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xo,

chelsea

VIVA LA...

FIESTA!

For 5 days every year Santa Barbara literally shuts down and turns into a giant fiesta! The smells of taquitos, tortas and churros are everywhere. The streets are littered with confetti that has spilled out of brightly colored eggs. Festivities start at sunrise and continue far past sunset. Santa Barbarans get very in the spirit of celebrating the town's Mexican heritage with Flamenco performances, Mariachi music streaming out of every watering hole (and the streets) and a red rose tucked behind the ear of every senorita. I've lived in SB since I was 3 and fiesta brings back lots of memories. I even got into Flamenco dancing when I was little. Yes. A blond, skinny little Flamenco dancer.

(dressed:

H81 top,

H81 jeggings,

old navy wedges)

Last night we went to the Mission to see the Fiesta Pequeña - Fiesta's opening ceremonies. It was a delicious picnic of cantaloupe, brie, crackers, and a zucchini-tomato tart I made. There may or may not have been a few glasses of wine passed around amongst the girls as well. Beautiful twirling skirts against the Mission background is quite a sight to see.

We will still be finding confetti long after Fiesta is over....

The making of the bird's nest

My little girly-girl was super happy to have a girl's night...even though her brother was there was add some male element. 

And he was even able to make a few friends on the walk home. Challenge you to a lightsaber duel?

What special events shut down your town every year? 

XO,

Chelsea

military + pink

I made a fun discovery today.
My son is an awesome photographer. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it sooner, but the kid really has an eye. Their smiles and the peachy tint of twilight made last night's shoot a fantastic adventure. Plus nothing says adventurous like stopping by an antique railcar. Whatever can be done to quench the wanderlust.

(dressed:

jacket: gap

dress: H81

heeled brogues: Tribeca, old

socks: jcrew

sunnies: thrifted)

My favorite time of year has finally arrived. Fiesta celebrations in Santa Barbara have created some of the best memories of my life. The music, the dancing, the food and celebrations all mingled under the curtain of stars against a backdrop of palm trees and the American Riviera is pretty surreal. It doesn't hurt that it also falls on either the week before or week of my birthday. Life in Santa Barbara comes to a halt as everyone flees work to descend upon the Mission, the mercados and the streets. Mariachi bands on every corner, Flamenco dancers at every turn. Giddyness!!

XO,

Chelsea

A nautical outing

Well, we are finally back from Europe and feeling rested although a bit discombobulated. To my surprise, I realized late Saturday evening that I would have Monday off work as a holiday! Yippee. That meant one full day to unpack, get organized and snuggle with my much-missed little people.

Yesterday though, it was back to the reality of work. The kiddos stayed home from work to hang with Carl and they decided on a sailing adventure even though thick fog hung in the sky. My sweet girl called to ask if I would like to join them. If only...

Late afternoon I found a wonderful montage of their day awaiting my inbox.

She's ready for Mr. Newton's phone call. Or The Sartorialist. 

Central Coast Summer...ahhhh....

What's your favorite childhood ice cream treat?

XO,

Chelsea

fancy fridays - hello summer!!

Well, around SoCal, spring usually brings some summer-like temperatures, along with May Gray and June Gloom...its sort of a schizophrenic time as far as the weather is concerned. We've already had a few hot streaks. But I never feel quite in the summer spirit until Memorial Day rolls around. I know its not even really "officially" summer until June, but the onset of Memorial Day is the reality check that bikini(eek!!) and BBQ season have finally arrived!!

We've already had our fair share of BBQs this spring - Carl even whipped up his own BBQ sauce to dress up our drumsticks last weekend. However, I've been feeling less than thrilled about the actual "bikini season" part of things. Not to mention the impending trip to Norway (meeting his family - yikes!) which has put me in healthy-eating and workout mode.

With a good deal of our friends out of town, it means no prior commitments or the tempation of last-minute soirees that we're quite fond of hosting. I'm looking forward to a weekend of hanging out, chilling out, working out and cleaning out our very messy office and possibly the garage. I have high hopes, I know!! It sounds lofty but I'll be happy if I manage to spend some time snuggling my loves and working on some crafty projects I've had lurking around the house.

Prospects for the weekend that I'm most excited about:

A sunset cruise aboard the Double Dolphin with both the kiddos in tow. Sunsets in Santa Barbara are among my favorite things to experience.

A trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning is definitely in order. Its the perfect thing to inspire my clean eating, pick up some cilantro and tomatoes to plant, and pick up some picnic goodies. 

With our Farmer's Market goodies in hand, I'm hoping to head over to the Mission to check out the I Madonnari offerings...

 and settle in for at picnic in the famous Mission rose garden.

And that's just between now and Saturday!

I'm also super psyched to try out Brandi over at Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno's awesome t-short tutorial,
 another T-shirt redo into a pretty dress for Harper,

and something I always mean to do but never get around to...

give myself a pretty manicure!! Although I'm positive mine won't be nearly as elaborate and pretty as these. I'm happy if most of the polish ends up on my nails and not everywhere else. And I promised one very sweet little girl some polished toes too! She got her very first "pedicure" at preschool the other day and now she's pretty much obsessed. There are the cutest pictures up ate her school of her with her little feet in the tub and getting her little toes polished! I just love that sweet little girl!!

And my one last goal for the weekend - buy the stinkin' Tracy Anderson videos already. Kassi and I have been chatting it up about these and I finally need to just do it already (and hope my honey fixes the projector so I have something to watch them on)!!

What are your plans for the long weekend??

XO,

Chelsea