This past Saturday evening a few of us girls met at Union Square in San Francisco to enjoy the holiday scene. Union Square is San Francisco’s prime location for an amazing selection of high-end department stores, shops and luxury hotels.

During the holidays the Square is transformed with a gigantic Christmas tree and holiday displays. It’s almost impossible not to get in the holiday spirit after you’ve stayed awhile, especially when you see a cable car go by, all decked out in Christmas lights!

During our visit we shopped, saw the chef-created sugar castle at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, then sipped hot apple cider at Rulli’s Café as we watched ice skaters skate under the stars. One of my favorite stops was the Macy’s window displays. Their displays drew crowds with several ornately decorated brownstones, each with a real sleeping kitten on its doorstep  (kittens were rotated out every 30 minutes).   Here’s a photo of one of the Macy displays (click to enlarge).

Tip: use the 511.org trip planner to get to Union Square

Wondering where to go for Labor Day weekend?  Here’s a round-up of great places to celebrate the end of summer:

(click each place for more info)

Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is an idyllic coastal village, about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles. It’s a postcard-perfect town, surrounded by mist covered mountains and beaches…

Nantucket
Once home to many whaling sea captains, Nantucket is now a popular summer spot for the well to do. Walk along its cobblestone streets…

San Francisco
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. And it’s easy to see why. It has a spectacular setting, moderate weather, cable cars, great shopping, interesting people and fabulous restaurants. (more…)

I spent a perfect weekend in Seattle recently and wanted to share some of the high points in case you plan to visit in the future.  Visiting Seattle in February is, as most locals will tell you, very risky since there’s a good possibility it will be cold and rainy.  We were in town to see our cousin sing the lead in the opera, La Boheme, so we crossed our fingers and hoped the weather would cooperate.  

We stayed at the Hotel Andra, a very chic hotel ideally located within walking distance of Belltown, retail districts and the famous Pike Place Market.   We all loved the stylish and progressive feel of the hotel which carried through to the rooms. 

As it turned out, we were in luck with the weather – it was in the 60’s with plenty of sunshine.

My sisters, niece and I strolled over to Pike Place Market our first afternoon there and took in the huge array of vendors, including artists, craftsmen, fish mongers, farmers, and flower growers.  (more…)

On the outskirts of Santa Barbara is the village of Montecito – very exclusive, with homes starting at over $1 million.  We ventured into Montecito one evening to have dinner at San Ysidro Ranch. With rates between $795-3,990 per night, we had to see what it looked like. On entering the ranch, we knew we were in the right place when we passed olives trees and rows of blooming Spanish lavender. 

Before having dinner at the Plow & Angel Bistro, we wandered through the ranch’s beautiful gardens, where Vivien Leigh and Sir Lawrence Olivier exchanged vows.  After we made our way back to the restaurant, we chose a table outside so we could continue to enjoy the surroundings.  With the white linen-covered tables, pea gravel and limestone fountain, we felt like we were having dinner at a private estate rather than a restaurant.

At the other end of the ambience scale, we had lunch one day in Santa Barbara at La Super-Rica. This is the taco shack that Julia Child loved to go to.  After standing in line to order (it doesn’t matter what time you go – it’s always busy) you sit at picnic tables in a covered patio area and enjoy freshly-made corn tortillas, pork and roasted peppers – not fancy, but very tasty.

If you love almonds, stop by Andersen’s Danish Bakery & Café right on State Street. Besides many other desserts and pastries, they have an almond tart that is truly delicious.

What weekend in southern California is complete without a celebrity sighting?  While shopping at a few of the boutiques in Montecito, we passed a group of four friends having lunch at the Cava restaurant. On closer inspection we saw that it was Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres with their significant others.

With its beautiful setting and great shopping, restaurants and outdoor activities, Santa Barbara is a perfect place for a girls getaway.

Related links:  Santa Barbara (Part I)  |  SantaBarbara.com  |  San Ysidro Ranch

This past weekend my three sisters and I met in Santa Barbara for our annual girls trip. I’d heard so many good things about this place and was glad to finally visit it in person. Santa Barbara is an idyllic coastal village, about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles.  It’s a postcard-perfect town, surrounded by mist covered mountains and beaches.  Most buildings have stucco and red tiled roofs with profuse landscaping, including bougainvillea.  It’s the kind of place best discovered on foot.

To encourage visitors to leave their cars at home, Santa Barbara has come up with a clever way to preserve its clean air with its “Car Free” promotion.  During 2007, several hotels, restaurants and transportation services are offering discounts to visitors looking into car free options.  The town has plenty of public and private transportation services and encourages alternatives to driving a car. One of the bargains is a 25 cent electric bus that runs in the shopping district along State Street.

The shopping district has a wonderful selection of stores, movie theaters and restaurants.  We spent many hours shopping, eating and going to the movies on State Street.  We also toured the Mission Santa Barbara, saw the panoramic views from the Courthouse tower and visited neighboring Montecito – all recommended activities. 

For lodging, the four of us stayed in a suite at the Franciscan Inn – a cute place with an ideal location - a block from the beach and two blocks from State Street.  The Inn serves a light breakfast each morning and fresh baked cookies every afternoon.  It also has a large video library with free check-out privileges. Just by mentioning the Car Free promotion we got 20% off our room rate.  Be sure to book early – rooms are reserved well in advance.

There are also lots of outdoor activities to enjoy in Santa Barbara. Walking along the beach we saw surfers heading out to the waves, people playing beach volleyball and kayakers paddling near Stearns Wharf. 

If you want to see the perfect neighborhood market go to Lazy Acres – kind of like a scaled down version of Whole Foods Market and a great place to pick up a bouquet of flowers for the room or a cake to celebrate an event (we celebrated two birthdays).

Stay tuned for Part II…

Now that the trees are starting to blossom across the Southern US, it reminds me of all the spectacular gardens there are to visit.  

Here’s my top ten list of favorite gardens:

1. Butchart Gardens (Victoria, B.C.)
What started out as a limestone quarry and cement factory has turned into one of the most beautiful gardens in the world…more

2. New York Botanical Gardens (New York City) 
Located in the Bronx with over 250 acres and 27 gardens, the New York Botanical Gardens is one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. web site

3. Huntington Library and Gardens  (Los Angeles)
Known for its important collection of rare books, arts and botanical gardens, the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens is definitely worth a visit when in Los Angeles…more

4. Kew Gardens (London)
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have 300 acres of public gardens as well as the renowned Millennium Seed Bank.  web site

5. Callaway Gardens (Pine Mountain, GA)
Just 1 hour southwest of Atlanta, Callaway Gardens is a 13,000 acre resort and is the first-place winner for 11 consecutive years of Southern Living Reader’s Choice Award for Best Public Garden. web site

6. Biltmore Estate (Asheville, NC) 
The Biltmore Estate, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, is one of America’s great estates. The mansion, which is the largest private residence in America, has 250 rooms and covers 8,000 acres… more

7. Magnolia Plantation (near Charleston, SC)
Created in 1676, Magnolia Plantation is known as the oldest major public garden in the country. The 500 acre plantation has been owned by the Drayton family for over 300 years… more

8. Skagit Valley Tulips (near Seattle, WA) 
One of the most spectacular floral displays in the country occurs in Skagit Valley in April.  Every year over 1,200 acres of bulbs are planted which reach their peak bloom in April… more

9. Filoli (San Francisco) 
Located 30 miles south of San Francisco, Filoli is recognized as one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century… more

10. The Flower Fields (Carlsbad, CA)
Located in Carlsbad, the Flower Fields have been a favorite spring-time stop of flower lovers for decades… more

I just spent a few days in Los Angeles with my sister and thought I’d share the highlights of our girl trip.  We spent most of our time in the West Hollywood area – a great neighborhood with lots of restaurants, shops, and beautiful homes within walking distance. Speaking of walking…I think I wore out a pair of shoes, but it was a nice change from driving everywhere. 

Here are some of the places we went in West Hollywood that you may want to try:

- Urth Caffé on Melrose Ave (see past article).   This is one of my favorite places anywhere -  My lunch (chicken curry sandwich and banana cream pie) was delicious (everything is delicious here) and a great place for people watching. 

 - Shopping on Wilshire - very up scale clothes and furniture shops in a nice neighborhood setting.  Don’t be surprised to see Rodeo Drive like prices.  It’s fun to shop even if you can’t afford to buy a $350 white cotton blouse or a $1000 cashmere sweater.

- Tour architect Schindler’s home on Kings Road - This small 1922 home is surprisingly current in its design.

 - Dessert at Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose Ave.  This bakery/café has wonderful cakes that look as good as they taste.  We enjoyed a slice of seven layer cake and a berry filled English trifle with French press coffee.  While we were there, a steady stream of custom cakes were being picked up for private events.

 - Visit the Farmer’s Market on a Sunday morning – flowers, wonderful fruits, vegetables and rustic bread - just around the corner from Urth Caffe and a fun place to visit on a cool Sunday morning. 

- Stroll around the neighborhood to see homes with beautifully landscaped courtyards and gated entries.

Just a note to you single girls - you’ll find many attractive males in West Hollywood. However a large portion of them are interested in other guys, not girls.

We did venture outside West Hollywood to Hollywood Blvd and on impulse took a guided tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Rodeo Drive.  The tour was really interesting (i.e. – we saw Bruce Willis’ house which is a few feet from Demi Moore’s house) and pointed out several celebrity homes and homes used in well-known movies like Gone with the Wind and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. 

After the tour we shopped on Rodeo Drive, which was closed to motorized traffic for an evening event.  As we wandered from store to store, we saw an army of event planners – most dressed in black — prepare a stage on Rodeo Drive, set-up catering and arranged outdoor displays of shoes for the “Walk of Style” in honor of shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Unfortunately, we had to leave just as the celebs were arriving, but we did catch a glimpse of Tim Robbins.

On our last day, we toured the Getty Villa which is located off the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.  Although much smaller than the Getty Center, the Villa is modeled after a famous Roman villa and has some wonderful gardens and mosaics.   If you plan to go, be sure to get tickets online (free) in advance.  They offer several free tours each day – we got a lot out of the Architecture and Gardens tour.

Tour Info: All Star Showbiz Tours van across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater

I have to confess – I’m a pumpkin fanatic.  I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes and even pumpkin pedicures.  Pumpkins are one of the more interesting fruits out there.  They can weigh anywhere from 1 pound to over 1,000 pounds each and are considered a super food with a rich source of Vitamin A and potassium.  Not to mention that you can carve them to create stunning illuminated art!

October is the peak of the pumpkin growing season.  Here are some places around the country that celebrate this event: (more…)