I’ll be honest and say I haven’t been exposed to much wildlife ’round these parts. I still get excited when I see rabbits and squirrels. So when we saw deer a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t stop snapping pictures.

We were scoping out Riley Wilderness Park for an engagement photo shoot and I am so happy our photographer pointed this place out. Also known as Wagon Wheel Park it is off of Oso Parkway just before the entrance to Coto de Caza and its awesome. There are short trails to walk on or to ride,wildllife to see and hardly any people the couple times I’ve been.

We must have seen more than 20 deer roaming around. So if it must be 80 degrees in November you might as well make the best of it and head here for a picnic or an early morning walk.

Well, it looks like The Block @ Orange is really classing the place up with this coveted retailer moving into the old Hilo Hattie store in the center of the mall.

This huge retail space is perfect for retailers such as H&M or perhaps Barnes & Nobel but the prevailing wisdom at Mills Management seems to be the anything is is better than nothing approach. Hence this upscale high-end retailer named Warehouse Furniture Outlet. And to think, just recently things were looking up with the opening of Neiman Marcus Last Call, Converse and Off Broadway Shoes. Hmmmmmmm, maybe they’ll put a 99 Cent store in the old Steve and Barry’s space. Oh yes, wouldn’t that be nice?

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by suprdave89.

I saw this in the sky over Orange a few hours ago. I didn’t know people still did skywriting! I have n’t seen it in years!

I can’t figure out if they’re saying “S ‘heart’ S” or if it’s “SOS” but a heart for the O? Whatever. I’m sure it was very special to the person it was meant for.

That’s right folks.  The legendary Kogi BBQ, which has made quite the name for itself in Los Angeles for having amazing Korean BBQ with a bit of a Mexican flair (Korean short rib taco anyone??), and also for utilizing their Twitter account @kogibbq to tell folks where they are at the last minute, is here in Orange County!!!  A special thanks to Jodi from LA Metblogs for pointing this out to us. Their newest truck, affectionately named Naranja (”Orange” in Spanish for you multi-lingually challenged), is making it’s way around our fair side of the curtain.

It looks like they hit up 2 locations each night.  They have the week ahead planned on their website, but it is strongly suggested you follow them on twitter as the locations can change or as I’m reading, sometimes the addresses aren’t quite right.

I don’t know about you, but I am SUPER DUPER excited about this!!!!!  It looks like they’ll be at “Prim Jewelers – 1736 E. Meats Ave, Orange”  from 10:30-Midnight this Wednesday, you’d better believe I’ll be there!

Thank you Kogi!!!

According to this article, the nudists of San Onofre have suffered a setback in that the State Supreme Court has refused to hear their appeal.

Now, my views on this whole thing are pretty well known on this blog, and I don’t necessarily take pleasure in the fact that it’s now pretty official that nudity is no longer allowed at San Onofre.

But my point all along has never been a condemnation on nudists or nudity, but rather the fact they were doing it on public land, which is not the same as private property, and thus one cannot always do what one wants to do.

So, we will see if they go the route of civil disobedience or if they will simply choose to find a legal and more appropriate place in which to practice their preference.

According to this article, Newport Beach officials are considering getting rid of 66 or so fire pits along the coast from the Balboa pier to Big Carona.

I just so happen to LOVE the fire pits.

I don’t know that I’ve used the ones in Newport as often as the ones around Huntington Beach, but my memories of them stretch back to high school, where we would all gather around and, uh, innocently have a good time.

Really, we weren’t all that bad.

But the rings have always been magnets for partygoers, as there is something sort of hypnotizing about a huge flaming pile of wood blazing at sunset and beyond.

Now we use the fire pits as a family.  My son loves nothing more than to hang out, play in the sand, have a picnic, and help his dad build the fire.

I hope that Newport doesn’t ban the use of the rings, but instead beefs up enforcement. 

And let’s hope that Huntington Beach doesn’t get any bright ideas from Newport, either.

As you probably know I grew up back east, but what you probably don’t know is that I absolutely LOVE autumn. I love seeing the leaves turn beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. I love that exquisite can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it scent that fills the air, which is crisp and cool and a nice contrast to the subtle warmth of the sun. I love breaking out my turtlenecks, wool sweaters and jackets. I love that with fall comes football season and tailgating. I love getting the season’s first snowfall. Of the four seasons it is by far my favorite.

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?

If you want some spooky spoilers, here’s a nice video of Disneyland’s Halloween Screams Fireworks!

This is Disney at its best people. If you haven’t gotten out to the park to see it, then you’re really missing out!

It’s Friday, so that means it’s my time to post about OC’s local nude beach again (har, har). The rally on Sunday the 13th was a smashing success. If you’re interested, check out the Register’s article for all the deets. For those of you who still don’t understand what all the ruckus is about, The Friends of San Onofre have created a nifty YouTube video explaining why they feel keeping the south end of the beach clothing-optional is important.

Do you think it’s important to maintain the traditional clothing optional status of the beach or do you think it’s time for a change?

It’s not too late!  You can still sign up here to keep our world-famous, beautiful beaches of Orange County clean.

And yes, that should include the nudists, too! ;)

(photo courtesy of DHN via Wikimedia Commons)