of the one-time deals in the book, and whenever you use up one of those deals, the business will punch a hole over the coordinating number. Then the book has recurring offers that you can get just by showing your Axxess card so they know you have it.

Even if you’re not so good about remembering to use your Axxess card (ahem, like me), it only takes a few uses to make up for the $30 you spent to begin with. Last year, Joe and I got discounted Disneyland and California Adventure tickets through Axxess, so we got to go for our anniversary without breaking the bank quite as hard as we would have otherwise! That alone saved us more than the cost of the book.

My favorite thing about the Axxess card is that it helps us to branch out and discover new places, rather than just going to the same ones over and over. I mean, we DO still go to a lot of the same places over and over, because we love them! But Axxess has shown us new places to love that we otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

My second favorite thing about Axxess is that they partner with schools and non-profits every year to help them raise money. So if you buy an Axxess book through a friend’s kid, $10 of the $30 goes toward their school or whatever they’re raising money for.

And it just so happens that my dance team (which you read about yesterday) is raising money for our HUGE trip next year to World Championships in Nashville, TN! We are in the process of getting our 501(c) to become an official non-profit, but the lovely folks at Axxess still let us go ahead and sell books.

So if you are a local and you haven’t already bought your 2015 Axxess card, help me help you! I will gladly deliver a book right to your doorstep, no joke.

Creekside and Got Country!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

So...I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on the blog yet, but I kinda joined a dance team earlier this year. It’s called “Got Country!” and it’s an all-female country western dance group based in Santa Barbara.

Got Country! in full costume & makeup for our recent competition.

But let me back up a bit.

I’ve been into line dancing on and off since I turned 21 and started going to Montana’s back in college. Line dancing was about the only way I was physically active in my early 20s, but back then, I only knew about four different dances. I’d try to figure out some of the other ones, but I just didn’t have the coordination or retention skills to really nail them down. Still, I loved going and giving it my all. And eventually (read: in just the last year or so), I started being able to retain more of the dances and really feeling more confident in my line dancing ability.

It took a couple years after moving to Santa Barbara before I checked out Creekside, our local country bar, which has line dancing every Wednesday night. When I first checked it out, all I could do was mentally compare it to Montana’s, and so I didn’t really get into it for awhile. (This is a rare moment when I will tell you that I like something somewhere else better than its equivalent in Santa Barbara: Montana’s will always be my favorite line dancing spot.)

But we’re talking about Santa Barbara here, and I’m happy to say that after giving Creekside another chance in the last year or so, I have come to love and appreciate it for many reasons, of which I have listed a few below (have you figured out yet that I really like lists?):

The “regulars” are super friendly and fun. There’s that core group of people you can bet will always be at Creekside, and they are so welcoming, inclusive, and more than willing to help folks learn new dances. (Now, I must say that when I first tried Creekside several years ago, this wasn’t so much the case in my experience. I got yelled at to get off the floor when I was trying to figure out a dance on more than one occasion. That’s pretty much why it took me awhile to give the place another chance; but thankfully, the people there now are generally a lot more friendly!)
Derek, the DJ, picks great songs to go with various line dances and two steps. I’ve experienced some country DJs who just didn’t seem to have a knack for choosing songs that work well with whatever line dance they’ve called out. Derek tends to pick good ones, and he mixes up the songs so that you’re not always dancing the same line dance to the same song. He also likes to speed up some songs gradually so that the dance gets a little harder as the song goes on, which can be fun when you’re doing one of the easier dances that might tend to get boring after awhile at the same pace.
The bartenders make a mean margarita. I don’t really have to say much about this one. Just go and ask for a margarita (with salt on the rim, of course) and enjoy it.
We have the best line dance instructors. Listen, when it comes to line dance lessons, the instructor makes a HUGE difference in whether you will a) enjoy the dance, b) actually GET the dance, and c) remember the dance three weeks later. Dorothea and Lisa are the two instructors I’ve experienced the most in the last year at Creekside, and they both bring their own special quality to lessons. Dorothea is ridiculously sweet, and she is great at very clearly explaining the steps and going over them to make sure everyone gets it. Lisa is spunky and always tells people that they shouldn’t think of it as “messing up” so much as “putting your own variation” on a step you may not have done exactly as she taught it.
Minimal creepers. Look, you know I’d be lying if I said there were NO creepy people at a bar, right? There are always creepers. But Creekside seems to attract much fewer of them than other places I’ve been, and I’ve developed a knack for spotting them and avoiding them. Plus, with all the very nice and friendly people around, we’re all looking out for each other.
Yet another great way to burn calories in Santa Barbara. Whenever I wear my Loop activity tracker to Creekside, I get SO MANY steps and burn SO MANY calories! I love it because the app that goes with the Loop always says stuff like, “Wow, you’re a rockstar today! You were super active.” Dang right I was!

Full dance floor at Creekside!

Okay, now back to this whole dance team thing. Earlier this year, Joe and I went to a different local venue that tried out a weekly line dancing gig for a little while. It didn’t end up lasting very long, but that first time we went, there was this group of girls that got up and performed a really cool dance routine to some country songs! I remember thinking it looked like a lot of fun but also figuring they were all professional dancers, so of course it didn’t even occur to me to wonder if that was something I could ever do.

Fast forward a couple months, and this same team showed up at Creekside one night. Derek brought them on the dance floor to congratulate them for winning some competition, and then he said, “By the way, they’ve got an opening on the team, so go talk to Marilyn if you’re interested in joining!”

I don’t think he even finished his sentence before I bolted across the room to where Marilyn (the dance team’s director/choreographer) was sitting and squealed, “I want to be on the team!”

PEOPLE. Have you met me?! Since when am I a person who thinks she can be coordinated enough to REALLY dance? (I mean, this team doesn’t just dance in a line and turn from one wall to the next to repeat it. There are flips and kicks and jumps and formations and and and...!) Well, whatever possessed me to do it, I somehow managed to pass the little audition and get myself a spot on the team.

It’s taken months, but I’ve learned an 8-minute routine and am continually trying to improve on things like kicking higher, shimmying my shoulders instead of my booty (long story), and doing body rolls with actual fluidity instead of looking mechanical and awkward. (It’s a process, but I’m getting better!)

And just this past weekend, we competed at the Paradise Country Dance Festival! And I didn’t fall on my face! And I wasn’t the only one who messed up here and there! And I didn’t die of an asthma attack!

So basically, I can now officially call myself a dancer, which is literally the LAST thing I ever thought I would be able to say about myself. I mean, there’s been a lot of things I never thought I’d do, like running races or hiking up mountains or having actual ab muscles...but dancing was seriously at the very end of the “No, but seriously, NEVER” section of that list.

So, never say never?

Anyway, all this to say, I have found another great community to be a part of in Santa Barbara, and if you haven’t been to Creekside yet, please come with me sometime! And stay tuned on Got Country!’s Facebook page if you want to find out about upcoming performances and events!

Running and Races

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

Today I want to talk about running in Santa Barbara. I have a couple of go-to running paths and a couple of races I like to sign up for almost every year.

My number one running trail is the bike path near Goleta Beach, but I’ve also been branching out from there and running along the actual beach, too! Something about running on sand as the tide drifts up toward my feet and birds mosey around along the beach is just...calming. Plus, sea glass.

Another spot I like to run is at the Santa Barbara City College track. It’s gentler on the knees than any other running surface, and there’s no getting lost or going out too far and not being able to make it back. (I mean, no, I never run two miles and then realize I absolutely don’t feel like running another two miles. Nope, never happens.) Joe prefers to run here, since he has had knee surgery and feels the impact on concrete or dirt roads a lot more harshly, so the track is where we do our runs together! I can also throw in a few stadiums for good measure if I’m feeling extra tough.

Joe and I in our new running shoes on a track run awhile back!

The third place I love to run is down by the harbor, usually along the bike path that runs through the parking lots toward East Beach. I get a great ocean view (and breeze), plus on Sundays there’s some kind of art walk going on that I love to admire as I’m running along.

As for races: there’s plenty of options in Santa Barbara and the surrounding area. I’m not quite ready (and I may never be) to run the Santa Barbara Half Marathon (much less the full one!), but I’ve done a couple different shorter races in town that I always try to make time for every year if I can. Oh, and I’ve volunteered at the marathon a couple of times, cheering people on and making sure cars on the road don’t drive onto the race lanes – that’s always a good time!

The first race I ever did locally was the Super Bowl 4-Miler. I loved the distance, I loved the energy of the people around me, and I loved that I burned calories on a day when most people are gorging on them! I’ve done it a couple times since then, and it’s always a great way to start a fun day.

Then there’s the Semana Nautica 15K, which usually happens on or around the 4th of July. This one I’ve only done once, but I really want to try it again! Maybe next year. A 15K is 9.3 miles, and I think if I can actually train well for this one, I could get a better idea of whether I might want to ever do a half marathon (13.1 miles!). Again, this one had great scenery, an energetic vibe, and a sweet finisher’s shirt that was actually athletic, moisture-wicking material rather than the usual plain cotton tees I’ve gotten from most other races.

And lastly is my all-time favorite race in Santa Barbara: She Is Beautiful! This is an all-female 5K and 10K race that is just the most fun thing ever. Surrounded by thousands of other women ready to kick butt, and then seeing all the motivational and quirky signs along the way, makes for a high energy, confidence boosting way to get outside and stay active.

(Click to enlarge)

This year I was getting over a terrible cough and cold, so I ended up just walking the 5K instead of running the 10K, which was pretty disappointing. But I’m glad I still went out and did SOMETHING, and I still crossed the finish line feeling accomplished, and that’s the main reason I keep coming back for more! Plus, being at the way back of the crowd was kind of awesome because I got to see thousands of women start the race strong!

What are some other good running spots or races I should check out in Santa Barbara?

Hiking

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

I can’t believe it’s already Day 20, you guys. Yesterday I gave you a little sneak peek at what I’m talking about today, which is one of my absolute favorite ways to stay active in Santa Barbara: hiking!

Hiking is yet another one of those things that I never thought I would get into, because I never used to think I was capable of anything more intense than a few minutes of power walking. (Seriously. Those of you who know me now are probably thinking I’m exaggerating, but anyone who knew me in college or high school can vouch for my utter lack of interest in physical activity.)

I honestly don’t remember ever going hiking in my life before I moved to Santa Barbara. That’s not to say it didn’t happen, because I have a terrible memory. But let’s just go with this whole theme that seems to be happening in this series, where I talk about how I never did anything awesome until I lived in Santa Barbara. Because it’s pretty much the story of my life.

My first hike in Santa Barbara was with a few friends from church, and it was arguably one of the most popular trails in this area: Inspiration Point. It’s about a three mile round trip trek, with a pretty steady uphill climb, but not very steep except for a few spots. And when you get to the top, you are rewarded with this amazing view:

(Click to enlarge)

That first time, when my friends told me I was about to hike for three miles, I seriously didn’t know if I was going to make it. Turns out I not only made it, but I also didn’t even slow the group down too much! Thus began my obsession with hiking.

Inspiration will always be one of my favorite hikes in Santa Barbara, but I’ve loved exploring some of the other trails as well, like McMenemy, Rattlesnake, Cold Spring, Tangerine Falls, and Lizard’s Mouth. I have been sticking around the 3-5 mile range, but eventually I would love to try some of the longer trails!

Here are some of my favorite things about hiking:

It’s a fantastic lower body workout! Honestly, that first hike up to Inspiration Point, I was sore FOR DAYS in places I didn’t even know had muscles. (So, kayaking for upper body, hiking for lower. What more do you need?)
There’s such a variety of options. Whether you’re looking for a short hike or a long one, something near the beach or in the mountains, a steep climb or an easy walk – the possibilities are practically endless. I love that some of the trails are mostly dirt, while others are super shaded and green. Hiking has given me an even deeper appreciation for the fact that I get to live in Santa Barbara and see all these different scenic views.
It’s another great way to spend an afternoon with friends. I mentioned this about kayaking, too: doing something active with friends is one of the best ways to hang out! Always great conversations, always a ton of sweat and smiles.
MAJOR calorie burn! On a 3-4 mile hike, I usually burn at least 1,000 calories. And you know what that means? Guilt-free pizza and ice cream consumption!

I could go on and on. But let’s leave it at this: if you live in Santa Barbara and you haven’t hiked at least one of the awesome trails around here...what are you waiting for?

Weekend Wonder: Lizard's Mouth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

{Weekend Wonder is a little mini-series I'm doing within “31 Days,” where I show you
a picture of something in Santa Barbara that I love, along with a short blurb about it.}

(Click to enlarge)

This is a little cave I found during a hike/walk around Lizard’s Mouth. Somewhere between the ages of 8 and 25, I lost my sense of adventure and outdoorsiness (that’s a word, I decided), but it’s been slowly coming back to me these last few years. Oh, and I may look super “in my element” in this photo (or maybe I don’t), but I’m pretty sure as I was climbing in there, I thought, “Ew, I’m getting dirty, and what if there’s a spider or snake in here or something?” I’m learning to battle those thoughts by reminding myself how much fun I’ve been having as I push myself to try new things...but I’m still not quite ready to camp out overnight in the wilderness or anything.

Weekend Wonder: Purple Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

{Weekend Wonder is a little mini-series I'm doing within “31 Days,” where I show you
a picture of something in Santa Barbara that I love, along with a short blurb about it.}

(Click to enlarge)

Back in May, this tree in my neighborhood seemed to turn purple overnight. I was driving down my street and noticed it, and I remember thinking, “Has that tree always been there?” I never remembered it being so vibrant before! Most likely, I just hadn’t been very observant, but I just love whenever something like this catches my eye like it’s a brand new gift of beauty just for me to enjoy in that moment.

BRUNCH: Sambo's & Tupelo Junction Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

I mentioned earlier this month that I really love breakfast and I’ll eat it literally any time of day, so no one should be surprised that there will be at least two separate posts that are wholly devoted to my favorite brunch spots in Santa Barbara.

Today, let’s talk about the spot with my favorite view and the spot where I make the one and only exception to my Breakfast Always rule.

First up, for the best brunch with a view, is Sambo’s! This cute little diner has been in Santa Barbara for 57 years. It started out as a one-off, and by the early ‘80s had grown into a huge chain with over 1,000 locations. Eventually ALL of those locations closed down for one reason or another, but the original Sambo’s is still going strong.

I suspect their success is partly due to the fact that their outdoor seating area is literally right across the street from the ocean, and also because of the baskets of free (tasty!) mini muffins you get while you wait for your actual order to arrive. Both of these things are HUGE selling points for me, anyway.

Joe and I often end up at Sambo’s after church on cool, sunny afternoons. More often than not, he’ll get the Santa Barbara omelette because he likes to rub it in my face that I’m allergic to avocado. (I kid, I kid. I mean, I really am allergic to avocado, but he’s not usually mean about getting to enjoy it without me.) And I almost always get the Papa Jumbo Special, which is crispy bacon, two eggs over hard, and three insanely delicious pancakes. I’ve also been known on some occasions to indulge in their JUMBO mimosa, which most definitely lives up to its name.

If you've never been to Sambo's, get your butt over there and thank me later.

The second spot I want to share with you today is Tupelo Junction Cafe, which is on downtown State Street, right next to the Granada Theater. Now, you may be wondering about this “Breakfast Always” rule I mentioned a few paragraphs up.

So here’s the thing: I love breakfast foods so much that if a restaurant serves it during a time when they also have lunch and dinner options available, I seriously don’t even look at the rest of the menu. I always get breakfast if breakfast is an option.

But Tupelo is the one and only place where I will make an exception to that rule. See, they have these things on the lunch menu called cheddar cheese hush puppies with spicy pepper jam. It’s as amazing as it sounds (and if you don’t find that amazing-sounding, we can’t be friends anymore). This picture below doesn’t even begin to do justice to how gooey the cheese is in the center, or how downright blissful my face is when I’m eating one of these things.

The good news is, ain’t nobody ever gotten full on a few little hush puppies. So I always have room for a little something else, and therefore I still always get something breakfasty at Tupelo if it’s before 2 PM. And if I’m there for dinner, there are still plenty of great options (like MORE HUSH PUPPIES).

But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of their absolute best breakfast items, and that is the vanilla dipped French toast with homemade berry syrup and fresh whipped cream. I mean...what more could you want in life? They use baguettes, not just regular bread, and that berry syrup is seriously yummy.

Shoot, now you’ve got me all hungry for some breakfast!

Now for the real fun: one of these fantastic places wants to share the love with two of my dear readers! That’s right – Sambo’s is giving away TWO $25 gift cards to a couple lucky commenters! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here on the blog answering this question:

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

You can earn additional entries by following the instructions over on my Instagram post here.

31 Days of Santa Barbara giveaways will close at midnight on Friday, October 31st. Winners for ALL the giveaways throughout this series will be announced on Monday, November 3rd!

{Disclaimer: All opinions in this post are my own; I reached out to Sambo's to see if they wanted to give my readers some swag, and they graciously agreed!}

Kayaking at Paddle Sports Center

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

The first time I ever went kayaking was in college, when I went on a weekend lake trip with a family I babysat for. And on my very first time kayaking, I had a three-year-old child IN THE KAYAK with me. Talk about terrifying! I had someone else’s life in my hands, and I had no idea what I was doing. This was also back when I was not remotely interested in any form of fitness, much less any outdoor activities, so needless to say I was weak and extremely uncoordinated. Fortunately, the girl’s mom was in another kayak with her younger daughter, and she assured me that everything would be fine. We all had life vests on, so even if I did tip us over, we’d be okay.

I don’t actually remember much about that first time kayaking other than being extremely nervous the entire time. I probably paddled slower than molasses, and I doubt I made it a hundred feet out from the dock. But I survived – without flipping us over! – and after that, I never thought I’d get (or want) another opportunity to kayak again.

The second time I ever went kayaking was on my honeymoon. It was mostly a means of cooling down because we were in Las Vegas in August and it was HOT, and the temperature out on the lake was at least ten degrees cooler (so, you know, only 99!). I think I actually did enjoy kayaking that time, although I still felt very weak and uncoordinated, because back then, I was only beginning to toy with the idea of being a physically active person.

The third time I ever went kayaking was here in Santa Barbara, about a year and a half ago. And you know what they say: third time’s the charm! I have since gone kayaking quite a few more times, though I would love to make it more of a regular occurrence! (Yet another instance of not having enough time to do All The Things.)

So now that I’m basically a pro (ha), here are some reasons I think YOU should try kayaking in Santa Barbara:

It’s a great upper body workout. You will obviously work your upper arms and shoulders, but if you do it right, you’ll ALSO feel it in your core! (And please do it right, because otherwise you can totally hurt your back if you’re not engaging your core! There’s your PSA for today.) Seriously, my abs and obliques get fired up when I kayak! And on top of being safer for your back, engaging your core also really helps give you more power and control as you paddle.
You can see Santa Barbara from a whole new vantage point. Whether you go at the SB Harbor or at Goleta Beach, the view of this beautiful city from out in the ocean is just ridiculous. I tend to wish for clear, sunny skies whenever I go kayaking, but the times that it’s been foggy have actually been even more magical. The fog makes everything feel a little bit ethereal and mysterious.

(Click to enlarge)
You’ll encounter various ocean dwelling creatures. You are pretty much guaranteed to see a few sea lions if you venture out to the buoy near the Harbor, and you may also spot dolphins if you’re lucky! Then there’s all sorts of birds, and if the water is clear, you can look down and see all manner of fish as well. And last time I went down at the Harbor, we also saw a couple of starfish and a TON of mussels underneath the pier!

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)
It can be both relaxing and exciting. You can take kayaking at your own pace, meandering lazily and mostly letting the water carry you where it will, or pushing yourself to pick up speed or paddle against the wind. And unless the wind and waves are super strong that day, your kayaking excursion can be a mixture of relaxation and intense exercise. (If the winds pick up, though, get ready to paddle for your LIFE to get back to shore.)
It’s a perfect outing with one or two other friends. Why go to the movies – dark room, no human interaction – when you could be outside, breathing in the fresh air, chatting with your friends, and mixing up your workout routine all at once? I have had some of the best conversations while sitting in a kayak!

This was on my birthday this year! Taken on Alicia's sweet old-school
underwater camera with ACTUAL FILM! (Click to enlarge)
You may find a fresh perspective or a deeper appreciation for life. When you’re in a kayak, it’s hard not to take in your surroundings and think, “This world is so much bigger than my problems or temporary complaints.” At least, that’s how I feel whenever I get out there. I am one of those people who feels closest to God when I’m observing the different landscapes, colors, smells, and textures of creation. Even if you’re not religious, I think getting away from the hustle of the city can really help to quiet your mind and refocus your attention on worthwhile things.
Just about anyone can do it. Even if you are completely out of shape (like I was the first two times I ever went kayaking), you can do it. Trust me. You can always ride a double and have a friend come along to help you paddle and steer. (“Two are better than one,” after all.)

If you ask me, I think everyone should try kayaking at least once in their lives. But if you’re anything like me, you should also try it a second and third time. Because it might take a couple tries, a couple different settings, or even a couple years to “get” what is so special about kayaking.

(Click to enlarge)

Now for the fun part: another sweet deal coming your way!

My favorite place to rent kayaks is Channel Islands Outfitters at either of their Paddle Sports Center locations (which, as previously mentioned, are the Harbor and Goleta Beach), and they’ve kindly offered $5 off your next rental if you use the code “5RACK” and mention my blog post.

The great thing is, this applies not only for kayak rentals but also stand up paddle boards and surfboards! And the GREATER thing is: this deal does not expire!

So to all of you readers who don’t live in Santa Barbara and are thinking, “Shoot, I wish I could take advantage of that deal,” well...start planning your next vacation, and even if it’s a year from now, you’ll still be able to walk into the rental shop and say, “Hey, I read this blog post awhile back that said I could use a code to get $5 off!”

Local friends: what are you waiting for? Let’s get paddling!

{Disclaimer: All opinions in this post are my own; I reached out to CIO to see if they wanted to give my readers a deal, and they graciously agreed!}

Karaoke at Old Town Tavern

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

A few years ago, my friend Helly (also a 31 dayer!) got me into the local karaoke scene in Santa Barbara. We used to go around checking out all the different places in town that do karaoke on any given day, but eventually I kind of settled on a favorite place: Old Town Tavern.

Let me first make something very clear: you don’t have to be a good singer to be a good karaoke-er. Karaoke is much more about having FUN than it is about singing well. Don’t get me wrong: it’s nice if you can carry a tune that sounds a little more pleasant than nails on a chalkboard. But ultimately, if you’re up there having a blast, people will cheer you on and high five you when you’re done!

Anyway, more about Old Town Tavern (or OTT as we call it around these parts): this place is pretty much the definition of a dive bar. Although, I guess I don’t actually know what qualifies a place to be a “dive” – cheap drinks? dim-slash-flickering lighting? gross carpet? a couple old dudes who look like they’ve been there since 11 AM? broken bathroom stall doors?

OTT, at one point or another, has had all of those things and more. They’ve recently been doing a little sprucing up, so they have working doors, slightly less disgusting flooring, and of course slightly more expensive drinks (this is Santa Barbara – is anything really ever CHEAP here?), but the overall vibe is that this place is so divey, hipsters won’t even go there to be ironic or whatever. (But don’t worry, the hipsters have the Merc just around the corner to earn their “I hang out at supposedly-uncool bars” badge...no offense to the Merc...or to hipsters. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now.)

On karaoke nights, OTT draws in a much younger crowd – although there are still a lot of “regulars” who I would be willing to bet are there every other night of the week, too. And the crowd gets younger and younger as the night goes on.... I usually try to get there right when karaoke starts at 7:30 so that I can sing a few songs before the college crowd descends upon the place around 10:30 and I’m suddenly overwhelmed with a case of Major Old Lady Syndrome. This is a condition in which I immediately become persnickety and territorial, as if to say, “Harumph. Don’t you have a trashy night club to be passed out in right now? Leave the laid-back dive bar to the OLD folks!”

I kid, I kid. (Kinda.) Really, one of my favorite things about karaoke nights at OTT is that it does bring together a very interesting mix of people, both young and old, “cool” and uncool, sane and holy-moly-where-are-your-meds crazy. There’s never a dull moment!

OTT is a great place for a chill birthday party (I've had mine there once, and been to several other people's birthdays there), and I've ended up there the last two New Year's Eves as well. Joe has even been known to get up and sing on occasion!

Joe likes to claim to be tone-deaf, but he really does a decent job, and he picks
fun songs that don't often get sung by other people!

Throwback to my long-red-hair-and-braces days! (I'm singing "At Last" and
no doubt looking lovingly at Joe while I sing it. Say it with me: "Awww!")

New Year's Eve 2013! Good times, good times.

And lest I neglect to mention the actual important details of any good dive bar karaoke experience: the drinks are delicious and not super overpriced, the bartenders are friendly and always looking out to make sure any creepers keep their distance from the ladies, and the karaoke DJ is fair and knows how to run the system. (That’s one reason I don’t venture out to many other karaoke spots in town: some other local KJs tend to have more technical difficulties, smaller song selections, they’re less friendly, and I’ve seen a couple take bribes to boost people to the top of the queue.)

Just for fun, here’s a video of me singing one of my go-to karaoke songs, “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick.

And for an extra bonus! Here’s a clip of what happens when I try to sing without the lyrics right in front of my face. This was at a jazz open mic night at SoHo, where I definitely did NOT plan on actually singing, but got talked into it and then totally butchered the lyrics I thought I knew because I do this song all the time in karaoke. Apparently I rely on those lyrics more than I realized!

The Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

One place I always forget I love so much in Santa Barbara is the Mission. I usually only think about it when I’m passing it on my way to hike Inspiration Point or one of the other trails nearby, but whenever I get a chance to go there for a relaxing afternoon or a fancy chalk art show, I feel an extra surge of gratefulness to live in this incredible city.

If you’re visiting Santa Barbara, you have to make time to tour the Mission. But don’t just drive away after your tour! Stay and walk through the gorgeous rose garden; lay out a blanket and have a picnic; play bocce ball or cornhole or frisbee; let your dog run wild through the grass. What I’m saying is: soak up some Santa Barbara. The Mission is one of the best places to do it.

That fancy chalk art show I mentioned earlier is called I Madonnari, and it’s usually on or around Memorial Day weekend every year. Local businesses, schools and charities “sponsor” squares or sections of the pavement, where an artist will create a magnificent work of chalk art from start to finish during that weekend. People come throughout the day to watch the artists at work or see the finished products, and it’s just a very cool thing to experience.

(Click to enlarge)

This past April, for my birthday, I decided to keep it pretty casual and invited friends to join me for brunch (spoiler alert: this is not the last you will hear about brunch this month), and then we headed over to the Mission to hang out and enjoy the afternoon. It was absolutely the best way to kick off the last year of my 20s – I felt very grown up and sophisticated...see?

(Click to enlarge)

Really though, it’s a great place to spend an afternoon. I need to take advantage of it more often!

Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

There’s one thing that is making my Mondays significantly more enjoyable lately, and it’s the women’s Bible study that I’m doing with my church. We just started Beth Moore’s newest study, “Children of the Day,” which is on 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and I’m loving it!

75+ women are gathering weekly to study Thessalonians. <3 this community!

And that brings me to today’s topic: my wonderful church.

We’ve been attending Reality Santa Barbara for almost four years, and it has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. (I have been fortunate to be a part of several great churches in my life, so please know that this post is not meant to downplay any other church I’ve been a part of, both in Santa Barbara and elsewhere!)

The first day we went to Reality, I remember looking around the room and saying to Joe, “Everyone here is so beautiful!” It was actually a bit of an insecure statement, because I seriously thought I must’ve stuck out like a sore thumb in a crowd of very attractive people. But while I was commenting on the physical appearance of the congregation, I think what really caught my attention was how friendly and full of life everyone was! I didn’t notice anyone sitting alone, or anyone looking sad or angry or even indifferent – it seemed like EVERYONE was happy and excited to be there.

Before we started going to Reality, I didn’t have any close female friends in Santa Barbara. And within just a few weeks, we were plugged into a community group and I had met a couple of incredible women who made me feel so welcomed right away! And even though those first few amazing girlfriends have sinced moved out of state, I have continued to be blessed with new connections and friendships through our church, and especially through becoming more involved in the women’s ministry over the past year. (Man, I could devote a whole post to how much I love the women’s ministry at Reality!)

These are a few ladies I met through a community group at Reality –
seriously some of the sweetest people ever!

The preaching pastors at Reality are truly ordained by God, and they don’t shy away from difficult topics or controversial Bible passages. I have been more challenged, encouraged, and inspired by the last four years of sermons at Reality than any other time in my life! Chris Lazo has been the preaching pastor at our campus (there are two other campuses – Carpinteria and Ventura) for the last year and a half or so, and I love how passionate he is about the Bible and about conveying the message in a fresh way while staying true to what it says. We just recently started a series called “The Good Life” which will cover the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and it’s going to go all the way into next summer – because Lazo gets into the nitty gritty and breaks it down verse by verse!

And then there’s the worship. This church loves to worship God through music, and we’re blessed with some incredibly talented musicians who have a passion for leading the congregation into worship in a genuine and meaningful way. Reality is the first church I’ve attended where I felt like the worship team was very intentional about “getting out of the way.” What I mean is, there is never anyone front and center on stage during worship; everyone is positioned on the sides of the stage, so that all you see in the center is the lyrics to the songs. It definitely helps me to stay focused on worshipping rather than getting distracted by noticing the worship team members’ mannerisms or outfits.

I also love that we always have time set aside for worship before AND after the message. I think Lazo preached once about why Reality does worship the way it does, and he said something like, “We worship in the beginning to prepare our hearts to receive a message. Then we take time right after the message to worship the Lord in thanks for what we just learned.” Isn’t that awesome?

Of all the things I love about Santa Barbara, Reality is the one I will definitely have the hardest time saying goodbye to if/when Joe and I ever move away. It’s rare to find a church home that feels 100% like home, isn’t it? (Hashtag: blessed!)

Weekend Wonder: Goleta Beach Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 13:30:00 +0000

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

{Weekend Wonder is a little mini-series I'm doing within “31 Days,” where I show you
a picture of something in Santa Barbara that I love, along with a short blurb about it.}

(Click to enlarge)

My friend Megan was visiting me earlier this year, and we were on our way to Trader Joe’s or something and both of us looked over toward the ocean and said almost in unison, “WE NEED TO GO BE WITH THAT SUNSET RIGHT NOW.” I’m so blown away by the beauty that surrounds us here in Santa Barbara, and I hope I never get used to it.