Favorite Things Friday: Vacation Edition

For a week I was in Santa Barbara visiting my family and helping my sister with her impending nuptials.  I spent a week away from my baby two-year-old when I had previously spent exactly ZERO days away from him ever.  Like, ever.  Never an overnight stay at Frank's parents house.  Never a weekend away doing something "couple-like" with Frank.  Never, ever, anything.

I had some mama guilt.  For sure.  But it was really fun and the boys survived.  Frank texted photos and quotes and I talked to them a few times in my week away.  I didn't want to call everyday and have Ez freak out and miss me so I didn't.

So here are some of my favorites from my vacation, in no particular order.

Surfboards on the ceiling at Esau's Cafe.  Holly and my mom and I went one morning for breakfast and it was fantastic.  I got pancakes (which are arguably one of my favorite foods) and they had the best maple syrup.  It was thick and maple-y and so yummy.

Exploring Meridian Studios with my mom.  We were scouting places for Holly and Ryan to have their engagement pictures done.  Walking by, you'd hardly notice it.  A large stone wall with an ornate iron gate partially blocks the view in.  And the gates were closed.  But it wasn't locked, so we decided to go in anyway.  

The buildings are beautiful and all the studios have their own entrance with sea green doors.  It was quiet and peaceful with a bubbling fountain in the middle.  It would be a great place to have an office and I'm jealous of anyone who has one there.

Meeting Erica's boyfriend Austin.  His personality was exactly the way I envisioned it.  (I had already seen pictures on facebook)  He was polite and friendly and smitten with my little sister.  And she seems pretty crazy about him, too.  

3-2-1 Wheat germ pancakes from East Beach Grill.  It's one of my favorite places to eat in SB.  I love breakfast food and clearly I'm a fan of pancakes (see above).  One of the best parts is the view --- which I also should have taken a picture of but I'm still pretty new to this blogging stuff and I forgot.  We sat outside and watched the pigeons swarm around and pick food off people's plates after they left.  Dumb birds.

Enjoying an Ice Blended from the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf before my flight home.  The new Santa Barbara Airport is open and I was surprised by how beautiful it was.  I was used to the little one story hacienda, walking down the stairs and directly onto the tarmac, and collecting my luggage from a car port.  The Airport now has 2 stories and actual jetways.  The baggage claim is still sort of like it was --- a real indoor building with an open air area where the little tram brings the luggage over and they slide it down a sheet metal slide to you.  I like it.  Plus there's a Coffee Bean in there.  Win.

I had a really fun trip and we made headway on lots of wedding stuff, including finding Holly's dress and the bridesmaids dresses, finding a fabric for the table runners, working on flowers and invites and music and food...  It was a busy week but so much fun.

-Kara