If your Labor Day plans usually involve a buffet of beer, burgers and beans, you may not be up for the Pier to Peak Half Marathon which takes place on August 31 and certainly looks like quite a challenge on paper.
Participants will start out on Santa Barbara's Stearns Wharf and will make their way up through the city. Try not to stop for photos as you pass by the Santa Barbara Mission--though you might stop in and pray for a little extra energy. The race ends when you reach La Cumbre Peak and start to enjoy views of the city and the Channel Islands while you try to catch your breath.
If this isn't your idea of a relaxing holiday weekend, then take the opportunity to visit over 40 studios during the Santa Barbara Studio Artists annual tour. A $20 ticket will get you into all the studios and a Friday evening reception, with proceeds supporting the town's arts fund. Artists on hand will be more than willing to explain their work and, we're sure, send you home with an expensive souvenir.
Come for the lush landscape or the cadre of bold-faced names--the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has both. Running January 24 to February 3, the festival's program is jam-packed with indie, world, short and local films. We think the real draw for this year's festival-goers, however, might have something to do with the 2008 festival's honorees: Angelina Jolie, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett and Ryan Gosling.
Of course, the adage holds true: Fame comes with a price. To watch the honoring of Angie at the city's Arlington Theater will set you back $75. Even the "cheapest" pass for the festival's movie screenings totals $297. There are two ways to do the SBIFF: Going for all-out extravagance, or sating your pop culture obsession.
Long distance lovebirds Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo took some time off last weekend to get away together. The two shacked up at Santa Barbara's nicest resort: Bacara. They spent the day in one of the 26 private cabanas, occasionally taking a dip in one of the resort's three infinity pools. Not too shabby.
Vanessa was spotted catching some rays while Nick was spotted doing his usual, checkin' out whatever T&A was in sight. We can only wonder what he's thinking about...Jessica? Jessica who?
How many lame jokes can we make about tennis matches or game, set, love in telling you about Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick's lovers' getaway? The king and queen of tennis took a break at the Bacara Resort outside of Santa Barbara, a beachfront property than earns highly varied reviews. The concept is fantastic, but some visitors believe the service doesn't equal the rather high price tag.
Still, it's a popular resort of celebrities and other A-listers who want to spend all weekend in a caban or on a massage table (the spa is a centerpiece). It's also a place for L.A. parents to send their kids, accompanied by nannies, of course. We know of at least one industry dad who sent his two daughters there every weekend with their nanny, with wads of cash and instructions to give the little ladies whatever they desired. The staff is made up primarily of UCSB students, and no Gaucho was shocked to hear that David Hasselfhoff "cut himself" "shaving" in a hotel recently. The man has been tearing up Bacara suites for years, ravaging furniture and savaging the minibar.
On-again off-again British twosome Sienna Miller and Jude Law (God, will she just find someone else already??) reportedly just hit California's gorgeous Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara for a little R&R and "couple time." (Read: bingeing, purging, and humping)
Apparently the two were looking for a little "summer lovin'" at the resort. We're sure that Jude managed to screw it up somehow amidst the 78-acres of private beaches and Frette-linen adorned balcony-rooms.
We'll keep you posted as to where the petite pair will surface to make up next.
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by kjb
