A reader asks if restoring paintings or refinishing furniture devalues those objects. I hold onto objects that are damaged or need to be repaired; I call these objects “my orphan-things” and it has given me great satisfaction to breathe new life into them with restorations; but not all my efforts have worked. This newsletter discloses […]
When I opened that antique dresser drawer, a stiff, corpse-like doll stared up at 12-year-old me. I reeled back in horror, and I have never liked dolls from that day. So as fate would have it, I have an online reputation as a doll expert. A case in point is a photo sent to me […]
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Dear Montecito, Four years later and here we are. This column started during the first COVID-19 lockdown, when I found out that half of my exams were being canceled. “Hey Gwyn… mind if I start a column?” And, well, you know the rest of the story! One hundred hours of phone calls, emails, and interviews […]
The sun has been playing hide and seek with us lately. Even with the little we have had, however, the Farmers’ Market shows all the signs of Summer! Moua Family Farm has one of my daughters and my favorite snacks, the Kirby cucumber. This little crunchy fruit, yep not a vegetable, is full of beneficial […]
The energy and face of Amy Alzina EdD, Cold Spring Elementary School District (CSESD) Superintendent/Principal, is well noted in our town. For the past seven years, she has led the school and increased growth levels in education, STEAM, and community interface. She and her team have maintained this through multiple environmental disasters and lockdowns, without […]
This article is the brainchild of a reader who has a wonderful California ceramic collection; he sent me two of his Beatrice Woods (BEATO) bowls that entered his collection and I convinced him to “buy the best” and leave the rest. I polled ten of my favorite clients for their buying or selling regrets regarding […]
The sweet onion, part of the allium family and related to the leek, garlic, and shallots, is a nutritious and versatile vegetable that boasts an array of vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds. Something Good Organics has some lovely ones right now that look as if they were just pulled from the rich soil. The onion […]
My 16-year-old son recently came home from school, freaking out that he might get a B in an AP class. Historically, this has not been his M.O., but at the beginning of his sophomore year it started to dawn on him that it was time to get to work. He was hearing and feeling the […]
In a little Midwestern red brick two-bedroom house in 1960s Deerfield, Illinois, there came a burly gentleman who didn’t speak English. He had a four-foot-long walrus under his massive ruddy arm with a blue bow around its neck. That stranger was my mom’s cousin from Germany, and the walrus was a Steiff, a famous German […]
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Shortly after I got married, my 64-year-old mother lost her battle with breast cancer. Seven years later my father joined her. The loss isn’t any less painful just because you are a grown-up. I was 39 and an orphan. It sounds strange to say it that way, but that was how it felt. “Untethered,” was […]
‘When Women Ran Fifth Avenue’ When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is a fascinating look at the rise of the department store in America. It will make local readers long for the days when we had department stores in Santa Barbara. Julie Satow takes a deep dive into the culture and rise of the female executive […]
What can D do with his fine porcelain dinnerware? This is a question I hear weekly. The market for ceramics has softened across the board due in part to the lack of young buyers. Think of those matched service pieces we Boomers/Gen X’ers requested on our wedding registries: so many sets out in the market […]
I remember when I first moved to Santa Barbara and I saw the exquisite flower of the passion fruit vine, I was mesmerized. This tropical vine that thrives in our Central Coast climate can be found on a leisurely walk through your neighborhood, and at the delightful Frecker Farms stand in the farmers market. The thick-skinned, […]
The sun shone bright on a recent weekday afternoon, and a soft sea breeze rolled through. The handful of outdoor tables at the Veranda cottage at the San Ysidro Ranch, nicely spread out, were slowly filling up. Lunch was being doled out in synchronized fashion, and by a welcoming staff. The latest foodie offering at […]
