Post election, we need deep relaxation, muscle regeneration, pain relief, digestive help, cure for migraine, improved circulation, a repaired immune system, elimination of toxins (too much wine), and better concentration. This may be just the time for an article on JF’s “singing” bowls from his home altar – a collection of Japanese standing “struck” bowls, […]
Kifwebe is a word meaning “mask” for the people of the Congo River basin, the Luba and Songye tribes. High-ranking, ruling elite men in a tribal secret brotherhood called Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe would wear these masks in a ritual dance, complete with a disguise of a woven, tight-fitting net-like costume, animal pelts, and long, thick, […]
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Napa cabbage is in season and – as cabbage goes – is one of the most flavorful, nutrient-dense varieties out there. Something Good Organics has the first available, and I grabbed some for myself and my clients. This cabbage, also called Chinese cabbage, is traditionally used in kimchi, but is also an incredible vehicle for […]
Some years ago, I was at a friend’s dinner party where I had the good fortune to be seated next to the late philanthropist, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree. At the time, she was 92 and clearly had no intention of slowing down anytime soon. As I was in graduate school studying healthy aging, I used this […]
My brother Benjamin Tolan – and you can ask anyone who went to MUS, Crane or Laguna Blanca High School – is best known for his uncanny excellence in whatever he pursues. He can pick up any tune on the flute, saxophone, or piano in just a few listens and dominate in any video game […]
It’s fair to say the path to everlasting love comes in many shapes, sizes, colors, and in some cases fabrics. Just steps away from the white sands of Montecito’s Butterfly Beach, there is a quiet beauty and tranquil ambiance lining the road to one such love story that sits on full display – many years […]
The MJ had a seat at the table, and we witnessed the power of giving back. The Santa Barbara Wine Auction was back at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta this past weekend, drawing hundreds of oenophiles who dressed up, showed up and raised their paddles up. This is a biennial party put on by the […]
HH was told by his grandmother from Boston that the table she left him was made by Duncan Phyfe. Almost everyone who has an East Coast Grandma runs the risk of being told that her family’s furniture was made by Phyfe. For years after his death, Phyfe’s furniture was NOT collected nor desired; it wasn’t […]
‘What I Ate In One Year’ Stanley Tucci is back with another memoir chronicling a year’s worth of meals in What I Ate in One Year. On and off the set, with and without a famous friend or two, Tucci’s memoir takes the form of diary entries as he dines in restaurants and home cooked […]
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Before I became a mother, I had some pretty run-of-the-mill, irrational fears; snakes, heights, and flying cockroaches, to be exact. Well, not really heights, per se, but falling from great heights was a big concern. And did I mention the snakes? Many years later, when we had our first child, these irrational stressors I had […]
Since his appointment in June, Bradley Cance, General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, has been busily connecting with our town and redesigning signature luxury experiences at the resort; a project that includes the appointment of a new Executive Chef, Rebecca Tillman. Clearly one of the elites in hospitality management, Cance comes to us most affably […]
“They’re still recovering bodies. It’s the third deadliest hurricane behind Katrina and Camille,” said Yvette Vega, a Carpinteria-native and healthcare professional living in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s a small community here, so if you don’t know someone directly, you know someone who does.” Vega was fortunate enough to miss Hurricane Helene’s full force. “We didn’t […]
This summer I reveled in the opportunity to traverse the vine-strewn expanses of Santa Barbara Wine Country, a treasure trove of over 300 wineries, each catering to a diverse palette of taste buds. As a dedicated Santa Barbara wine writer, each visit to these local vineyards is both a discovery and a homecoming. The region, […]
EF, who receives my monthly “Stuff-Whisperer” newsletter, read that I spent the first two weeks of September in Malaga, Southern Spain, visiting my brother. She sent an oil on canvas of her Spanish Lady, as it is known to her family (dated 1887), because I have experienced Andalusian culture recently! EF’s grandparents purchased this work […]
