So ... California is a sunny place. Though I knew that before moving here, I have to continually remind myself that it's mid-November as I am drenched in sun every morning when I leave my house for work at 7 AM. I'm used to this in the late Fall. San Francisco has increasingly gotten a littttttllleee bit chillier but it definitely looks a heck of a lot like June to me. And this fun tidbit I forgot as I packed to head to Santa Barbara two weekends ago for a wedding. Yes, to a city even more SOUTHERER (eyes bleeding? That was a joke) and I still forgot to pack like I wasn't Morticia Addams. Oh well, it's my first "Fall" & "Winter" (really CA? If you say so ...) in this beautiful state and I'm allowed to make a couple mistakes!

But let's start with Santa Barbara itself. I had never been and it was just as crazy pretty as I could have imagined. Long corridors of beach pathways, towering palm trees and corner cafes on every ... um, corner. It was a beautiful place to spend a weekend away. We arrived late in the evening on Friday night and quickly shuttled over to the rehearsal dinner after party for a couple drinks before heading right back to bed for the big wedding day mañana.
We arose that morning to a completely blue sky and a blazing hot sun. Beautiful wedding day indeed ...
^Our cute Airbnb in Santa Barbara. However, when we left the door it was like Beetlejuice where I was all of a sudden in a scalding desert.
^Morning brunch in Santa Barbara
^How awesome to see the groom before his ceremony. Love it. I'm not even gonna say how cool it would be to see a bride because ain't no bride got time for meals with the commoners on her big day. Also, the middle pic is so Jay as he is a summer boy through and through (hence my ongoing Chicago battle and my vain efforts to lobby him TOWARDS the snow - mark my words: One day I will win that war.).
Then it was time to get on ready. And that's where Morticia comes back in. See I didn't realize when I packed for a November wedding that it was gonna be 7,500 degrees outside. Which is why I wore basically this:
^And that was also after I thankfully dropped the black tights and closed-toe shoes I brought.
But no matter, it was what it was at that point and I was excited to just partake in wedding events, even if I was arriving as an Army of Darkness, party of 1.
^Left: Jay & his long time best friend toasting at our airbnb before departure, I somehow didn't get one of his gorgeous gf as we prefunked, dangit! Right: Toasting with champagne as we waited for the Uber.
And before we knew it, it was wedding time. Um ... I love weddings. I especially love how you get to hear so much about the couple and I adore witnessing all of the emotional contributions of their nearest and dearest. They always make me cry and I feel content walking away knowing a bit more about the union.
^So gorgeous!
The ceremony was followed swiftly by cheese platters, meat trays and bread baskets as we all tried to soak in some good pictures before we lost the light and while we all still appeared sweat-free which was sure to change after the dance floor was opened:
^Childhood best friends reunited
^Up: The four of us here sat and took in this beautiful view shown below
^Santa Barbara be purty
^I believe life is about relationships. And I love witnessing heaping amounts of long-term ones.
So, Morticia Addams would officially give Santa Barbara 5 Stars on Yelp!. And she'd give 10 stars to the fact that she can just drive to SoCal now. And 20 stars to the fact that weddings rock in every way. And just in case you're wondering: There's no pics from the drive home as I can quickly go from Morticia to Jack Sparrow with a flip of a switch. And Jack doesn't like having his pic taken, like duh.
Happy Wednesday!