A Dog's LIfe

Our lovable pups. They fill our hearts with joy and our home with hair. Most of their days are spent protecting our home (with loud barks) from friendly puppies, walking their own humans across the sidewalk in front of our house, napping and sunbathing on our studio sofa in the front room, and relentlessly begging for food (Rusty) or toys (Kona).

Due to the excessive heat, we've given up on walks and have been taking the boys to the park for a good round of frisbee - where Kona leaps to astounding heights as he catches the frisbee that we've thrown from shady comfort under the trees and where Rusty happily sniffs his heart out among the bushes. Nothing expresses their joy and sheer exhaustion better than the picture below, taken immediately upon returning from the park. Both are obviously panting and drooling EVERYWHERE. Once again, I am thankful for moisture resistant bamboo flooring.

This happy state lasts for about 15 minutes if you're Kona, upon which he is back up and ready for the next game of fetch. Rusty, on the other hand, remains perfectly happy for hours on end snuggled up in a soft throw next to one of his humans. Is it just me, or are our dogs super cute???

Little Mike ... AKA Cousin Mike ... AKA Smitty

We love family! Needless to say, we were super duper excited to welcome our Cousin Mike to sunny, beachy, southern California - where its possible to spend the morning snowboarding at Bear Mountain before heading back for beachside cocktails at sunset (Next time Mike! We're doing it!) - where it's possible to attend ball games at any of three MLB parks on any given day - where delicious Mexican burritos are simultaneously authentic AND sanitary (most of the time) - where you're equally likely to enjoy a balmy summer day in August, December, or February - where 70 degree is considered cold and worthy of breaking out a North Face jacket (worn with rainbow sandals on your feet, of course).

Wanting to show Mike a good time, we helped him experience as many southern Californian joys as possible, beginning with burrito after burrito, a night out at Laguna (refer to below birthday post), two ball games at Petco Park and Angels Stadium, beaches galore, tour of Oakley HQ and peddle kayaking in Newport Harbor. As a result, I am now about 8.5 shades darker than I was five days ago, a huge fan of the 5 for $5 deal at Petco, and an even huger fan of Cousin Mike! Come back soon cousin! You are always welcome here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. PORCELLI!

Words can not express the joy that this lovely couple has injected into our lives. First of all, they are a great couple AND they like to hang out with us AND we like to hang out with them - a surprisingly difficult combination to find in friends nowadays. Second of all, Jana loves many of the same things I do: corepower yoga, food, all things French or Franco, spirituality, ambition, travel, champagne... the list goes on and on. Third of all, this couple includes Porch, who is both wildly entertaining and good-hearted, whether he means to be or not. This is why we were ecstatic to join in on Jana's celebration of HER first 29th birthday. Time will only tell how many more times the two of us will turn 29 again (and again... and again).

The birthday intended on a super-fun, super laid-back bonfire at Aliso (the beach, not the city) - except for one minor detail = bonfire nazis. Groups of tourists and anti-tourist-locals who troll the local beaches for open bonfire sites from the unreasonable hour of 6AM and stake their holdings until dusk via tag-team guarding. So, a bonfire was absolutely out of the question. Not to worry! A simple circle of chairs, sans bonfire in the center, is still fun when in good company. So we ended up with a fun beach day, pow-wows around a ledge packed with food and champagne in a can (thank you Mr. Coppola) and confetti cupcakes. yum!

Mrs. Porch - I hope you had a fantastic birthday. You are loved - not just by us either! By everyone who strolled through to wish you the best year of your life!

My Very First 29th Birthday... Part Deux

You know me... I'll use any excuse to spend some more time with my lovely friends. And few excuses are better than birthdays! Hence, a delightful dinner at the Zinc Cafe in Laguna Beach (perfectly refreshing gazpacho + potato arugula pizza + swanky white ... just in case you were wondering) followed by fun times at Ocean Ave, a "brewery," in quotes because I've never actually consumed a pint of their brew, nor do I ever remember anyone ordering one during our numerous visits over the years. Weird, right?

Speaking of weird, I once believed that I had a rather unfortunate super power to magnetically attract every weird-o within a 10 mile radius. This night was no exception. The evening began with some fantastic jazz by a trio who must have been playing together for the at LEAST 60 years... seemingly weird but actually delightful and relaxing in the best way. The weird part began a passer-by found the trio equally delightful and relaxing but did not want to come in for a glass of wine or a delicious bite to eat. So she just enjoyed the music from the other side of the hedge about 1.5 feet away from the keyboardist, swaying to the melody to the very last drop, when the trio announced their last song. It was funny for the first five minutes, amusing for the two songs that followed, and definitely creepy for the remaining 20 songs.

It doesn't end there. We finally get to Ocean Ave and the only other people there are 40-50-somethings. It seems that one of these little princesses were out past her bedtime. P.S. If in 25 years, you find me even slightly resembling this pretty gem, PLEASE INTERVENE!

I don't mean to be a jerk. I promise. But some things just beg to be shared. I'm happy to say that I had a wonderful night in the company of fantastic friends. Birthday mission accomplished!

The Dirty Thirty... feat. Chad Dains

It's happening more and more... our friends are beginning the long descent over and down "the hill" towards experience and maturity, if you can call it that! Of course, exiting your 20s entitles you to a big bash, which our friend Chad executed in style, thanks to his loving and extremely organized wife. We made it out for one day and one night of this precisely planned weekend, but keeping partying in Vegas short and sweet is just that, short and sweet. We first enjoyed a warm day by the pool at the Red Rock Resort and Casino. Cherry Pool - extreme drunken debauchery fenced in to protect the kids and families outside at the main pool. A quick shower and we were back out for a delicious, home-cooked dinner at the Boyers. Roasted beef tenderloin accompanied by a plethora of fixings - yum. Followed by a plethora of desserts - fresh carrot cake, cheesecake, strawberries and cream - triple yum.

Then, the second night of partying began, complete with party bus chauffeuring us to Las Vegas' finest: Frankie's Tiki Room (think Royal Hawaiian, pre-renovation and in all its ghetto-fabulous glory), Caramel, and The Bank. The amazing thing was that all of this went smoothly - Blake left nothing to chance. So we returned, safely, back at our hotel in Summerlin at the not-so-wee hour of 4:30AM and planning to wake up again at 5:20AM to pack and ready ourselves for a 6AM airport shuttle for our morning flight back home. Yeah right. Bobby drank enough to think he could actually do this with a smile on his face. Yeah right. I knew better, so after watching Bobby gracefully lay his handsome head to rest, I hightailed it back down to the casino floor for some good, old-fashioned single deck blackjack. It was fun. Waking Bobby up an hour later was not, but that's neither here nor there, so I'll end with this:

Happy Birthday Chad! It was too much fun!

my very first (of many, I'm sure) 29th birthday

Today was a good day: quiet, relaxing, and full of good food. In case you didn't already know, I spend most of my time dreaming of and planning the next delicious bite of food I will consume. And when I'm not eating, I make every effort to be sleeping. So it made complete sense to spend my birthday participating in my two favorite pastimes - eating and sleeping.

I spent the morning nursing a tall cup of perfect hubby-made coffee while attending to non-birthday related matters (property management - yuck! and bills - double yuck!). This was promptly followed by a leisurely drive up PCH to Zinc Cafe in Corona Del Mar, where I obsess over the menu upon each visit by walking between the deli counter of prepared salads and entrees and scrutinizing each item on the printed menu overhead. (The servers love that I do this because they have about a million better things to do than watch me make up my mind.) I finally decided on the daily special: summer salad of hardboiled eggs, steamed fingerling potatoes and haricot verde, Kalamata olives, heirloom tomatoes layered with slices of goat cheese, and herbed cottage cheese over a bed of fresh butter lettuce and dressed in a shallot vinagrette. I also helped myself to a cup of the chili, which comes with delectable knot of garlic bread, and a Zinclini - my new favorite cocktail of fresh raspberry puree, peach-orange juice, and sparkling wine. Mouth-watering? Yes please!

Our delightful lunch was followed by a trip to Sprinkles for a red velvet cupcake for now and a raspberry cupcake for tomorrow's breakfast. What? Cake for breakfast is normal... The best part was running into Evie at the plaza. Cupcakes and family - a perfect combination.

Dinner followed a long, long nap. We opted for an intimate family dinner on the patio at Sol, except this place is BUSY! I don't think it's even been open for two months and it's popping off! It's easy to see why - the interior is simultaneously cozy and stylish, with many rustic accents and crafty furniture. The cuisine is fresh, inventive, and sourced with sustainability in mind, playing off traditional Baja fare. Fantastic guacamole sol, with mangoes and goat cheese... sweet and crispy fried calamari... super flavorful baked shrimp scampi... and uber-fresh fish tacos with all the fixings. The cocktails are fancy too! They offer refreshing beeritas (the equivalent to three margaritas topped off and a bottle of inverted beer) and various martinis. All delicious. It was definitely a wonderful meal! Check it out and spread the word. I'm hoping this place sticks around, it's that good.

All of this was courtesy of my perfect husband, who took the day off of work, just to do all the little things we haven't been able to recently. Thank you husband, you are lovely.

Camping Trails

Another fantastic weekend with friends! We ended up at Campsite 106 at Trails (aka San Onofre State Beach Park), right next to Trail 4. The weekend raised a few realizations:

• Our friends are awesome. Even in a cramped campsite, half of which was ON TOP of a parking space and placed about 60 feet from the freeway, we had way too much fun.
• S'mores around a campfire = heaven. They're pretty good all the time, but around a campfire?? Utterly delicious.
• Living in southern California is fantastic. FANTASTIC. I officially subscribe to the belief that people come here to vacation from all around the world with good reason.
• We do not appreciate living here enough! More time at the beach and in the ocean please!!!!

p.s. that's my handsome hubby on the far right in the water and Kolby in the center. by the way, "where's Kolby?"

On Vacation From The Comfort Of Home

Have you ever pretended to be on vacation in your own hometown? No?!? Well, you SHOULD because it is fantastic! How did this magical weekend occur? Well... it began with a long overdue visit from our fantastic friends, Pat and Molly, newly engaged and glowing white hot, from both loving bliss and a severe lack of sun at their digs in SF. We had the pleasure of spending every single waking moment with this adorable couple, as happy in love as we are. So we filled our time with a fantastic show at the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters, beach time on the Peninsula (meaning that everyone swam and basked in the sun while I hid under my towel from over-carmelizing into an extra dark chunk of coal), multiple ping-pong tournaments to the heavenly sounds of a JT concert on DVD, sunset cocktails at Las Brisas and shopping at boutiques throughout Laguna. But I digress, what did we fill our stomachs with? Mouthwatering sandwiches from Champagne's Deli, where meats are over-roasted and breads baked from their own kitchen... Refreshing ice-cold whitefish ceviche and creamy guacamole at Las Brisas... Satisfying tuna melts from Big Belly Deli (where'd I'd ALWAYS rather be).... Eggs Benedict and Belgian Waffles at the Beach House in Laguna... various mediterranean delicacies at the Panini Cafe... and a classic diner breakfast from the Galley Cafe. At the end of the weekend, we felt like we had just returned from a relaxing weekend spent somewhere else in the company of great friends. Can't wait to do it again soon... (that means, COME BACK PAT AND MOLLY!!!)