This week my boyfriend, Joshua, and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! It truly has been kind of wild as we have lived in 3 different states within the 3 years. We fell in love in a hopeless place, Las Vegas. Then I wanted to flee Las Vegas and move to Austin, TX, so we did that. After just about 14 short months there we moved to California to be closer to friends and family. One thing I said right away when we were moving was "NOW WE GET TO BE CLOSER TO SANTA BARBARA!" It is truly a little happy place of ours. 

The first place we ever went away together when we first started dating in Las Vegas was Santa Barbara, CA. We did a fun little trip to escape the heat so it was fun being back together after all this time. 

I wanted to share some highlights about the trip, where we stayed and what I like to do when we visit. It is a great place to get away for a couple of days. People visit from all over the world as it holds a lot of history and so much beauty. 

Josh and I currently live in Orange County so we are about 2 hours and 45 minutes south of SB. I always stay at "The Wayfarer" hotel. I love this hotel because of its vibe and the great location. I enjoy being right in the mix of things, right off "State Street" where all of the fun restaurants and shops are. It is also in "The Funk Zone." The hotel is very clean and comfortable. Sometimes I feel you get a sub par hotel for a high price in CA. But isn't that CA in general? lol. This hotel has a nice little pool, communal kitchen and living space along with activities you can enjoy during your stay. The rooms are small but super comfortable and functional. I must say, the beds are amazing too and I am picky!

Following an early check in, we headed to find Josh TACOS! There is a taqueria we went to the last time we were in SB so my photographic memory found its way to that same place first to make my man happy. "Lilly's Tacos"  only serves meat or vegetable tacos. My 100% Mexican boyfriend says the tacos are great, so go there if you love tacos, it is "Josh approved." He grabbed them to-go, but then ate them right here by a parking lot lol.

We walked up State St. and stopped at another taqueria! We had gone to this one last time too. They have fish & shrimp tacos so I got those as I try to stay away from meat. We recommend both places for something fast and easy if you love yourself some tacos. The afternoon was full of shopping on State St. and stopping for happy hour drinks at the local bars as we meandered around. 

One place I knew we needed to make a stop at was, "Seven Hills." We purchased all of our linens from here a few years ago! It is a special little boutique type store that imports everything from Turkey. They have gorgeous Persian rugs, Turkish linens, glassware, decor, clothing etc. I love stores like this with unique and exotic items. It is alway fun to mix and match the linens. I LOVE all of my linens in my home and get so many compliments on them! It also is a special experience picking them out here.

We wanted to make sure we actually used the hotel and relaxed a bit so after walking up and down State St. we stopped in World Market (also located on State St.) and grabbed some sake to have by the pool before dinner. 

We snapped some pictures in this new chic tie dye kimono. Neons + neutrals are "in" according to Paris Fashion Week. I have been stepping my bright colour game up in the boutique! I paired it with my "Andie" swimsuit. I have on the ribbed "Amalfi" swimsuit. You are free to use "FLOATON10" for 10% off your first purchase with Andie if you would like to try one yourself! I HIGHLY recommend them as they even offer a long torso option and carry size XS-3XL. Get yourself an Andie! 

We had a delightful dinner at "Les Marchands", right down the street in the "Funk Zone." This is a French restaurant and wine bar. I love any restaurant you can purchase bottles of wine to take home! We sat outside and enjoyed a beautiful meal! I love this restaurant and keep coming back, the menu changes seasonally and the food is always so unique and delicious. 

There wasn't anyone to take our photo together against the beautiful vine wall so Josh insisted on just snapping a pic of me, I wasn't opposed due to my outfit being on point lol. My favourite color to wear is white, incase you didn't know. Its a harder color to carry in my boutique but I personally can't get enough of white. I picked this piece up from a random boutique in Paris and I love it!

The next morning we went to one of my favourite spots, the Vedanta Santa Barbara Temple. It is nestled in the mountains of Santa Barbara, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is such a special place and so peaceful. I took Josh there  when we came 3 years ago. We sat on the floor there and meditated/prayed together so it was really special to go back together. 

We sat and meditated/prayed this time as well. It is so nice up there, the photos don't do it justice at all. You can see all of Santa Barbara from up there! 

We went for a walk on the pier after this and had good old New England Clam Chowder at "Moby Dick's" on the water. 

I LOVE to bike ride in Santa Barbara! You can bike ride along a path right by the coast line! That was next on the agenda. It is so easy to rent bikes given there are several locations in the vicinity. Josh didn't realise I was making him do a 2 hour haul across Santa Barbara to a secluded beach so he was a little thrown off at first. It was worth it in the end though, I bought him a spritz to cool him off. We also both have farmers tans now hehe. I wanted to walk the grounds of The Four Seasons Biltmore, right across from Butterfly Beach. Josh hadn't been before and he ended up being in awe of the property himself.  See, worth it!

We enjoyed a spritz outside over looking that beautiful ocean! I recommend this to anyone who enjoys cocktails with a view. Even just for one drink, its fabulous.

After biking back to State St., we grabbed lunch at the cutest cuban place, Cubaneo! Definitely go there for lunch. What is nice is that they are open until 1 am too, so you can grab something yummy late if you want too.

The place next to it, literally attached that you walk in through the front has the best frosty adult beverages! They are all crafted cocktails. The Pina colada is AMAZE! Go there for fun, yummy cocktails. The bar is called, "Shaker Mill" and it had a very "Miami vibe." We loved it. 

Josh wanted to take me wine tasting at some of the tasting rooms as something special. We started at a cute place called, "Cork's" and ended at "Melville". You can't go wrong with any of them. Santa Barbara is known their wine and their tasting rooms. It is fun to walk around and go into whatever ones catch your eye. In the end, the ones with AC caught my eye...it was hot. I highly suggest having the home made truffles with your wine tasting at "Melville," they are mind blowing and I probably ate one too many (sorry not sorry). Their wines are from their actual wineries in the Santa Barbara area. We ended up taking a bottle of Pinot Noir home with us as our "Anniversary wine." We are going to try to save it for 3 years! We will see how that goes... 

That about concludes our anniversary trip to Santa Barbara! Shopping, eating and wine tasting! There are so many cute, unique little spots to explore there. I love how you feel secluded there, a nice escape. We love it so much and I hope this blog made you love it too (if you don't already). You can just live your best life there, truly. Its a chill beach vibe with a lot of summer activities to do!

Thank you for being with us on this little journey called life too! If you have questions about anything please ask! We love hearing from you so leave us a comment below!

Sincerely,

#stylesnob