It’s a new decade at Gainey Estate Vineyards. The stalwart Santa Barbara wine brand has a prolific 40-year history in its rear-view mirror, and a robust portfolio of world-class and award-winning wines to show for it. But it may be more accurate to say it’s a new era at Gainey. Because while the brand remains […]
When I started graduate school, my children were three and five years old, so each semester I would escape to The Ojai Valley Inn for two nights as a “Am I Crazy, What the Hell Was I thinking” reset. Last week, I went back with my daughter after a seven-year absence and driving up the […]
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Female nurses who believe God intervenes to cure ill people are less likely to experience depressive symptoms, according to findings published in Mental Health, Religion & Culture. The study, which uses interviews from nearly 4,000 American Indian and South Asian women as well as white, female nurses, asked respondents who believe in God to choose […]
I recently reconnected with an old friend from Crane Country Day School, Blake Ladd. We both entered Crane at the same time and had the same unfettered enthusiasm for the arts and creative energy. For this week’s Dear Montecito, I bring you an update on one of Montecito’s greatest – a great actor, entrepreneur, and […]
There’s never been a better time to take up the practice of Dream Tending, both online and in person, locally and on retreat. The concept behind Dream Tending is that our dreams carry an inner knowing, an innate sensibility and an element of potency that affords each of us the capacity to explore the depths […]
What do YOU find in local thrift stores? At Avenue Thrift, my favorite place in Ventura (which, incidentally, supports the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura), I found an ugly brutalist folk art-style wood carving – two feet tall and depicting a one-legged man seated with a cane. For years I have been searching […]
The Martin Institute and the Dallas Willard Research Center (MIDWRC) at Westmont College have chosen Tyler J. VanderWeele’s A Theology of Health: Wholeness and Human Flourishing (University of Notre Dame Press) for the 2025 Book Award. The MIDWRC Book Award program was created in 2015 to help place an enduring emphasis on the intellectual and […]
Montecito’s Upper Village is about to welcome a new culinary gem: Little Mountain, a refined, ingredient-driven restaurant helmed by acclaimed Chef Diego Moya. Slated to open soon, the restaurant will showcase Moya’s signature wood-fired, seasonal cooking rooted in sustainability and global technique. His diverse culinary journey spans top kitchens from Lima to Paris to New […]
AWS, my artist friend in Montecito, has experienced the phenomena we call “artist block,” and has taught a class to a local Arts Association about ways to overcome “creative block.” He called last week to report the results of teaching that class and asked that I share his findings with my readers who, as he […]
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Santa Barbara is a city with spectacular events, exciting adventures, and a ton of surprises in between! The highlight of the season is Old Spanish Days with its confetti-ladened Fiesta celebrations, although the summer months are packed with fun stuff everywhere! One of my favorites is the Hawaiian Cruise aboard the Condor Express. The whale […]
It’s not an uncommon occurrence. For his own reasons, a nefarious jackass unleashes a quantum mechanical nuisance, which quickly goes haywire and wreaks the usual havoc at scale. The destruction is apocalyptic. Skyscrapers topple and plow into each other, the townsfolk scatter and shout amid boxcar-sized hunks of plunging masonry, the film score hollers with […]
When one mentions California wine country, names like Napa and Sonoma often take center stage. But for the sophisticated traveler seeking authenticity, heritage, and a slower, more personal pace, Lodi offers a compelling and often overlooked alternative. During my recent stay, I discovered a region where old vines meet new vision, and where luxury lies […]
For years, Heather Stevenson’s relationship with singing in public was performing as a singer-songwriter at local festivals, nightspots, and other gatherings. But in 2018, she was an early visitor to a community song circle led by Glen Phillips; native Santa Barbaran, co-founder of platinum-selling Toad the Wet Sprocket, and a critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter. The community singing […]
KMcD sends me a photo of four African masks purchased in Tanzania and Kenya, originally from Zaire (the Congo). I love these masks because I had a two-year tour in the VSO, the British version of the U.S. Peace Corps, in upper Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. I have a treasured mask from the Ivory […]
