August - A Family Month

The weekend following Rob's brother Scott's visit, his folks flew down from Ocean Shores in Washington State. They live in a fast growing seaside community and run a successful daycare there. If anyone deserves a break it's these two.
The weather was warm and breezy all weekend long and we took them to some of our favorite spots we thought they might like including (surprise!) Butterfly beach. Maureen got me looking at sea weeds in a whole new way.























































An extreme love of garage sales runs in Rob's family. We spent Saturday morning driving around town looking for treasure, made a pit stop at Alice Keck park and bought Ken his first Guinness while Maureen got pampered at the nail salon.





































Sunday, the father| son hamburger cook off was scheduled for dusk. During the hottest part of the day Ken, Rob and I got to staining his great grandfather's dresser that our friend Bill stripped down after the fire. I think we all did a good job. Behold - before & after...













Thanks for dinner gentlemen! You are both fantastic cooks. I have to say despite being in new surroundings I did love setting a table in the garden, under the poinsettia, beside the apricot tree and near the yellow roses.













Next entry: Rob guest blogs and Suzanne sings disco in front of hundreds of people wearing only a pantsuit.

Fiesta Weekend - Santa Barbara, Westlake, Hope Ranch

I have many, many photos of our five Fiestas in Santa Barbara. They may all look similar (friends, confetti, beverages) but somehow they are all different.

Rob's brother Scott flew in from Seattle on Wednesday for summer’s last week long festival. He's no stranger to Fiesta having been here once before for it. Recovering from a broken right foot, we took it easy on him cabbing it all over town with Ron from Yellow Taxi (thanks Ron!).

Wednesday, for the first time we made it to the locals La Fiesta Pequeña at the old Santa Barbara Mission. Suzanne packed a great picnic and we met up at our spot on the grass near dusk. Live music and traditional costume + flamenco dancing. Mango + brie quesadillas, watermelon, tortilla chips and guacamole – it was a perfect way to kick off Fiesta.

We stopped by the cantina for a little bit but I had to go to work the next morning so we made it an early night.

Thursday was a little bumpy for me. Made it through the day and joined up with the boys at guess…the cantina! Our plan was to go to another Fiesta event at the zoo which included samples from local restaurants, dancing and a welcome from La Presidenta. Between Scott’s poor foot and knowing it was standing room only at the zoo and the unexpected meeting of two new folks to Santa Barbara, we made an evening out of it at the cantina.

This is Tom and Lydia. They are from Virginia and they are scientists. No really, scientists. This was their first Fiesta and they were excellent sports with the confetti getting everywhere. Glad to meet you two! Oh and I hope that by perusing past entries of this blog you'll see we really are nice people who are harmless. Honestly, I’m sorry we hit you so hard with those cascarones.

Work for me the next day. I was dragging a bit. Caught the big parade down State Street from the comfort of the sushi counter at Kai. An excellent location that I must remember for next year. One beverage at the cantina and after that we decided to make our way home to get indoors. Believe it or not it had begun to snow downtown. Both Rob and I were wearing white shirts and by the time we made it the 8 blocks home we were both grey. Ash from the Zaca Fire had been caught up in a shift in the wind that ignited what was then thought to be a mostly contained wildfire north of the city.
Tuckered out, I stayed home to rest up for the rest of the weekend (I know, what a wuss) while Rob and Scott headed back to the cantina later that night to meet up with friends. The ash subsided considerably but covered everything.

Saturday I woke to make the boys a big breakfast, realized we had nothing in the fridge so I set off for the outdoor market and grocery store.
Saturday morning during Fiesta is dedicated to kids. They get their own little parade down State Street. It is adorable except for the insane parents. People were driving like maniacs looking for parking close to the parade route, their dolled up children in full costume looking scared in the back seats of SUVs. I almost got hit twice, crossing the same street and screamed at…well I won’t repeat what that man said.

I decided to inquire with Adi in Westlake to see if she needed help with her wedding invitations. A little Fiesta’d out themselves, Rob and Scott joined me. We packed up the steak barbecue fixings we had intended for that night and drove south for about an hour to see our dear friends. I’m glad we did.

I think Scott was happy to get off his foot for a while too.

Sunday we made excellent time home after breakfast and found that ash conditions had improved greatly. Our friend Christine (another blessed red head) had sent out an invitation to our group of friends to join her at another gorgeous estate she was house sitting. This one was in Hope Ranch and it was beautiful. I’m most impressed with the kitchens in these places. Islands as big as a king size bed, double ovens, hidden refrigerators. Oh if only…

She made homemade civiche with grilled prawns and fresh avocado, marinated pork and perfect roasted baby red potatoes. Bill grilled chicken, others brought salads and garlic bread. I made an apple crisp. We swam, we hot tubbed, Kyle (recently returned from Turkey) taught me how backgammon is played in Turkey. I was confused. My dad taught me to play when I was a kid and I swore I’d committed basic rules to memory. Perhaps I learned Canadian rules? I’m not sure who to believe; Kyle or my dad. Regardless I had a good record on Sunday winning three out of four games. Until our next match my friend.

Scott had to go back to Seattle on Tuesday.

Rob’s parents have been visiting this weekend. I’ll recap our weekend with them next entry.

Beatz in the City + Edward Tufte

Our Sarah is flourishing in San Francisco.
Rob and I flew up to the city a couple weeks ago where I finally got to attend a long awaited treat of Edward Tufte's seminar and combined it with Sarah's birthday.










We stayed at Hotel Rex, a Joie de Vivre hotel in Union Square. Adi recommended checking this hotel group out and it was a good tip. They take over old hotels and give them an updated style. Nothing fancy but they pay attention to the the important things like good linens.
Sarah met us at the wine bar inside our hotel and we went to dinner at Caffe Sport in North Beach, a restaurant I visited on my first trip to San Francisco well over a decade ago. It is kitsch at it's best. There was a long table full of old friends dining next to us. Our waiter told us they had been going to the restaurant for over 30 years. Love it.

Most of my team from work had attended the Edward Tufte seminar that day whereas I'd opted to go the following day. My mistake. These goof balls met up with the three of us and kept me out late at an Irish bar across the street from a funeral home. I felt like I was in a Christopher Moore book.













In bed by 1am, asleep by 4am, up at 8am. Rob walked me to a quick breakfast then to the Grand Hyatt to finally hear Edward Tufte speak. I've wanted to go to this for years. My boss Rebecca made it happen not only for me but for our whole team.
Though very tired, I sat at the back of a room full of about 300 people and forced myself to retain as much information as I could. If you get the chance - go.













Me and E.T.










After the seminar Rob and I made our way to a locals spot - Pier 23 to toast Sarah on her 29th birthday. It was a beautiful late afternoon on the water. We were out there with Sarah and her friend Troy for hours until hunger motivated us to move on.










Pinball (my favorite thing ever) at Lucky 13 then goodbyes to Sarah and Troy. My stomach was screaming for food and Rob and I found a great place just around the corner from the bar called Home.
Home indeed. I've never had better macaroni and cheese in my life. Late, tired, happy.
Taxi to The Rex on a clear and windy night and sweet, sweet sleep.











Saturday morning we woke late to a gorgeous day outside. Wandering around Union Square we found Cafe de la Presse which felt like an authentic French restaurant for breakfast. See how I did that? Authentic? Having finally been to Paris, I can say that now. Neener neener.













It's been 3 months since Rob took photos with his 35mm. He cleaned the smoke residue off of it and after some tinkering got it to work. He took that photo of me at the table with his 35mm. It was so good to see him behind that camera. More of his view...

























Rob took me to see the new Harry Potter film in 3-D IMAX. Oh yeah - it was fantastic.
Shopping (found a killer dress for Adi & Pete's wedding) and a light lunch before meeting up with our dear friend Nicki who drove down from Garberville. She's known Rob since he was just a kid. I correspond with her and adore her.
She and her friend Michael met us at a little wine bar we found (ironically the same owners as Cafe de la Presse) and then on to dinner at Plouf which I highly recommend.
Potato wrapped scallops with fennel and cucumber salad for an appetizer then the herb-crusted filet mignon between Rob and I. So good.






















Strolled through North Beach the next morning then home to Santa Barbara. It was the first time I'd ever felt glad to leave the city behind. Perhaps I'm getting older. Perhaps it was just the height of tourist season on a weekend in San Francisco. Regardless, arriving back at our house and quiet back yard - it felt good.













Next entry: Fiesta recap with the Kick brothers

Welcome and Happy Birthday

Before:













After:













As described by her Pa...

Francesca Rae Court

Born July 31, 2007

2:10 AM

6 lbs 12 oz

19 inches long

Career goals (in sequence):

Pro beach volleyball player

Sports Illustrated model

European fashion designer

Art dealer (with, by now, contemporary villa in northern Italy...or possibly south France)

Political activist (just like her father)