It's a Beautiful Thing

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I had the best time with John and Shelby in California.  With Shelby attending boarding school, I feel at times that I am missing so much of her growing up before my eyes.  It wasn't more evident than on our spring break, as she emerged from a teenager to a young lady.  She never shies away from conversation, nor buries her nose in her cell phone when adults are talking but chimes right in with her wit, observations and 17 year old wisdom.  I am so proud of the woman she is becoming, strong in her convictions, wise in her words, and thoughtful with deeds.

The dynamics of our family has changed or better yet it is evolving.  From parenting one minute (doling out advise and wisdom, have I mentioned how full of myself I am?) to enjoying our daily interactions while whale watching, by the way the whales were a no show on this excursion.  But nonetheless we had a great time.

Santa Barbara was amazing.  We stayed in this beautiful home overlooking Santa Barbara. The owner is currently selling the home for a mere $1.9M.   I know prices in California are insane!!! but so are the views.








For anyone visiting Santa Barbara, we highly recommend eating at Lilly's Tacos.  Fantastic authentic Mexican tacos at $1.60 per taco.  We actually tried tacos de ojo.  Yes, you guessed right, eyes!  It was gross.  And I could not look at it when I took a bite.  We shared one of those tacos among the three of us.   We also ate at Jane's.  It was okay, service was fantastic but not one of my favorite places.  Reasonable prices and a nice venue but the food was average.

Our main reason for visiting California was to visit two universities.  University of California-Santa Barbara is a beautiful campus.  We attended one of the presentations on Monday along with 50 other parents and teenagers.  I am happy that I registered, there were several people on waiting list to attend the presentation.  One interesting fact is that they take the GPA from the students' sophomore and junior years.  And Shelby had a great freshman year too! :(

The other school was UCLA, more on that one tomorrow.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the neighborhood we stayed in.  The roads curved, wined, climbed and descended into fabulous homes.  I would jog/walk every day just for the smell of fresh jasmine, roses, and gardenias.  The foliage throughout the area was absolutely beautiful and so fragrant.



This is the type of landscaping you see throughout the area.

Tomorrow I will tell you more about SB and  LA.  So close to Bruce Willis.....


Not crabby at all!

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