Any expat will understand that Christmas (that is if it is a holiday that means something to you) is hard away from your home. This year, our first Christmas in Santa Barbara, California, USA, could have been twice as hard – particularly for my British husband and I. We spent our growing up years, till […]
Month: December 2013
Merry Christmas from Santa Barbara!
Christmas in Santa Barbara is a wonderful place to be, with sunshine and blue sky by day, and a festive feel by nightfall at 5pm. Every tree trunk along State Street is snaked in white fairy lights, the shop windows and restaurants are decorated with class, style and an abundance of sparkles. There is nothing […]
A place with no real weather | Prose for Thought
Dare I say, ‘I’m getting used to this place’? Where the weather barely changes – apart from the length of light in a day. Where clouds are cause for exclamation – and rain is a rare, yet welcome, distraction. I’ve come from a place that knows big weather, where a person learns to dress in […]
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree… | The Photo Gallery
It’s been many years since we’ve seen so many Christmas trees in the build up to Christmas. Visiting Disneyland in the festive season was, as you’d imagine, mind-blowing in a sensory overload of lights, baubles, ribbon, glitter and a touch of fake snow – even in sunny southern California – for good measure. It’s also […]
Feeling Festive | The Photo Gallery
It’s been so many years since we’ve celebrated the festive season in the northern hemisphere. It took me well over a decade to adjust to celebrating in the southern hemisphere – and just when I thought I’d finally done it… I went and jinxed it! Spending Christmas in Santa Barbara is a wonderful ‘best of […]
Burning some rubber with the kids on the Santa Barbara waterfront!
With three children constantly at home it’s not easy to fit in exercise (well, not in the way I’d like – though I do get plenty of movement cleaning up after them and running around playing crazy games… and moving the wine glass to my mouth…). This week, with friends visiting from New Zealand, we […]
Things I’m Loving | A little Christmas sparkle
A little bit of Christmas cheer has picked up our spirits and cast a light on the dark nights of winter. A little Christmas fairy fluttered into the house and sprinkled some magic on the Christmas tree, which will be covered in her little offerings of hand painted snowmen and snow flakes over the days […]
Lost my happy place. Seeking energy to find it!
I’ve lost my happy place. The light outside is bright, but muffled through my eyes. If I could be alone, I would just curl up & not worry, But my ever present children make such thoughts pitiful & guilt fuelled. I have dreams of crawling away (no strength to run), to no where in particular, […]