Well, not yet, the first week of December.

If you’re a frequent reader of this site, I’m sure you know the husband and I were looking to purchase a house. I say “were,” because we are no longer looking to buy for several reasons. Here are some of them:

• Didn’t want to deal with a Short Sale and the time period it takes to close escrow. Unfortunately, Short Sales are currently the norm;
• Not interested in buying a REO/Lender Owned property, they’re typically in need of thousands of dollars in improvements;
• We’re not the type of people to make a giant investment decision based on a 15 minute walk-through, which is basically what you need to do, if you like a house and want to get it … etc., etc.

So after months of looking and one more, which turned out to be final, disappointment we put looking on the back burner for a couple of months. We just needed a break. For us, wanting to purchase a house in the current market was very stressful, time consuming, and ultimately unsatisfying. Sure we could’ve settled, but we know we would not have been happy with our decision. Settling and compromising are two different things. The way I see it, settling is buying a house just to buy it (it’s a great price or it’s in a great neighborhood), whereas compromising is buying the house that might not have all of your must-have features (hardwood floors or a foyer). The bottom line, buying a home is a very personal thing and you should only do it if it feels right.

After our self-imposed house hunting timeout, we decided to continue to rent, but move out of our current place. We wanted something bigger and closer to the beach. Once we made our decision, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to find a house. We looked at several places, all found via craigslist, and signed a lease within a week. However, I’m not so sure that it would’ve been so easy had we not seen 200+ houses over the past several months.

The best thing, it’s exactly what  and where we were looking to buy. So, for us it’s a win-win. We got the house we wanted and get to keep our down payment in the bank. For all of you who are still looking to move to your ideal home in the ideal neighborhood my advice to you is to look at alternatives, it just might pay-off.

Laguna Culinary Arts

One of my favorite things to do on the last Saturday of every month is go to a wine tasting at Laguna Culinary Arts in Laguna Beach. For $5.00 LCA offers one-ounce pours of eight different wines.

I love going because I always find the atmosphere so relaxing (warm mustard-yellow walls, airy and rustic), the wine good (an excellent way to try new and/or different wines), the cheese wonderful (a huge selection from all over the world) and the staff very knowledgeable (they always describe the wines and cheeses).

The "white" cheese plate

LCA always has a “white” and “red” cheese plate to compliment the wines they are featuring in the tasting. The cost is $12 for two-three people and $18 for a plate that serves three-four people. Wines by the glass and bottle are also for sale.

I’m not an oenophile, by any stretch of the imagination I just enjoy wine. Full Disclosure: I pick my wine based on what the label looks like. I know, I know that’s probably blasphemous, but whatever.

So  mark your calendars now for Saturday, November 28, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m., which is when the next tasting will take place. Laguna Culinary Arts is located at 845 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 and their phone is 949.494.4006.

If you go or have been, let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as we do.

It is being reported that it is a 25+ acre fire that is out of control. However, no structures are currently in danger.  There are 100 OC firefighters fighting it with 100 more on the way. The cause is thought to be downed power lines, although this has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

Stay safe everyone!

I took the following photos from my porch.

Fire, as seen from my porch

View of the fire from my porch

As a huge sports fan I take offense to this. Tailgating, with alcohol, is part of the experience. Of course there are always people who drink too much and become belligerent and want to start a fight with anyone for any reason, but that can happen anywhere.

What everyone needs to remember is tailgating is about celebrating the commonality that is your team, which makes it a community. When you have a shared community you have respect, or should have, and that means respecting your fellow fans and the fans of the other team. I’m all for good natured ribbing of the rival team especially if they come into your stadium all decked out in their teams gear. It’s expected and if you don’t know this you’re very very naive. Remember though, mean-spirited barbs and violence is never appropriate.

Okay, end of my rant. Do you guys agree with me or the City of Anaheim?

Unfortunately, I can’t imbed this particular video from the ABC7 website (it was shot earlier than the live shot I saw), but click here to see the video/story.

The City of Irvine is taking a proactive approach in enlisting the help of residents in the prevention and transmission of influenza (flu) this season.

Click this link for information regarding the transmission, signs, symptoms, and tips on how you and your family can stay healthy, which will in turn contribute to a healthy community.

In addition to this letter, more information is available on the City’s web site www.cityofirvine.org and the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) web site http://ochealthinfo.com

Thank you for making your health and the community’s well being a priority.

Community Services Department
City of Irvine – One Civic Center Plaza
Irvine, CA 92606
949-724-6600
cs@cityofirvine.org

My new version of autumn/fall. The sun setting over Dana Point Harbor

Obviously living in Orange County many of these things don’t occur. We may only have two seasons, as a lot of people like to say … summer and not summer. However, it doesn’t take away from the best part of experiencing all four seasons as they do in other parts of the country. In my opinion, the best part of the seasons changing is the anticipation of the change regardless if it is traditional or not. And in my case, wearing a whole different wardrobe. I’m a sucker for any kind of black turtleneck sweater.

I’m totally digging the cooler weather we’re experiencing this week. While we don’t have trees bursting with vibrant colors and it’s not quite turtleneck sweater weather yet it is light sweater weather and  the air is crisp and cool. I can live with that.

So, OC Metbloggers, what is your favorite season? Do you share my affinity for black turtleneck sweaters?

Even the Ralph's in South Orange County root for the Steelers!

For a minute I thought I was in a Giant Eagle.

Go Steelers! They need all the help they can get. They’ve shit the bed the past two games.

image courtesy sodahead.com

I’m sure many of you know my fellow Metblogger Jon has a bit of a thing for Disneyland … as I’m sure many of you do too. I’m now going to say two things that most of you need to be sitting down for – thank goodness that you’re on your computer, the odds are in my favor you’re not going to collapse from a standing position. However, you may want to hold onto your desk – One: I’ve NEVER been to Disneyland, Disney World or any other Disney owned theme park; Two: I don’t really like Mickey Mouse or any of his cohorts. I’m a Scooby Doo kinda girl.

To leave a comment or vote in the poll read on …

I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m telling you all what some might consider a deep, dark secret – I have a sneaky suspicion there a born and bred Southlanders out there who agree with me on both admissions. Let me explain why I’m opening myself up to the verbal flogging that is sure to come. It all began a couple of months ago when I met my fellow bloggers for the first time and they were having Disney discussions. I came clean because I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. They were all appalled and no one more so than Jon. We met-up again last week and Jon’s shock and persistence only intensified since our last meeting.

Jon has extraordinary enthusiasm for all things Disney and just wants to share that enthusiasm with a neophyte and naysayer, such as myself. His enthusiasm truly is extraordinary. Seriously, he actually bounced (BOUNCED!!!) at the thought of taking me to Disneyland.

If you’ve read my author bio or some of my other posts, you know I’m from Pittsburgh. “My” amusement park is Kennywood and of course I’ve been to other amusement parks, but I’ve just never had a desire to make the trek to Florida to go to Disney World* even when I’d hear my school friends talking about family trips they took, over Christmas break or Spring break (the K-12 kind, not the college kind) or summer vacation. I just always had the impression that Disney is trying to be the anti-amusement park, you know, all that goody-goody crap … no alcohol, no grit, perfectionism to the Nth degree, it’s “the happiest place on earth,” etc.

I’m not exactly sure why I have such an aversion to all things Disney. I think now, it’s more an attitude of “can I go my whole life without setting foot in a Disney theme park?” and just avoiding it ’cause everyone is telling me how great it is. It’s kind of like when someone says don’t look you automatically look or don’t read that it’s the first book you go out and read, you know heard mentality. So instead of going I steadfastly refuse to go. It might help that I don’t have kids, but that doesn’t stop many adults I know from going.

So, here’s my proposal to you, our readers, tell me why I should go to Disneyland and I’ll seriously consider allowing Jon to escort me around and we’ll blog about it of course. If you really want to convince me to go you have to prove your point, none of this generic crap like “it’s fun” or “everyone likes it” or “everyone has to go once” or anything even remotely pedestrian. Not only will I not go, I might even throw-up in my mouth a little bit. I should also warn you I’m pretty jaded and cynical, which I’m sure you’ve figured out by now. So please, if you want me to go convince me via the comments section.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

* When you live on the East Coast this is the Disney you go to. I guess because it’s you can drive to it. However, that fact is debatable. My family (sister, mom and dad) took one and only one trip to Florida via the car. Everyone was miserable. This is not a hard and fast rule either, of course I know people that would fly (or drive, god forbid) to California.