Are you on Twitter yet??  If not, now might be a good time to make an account, and if you are, you need to follow @Disneyland.  Not only do they let you know about deals around the resort and provide fun facts now and again, but at 12pm today they will be having their “first ticket giveaway” on Twitter!  I take “first ticket giveaway” to mean there will be others too.  So hurry up and add them and check in around noon for your chance to win.  I know I will cause my Annual Pass expires this month!

So hurry, cause it’s FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

For some reason, EVERY TIME we have enough rain to make the flood channels actually flow, at least one person decides to take a swim or something, causing your local fire fighters to get out the swiftwater rescue gear and get ready to get wet.

I ventured out after the big storms passed through to get some pictures of the flood channels FROM A SAFE DISTANCE when I noticed a fire engine on the Chapman Ave bridge over the Santa Ana River.  When I looked north, I could see flashing lights from other engines across all the bridges visible from that spot.  I found out later that 2 young teenage boys were playing in the water when they were swept away.  One boy was plucked out of the water just minutes later, but the other boy was not found.  He’s not expected to be found alive.

More information and pictures after the jump. (more…)

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.

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!!!

Camaro and a Transformer from the movie.

Love them cars and auto shows.  The OC Auto Show is one of my favs as it is small enough you can see it in one afternoon and still have seen it all.  The other nice thing about it is that it isn’t all concept cars so you have plenty of opps to kick tires, slam doors and sit in your favorite cars.  Well, mostly you can do that.  The exotics are still behind bars where you can only ogle them and lust deeply in your heart for a chance to place your rump in them and imagine the pure enjoyment of running one through the gears.

Probably the most popular showcase was the Transformer Camaro.  At that little spot people are qued up 20-30 deep waiting for their turn for a quick pick in front of the group.  On the sidelines were people equally deep trying to sneak in their own pic without the line.  What ever if you don’t mind other people in the pic with your loved one if it works for you it works for me. (more…)

The better half came home with a list of museums from her HR Department with FREE admission this weekend.  Its part of the MuseumsLA.org event that Chal over at LA Metblogs already posted.

My dilemma here is which museum do I visit.  Both the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art or Orange County Museum of Art will have no admission this weekend.  I get into great modern art installations almost as much as I enjoy great collections of old impressionists art.  With them both being free and only one play day this weekend I don’t which to chose – which do you recommend?

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)

Are you an artist? Do you live in Southern California? Do you have a recent work that hasn’t been shown at the IFAC? If you answered “yes” to all of those questions the Irvine Fine Arts Center just might have the exhibition you’ve been waiting for.

The Irvine Fine Arts Center presents All Media 2009, a juried exhibition open to Southern California artists. This show will feature two and three-dimensional art, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and digital media. The deadline for submissions is Monday, September 28,2009.

Click here for more more information regarding submission requirements and the entry form.

The All Media 2009 exhibition will run from November 20, 2009 through January 16, 2010 (or the 23rd … depending on which document you look at). The IFAC is located at: 14321 Yale Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604.

If your work is accepted to be part of the exhibition, please let us know. The OC Metblog readers and posters alike would love – I’m sure – to come out and show our support.

Not much gets past Jay Louis, the owner/author of the Hot Chicks With Douchebags blog. He even took notice of our little post a while back taking quasi-umbrage with his placement of OC as one of his “top five HCwDB areas”. So it should be no surprise that he (and his readers, of which I am one) found amusement in a bit of spam masquerading as reader-mail from the great city of Anaheim. He writes…

Reader Mail: Unclear on the Concept

[Image via HCwDB]

I’m very impressed with your bags. I think they’re perfect for the department stores, apparel and accessory retailers, gift shops and large chains we work with. If you can offer good pricing and if you’re interested in selling your bags to more stores visit us at

http://www.intostores.com/sellers.php

Sincerely, Kevin Sanderson
VP Merchandising
866-788-5799 (extension 3)
IntoStores.com
5753 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road
Anaheim, CA 92807

Hahaha. I feel the need to hang my head in shame, for I am from A-Ville and apparently, not only are we douche-ridden but we’re completely inept at spamming people. Of course, if it isn’t spam then I would love to see how they plan to sell these ‘bags’ in local retailers. I almost called to ask but alas cooler heads prevailed. Besides, I’m pretty sure you can already rent them by the hour but the cost to buy one outright is going to send you well into six digits.

[via HCwDB]

If you are looking for a nice day trip, from Orange County, and like the outdoors I recommend a trip to the beautiful Mount San Jacinto State Park in Palm Springs, to hike around on the trails. This is exactly what the husband and I did this past Sunday.

The hiking trails are easy, especially if you are just meandering and allowing all of your senses to fully absorb everything the forest has to offer. The senses go into overdrive the minute you step on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, this is especially true if you have a height thing, which I do.

Follow me after the jump for more photos and commentary.

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