I think I am still recovering a little from our weekend. Monday was Chris’s 31 birthday, so we celebrated all weekend. The highlight of the weekend (for the non-birthday girl) was Saturday we spent the day in Carpinteria, CA. About 10 miles south of Santa Barbara is the little beachside town of Carpinteria. It’s a cute little artisan town just off of the 101 freeway full of mom & pop shops & restaurants that are just steps from the beach. Continue reading
Finding a venue can be one of the most stressful parts of wedding planning. The venue is the answer to so many questions in the wedding planning process. What type of food will you have? Buffet or plated? What is the theme? Will kids be there? What type of food will be served? Next to dress shopping, I would say venue shopping is right up there!
In Southern California I am lucky to have millions of options at my fingertips. We could have a beach wedding, a vineyard wedding, a wedding at an estate or even a wedding in the mountains & not have to go too far. We tossed around a few options. Chris and I both love the central coast so we thought a wedding in Solvang might be perfect. But after a little bit of deliberation (and a few stress tears on my end) we decided that central coast probably wouldn’t be the best bet for a wedding where half of the guests are coming from out of state.
A childhood legend, for both Chris & I, was Garth Brooks. Both of us grew up on 90s country music & you can’t really talk about 90s country without bringing up Garth. Since I moved to California, Garth had been in Las Vegas performing regularly at his residency at the Wynn. But in 2013, when he left the Wynn to “retire” I didn’t think I’d ever be able to see him perform. So two years ago when he and wife Trisha Yearwood announced their plans for a world tour, we began checking the tour’s website religiously.
So after months of waiting, the last week in June we headed out to Las Vegas with Chris’s dad & his wife to finally see the great Garth. On our trip out there, Chris & I were just about 10 miles outside of the strip when we saw seven neon-painted rock towers, right in the middle of the desert & I knew we had to stop. So Sunday, on our way home, we took a little pit stop in Jean, NV at Seven Magic Mountains.
I haven’t been to an actual zoo in years. Last year while we were in West Palm Beach, FL we spent two days at Lion Country Safari & it was absolutely amazing. We had beautiful, massive giraffes, ostriches, & a bunch of other species of African born animals walked right past our car. So when Chris’s mom suggested we stop at the Santa Barbara Zoo on our way to El Capitan Canyon last month I was game.
If you follow me on my Instagram, you know we have been all over the place last weekend. We started Thursday night up in LA at Chris’s family’s house. Then Friday morning we headed up to the Santa Barbara area to have a weekend full of glamping & exploring. We spent Friday at the Santa Barbara Zoo & I can honestly say I don’t know the last time I went to a zoo. It was so much fun! But more about the zoo next week.
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