"Santa Barbara is a paradise."

So our time in Louisiana had come to an end-at least for six weeks. After months of semi-joking about moving to Cali, we actually did it. For the second summer in a row, we have avoided Baton Rouge summer weather. 

If you read my blog last summer, you know how anxious I get on flights. Something about lacking control of my immediate fate really disturbs me. Although there are various "fixers" for my predicament, that fact that I might not be conscious enough to put my oxygen mask on makes me anxious as well. It's really a lose-lose situation. Luckily, I had a window seat and a coupon for an adult beverage. Crisis averted. 

My first ever look at Los Angeles! 

Arriving in Los Angeles, It. Was. Freezing. I don’t know what I expected, but it was NOT 60 degrees and windy in July. Thank goodness I summoned my inner-Miley Cyrus pre-flight so I had a cardigan available. And I didn’t miss my chance to sing “I hopped off the plane at LAX…”.

And we're off to California!

So after the flight, we picked up our rental car. We planned on an adorable Corolla, but Timothy had a pity party with the male Avis worker, claiming, “My girlfriend packed so much…do you have an upgrade for us?” And boom, we were given a sweet SUV at no additional change.

[I realize this is a little boring, but I have to update my family before I really get into the good stuff]

After the rental car upgrade, we were on our way to Santa Barbara. Only a two-hour drive, we were very excited to not spend much time in the car. Of course, we forgot about LA traffic...

Is this too many bags? #dontcare

Now, I've sat through some traffic, including the 6-hour back-up on the way to the LSU v. Bama game in 2007 (remember that?). Usually, traffic is moving somewhat. In California, you are literally at a standstill for hours, for no reason. We spent about an hour just sitting in traffic, not moving, not doing anything. People literally parked their cars, got out, and played football. It was horrendous. 

After some time, we finally get going. What was the holdup? One lane merged onto another highway and people were VERY confused. No accident, no breakdown, just mass confusion. This is my first impression of California.

My first time seeing the Pacific Ocean!

Finally, we get to Santa Barbara, and it is absolutely gorgeous. It gets extremely chilly at night (in the 50s). A very cold wind constantly blows inland from the Pacific Ocean, and the only identifiable smell is seawater. It was so beautiful and so different from any place I've ever been. 

Wowwww

The next day, I spent the entire day at a local resort called Bacara. It's right on the beach, with a huge spa and multiple pools. Each pool is surrounded by about 20 cabanas, with resort employees waiting at every turn! 

Being a law clerk is tough work! 

Hole in one?

While I laid by the pool, Timothy
played a round of golf at the Sandpiper. Similar to Pebble Beach, the course directly overlooks the water! 

After his round of golf, we had lunch at Bacara! A nice tan sesh at the pool after, and here was our view! 

AMAZING!

After our extremely eventful day at Bacara, we spent the rest of the weekend exploring Santa Barbara. It really is such a gorgeous city. There are mountains in the background, Pacific Ocean to your left, and fun little shops/boutiques on every street corner.

Tom Cruise, where you at?

After walking around for a few hours, we needed some food and a drink. Timothy's friends suggested Brophy's Brothers right on the ocean, and thank goodness we listened to them. We arrived, and were greeted with an hour-and-a-half wait. Great, Tim thought. Amazing, I thought, as there are SO MANY photo opportunities! The restaurant is right on the harbor, so you can see all of the AMAZING yachts and boats. The harbor overlooks the water, so you're constantly getting that freezing breeze. 

Santa Barbara beach!

Santa Barbara Harbor

After only a few shots, I realized I asked one too many fellow tourists for a picture of us. Whenever this happens, I always think about that Australian guy in the Sistine Chapel who, while taking forbidden pictures of us, said, "When's the next time you'll be here?" This familiar sense of entitlement always supports my obsessive picture-taking. Ain't no shame in my game.

On a side note, when we got back from France last year, many people commented on my blog, and most of them said how much they loved the food pictures. So, that will be a recurring theme this time around.

After quite a wait at Brophy's, we were finally seated. And guess what? The guy from Save the Last Dance was there! You know, that amazing movie where Julia Stiles went from Julliard princess to hip-hop queen? That guy. I didn't snag a picture of him, but just the thought of sharing a restaurant with such a break-dance icon really was enough. 

So we get seated, and (of course) order our first appetizer: the clam chowder. For some reason, every person ever has said "Oh, you're going to Cali? You gotta try the clam chowder." Yeah, whatvs. Not to be a hipster, but it was runny, chunky, and a little strange-tasting. I won't be ordering it again, obvi. 

Our next dish was the entree (duh, we're in 'Merica). Timothy had the seafood pasta, and I had the crab cakes. The pasta was delish and freshly made. The shrimp were perfectly grilled, with a shocking amount of lemon drizzled on top. It was fresh, light, and pretty scrumptious.  

Now, my crab cakes were fantastic. I am not a fan of the "fishy" taste of fish/crab cakes...although that sounds really, really strange. I just hate that "Obvi, I just caught this fish (that has been swimming for the past 5 years) out of this dirty water, threw it on the grill, and served it." Anyway, these crab cakes did NOT taste "fishy." They were absolutely delicious. The batter was really light (thank goodness). There is nothing worse than a heavy batter on a heavy fry. But this chef knew what was up. Light batter, soft fry, un-fishy crab...perfect. 

After an hour of raving about these crab cakes (and maybe a few glasses of wine...), it was time to head in. Timothy informed me that we "had a long day ahead of us," so of course, I prepared for the worst...

Of course I had to have a picture of Tim at the restaurant! 

We spent the next (and our last) day in Santa Barbara just cruising. We spent quite a bit of time walking the day before, so how were we going to get around? On a tandem bicycle, of course!

Jelly?

After the initial "Are we really doing this?", it really was quite nice. Timothy really powered through most of it, as I was very busy taking pictures of the back of his head.

Timothy, just pedaling all day and looking great. 

 We saw everything. We biked over 20 miles, and just when I thought we were finished, we come upon this HUGE hill. No way we're going up that, I thought, I'm too delicate. False. Timothy tried to pep talk me with a motivational speech rivaling Any Given Sunday, but I've been skeptical of Al Pacino since Scarface. But I saw this hill as a challenge, one that I would never live down if I begged him to turn around.

And so we were off. Biking like crazy. My thighs were burning, my calves were screaming, and my feet were no more than nubs on my legs. I literally complained the entire 10 minutes it took to get up the hill. No one else was biking up the hill, and I was convinced Timothy was torturing me.

Our view from the top. See the beach at the bottom? That's where we started. 

Look at me, being all thoughtful at the top. Or maybe I'm just plotting my revenge. 

FINALLY, we made it. I used up every complaint I could possibly make about my aching body, and I was still in pain. But, upon seeing this view, I stopped in my tracks.

It. Was. Gorgeous. The windy was blowing like crazy, but we were far enough away from the water to really enjoy the view without the nauseating seawater smell. The sun illuminated the mountains in the background, and we could only hear the waves crashing on the beach. What a perfect sight. Was it worth the 10-minute, hell-like biking workout? Absolutely. 

On our way back, I saw this cool "Book Exchange" phone booth. I've never seen anything like it, and it really caught my eye. I didn't have a book, sadly, so I couldn't take a book. But maybe there should be more of these in Louisiana...

After our biking trip, it was time to rest. "Rest" in Tim-vacation-world means sits on our patio, drink wine, and people-watch. Since drinking wine and people-watching are my two most favorite things to do, this was A-OK with me!

If you think we drink too much wine, you're probably right. I saw a fun sign in Santa Barbara; it read: "Save Water, Drink Wine." I need this in my kitchen like ASAP (sorry, Mom).

Our view from the bar.

After our quick wine sesh, it was time for dinner. The Fess Parker (where we stayed in Santa Barbara) has this GREAT little downstairs bar RIGHT on the beach. Tourists are constantly biking/walking/skating by, and it's great for people-watching. We watched couples fight, couples hold hands, and random drunk girls yell at each other. It was quite a night.

So we're not always drinking wine; we also eat quite a bit (hel-lo, weight gain). I ordered the salmon, and Timothy ordered the ribeye. On the water, with our wine in hand, we needed some meat.

My salmon was perfectly cooked, truly. I'm not just being optimistic about my time here. It didn't have the "fishy" taste that I still hate, but maybe that was the wine talking.

Salmon. *drool*

Tim's ribeye...oh nom nom

After dinner, of course we had to have dessert (okay, seriously, weight gain). If there are two things I cannot pass up, it's 1) a glass of ice-cold white wine and 2) chocolate. Here, both were offered to me. You see how well I held up...

#bestdayever

After this scrumptious meal, it was time to turn in. We have a long drive to Walnut Creek, CA, tomorrow. It's about a 6-hour drive, which wouldn't normally be terrible, but CA traffic will likely slow us up a bit. Wish us luck and stay tuned!