Oh What Fun

Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff and her fiancé Miles Hartfeld opened the doors of their charming home for a hopping holiday bash.

Social gridlock reigned as the festive guests quaffed wine and champagne and noshed on a cornucopia of comestibles, including Brenden Twigden, Melinda Gandara, Hal and Haley Conklin, Lisa Osborne, Edie Caldwell, Laurie Ashton, Nancy Capone, Robert Adams, Anne Sutherland Fuchs, Chris Saldo, Ann Smith, and Lynn Sarko.

Party animals to be sure…

Fierce Femmes

Rock Amazons ruled when the Santa Barbara Symphony, under energized maestro Bob Bernhardt, staged its annual New Year’s Eve Pops concert, Women Rock.

The wonderfully entertaining show featured the impressive vocals of Cassidy Catanzaro – who toured with the Rolling Stones –, New Yorker Brie Cassil, and Grammy winner Tamiko Lawrence, celebrating the music of Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, and Carole King, among other female dynamos.

The two-hour show, which started off with flutes of champagne in the Granada lobby, with the sold-out concert’s attendees being provided with party hats and whistles for the celebrations, included the Martha Reeves’ hit “Dancing in the Streets,” Irene Cara‘s “Flashdance,” “What a Feeling,” the late Franklin’s “Freeway of Love” and Turner’s sultry “Private Dancer.”

A glorious way to welcome in 2020.