Tag archives: Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays: Week 2
By Montecito Journal   |   December 9, 2025

Week Two of our four-part Gift Guide is here! Have a look inside to find new times from your local vendors. There is never a bad time to live in an enchanted village, but a certain seasonal swoon amplifies the hometown magic like a loving slap. December arrives with all its largesse. The weather turns […]

Home for the Holidays: Week 1
By Montecito Journal   |   December 2, 2025

Autumnal Gifting Enlightenment This Holiday Season Another year gone by! And here comes that truly peaceful December closure – a month-long fare thee well to 2025 as we gather, reminisce, and mark the nourishing passage of time. Expect a light snowfall, Victorian carolers on every street corner in their cozy scarves and mufflers and top […]

Local Holiday Gift Ideas 2025
By Montecito Journal   |   November 26, 2025

Can you believe it’s already that time of year again? The hustle and bustle of the holidays are upon us, and the gift lists are already growing. So if you’re scratching your head over what to get your family and friends, then you’ve come to the right place. You think we’d just leave you hanging? […]

Local Holiday Feast Ideas 2025
By Montecito Journal   |   November 26, 2025

Can you believe it’s already that time of year again? The hustle and bustle of the holidays are upon us, and truth be told, it’s making us quite hungry. If you can already hear your stomach growling for some delicious holiday grub that you can indulge in with your family and friends, then you’ve come […]

Annual Casa del Herrero Holiday Fundraiser Soirée
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 31, 2024

The most looked forward to holiday party behind the hedgerow in Montecito is the Casa del Herrero Soirée, titled Home for the Holidays, held this year on Saturday, December 14.  Upon entering, guests were greeted by lovely ballerinas from the State Street Ballet, celebrating The Nutcracker. Spanish guitar études by Chris Fossek filled the atmosphere. […]

Down to the Wire on Holiday Shopping? Head Downtown!
By Jeff Wing and Zach Rosen   |   December 17, 2024

by Jeff Wing and Zach Rosen ‘Tis that time of year… the parking lots are getting thick and the shelves are slimmin’ as seemingly everyone hurries around town to wrap up their holiday shopping. If you’re similarly behind in the holiday hustle, these downtown Santa Barbara stores can help you fulfill that loving checklist faster […]

A Tale of Two Villages… more autumnal gifting enlightenment this holiday season
By Jeff Wing   |   December 10, 2024

Most towns with an “Upper” and “Lower” Village release the buildup of civic tension by staging occasional rumbles – West Side Story style. We all remember with great fondness the finger-snapping Pierre Lafond crew pirouetting in tight formation as they surrounded international master jeweler Daniel Gibbings – and the high-kicking Grande Battement with which Gibbings […]

Deck the Hills with Vows of Dali Another Not-at-all-Surreal Gift-Giving Compass
By Jeff Wing   |   December 19, 2023

Here at the MJ we’ve taken great pains (not literally – this is a self-congratulating figure of speech) to throw light on your seasonal gift-giving panic; to add a spark to this season of beneficence. Gifting anything to a loved one – be it an original Van Gogh or a silken beach stone made lovely […]

A Holiday State of Affairs
By Jeff Wing   |   December 12, 2023

Changes to Santa Barbara’s State Street – recently reborn as a cozy, sun-soaked pedestrian promenade – have transformed the palm-lined commercial-and-arts district into an almost park-like destination for calming and convivial holiday shopping, the salt-scented, sparkling beach mere blocks away. Seriously. How do we love State Street over the holidays? Let us count the ways… […]

Winter Shopping in the Land of Summer
By Jeff Wing   |   December 5, 2023

It’s that time of year again. We have communally checked the Large Flightless Bird box and stumbled right over the line into “The Holidays.” Yes, your bone-dry and otherworldly delightfully moist and aromatic Thanksgiving turkey was an absolute hit. Your Aunt Marge’s startling “Pea Mush” was likewise well-received, producing the usual bug-eyed attempts to swallow […]

Home for the Holidays: Lower Coast Village Road
By Kelly Mahan Herrick and Jeff Wing   |   November 28, 2023

by Kelly Mahan Herrick and Jeff Wing The first in a four-part series on shopping locally in Montecito, we’re throwing some light (and a lot of love) on our shade-dappled Lower Village: Montecito’s Coast Village Road and beyond, which has long been a shopping and dining destination for locals, visitors, and lucky accidental tourists. We […]

Holiday Wrap Up: Wrapping Up the Home
By Zach Rosen   |   December 20, 2022

With the holidays upon us, here are a few places for putting those finishing touches on the home, last-minute local gifts, or just spots to go get some fresh air and holiday cheer. During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to let things slip through the cracks and this week is […]

Ensemble Theatre’s Ensemble Holiday Shows
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 24, 2020

Ensemble Theatre Company is bursting with some holiday pride about a new show streaming virtually out of Las Vegas this weekend. That’s because the star of The Elijah Rock Variety Show Christmas Special played Porgy in ETC’s 2017 production of Porgy and Bess, an ambitious, critically acclaimed and socially prescient adaptation of the show that […]

Honing in on ‘Home for the Holidays’
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 17, 2020

A cabaret for Christmas might seem like the mixing of metaphors, but the idea made a lot of sense for PCPA as a way to produce something during the pandemic. That was partly because a show that’s akin to a revue could be done from people’s homes during lockdown without damaging the storyline. But it […]

PCPA’s Holiday Cabaret
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 10, 2020

PCPA’s 2020 Christmas-season treat is called Home for the Holidays, with the subtitle of “… because where else are you going to be?” Fair enough. With the coronavirus raging all over again, the Central Coast conservatory keeps its virtual programs flowing with a holiday cabaret featuring its resident artists. The free streaming event will be […]