To celebrate the last few days of my summer (umm, I go back to school on Wednesday to prepare for sorority recruitment and am so not ready for endless days of tanning and swimming to come to an end), my mom and I headed up the 101 to Santa Barbara for some of our favorites - shopping, eating great food, and visiting absolutely charming areas along the central coast.

We stayed at the Bacara Hotel just past UCSB, an Italian-style series of villas that lived up to my expectations in every way.

 Downtown Santa Barbara was as quaint and lovely as I had imagined from watching movies like It's Complicated, with strict building regulations keeping the classic Spanish-style buildings as the norm and ugly modern towers out.

And as a history buff, I always love a good Mission Trip! If you don't know about the California Missions or haven't visited any of them, you are totally missing out. They are probably my favorite historical places to visit in the Golden State.

On Friday we drove inland to Los Olivos, which is tiny but extremely quaint and has an almost midwestern sensibility to it (I told my mom that this little gas station - turned - cafe reminded me of the movie Cars) except there are wine tasting stands everywhere now that the Central Coast Valley has turned into another Napa.

Also we went to this place called Sides Hardware & Shoes; a Brothers Restaurant and I had the most amazing, artery-clogging burger of my LIFE and it was totally heaven - also, the restaurant is a converted hardware store so it's just really cute.

I'm back from my week-long trip to Switzerland with my mom and I must say I had the most amazing time! The chocolate, the architecture, the Alps! All of it was absolutely delightful.

Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland

Darling houses with bright shutters, including a pink and lavender combo that reminds me of my house :)

The medieval-era village of Stein on Rhine, decked out for the First of August (Swiss National Holiday)

Stein on Rhine

The old bridge in Lucerne; inside the bridge are hundreds of old paintings depicting historical scenes

A cool square in Lucerne, complete with picturesque cafe

All the buildings are painted or have bright colors, everything is so decorative!

See what I mean! A family tree displayed on the side of a building

A colorful outdoor market

The elaborate gold depiction of the Ascension of Mary at the Catholic Cathedral in Lucerne

Our last night in Switzerland. Such a beautiful place!

Me with Santa Monica beach as my background

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Beach

My little brother made it to the top of the ropes at Muscle Beach!

Pepperdine graduation overlooking the ocean. Absolutely breathtaking.