Heidi & Scott's Santa Barbara must haves!

Heidi and Scott are two of our best friends from college at UCSB and they love coming back to visit any chance they get, LUCKY US.  Every time they come to visit they have their list of Santa Barbara must haves and we love tagging along!

First stop! South Coast Deli!  Ummm I have something called work so I missed out on a Chinese Chicken Salad, or Tri-tip Sammie or Turkey Sandwich, but they were full when they arrived at my house.

NO PICTURES...:( I WASN'T THERE!

Once I finished up with work, we headed over to do some early evening wine tasting at Corks & Crowns.  It is quite the treat to be a member because you and 3 of your friends get a free tasting or discounted upgraded tasting.  For the special occasion, I decided to upgrade to the Pinot Trio, Heidi tried the Platinum, and Scott did the beer.  Honestly, as long as you like beer, wine, or pizza you will be happy at C&C. Yes, I said pizza, they have Full of Life Flatbread Pizza make flatbread pizzas on Thursday nights! I must say, they smelled absolutely delicious, but we were saving room for dinner. 

Next: Arigato! Last time Heidi and Scott were in town we went to Arigato for some sushi and well, too many drinks before and too much saki left the night a little fuzzy in our memories so we wanted to try it again, this time we were planning on remembering dinner. 

Popcorn Shrimp: The best you will find!  They are perfectly cooked, perfectly breaded, and perfectly sauced... Seriously, we ordered 4! Who does that... umm us and it was totally worth it!

Some of the other items we ordered were seared kobe beef, salmon with gorgonzola sauce, ahi carpaccio, jalapeno yellowtail, locals only.  Ohhhh My God....  Soooooooo Gooooood!

And once again, we ended the night with some delicious cocktails at The Marquee!  Check out my blog from last time we were there!

Cupcakes & Champagne

So I am a wine club member at local beer and wine tasting room, Corks n' Crowns to be exact.  I know being part of a wine club sounds a little fancy, but for me it is to learn about wine and discover what I like.  My early experiences with wine included massive quantities of "Two Buck Chuck", boxed wine, and decanters of Carlo Rossi, which may have destroyed my palate more than anything.

Being a wine member at Corks (this is and how I will reference Corks n' Crowns from now on) gives me chance to try all types of wine from all over the world and really develop an appreciation of all types of wine and find my favorites.  In addition to the wine, it is just a really fun place to go.  I would highly recommend anyone in the Santa Barbara area to join, I have actually convince a few of my friends already.  All memberships include free tasting for you and a few friends every day you come in; who wouldn't love that!

My friend Bailey

A few months back Corks added Cupcakes and Champagne every Sunday to their weekly line up of events.  Our first visit was a blast, and if you asked me I would go every week.  The cupcakes are delivered to Corks, by Sugarcat Studios each Sunday morning.  I must say, the cupcakes were delicious, but do require an adventurous palate. 

The cupcakes included a Sharp Cheddar Cupcake with Honey Blue Cheese Frosting, Vanilla Almond Cupcake with Almond Buttercream and Granola Topping, and Egg Nog Cheesecake Cupcake with Brandy Cream Cheese Frosting.  They were all amazing, but the one I would love to have again is surprisingly the Sharp Cheddar Cupcake!  Ali Reide of Sugarcat Studios actually won Cupcake Wars with this treat the week before, and I totally know why.  It was so unique and tasty, anything that combines the sweetness of dessert and cheese always makes me happy.

Oh yea, the Champagne, it was good and who doesn't want to enjoy a beautiful Sunday morning sipping a glass of Champagne, or maybe three?

Check out some more wine tasting!