Bacon and Barrels

I don't even know where to begin. Have you ever even heard an event title that was more exciting/awesome sounding? This weekend was one of my favorites from this summer. Bill and I headed up to a town called Los Olivos, which is about 45 minutes outside of Santa Barbara with a couple of friends to spend a weekend staying in one of the most beautiful homes I have ever had the privilege of staying in and to attend a food and beverage festival to top all others.

Let's start with the house. No amount of pictures could do it justice, you guys it was just gorgeous. The kitchen was a dream and all the couches were soft and cozy. Speaking of cozy, there were three fireplaces and there were fresh cut sunflowers that I felt like were picked with me in mind. The view from the backyard was just lovely and made me feel like all the traffic to get up there was completely worth it. Sigh, just thinking about it makes me anxious for next year when we go back (oh yeah, we decided this needed to be a yearly trip!). The house was just comfortable. We played music and sipped wine and just soaked it up.

We had never met the other couple that met us up there, but our group of six quickly found a rhythm. They made us laugh and he cooked incredible meals for us just because he loves to cook. And let me tell you, this man knows what's up in the kitchen! It was so fun to just sit and enjoy a meal together on our beautiful patio the first night followed by fire place and hot tub time. We all looked up at the stars and were reminded of how blessed we are.

The festival was better than I anticipated. Sure it was crowded, but the food and drinks were really to die for. Fantastic beer, wine and cocktails were flowing and after having bacon themed pizza, ice cream sundaes, biscuits, coconut curry jambalaya, bahn mi steamed bun pork belly tacos, chocolates, and so much more I was not over it. Trays of bacon were being passed around and I could not resist. Everything was just delectable and a foodies dream.

When we left the next morning my eyes genuinely welled up with tears. You know those weekends you never want to end? Yeah, this was one of them. I just loved those people, that house, the morning light and the ambiance of such a fantastic setting. We already bought our tickets for next year, and I can't wait to do it over again.

Comments

In the Nursery: Whole Hearted Parenting Manifesto

I recently finished a book by Brene Brown titled, DaringGreatly . It really moved me, and I am definitely still processing it. At the beginning of the book I wasn’t resonating deeply with the topic of vulnerability, as most people will tell you I am an “open book”. I will answer most questions without holding back and love to deep dive into good conversation. However, what I came to realize through her many examples is that we all wrestle with vulnerability, guilt and shame throughout this book even if is more momentary than constant. I gleaned SO MUCH from this book that I did not anticipate, and I thought I would share this Parenting Manifesto that she put right at the end of the book. I am printing it and framing it for our nursery, as I think it communicates some deep parts of my heart cry for parenting my kiddos well. I hope this resonates with someone else as much as it did with me. I needed these words to remind me that parenting is not a checklist,

A Penny For Your Thoughts - Looking Back & Missing Italy

I took this my first day in Italy, and will always remember my town just like this... I realized something about my writing the other day, and that is that I am much more present in my writing than I am in my brain. I am constantly thinking back, but I never write about my past. Sure, I write a story here or there reminiscing on my African travel, but rarely do you hear about my life pre-California unless it is in reference to my family. Lately, I have found myself pining for Italy. Did you know I lived there? Probably not, because I rarely mention it! I knew I was going to love it there, but it has stuck with me since the moment I left. I have wanted to go back every minute of every day since then. The simplicity of life, the emphasis on slowing down, the architecture, the food, the flowers, the people, the color, the trains, the bikes, the gelato, the smiles and laughter, the wine, and the cities are only scratching the surface of things I love from the bea

At the Library - May through September 2019 Reading

We had another baby in May (SO much more on that later) and blogging has obviously taken a back seat, but I am still reading for pleasure and have managed, in my sons first four months of life, to complete these 8 books! Y'all, I remember a time when even completing 2 books a year would have sincerely sounded daunting, much less with a newborn. If you want to read more, you can find the time! Take stock of your days and see where you are wasting hours. For some of these, I listened to the audio book while I was pumping or watering the garden. Rather than give you an individual breakdown of each of these books, I just want to report I found them all incredibly enjoyable. A total cross section of a food memoir to a psychology deep dive to nature centric novels, I would recommend them all in different capacities. We have fallen a bit behind on our Bible reading, but we WILL finish by the end of the year. You do not make it to September

Mrs. Rogers Neighborhood

Search This Blog