California Wild Flower Bloom

Living is Santa Barbara we sometimes forget how many incredible places we have within a short afternoon drive. Springtime is the perfect time to enjoy a variety of colored flowers and depending on where you travel there will be different plants in bloom. Currently the California Poppies are just past peak season, in the Antelope Valley just off highway 138 between highway 5 and highway 14 in Lancaster. Being the California state flower, “The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve State Natural Reserve” was established to protect the species for our children’s children to enjoy. The Poppy Reserve is located about 18 miles West of Lancaster and stretches for miles throughout the valley.

Viewing the poppy’s in prime season on the weekends will be a bit more like going to Disneyland on the fourth of July. Plan on meeting thousands of enthusiasts traveling from hundreds of miles to share in the orange carpet of color.

The bright yellow flowers of wild mustard are also carpeting the hillsides of central California. The photo here was taken on highway 166 two miles east of the intersection of the 33 not too far from New Cuyama. The mustard has been in bloom for three weeks and expected to be just past its prime season. The local farmers consider the bloom one of the best years for color in the last decade.

Also one of the most beautiful displays of the bright yellow fragrant Sweet broom can be seen on highway 33 heading out of Ojai or on the way up to Big Bear on highway 330. The 5 foot tall bushes line the highway for miles. This weekend could be the prime time to see the last of the California Wild Flowers.

World Class Estate Sale SOLD!

Seldom in a Realtor’s career does the opportunity arise to represent such an incredibly well built, hand crafted masterpiece as the home I recently sold on 550 Freehaven Drive.  Truly an honor and a pleasure to represent the buyers of this spectacular estate in Montecito.

In  September, I entered into my 28th year as a Realtor in Montecito. Having the privilege of marketing properties for my clients gives me great reward. I hope that I have the opportunity to help make your buying or selling experience an exceptional one.

Please call upon me for all your Real Estate needs.

4th of July in Santa Barbara

It’s time once again for Santa Barbara to don its red, white and blue colors and celebrate Independence Day in style.  This year’s festivities promise to be a good time for young and old alike, and include a pancake breakfast, Spirit of 76 parade, arts and crafts show along Cabrillo Boulevard, Fourth of July concert at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens and a spectacular fireworks display that will launch off West Beach.

Start the day with a hearty breakfast at the Montecito Firemen’s Association pancake breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, coffee, and milk will be served by your local firefighters from 7:30 am to 10:30 am at the Fire District Headquarters located at 595 San Ysidro Road in Montecito. Tickets are $8 each and can be purchased at the door.  Proceeds will benefit the Montecito Firefighter’s Benevolent Fund.

Next up is the Fourth of July parade which is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Micheltorena Street and will proceed down State Street to Old Town Santa Barbara, concluding at Cota Street. If you don’t wish to secure a spot to watch the parade ahead of time along the route and hate fighting crowds, the organizers offer reserved seating. (link: http://spiritof76sb.org/donations.php)

A free concert will take place at the Sunken Garden of the historic and picturesque Santa Barbara Courthouse.  Admission is free and the music is set to start at 4:30pm.  Bring a blanket and a picnic basket and enjoy a musical salute to American patriotism by the West Coast Symphony Orchestra.

After the concert, be sure to head down to West Beach for the fireworks display. Plan to get there early and enjoy the musical entertainment on the beach while securing the best “seat in the sand” from which to watch the fireworks.  The fireworks display is scheduled to start at 9pm and West Beach will be open for free public viewing.

And don’t miss the best parade of all, the post-firework walk up State Street. If you watched the fireworks on the beach, you’ll likely be walking back up State Street afterward to get to the remote place you had to park your car. Walking under the Highway 101 underpass in a huge crowd of people is quite a memorable experience in itself. 

2014 Summer Solstice Parade in Santa Barbara

The Solstice Parade had it beginning in Santa Barbara in 1974 and has evolved into a parade of more than 1,000 parade participants, consisting of human powered floats, strange costumes and choreographed dance groups. Over the years it has developed into the second largest parade in Santa Barbara drawing crowds of over 80,000.
With the beautiful weather Santa Barbara has been having it seems like it’s been summer for two months already!

The official time of Summer Solstice is 4:30 Saturday morning.  But more importantly, the official time of the parade in Santa Barbara is at 12:00 Saturday.  The parade route starts at Cota and runs up State Street to Micheltorena.  Parade enthusists can follow the parade to Alameda Park where a full weekend of festivities will follow.

The Schedule of Solstice events are as follows:
Festival Main Stage – Alameda Park – Schedule for Friday June 20th, 2014

4:00	Art Cisneros, Chumash Elder, (Invocation)
4:15	Iridescence: A MermaidTribe (Presents “Mer Theatre”
5:00	Milo Destanovski & Friends (Macedonian Folk)
5:50	SB Dance Arts (Hip Hop Performance Group)
6:00	TINA SCHLIESKE AND THE GRACELAND EXILES W/ SISTER LAURA (Americana Rock n’ Roll)
6:45	RemJ (Michael Jackson Impersonator)
7:30	Raw Silk w/ Leslie Lembo (SB favorite band reunited for Solstice 2014!) (soul/funk/jazz)

 

Festival Main Stage Schedule for Saturday June 21st, 2014

 

12:00	Ulysses S Jasz (New Orleans Dixieland Jazz)
1:00	The Kinds (Rock/Folk Alternative)
2:00	Cornerstone (Reggae)
3:00	David Courtenay and the Castawaves (West Coast Roots/rock/ reggae)
4:00	Area 51 (soul/funk)
5:15	Camille Umoff Band (Pop/Rock)
6:00	Grooveshine ( Funk Reggae Groove)
7:00	Tommy and The High Pilots (Alt. Rock Pop)

Lights, Camera, Action! 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Known to the rest of the world as the American Riviera, Santa Barbara’s south facing beaches and north facing mountains are the perfect backdrop to what is becoming one of the best film festivals in North America.

The 29th Santa Barbara International film festival opens on January 30th and runs 11 days  featuring premier independent films from some 60 countries around the world.  This year the lineup of celebrities include; Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Emma Thompson, Jared Leto, Daniel Brühl, Michael B. Jordan, June Squibb, Oscar Isaac, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

For information on where to purchase tickets for the Santa Barbara Film Festival click here: http://shop.sbiff.org/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1814 .  For the most current 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival schedule of over 200 films and speakers please go to; http://sbiff.festivalgenius.com/2014/schedule/week

And that a wrap!

To see a list of homes for sale in your favorite neighborhood or in Santa Barbara / Montecito please take a quick look at my website.  If you are buying or selling, SantaBarbaraHomesAndLifestyle is one of the best custom built real estate sites for Santa Barbara or Montecito area.

Santa Barbara Zoo Welcomes Newborn Baby Giraffe

The 2013 Santa Barbara Film Festival Event Schedule

Santa Barbara is known to visitors from around the world as the American Riveriera. A truly unique location where the ocean meets the mountains and the sunny south facing beaches stretch on for miles.

During the next eleven days our beautiful city will host the 28th Santa Barbara International film festival featuring premier independent films from around the world. This year visitors should expect to see such famous faces as Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day-Lewis, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Sally Field and Leonardo DiCaprio.

For the most current 2013 Santa Barbara International Film Festival schedule of over 200 films and speakers please go to

http://sbiff.festivalgenius.com/2013/schedule/week

  and experience the Santa Barbara lifestyle.

Summer Solstice Parade in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Summer Time Fun!

Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade 2012

It’s that time of year again!  Time to celebrate the longest day of the year at Santa Barbara’s annual Summer Solstice Parade!  On Saturday, June 23rd Santa Barbara will once again host the largest single-day event in the county, attracting crowds of 100,000 or more.

This year’s parade has “Fantasy” as its theme and will feature Fantasy-inspired extravagant floats, whimsical costumes and creatively choreographed dancing ensembles.

Santa Barbara’s Summer Solstice Celebration has been deemed a combination of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, Rio’s Carnival, with a touch of Pasadena’s Doo Dah Parade thrown in for good measure.  The unique people powered parade commences at noon on the Saturday closest to the longest day of the year.  The nearly two hour long parade starts at Cota Street and winds its way up State Street, finishing at Alameda Park shortly after 1pm – with the fun just beginning!  Bands are scheduled to play throughout the day into the evening hours, and again on Sunday.

If you are new to the area, this is one Santa Barbara celebration that you will not want to miss. The Solstice parade is second only to the Santa Barbara Fiesta parade in size and will be a memorable part of your visit to the area.

Memorial Day I Madonnari Festival At The Santa Barbara Mission

Dont’ miss this weekend’s        I MADONNARI Festival at the Old Santa Barbara Mission.  The 2012 Schedule of events begins on May 26 and lasts the entire three days of Memorial Day weekend. This year will mark the 26th anniversary of the local celebration which has it historic roots in our sister festival in Grazie de Curtatone, Italy.

Sponsor’s pay up to $650 to have local and international artists of all ages and abilities create beautiful artwork on the street at the base of the stairs of the Old Santa Barbara Mission.  The Money raised from the sponsor sales and food stands benefits the Children’s Creative Project which in turn serves 50,000 children in more than 100 local schools.

Admission is FREE and the event runs from 10:00-6:00. If you are visiting Santa Barbara and have never seen this before, you will not believe just how incredible chalk paintings can look on bare asphalt. The Historic Santa Barbara Old Mission is located a short distance from downtown on the corner of Laguna and Los Olivos Streets.  The best time to see the completed artwork is Sunday into Monday.

Santa Barbara International Film Festival Schedule

Every year, Santa Barbara draws thousands of avid movie buffs from around the globe to what is fast becoming one of the most popular film festivals in the United States.

As we draw near the final days of the Santa Barbara Film Festival there are still plenty of great movies to see.  Here is the updated link to the official schedule:  http://sbiff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/

Enjoy all that Santa Barbara has to offer.