What a beautiful town! I did not have enough time to explore the streets, the shops, the beaches, the restaurants. I woke up early to catch the sunrise by the ocean:

This was a 30 minute walk from my hotel. I almost wish I took a taxi instead, because it was still rather chilly. Pretty quiet spot at 7AM, with a few joggers and 2 men practicing their boxing by the shores. There’s a pretty steep cliff drop off at the edge of the plants in the image above. Be careful – don’t text and walk around here, you might just drop off the edge.

We then had a long day of inspirational talks and discussions about female leadership in tech, followed up a team building event of painting and wine. Our group of 30 famished women were famished by 5, and we walked over to Zaytoon, a restaurant with a beautiful patio serving Middle Eastern food. First things first, drinks!

This was the one with elderflower, quite tart:

I had the mixed shawarma meats, which comes with rice and salad. The rice is mixed with spices, and THE FLAVOURS! It was actually quite a heavy meal, but before I knew it, I had finished it all. This combination of meat and rice is irresistible… Highly recommend visiting, for the food and the atmosphere.

I sat at a table of coworkers I had never met before in my whole entire life. They work out of the offices in America, and it was awesome to get their perspective on work, life, culture. There are struggles around the world, from natural disasters (mud slide recently in Santa Barbara) to more personal events at home, yet everybody stays so positive. It's very encouraging.

What did I learn from this trip?

- Traveling to the West coast is much more convenient than the East. It’s warmer, so there’s less to pack.

- I work with some smart cookies, men and women alike, and we all have a common goal which really brings us together.

- Attitude, stay positive, good things will happen.

Where to next???

Go Back to Goleta

After our late lunch of tacos at Lilly’s Tacos, we went to Hollister Brewing:



We had a cheese pizza, and some nachos. Of course, we had beer too, since we’re at a brewery! Food was good, maybe better than they would’ve been, if I had not finished my flight of beers already. The beer in the flight was warm… We asked the server, and she said that nothing could be done, because their taps are at that temperature. Gross, warm beer. I had a pint after, and it was in a chilled glass, which really helped. Beers are just OK... I would like to try other micro breweries in the area first.



Another case of food tasting better because of good company. It’s interesting that even though we had never had a full converesation before this trip, it felt so easy to connect with this group of women. Perhaps, it’s the mutual understanding that we’re all going through lots of change?

The Santa Barbara airport is full of character, with 5 gates packed under the adobe roof. Stepping outside into the sunshine and seeing the palm trees felt like I was walking into paradise! Too bad there was lots of work to do, and not much time for exploring…

Travelling for work means a lot of eating at restaurants, and sometimes, I have trouble keeping up with all the places we end up going to (just like I have troubles keeping up with all the emails this week). I landed at 10PM las night, and while things are still fresh in my mind, here’s the first meal in Goleta at Lilly’s Tacos:



They were $1.90USD each, I had 2, and the total in Canadian with the current exchange rate was just over $5.00CAD!!! I had the beef cheek, which wasn’t the most flavorful. The portions were not the largest. The salsa was fresh enough. Overall, average tacos for a great price. It’s a convenient spot for the offices in the area, especially for busy folks short on time. The tacos were ready before I had even finished punching in the pin for my VISA. We did also come by around 4PM and there were maybe 2 other customers, so the wait wasn’t long. Jack in the Box down the street was offering $1 tacos and Hollister Brewing also had tacos on their menu. Maybe try those out next time, and compare all of them!



Overall, less than mediocre tacos, but I was with an amazing group of ladies, so it made it more bearable.

On to dinner in Goleta…

I am at SFO!

My room at Hotel Nikko.

This will be a quick post, because I'm doing it on my phone, and I should probably sleep now so that I'll wake up on time tomorrow. The laptop lags like crrrrazy.

Used the Sephora 2016 birthday gift, which was a Fresh Soy face cleanser and the Rose Face Mask. The cleanser actually removes all the eye makeup too. The mask has pieces of rose in it, and smells pretty.

I like it, but I haven't decided whether I'd use it again. I'll keep using it for the rest of the time that I'm here.

Again, I'm glad the Internet exists and that it's easy to call through wifi.