As my little Santa Barbara friend that I visited this last weekend would say… Get excited.

There are some ah-maze-ing and colorful pics coming not only from my trip last week to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, but also from Florida the week before.

And no, not because I’m good at taking pictures… because everything is so darn colorful there! A quick preview? Okay, sure.

First, a few days of work at Herita.ge Res.ource Ban.k where I took a client for the conference. It was a great conference and I got to see a bunch of people I only see a few times a year, so I always look forward to catching up. One more a few of us ventured in to Santa Monica and ate breakfast at Shutters, a most wonderful location for breakfast. And, by the way, they might have the best coffee I’ve ever had. Bold statement, I know.

But when LB picked me up, the fun really started! A great – and very unusual! – dinner at AOC in LA, and then back to the hotel for a good night of sleep. In the morning, with a brief interlude of a very stupid movie, we packed up and drove off to Santa Barbara, stopping for bagels and coffee, and maybe possibly an occasional impromptu photo shoot.

Later in the day we ventured to a few wineries (above), drove through the mountains. The day ended with a quick trip to the beach, a look/stalk of LB’s new house, and dinner and a movie.

More to come, pictures and all. And if you are wondering how much I had to psych myself up to actually post a blackberry-quality photo on my blog… yes, a lot. Don’t judge!