Beautiful Santa Barbara!

This past Saturday, Luke and I took a day trip to Santa Barbara!

We went down to see our good friend Val's masters thesis project, a play she wrote called Piezoelectric Love: the (Half) Life of Marie Curie.  The show, as described in Val's own words: "Science. Clowns. Live music. Sex. Beckett-esque dreamscapes. Masks. Glow in the dark paint. Squeaky bicycles. Everything you could ever want in a show."  Loved the whole thing, especially Val's beautiful, poetic telling of a love story between Marie and her husband, Pierre.

Luke and I also spent time in the downtown, on State Street.  I took lots of pictures inside The Paper Source, which was a gorgeous paper and card store, right up my alley.  Can you tell I am a little obsessed?

We also stopped in at my favorite store, Sur la Table.  Luke bought me this hat, which I love:

I also purchased a great cotton Indian tapestry, which I'm going to make into a duvet cover.  I won't show a picture of it yet, because I want it to be a surprise.  But I will say that it has camels and elephants on it. That's right, camels and elephants.

We also ate at a great Creole-ish restaurant/grill called The Palace.  

Highlight of the meal was bread pudding souffle with a whiskey cream sauce.  So. Freaking. Good.  They also had live music outside for our (rather long) wait out front.  The band was called the Stiff Pickle.  Love it.

And let's not forget this AWESOME mural painted on the wall inside:

And lastly, this pic of Luke and I...

Such a wonderful time; good food, friends, weather, and a lovely town.  It was great to get out of town for a bit!