Santa Barbara Christmas Parade

Our friends Chris & Jen own a business that will design, decorate, hang, remove and store your Christmas lights. It is called Santa Barbara Holiday Lights. This year was the first year that they had a float in the Santa Barbara Christmas Parade and they asked us to join in! Chris made an amazing float in only THREE DAYS!!! It was really amazing. The theme of their float was the shoemakers workshop. Chris was the shoemakers and his friends were elves. Eliza was a Christmas tree. It was so much fun!

Thanksgiving 2008: Party in the Desert

Well, I'm late in posting this, but it has been an insane week. We arrived back in SB at midnight a week ago and have been running ever since. For Thanksgiving, we visited my Nana and Pop Richard in Tucson. We had a great time. Nana made a fabulous dinner. I enjoyed lots and lots of cucumbers a la Nana. We did a lot of shopping and even made it to the Tucson Zoo. With the exception of the massive amounts of traffic on the 10 on the way home, it was a perfect trip. Here are the pictures:

Spoiling the Surprise

Below are Eliza's holiday photos. They are pretty good considering we had to wait 40 minutes before they started. Any favorites?

By Popular Demand

I wasn't initially going to put this on the web site, as it was taken on the fly and Eliza had trashed my house. So, don't judge me or I'm takin' it down! You can judge this awesome dancing though.


Eliza's a Maniac! from Amanda Ridge on Vimeo.

Girls Night Out

First of all, let me preface this by saying, no I am not 14, and yes, I realize the cheese. The girls and I had a great night out. We went to dinner at Nordstroms Cafe. If you've never been there, the salads are awesome. Then we went to a benefit for Angels Foster Care. That, at least, is the mature way to describe our outing. In truth, we went to a 7:30 p.m. premiere of Twilight. Yes, we got to see the movie even before the midnight showings in NY. We had a great time, and the movie was definitely better than I expected. That being said. If you are a man or not already an avid reader of Ms. Meyer, then this is not the movie for you. Go see Bolt. But if you are a fan, it is better than you think it is going to be, so have fun!

Why I love it here!

I know I've posted my love of California on my blog before, but I can't help it. Lately I have been hearing seals at night. Claron called me crazy until he finally heard them as well. We live right on the coast and it is really amazing all of the flora and fauna that surrounds us. Yesterday, Eliza and I made it to Coal Oil Point to play in the tide pools and watch the sun set. We saw so many animals: brown pelicans, a million egrets, turns, sand pipers, snowy plovers, sea otters, hermit crabs, anemones, surfers and yes, seals! Our neighbor has this awesome blog with photos: http://www.calliebowdish.com/ but here are my favorites.

What a busy week!

We've had such a busy but great week.

On Tuesday was election day. We are very happy with the results. I am really hoping that this election will usher in a new era of American politics. Claron and I of course both voted. Eliza went with us.

On Wednesday, we went to an awesome birthday party for our friend, Jen. Chris, her husband, concocted an amazing surprise for EVERYONE! Chris arranged a huge Hummer limo. The ladies got a manicure and pedicure and the gents went to play billiards. We later went to Milk & Honey for dinner and it was superb. Thanks to Chris (and Jen) for an awesome night out! Thanks to Liz for the pictures.

On Thursday, Eliza and I shopped almost all day. We finally found pillows for the couch that I like. I've only been looking for a year.

On Friday, Eliza and I went to the Ty Warner Sea Center with our friends. It was a beautiful day. It was sunny and in the high 70s. The Wharf was especially sunny. Eliza liked the petting pools and she enjoyed running around the pier with her friends Taylor and Warren. She loves older kids.

If Eliza could vote...

Eliza's Vote from Amanda Ridge on Vimeo.

Happy Halloween!

Wow! What a day (and night!). Eliza was Wall-E for Halloween. Claron and I both worked on her costume. I made the onesie portion. I was afraid she wouldn't wear her box, so I sewed all of the Wall-E parts onto the onesie as well. I made the gloves also. Claron worked tirelessly on the box portion. I also made Claron a cockroach costume, but we didn't get any pictures of it.

We had such a busy day. We started by going to the Chemistry department and giving out candy. We call it "reverse trick or treating." Afterwards, we went to the Family Student Housing Halloween Parade. Eliza walked the entire Storke complex. After the parade, they gave out four individual awards: Scariest Costume, Cutest Costume, Funniest Costume and Most Creative Costume. There were about 75 people in costume and ELIZA WON!!! She won most creative! Go Eliza! After the parade, we needed to stop home to pick some things up. It took us a half an hour to go around the block due to the mass influx into IV. We picked Scott up and took him to dinner at Flavor of India. It was awesome! If that wasn't enough, we went to Trunk or Treat at the church after that. THEN, we came home and went out trick or treating. Eliza had a blast. She really got into trick or treating. She was very happy to see so many of our friends (and rake in a boat load of candy.)

Happy Halloween!!

Here are the pictures:

What You've All Been Waiting For