26 Apr 2018
Birds and Bees Bash
Planned Parenthood (PP) held their annual fundraising soirée at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara with the theme “Birds and Bees Bash” and a full house of 525 guests. Co-chairs Cynthia Abulafia, Amy Baird and Wendy Smith had the ballroom shimmering in purple and silver, florals and lighting for Planned Parenthood’s 101st anniversary. After cocktails and a huge […]
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Montecito’s New Lieutenant
Brian Thielst is the newly appointed lieutenant, overseeing all law enforcement operations in Montecito. Lieutenant Thielst has an impressive history with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, where he started as a deputy in 1986. Since that time his experience with the department includes service as a senior deputy, mountain patrol deputy, sergeant, member of the […]
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Women of Inspiration
Women of Inspiration was the perfect title for the Carpinteria Girls Inc. annual luncheon where women of inspiration are honored. This one was honoring the memory of global activist Nancy Koppelman. Nancy’s daughter, Renee, accepted the Women of Inspiration award on behalf of her mother and told what it was like to have her for […]
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Block Party in Montecito
(Editor’s note: The following was sent to us from Mindy Denson.) Montecito residents living on Santa Rosa Lane, San Ysidro, Lemon Grove, Sea Cliff, Court Place, and Mira Monte attended the bash last weekend, with typical fare including hotdogs and burgers with all the fixins! Everyone brought side dishes such as the homemade potato salad […]
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Christie Chronicles: from Outlaw to a One-Man Play
The saga of George Christie, Jr., from a Hell’s Angel head man to star of a one-man play based on his own life would be something almost beyond belief if it weren’t actually true. Christie, who was born in 1947 in Ventura and returned more than three decades later to found the Ventura chapter of […]
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Pearl Chase Society’s Historic Homes Tour
The Pearl Chase Society is busy putting the final touches on its 17th annual Historic Homes Tour, which will take place on Sunday, May 20, in Montecito’s Hedgerow District. According to organizers, the “Hidden in the Hedgerow” tour will showcase the diversity of homes designed over three decades in the historic neighborhood, which was recently […]
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Having a Ball
The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse’s 32nd annual Amethyst Ball at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara was a real gem! The socially gridlocked bash attracted around 350 glamorously garbed guests and raised more than $500,000 for the 68-year-old charity, which has an annual budget of $5.6 million serving more than 8,600 people with 23 programs for […]
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The Music Man
My next subject is someone I know very well. Oh, okay, full disclaimer: his name is Bob Fead and… he’s my husband. But, I would be interested in writing about his life even if he weren’t my husband. Whenever anyone learns he’s been in the music business, these are the answers to the questions he […]
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19 Apr 2018
Hospice Gala
Hospice of Santa Barbara, Inc. celebrated the opening of a new exhibit in their Leigh Block Gallery and had a reception to celebrate. They were displaying the work of the late David Glenn (Judd) Crouch, whose career spanned 60+ years as an active exhibiting artist. He was also a master scientific illustrator for the University […]
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Food from the Heart
“Sips and Nibbles” was the title of a benefit for Food from the Heart (FFH) – a nonprofit I’d never heard of. Founder Evelyn Jacob informed me, “We have been around for 24 years.” I would soon learn Food from the Heart is all about feeding people. We were gathered in the courtyard of El […]
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Sleight of Hand
Ensemble Theatre has got a bona-fide hit on its hands with Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar‘s The Invisible Hand, directed by Jonathan Fox, at the New Vic. The riveting 2014 drama features John Tufts as an American banker kidnapped by an Islamic group in Pakistan, who bargains for his life with guards by demonstrating how […]
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4 into 49 = Bedlam
In an offering that wouldn’t appear out of place at a Fringe Festival, New York’s acclaimed theater company Bedlam makes its Santa Barbara debut on April 19-20 with a two-night stand featuring two different programs of classic works. The four actors take on 49 characters in adrenaline-fueled performances unexpectedly funny, stripped-down stagings of Shakespeare’s Hamlet […]
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Montecito Mud
When he awoke the morning of January 9, wine maker (2018 “Vintner of the Year”) and longtime Montecito resident Fred Brander found himself sharing space with nearly 900 tons of mud, rocks, and boulders that hadn’t been on his property the night before. His home is north of East Mountain Drive and none of the […]
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What’s So Funny?
Maybe you have heard the story of the man who went to see an eminent Viennese psychiatrist complaining that for some reason he felt sad all the time. After some discussion, the doctor said, “Let me suggest, as a first step, that you go to the theater tonight. The great clown Grimaldi is performing here […]
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Seventh Heaven
Hungarian pianist Sir Andras Schiff, making his seventh CAMA appearance since 1985, mesmerized with his Master Series performance at the Lobero. The concert, the penultimate show in the popular series, featured 65-year-old Schiff, who is appearing with the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony this season, on his Bosendorfer grand playing works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, […]
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Crane’s Respond-A-Thon Benefit
March 23 was the last day of school before students at Crane Country Day School were set to head off for spring break, yet they had one important assignment they wanted to complete. It didn’t involve homework. It didn’t require writing a paper or even reading a book, but it did mean they had to […]
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Expected Soon
Family update: Lily Buckley Harbin and her husband, Jeremy Harbin, expect to welcome into their home their first child – a little girl – on or around the 10th of May. Traveling from all over the United States and even London, England, to help Lily celebrate the upcoming blessed event, nearly two-dozen of her friends […]
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Rocha Swim: Swimwear for the Petite
How does an aqueous woman curb her frustration of Spring Break’s arrival, a mere confirmation that summer will soon follow, when every swimsuit she finds and adores does not satisfy her petite yet curvy physique? Well, if you’re Danielle Rocha, 23, you don’t hide from the California sun and ocean, or avoid pool days and […]
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Happy Birthday
Who doesn’t like birthday parties? Girls Inc. had 220 guests at their 60th one held in their Goleta facility. The decorations reminded me of the “olden days” when getting a new box of shiny colored Crayons was a big deal – never mind cell phones, since there weren’t any. There were balloons and brightly wrapped […]
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Recovery Updates
On Tuesday, at a special Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) hearing that was also attended by the Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR), the MPC discussed proposed ordinance amendments pertaining to rebuilding following the 1/9 debris flow and made a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to wait on approving the new ordinance language, until more […]
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