On Location on the American Riviera... Santa Barbara

Each and every time I visit California, I find something else to love about it. This time was no different when I found Santa Barbara. Unlike my other favorite CA town (Mill Valley), this little town is known for its BIG spenders. This is the land of the vacationing billionaire and I was determined to see what the American Riviera was all about. BRING IT ON!

There are no direct flights from DC to Santa Barbara. You can either jump on a connection or you can try to brave the hour and a half drive from LAX. I chose a connection through Phoenix and landed in Santa Barbara at 10pm. The terminal building looks more like a Spanish style home than an airport. The best part was when the man drove our baggage to us from the plane to the small outdoor space that they called a baggage claim. Quick, Cute and Easy.

I picked up my rental from AVIS and made my way to State Street in the heart of Santa Barbara to find my hotel for the next few days. I was here for a couple of shoot days with Sam and to also start our new style web series with Christina Burns... one of my favorite people in the world and Sam's stylist.

I checked into the hotel and met up with a friend for a beer at a small pub across the street. I was exhausted and after a few drinks I was starved and ready for bed. We wanted a late night snack... so, we headed out to a local hotdog place and I chowed on a corndog and some fries. The corndog was on a stick and it reminded me of growing up and eating a dog and some cheesefries with my parents on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Ummm... but, I was going to pay for it in the morning!

My full tummy and the alarm woke me up for our early am call time. It was our first shoot day for the style series and I wanted to meet with Christina nice and early to get our game faces on (makeup). We met up down in the lobby with Brandon, our director and drove over to our first location for the day... Couture Candy.

Yup it is exactly what it sounds like... a perfect little place filled with beautiful clothing that looks like candy to a girls eyes. Couture Candy is an online clothing retailer and this was their headquarters. Their office is on the second floor of a building and looks more like a funky photography loft than a retail store. Oh, by the way... nobody gets access to this place... except for designers and stylists and I had one with me! Here's Christina with Stephanie of Couture Candy! LOVE that girl.

Couture Candy helps us with wardrobe for Samantha. So, we were going to shoot our first webisode as Christina dives into their fab closet filled with yummy couture for Sammy. It was paradise and Christina was like a rockstar!

After Couture Candy, we headed up to Montecito to a little boutique called Kate to meet up with a local bathing suit designer named Sonja. Sonja is a Brazilian and she makes beautiful "loungy" bathing suits that are just dreamy. Sam wore one in our Miami episode and now we were looking for a couple more for the new episodes being shot in Hawaii next month. So, Christina went to work... and so did we for another webisode.

By the time we got finished with our bathing suit piece, we were all starved. So, we walked down to street to Tre Lune... a small cafe only a few stores away from Kate. The place was adorable with old black and white Hollywood photos and tiny dollhouse style wooden chairs hung on the walls. Each little chair had a golden label with a name. I asked the waiter about the chairs and he told me that each chair represented one of their regulars. I walked around and noted Ellen Degeneres and Portia DiRossi had their names on chairs. That's kinda cool.

I ordered a tossed salad with grilled shrimp and Christina and I shared a veggie panini (a recommendation from Sonja) and it was yummy. My new mission... get a chair at Tres Lune in Montecito. I made a mental note.

Our next shoot location was back at the hotel with Christina unpacking Sam's bags. It was a long day and I was hitting the wall after the late night and now a full work day... so, as soon as I could back out... I went back to my room and took a nap.

Sam called me at 8:30 to see if I wanted to meet her for a late dinner. So, I walked back across State Street to a restaurant named Joe's Cafe which is known to have the stiffest drinks in town. (Note to self... order water.) Sam and I both had a spanish style meatball soup and we shared some grilled salmon and veggies. Her hubby met up with us for a bite and some conversation and we called it night. I had a bunch of shows to screen and some scripts to work through before I went to bed.

The next morning, I was up early and we did not have a crew call until 1pm. So, I decided to get some green tea and take a walk through town. I took a left out of my hotel and found some amazing shopping. State Street is like an outdoor mall... it has everything from drug stores and small cafes to a Macy's, Nordstroms and Anthropologie. It reminded me of a bigger and better version of Georgetown. Kind of posh with some cool skateboarder stores mixed in. I stopped into a kids store and picked up a cute stuffed puppy for Eva-Bel and then I went into a yoga store and finally found a travel yoga mat. Yeah... no more borrowing from random studios!

Before I headed back to the hotel, I grabbed a bite to eat at a place called the Natural Cafe. This is California... the land of healthy food and exercise and I alwayys try to eat "clean" while I am here. I ordered a grilled veggie platter with tofu and a green tea with ginseng. Just eating and drinking this stuff made me feel skinnier.


After lunch, I met up with the crew at the hotel for our day of shooting with Sammy. We went over to the Four Seasons Biltmore to shoot at the Coral Casino. The Coral Casino is a members only club right across the street from the Four Seasons. With a membership fee of $250,000 per year... this place is not for millionaires... its for BILLIONAIRES. It was beautiful and it certainly feels like the riviera. Just perfect.


We shot with the Executive Chef of the property, Pilar Sanchez, one of California's best who had a beautiful little place called Pilar Napa that I read about and always wanted to try. Pilar made a yummy salad with Sam up in one of the private cabanas and she was amazing.

The shoot ended at 6pm and we were all ready for a bite to eat. So, we headed back to Joe's for a bite. I was not going to the late night salsa shoot because I had to be up for a 7am flight back to the East Coast. So, after dinner I said my goodbyes to the crew and went back to my room. I decided that I wanted to take a late night yoga class at a place called Yoga Soup a few blocks from the hotel. So, I grabbed my new yoga mat and went to class.

The class was called Late Night Flow and I was suprised to see so many people waiting for the class with me. The class was a perfect way to end my few days in Santa Barbara. It is totally worth checking online for local gyms or yoga studios while you are on the road. It is always fun checking out a new class and feeling like you tried to stay on your gym schedule while you are away from home. Try it sometime... PLUS, the stretching was just what the doctor ordered before I had to jump on two airplanes for the long trek back to DC.

I am now writing this blog from my sister's couch in Greensboro, NC. I landed in DC on Thursday night, worked from home on Friday and then got in the car and drove to NC to be here for my neice's 6th birthday party. The party was great... but, the highlight of this weekend was the yummy North Carolina BBQ at Stameys! The barbeque here is not the sweet smokey type like you would find in Texas. The sauces here have a vinegar base and it gives the meat a real bite. I chowed down on some chicken and pulled pork and some hush puppies. I then washed it down with some homemade peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. See... in Cali I was all healthy.. in NC I am all BBQ. When in Rome...

Travel On
Lori

Pumpkin Picking in Maryland

There is something about the smell of spices this time of year. Every September, my sister in law always had a homemade potpourri burning on her stove. She boiled a muddy mess of water, sliced apples, orange peels, and spices that smelled like autumn. Her kids always knew that the smell of "Reenie's potpourri" meant that it was the end of summer and time to go back to school. Watever it looked like in the pot, it smelled like a warm home. This weekend was our annual pumpkin pick'n weekend. We live around the corner from Butler's Orchard in Montgomery County, Maryland and we just love their Pumpkin Festival. Butler's is a working family farm that does all sorts of events for the family all year long. But, their pumpkin and harvest festival is our favorite. Hundreds of people come out to the farm to enjoy their open field filled with fall fun. There is a little petting zoo filled with goats, sheep, pigs and chickens. Then there are corn mazes, a moon bounce, live music, pony and hay rides, a hay loft and a cool slippery slide. After we enjoy our time in the field, we head out to the patch to pick our pumpkins! The kids run around trying to pick the biggest one that they can find. Just fun. On our way out, we stopped at Butler's sweet general store where they have loads of fresh produce, crafts, preserves and more pumpkins. I made sure to pick up their yummy apple butter and a bushel of freshly picked gala apples to make my homemade apple sauce. (Yes, I do make my own... no comments needed) Wanna try it for yourself? Here is the recipe... Grandma and Aunt JoAnn's Applesauce
bushel of freshly picked apples (store bought is fine... you will need a dozen)
1 c sugar (and a little more to suit your taste)
Cinnamon

Peel and Core your apples and slice them in half. Add to large pot of water and cook the water and apples until they come to a boil. Reduce heat and let them simmer until all of the apples are fork tender. With a food processor, puree your apples in batches and transfer into a large bowl. Add sugar to the finished puree and as much cinnamon as you like for flavor. (Some just add the sugar and nothing else)... enjoy.

Happy Harvest!

Stay tuned... I am jetting off to Santa Barbara tomorrow to meet up with Sam and the crew to shoot our new style series for the website. I am also going to check out the Hotel Santa Barbara and some other local faves. This is going to be fun! Travel On! Lori

SISTAH's Weekend in Jackson, New Hampshire

My husband is the youngest of 5 boys and all of them are now married with children. The "brothers" are very close and spend a lot of time together in social and family situations. It's special being a part of a big family and I adore each of my brother-in-laws and four sister-in-laws. Sister-in-laws are special people because we all come from very different places and environments, but we all have one common denominator... we married into the same family. Does that mean that we automatically will get along? As I have heard from my other friends and family... not so much, but I'm lucky. I have four sister-in laws who I consider my siblings and I love each of them because of our differences. Early in the summer the "brothers" planned a weekend getaway with their father to Saint Louis to see the Cardinals play some baseball. They planned, the went, they had fun at the games, they ate and drank. They had a blast... which got all of us girls thinking. How about an annual girl's getaway for the "sistahs?" Hell yeah... and that's exactly what we did last weekend up in Jackson, New Hampshire. The planning of this trip was far from easy. Remember, we are all very different people. June is almost 50 and she has 3 grown sons and works in a pharmacy. She has not been on an airplane in 33 years! Maureen is in her 40's and is a mother of 6children! The oldest is 21 and the youngest a mere 11 months! Lori is a working mother of 2 in her 40's and has such a cool government job... we don't even know what she does. Kathleen is 40 and she is a mother of 3 and is a labor and delivery nurse. Kathleen was in the room when I had Eva. Then, there's me... 34 with a 2 year old who travels the world for work. My idea of a getaway is certainly different from June's or even Kathleen's! So, Kathleen took on the job and planned a girls weekend in the White Mountains of New Hampshire during the peak of the fall foliage. Sounded great to me because (1) there was a spa and (2) someone else did the planning for me. Just pack me a suitcase and I am there. Kathleen, June and I flew from Baltimore up to Manchester and we then met Lori up at the Manchester airport because she was up in Boston for business. The four of us then drove 5 hours (should have been 3) to the beautiful little town of Jackson, New Hampshire. Someone forgot to make a turn and we wound up at a Dunk'n Donuts and finally used the GPS on my blackberry to get us back on track. (see video below) Jackson is a quaint little town in the heart of the White Mountain ski resort area. You arrive into the town after passing under the historic wooden covered bridge. We were staying at the Christmas Farm Inn and before winding up the hill to our hotel, we noticed a buisling with a sign that said "Jackson Grammar School" - Who calls an elementary school a grammar school anymore? The people of Jackson do! We checked into the Christmas Farm Inn and drove up the windy path to the two bedroom "Smokehouse" cottage that we booked for our stay. On the way up the path, we found that we were not alone... there were several wild turkeys (among other guests - see video) at the inn. The cottage was small and cozy with two nice bathrooms and a large living room area with a nice gas fireplace. (Did I mention that it was 50 degrees outside?) Maureen, the missing "sistah" was already at the cottage waiting for us. So, we all got settled and headed out for a much needed cocktail and some dinner. We went to a local pub and got all caught up on the kids and life over wine. The fireplace was lit in the main dining room and it was very cozy. The next day we drove into the town of North Conway where we browsed the little boutiques and country stores that line the main drag of the town. I loved Jeb's Country Store with its beautiful old fashioned candy counter where I found a baseball sized gobstopper. WHAT? You know I pulled out a $10 bill for one of those babies! We then stopped for a light lunch at Delaney's Pub before heading down to their outlet area where I paid my monthly dues to Banana Republic. After our day of shopping, we really did not want to go out for a big dinner. So, we rested up, drank some wine and got all dolled up and went over to a popular joint that just happens to have karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights. Maureen has a beautiful voice, so it is always fun for us to go to karaoke with her. She is like our own free live entertainment! So, we put on our jeans and went out for the night. Karaoke was in a place that Maureen called "the Peking" and it looked exactly what I thought it was going to be... a Chinese Restaurant. We walked in and went to the back of the restaurant where there was a door that led us right into a full-on bar with pool tables, darts and a big area for karaoke. With our group included there was about 15 people in the place ... so, that, plus a few cocktails later... you know who was up singing like Mariah? Yup. It was a real mess that kept up into the wee hours of the morning. We laughed so hard that my stomach was sore the next morning! The next day, we were all nursing a hang over and decided to "detox" with a healthy breakfast and a hike to a waterfall. Lori and I decided to head out early and we hiked the amazing Jackson Falls which were only a few minutes from our Inn. It was beautiful... and I could have sat on the rocks in the middle of the river for hours. We met up woth the girls a few hours later and we headed to another waterfall called the Glen Ellis Falls where we were able to easliy navigate a path to another amazing waterfall. Lori and I cut the path and again found some amazing rocks in the center of the ice cold river to play on. The clean air was dusting all of the smoke out of my lungs and it just felt awesome to play outside like a kid. Later in the afternoon, Lori and I went to the spa for a massage and steam while the other girls napped. The Christmas Farm Spa is very nice and the massage was welcomed after a long day of hiking. However, I hear that you can get a better massage in town for half the price. So, traveler beware!

That night, we decided to go up to the Wentworth Inn to have dinner in their restaurant. Maureen's oldest son is a chef there and we were all very proud to see him in his chef whites! The Wentworth is a beautiful historic property that sits right up next to the Jackson Falls. The campus is exquisite and certainly worth the time to stop in for a cocktail, tea or for the rest of your natuaral life. Dinner was very nice and it was a great way to cap off our "sistahs" weekend in the mountains. Overall, our weekend was full of fun and a big "hot mess" of karaoke. There was a bit of tension in the group... one of us was on a strict diet and found it hard to eat at the places we chose.... I had a problem with one of the servers at a restaurant called The Thompson House Eatery and Kathleen almost crawled under the table when I opened my Rothschild mouth. (The food was great... the service... not so much) But, we were all fine and at the end of the trip we were already thinking about what our next trip should be. The entire experience got me thinking about women's relationships with each other and how very different we are with other women than we are with men. We had some pretty healthy discussions about politics, our kids, and our families. We talked about how hard marriage is for all of us... at all stages of our lives and the joys that come along with it. So, what is it about being around women that is so special for other women? It's the understanding and perspective that only a female friend can give you. Women need women to get through the best and worst times and what I found in a small town in New Hampshire... is that I have four of them that I can count on for the rest of my life. Travel On Lori