Best Hotel in Santa Barbara and Possibly Anywhere.

Allow me to introduce you to the Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara, California. Get comfy and prepare to cry when you have to leave. It was, by leaps and bounds, the best hotel we stayed in on our California adventure.  Just looking at the pics is making me more than a little wistful.   Sigh.  Onward...

The room was gorgeous.  Expansive.  Beautiful.  Immaculate.  Frette linens on the king size bed, fire in the fireplace at the flip of a switch, largeish balcony overlooking a beautiful courtyard with a tinkling fountain.  Serene.  Giant garden tub and a separate shower with Molton Brown toiletries.  Blissful.  The architecture is spanish inspired like everything in Santa Barbara, but it wasn't overdone or cheesy in any way.

The staff were amazing.  Attentive.  Completely friendly and always said hello, asked how we were enjoying Santa Barbara, it seemed that everyone from the front desk staff to the waitstaff had a smile on their face and a friendly demeanor.  There are only 23 rooms, so it seemed as if there were a staff member for each guest.  We borrowed Bee Movie from the front desk to watch in our room and five minutes later a fresh popped popcorn was sent up to the room at no charge.  Dave also called down to see if they had Motrin and it arrived within a minute.

The absolute best thing about this hotel is the focus on details.  From the warm cookies in the lobby to the turndown service that leaves chocolates and a weather forecast for the following day on your nightstand, there is no detail that is left undone. The mini bar was stocked with anything you could want including local wine & a rubber duckie for the garden tub... and get this, the prices in the mini bar aren't insane.  Nor are the room prices for the amount of luxury you get.  I know.  It shocked me too.  There was a Bodum french press for coffee in the morning, a corkscrew & glasses to enjoy wine, electric tea kettle, and really anything you'd need is there in the room.  In lieu of mini toiletries, there are full size bottles of Molton Brown products {also available for purchase in the lobby} in the bath along with cotton balls, q-tips, make up remover, and all kinds of other wonderful touches.  Even the bath linens were plush and the towels were giant bath sheets.

Kudos to the owners of the hotel for a wonderful stay and amazing hotel, you should be proud.  And in the interest of full disclosure, we didn't tell them we would be blogging this nor did we get anything for this review.  It was just that good.  I'm really hoping to go back for another visit soon!

9 Things that make me wonder what the world is coming to.

So first, yay it's Monday.  For those of you at work, including my poor husband who is back in the office after almost two weeks of vacation & his conference, {hi honey!} at least it's a short week.  For those of you at home, ummm... you don't get a Thanksgiving break from your job.  But, you DO get turkey, so you've got that going for you.

Now that the niceties are over, can I ask what the hell the world is coming to?  Specifically, the following annoyances:

1. Taylor Swift won artist of the year for the AMAs this year.  Really?  Over Kings of Leon, Michael Jackson, Eminem, & Lady Gaga?  I can't deal.  I mean ok, she's popular, the whole Kanye thing even amped up the publicity, but dude, she's not the best singer in the world.  For realsies.
2. Speidi.  What the?  I want to kick anyone in the shins that gives them an ounce of publicity. {Yes, I see the irony of that statement, since I am blogging this.}  Because really, the 15 minutes?  It's up.  And thank heaven above I don't have cable because I can remain semi-ignorant of those ass clowns. {Plus, people like Jon & Kate, the OctoMom, the real housewives of *insert city here*, and lots of other reality tv trashy crap.}
3. Levi Johnston & Sarah Palin.  Jesus, Mary, & Joseph... both of you should concentrate on parenting your respective children and shut the hell up.  Sarah darling, I'm pretty sure you are not a regular old hockey mom if you live in a multimillion dollar home on a lake and own a plane.  Levi, clearly you have issues with keeping your pants on, in Playgirl and with your teenage girlfriend.
4. Timezones.  It really screws me up to be awake at 1:44 am after being home 5 days already and still not re-adjusted.  {I am, however, enjoying the sleeping in till 9... thanks Finn!}
5. Cleaning.  Laundry.  Dishes.  I don't like you.  If I didn't want a new car shortly, I would sooo still be having Lori come clean the house regularly.  My bloggy BFF feels the same way.  And add putting all my furniture back after cleaning the carpets.
6. The crappy water department of the city I live in who forgot to bill me for the second quarter AND can't effing mail something on time.  I kid you not, they sent my bill {plus the second quarter bill} and the due date was the next day because it took them 10 days to drop the thing in the mail.  No wonder my idiot effing mayor is having issues balancing the budget, they don't have money coming in.
7. Shitty, awful things happening to good people.  Anissa is someone who has touched so many people through her writing and her ability to be hilarious and touching all in one post.  It's a rare combo and one I hope we get to have back as soon as humanly possible.  Please say a prayer.
8. Teenage girls.  I know I am a former one, but hey there is only so much high pitched screaming my ear drums can take and waiting in line for hours to see a sparkly vampire?  I just don't get it.  Add to it the self absorbed attitude and we've got a trifecta of crazy.  Wow, I'm glad we have a boy. 
9. My {fruitless} quest to find cute black sneakers {the fashion kind that are more like shoes} that are not totally expensive, are crazy comfortable for walking around town, and also look cute.  If you can point me in the direction of these mythical creatures, please do!

 Well, this sure counteracted the nice happy Friday post, no?  Happy Monday!  Feel free to leave a comment about what is annoying you this morning!

Today Rocks. Why? I'll Tell Ya.

Despite being T-I-R-E-D and still thinking it's 6 am even when it's really 9 am, today is already off to a fab start.  I wanted to share all of my Miss Mary Sunshiney-ness with you this morning, so get ready.  Have you had your morning cup of coffee?  No?  Well get one because the cheeryness is going to possibly make you want to vomit.

1. My husband is home from LA.  He came home this morning and let me tell ya, just the pure relief of having another responisble adult in the house makes me happy.  AND he has the day off to spend with us.  Plus, I missed his cute butt and his winning personality.  Plus, this last comment *may* get me a sleeping in tomorrow.  So yeah.
2. He also came home with a fancy new laptop, tablet writing Acer crazy thing with all kinds of developer {aka geeky stuff} tools on it that is making him extremely happy... compliments of Microsoft.  {Oh and in the interest of full disclosure, Microsoft didn't pay me to say that and his getting the laptop had zero to do with my blog.}  Hi Microsoft, you fucking rock and my husband loves you... in a totally manly way, of course.
3. Um... greatest rivlary in history, this weekend.  GO BUCKS!!
4. I know everyone is all geeked about the sparkly vampire, but I get to see The Blind Side today with my mom and my sis and I can not wait!
5. I have lots of craftiness going on & can't wait to share it with all of you.
6. My little sis is coming home on Tuesday!
7. Black Friday is a week from today!
8. A turkey coma is coming... mmmm.... tuuuuurkey.
9. I got to cross off more stuff on my 101 Things list!

Tell me why your day is awesome in the comments!

Back.

First, I'd like to thank Lisa, Jackie, Steph, Bunny, Ash, Amy, & Elise for their incredible guest posts while I was gone.  I just this very moment realized that I want to give y'all {Ash, that's for you} a big hug and none of you are in town!  Damn it.  Remind me the next time I see you because each of you deserve one... well except Bunny because hugs make her uncomfortable, but I'm going to hug her anyway.  And I really had a touching sister moment Miss Elise, your post about DanceBlue was poignant, selfless, and not at all what I was expecting.  I'm so very proud of you, Dave and I will give you a check toward your goal when you're home for Thanksgiving.

Now that little piece of business is out of the way, the trip was AMAZING.  We had a fantastic time and despite a few little snags like this one, oh and Finnegan projectile vomiting on ME and himself as we landed in Detroit this morning at 6 am, it was a great time.  I have lots of posts upcoming including the best hotel in Santa Barbara, a fantastic Peruvian dinner at Limon {and the hilarious dinner companions plus the wine we're now obsessed with}, the PCH drive, and another amazing dinner from a fab personal chef {who happens to be a pretty awesome friend as well} in Los Angeles. 

Couple all of that bloggy yumminess with my 400th post, tips on travel with a toddler, and a Thanksgiving tablescape!  Looks like I'm going to be a little busy around here.

Ta Daaaa, I'm back.  Hope you had as good a week as I did!