First Thanksgiving in the U.S. of A. {in 3 years}

We made the four hour drive down south to San Diego {Carlsbad, to be exact} to spend Thanksgiving with my cousins, Scott and Jadnnie, and their kids, Sophie {2} and Austin {almost 5}. The drive was pretty easy, but the traffic after LA sucked! We didn't see anything that would cause traffic so it really made no sense. Anyhow, we got here safe and sound and enjoyed a yummy Thanksgiving meal and some fun times with the kids. After eating a late lunch, we watched some football, went down to the beach for a walk and ended up at the playground. We came home, ate some more and then finished the night off with more football! A perfect first Thanksgiving back in the US, minus our family back in Houston. Hopefully, next year:) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving wherever you were. I know I had a lot to be thankful for this year and looking forward to getting into the holiday spirit now:) 

Ojai

On our way back home from our road trip to SB, we passed through Ojai for a little wine tasting and ice cream! I've always read what a cute town Ojai was and it's true! It sits at the bottom of the Ojai Valley and the architecture is very mission style, whatever that means. The buildings looked like old mission houses with their rounded corners and archways. There were lots of shops, cafés and wine tasting rooms all along the arcade. It was a late Sunday afternoon so the town was pretty dead; we were told to come back during one of the many festivals they have. Just walking around the little bit we did, I could tell that this would be a nice place to come and get away from it all. Hence, why the many celebrities like Reese Witherspoon lives here. It's just so simple, chill, and friendly. 

We will be back, Ojai!

Bacara Resort & Spa {Santa Barbara}

The whole purpose of this trip was to meet up with our friends, Vicki and Keith, whom we met in Aberdeen, for lunch on a Sunday in Ventura. We decided to just make a little weekend getaway out of it and spend the night in Santa Barbara. Lucky for us, Gerald's cousin happens to know the chef at the Bacara Resort & Spa and was able to score us a friend's rate for the night {he told us about it when we were in Chicago} What would be a $550 per night, partial ocean view room, we got for $179! It was a steal, minus the $32 valet fee and $25 resort fee. Anyhow, we made the most of our one night stay there. We spent the afternoon walking along State St. in downtown SB, had a little afternoon snack and then went back to the Bacara for a little R&R. As you know, we've been sleeping on an air mattress for the past month now, and although comfy, it's always nice to have a king size bed with Frette linens to sleep on for the night =) 

We had dinner at The Bistro, where Gerald's cousin is friends with the Chef, Chris Turano. Chris was the winner of the most recent Chef Wanted on the Food Network with Anne Burrell and his prize was to become executive chef here at the Bacara Resort. The food was delicious. Unfortunately, Chris was out of town that night, so we didn't get to meet him, but his staff did a great job at keeping our stomachs happy.

        

        

        

        

       

The following morning, we got up early and walked along the beach outside of the resort and then Gerald went for a little swim in the pool. I didn't have my bathing suit on and was too lazy to go change  so I just hung out on the lounge chair. The weather was perfect and I was just soaking up my vitamin D. Even though the stay was short, it was such a nice escape from Bakersfield and I really felt like I was in California with the sunshine, beach, and palm trees! I think SB will be our new favorite place; great thing about it, it's only 2 1/2 hours away! 

Thanks Bacara for the hospitality!

Road Trip Santa Barbara {The Drive}

This is our second road trip in California and I'm loving every bit of it. The first one we did was to San Francisco and the scenery was just okay. However, heading west towards the coast to Santa Barbara is a different story. We started off south on Hwy 99 which links up with the I-5 and from there we saw views like this...









We then headed west towards the coast on Hwy 126 towards Ventura....

When we got to Ventura, we headed North on Hwy 101 towards Santa Barbara and got views like this...







It was so cool to see how the landscape changed as we got on the different highways. We were driving through the Santa Ynez Mountains when we headed towards Solvang and coming home through Ojai, which was nice. It reminded us a bit of Scotland; the roads were windy and it kind of made me sick. My ears kept popping too; at one point we hit 4000 ft of elevation.  Anyways, Hwy 101 {Pacific Coast Hwy} is suppose to be a beautiful drive all along the coast so hopefully we can do bits and pieces of it as we explore more of California. Sunsets are suppose to be plentiful as well, so if we can see more of this, I will be a happy girl!

Solvang, CA

Over the weekend, we did a little road trip to the coast and stopped off in Solvang for a wander. We heard it was a cute Danish town that was founded in 1911 and established as a California city in 1985. We always wanted to go to Copenhagen, Denmark and never made it out there so I guess this was close enough. There were windmills, bakeries, and buildings that looked quite European but the wide roads really gave it away that this was NOT Denmark. We still enjoyed it nonetheless; we even got to see a statue of Hans Christian Anderson and a mini replica of the Little Mermaid, so all was good! We had a Danish meal of hot dogs and aebleskiver for lunch and did some Christmas browsing, which is always fun. Of course, I don't think this little town compares to the real thing, but a girl can always pretend. I definitely think it was worth a stop if it's on your way, but by no means go out of your way to get here.