Happy Chinese Birthday to Ama!

Tomorrow is Ama’s Chinese Birthday (this year), but this year, we are celebrating Gramma Pearl’s American birthday (August 12) instead, when most of the family will be in sunny So. Cal.

As a mini-celebration, we traveled up to Santa Barbara for a day trip! Ever the perpetual party planner, Bro suggested yesterday that we go to SB today, since Ama’s simple wish was to go to the beach for a relaxing day. Dad and Ama got to the Westside around 8:30, and after a necessary Coffee Bean stop, we were well on our way. We hit a small bump in the road (when bro got caught for speeding!), but the rest of our commute was seamless. We arrived at Stearns Wharf a little after 10 AM, and sat down for a quick brunch. (Dad packed some fresh Vietnamese sandwiches and spring rolls. Here is a picture of the HUGE bird -- the size of a turkey, my bro said -- that kept an eye on us/our brunch.)

NOTE: My dad is like a wanna-be National Geographic photographer. He is always taking pictures of birds, wherever he goes! This time, he actually tried to take a picture with this sea gull, but he accidentally scared it off before the Kodak moment.

We spent about an hour checking out the souvenir shops on the Wharf. I'm not big on souvenirs (I have long since quit collecting shot glasses), but I happened to find a beautiful magnet of a sea turtle printed on a mollusk shell. I got my bro's second opinion and quickly purchased that and an ornament for Gramma.

2nd NOTE: Our fridge magnets are soOoOOooO tacky. We have about 8 Panda Express, 4 Lucille's Steakhouse, 2 RESET, 5 non-profit organization magnets...and then 2 souvenir magnets (Hawaii and France). My new, ongoing mission is to replace those ugly magnets with nicer ones. This is a great start. BF even noticed right away (and then called me crazy, as usual).

Afterwards, we hopped on a city shuttle for fun. It cost just a quarter per person and we got a ride from the Wharf, all the way to Downtown and back. We hopped off a little earlier to do some window-shopping, and then trekked back to my car and drove up literally a block and a half to go to the SB Winery. We didn't know it was that close, plus we fooled Gramma into thinking that our car was 2 blocks away, when it was really 5 long ones.

The winery was when things got wild! Well, for Birthday Gramma. :) Bro and Gramma sampled a variety of 6 wines...and Gramma got lovely tipsy between the 2nd and 3rd sample. It was too cute for words. She even posed a few times!

We left shortly after and headed to Brophy Bros. for a late lunch/early dinner. The wait was a crazy 45 minutes, so we checked out the shops there and Gramma tried on a few hats, but didn't find one she liked.

Our meal was a hefty, yummy one. Between all of us, we family-styled the following: hot combination platter of appetizers (including baked oysters and clams), seafood medley chef's salad (it wouldn't be me if I didn't order some type of seafood medley!), and a calamari entree. It was soOOOOOOoo much food!

By then, we were pretty tired and headed back home. Good thing, b/c it took us 2 hours to get back to West L.A. There was soOOOOooo much traffic. :( All in all, we had a wonderful day at the beach...just a little farther North than Gramma expected. :)