August 2022

This was a Summer to make up for the past few when we had to cancel…had to pass…had to Zoom…when we chose to stay closer to home…so we went for it! I was an Italian major and lived abroad in Florence in college and have always dreamed of taking my family there…so we did it. We lived “la dolce vita” AND my Italian fluency all came back…I was so surprised (and proud of myself)…obviously I need to visit more often to remain “fluent”…it is probably because I am 1/4 Sicilian…

We met my parents in Italy at the start of the Summer and stayed with them in a little town about 45 minutes south of Florence called Greve in Chianti. The house was incredible and situated in the middle of thousands of grapevines, dirt roads, hilltop towns and it had a pool (and I don’t meany just any pool.)

I mean a POOL that topped all the Montecito estate pools I see on a regular basis. It was beyond…diving board, inflatable crocodile, endless views, wine cave, outdoor shower, ping pong table close by, perfect sun umbrellas, far enough away from the house not to disturb a nap… This POOL and secluded location proved very fortuitous when the whole family including my parents all contracted COVID for the first time.

We hunkered down, ate lots of pasta, sipped Aperol spritzes and wine, swam 100 times a day and soaked in the sun and all recovered fairly easily. After testing negative we continued on to explore Florence, Venice, Rome and unexpectedly due to flight snafus Freisling, Germany for 24 hours where we swapped out pizza and chianti for pretzels and steins of beer!It was a great trip and our return to Santa Barbara, as always was such a blessing to live in this place that many go to for vacation.

Back stateside…while the boys toiled away at Jr. Lifeguards, I was selected to be filmed for a Village Properties commercial and although I have not yet personally seen it on TV (as I would need to master our remote controls to do that…) but have heard around town that it is playing. The boys were featured in it too and were perplexed with the lengthy process and number of takes that ended up producing a 30 second advertisement. They were also shocked that the film crew brought trash to the beach to strategically place on the sand in order to redo the takes multiple times and said to me in quiet whispers, “But why Mom, there is always real trash to pick up like we do every time we go to the beach?” Out of the mouths of babes!  With their patience levels, Hollywood might not be in their futures which is fine by me! Click below to have a look…I think I will stick to helping people buy and sell real estate and leave the movies for the celebs…we had fun though, and isn’t that what counts?

Onward we go…finishing up the Summer…loving the beach…adjusting to the new market…advising clients…getting new listings ready for prime time…staying in touch…answering questions…enjoying life in Santa Barbara.

Thank you all for reading and Wyatt and Crosby will sign autographs later…

Elizabeth and her entourage