Orange County Round Up, Part 1

I think it's about time that I share with you my favorite places in Orange County--the places that have fed me, nourished me, and kept me sane in this Republican bastion, the hinterlands of L.A., the place otherwise known as the Orange Curtain.

Granted, some parts of Orange County are bursting with flavor and culture like  Little Saigon in Fountain Valley or Santa Ana.  But this girl here is an L.A. girl at heart, and she happens to be living in the master planned city of Irvine aka Sterile City U.S.A.  So these favorite places have been hard earned and cherished, collected one at a time, gripped in a strangle hold during times of uncertainty.  You get my drift.

First, let's start off with two local cafes that a Newport Beach-ite recommended to me.  Gypsy Den and Alta Cafe.  Alta Den is located right off the bay in Newport Beach.  Don't let the wood-grain walls throw you off.  This little house turned cafe oozes character and charm.  The baristas are laid back and beachy cool and the proprietor will charm you with her British accent.  During the day, they can be quite anti-study people but the coffee is excellent (roasted on site) and the lunch sandwiches are gorgeous and affordable (especially the ginormous half sandwich with chips for $4.50).  The pastries haven't knocked my socks off but they're not bad.

Gypsy Den is a little less cool because, well, it's fabricated.  It's decorated with wall tapestries and oodles of vintage frames, paintings of nude women, and other paintings that you remember thinking was really ugly and dated at your grandparent's house.  But you know what, when you're in Orange County, you take your coffee with character however way you can.  It's the Disneyland effect.  Gypsy Den is located in two places: The Lab in Costa Mesa and the Art District in Santa Ana.  I like both for different reasons, though the Santa Ana one is cooler for being in a historic downtown area.  The food is yummy (though their chili and soup is lackluster), their Pirate Chai is truly worth its reputation, and their outdoor dining actually makes for a great dinner party of 4-8 people.  They even serve wine.

And lastly, I leave you with my all time cherished find.  Are you ready?  This will be it for now until Part 2.  This place is....

located in Crystal Cove

involves big hunks of cake or bricks of creme brulee bread pudding

a dinner to boot

a view of the ocean

A beautiful courtyard and patio seating

all for $9.99

It's called Pacific Whey Cafe.  Every day after 3pm, they have a dinner and dessert special for $9.99.  You get to pick one of seven different freshly made dinner options (like lasagna, meatloaf, fish'n chips, chicken pot pie, pasta) and any dessert out of the monstrous case of desserts.  And let's say you're full and you just want a coffee and something sweet.  No problem, all desserts are half off after 3pm.

I stop by here every time I come back from Laguna Beach after seeing my spiritual director.  The drive up Pacific Coast Highway takes my breath away and as the golden California sun sets over my beloved beach, I get to journal, eat, reflect, and collect myself for the week ahead in gratitude.  This is when I feel so lucky to be alive and lucky to live in Orange County if just for that moment.

Tune in for Part 2 Orange County Round Up!

Alta Cafe

I'm at Alta Cafe in Newport Beach and I love it! It's in this cute little house on a closed off street with loads of character and now I can breathe a sigh of relief because I didn't think a place like this could exist 10 minutes from where I live in nearby Sterile City. Nelly Furtada is on overhead.

p.s. I have a new haircut and it makes me feel like a new person.

Tuesday in L.A.

picture by davidagalvan

This afternoon, I met up with my college friend Theresa in L.A. She is 5 and a half months pregnant and visiting from Singapore. Her baby bump was so cute. I took her to Casbah Cafe in Silverlake for a bohemian tea and catch up time. We had iced coffee, iced fresh mint tea, and a plum tart that was overpriced but absolutely delicious. It made me want to make this plum cake that I saw recently. Later, we joined our husbands at Chichin Itza for a yummy Yucatan dinner.

Then for a non-edible last course, Theresa and Carl took us to his brother's 8th floor rooftop apartment in the Pico/Arlington area and showed us a 360 degree view of Los Angeles. J. and I gasped. It was amazing. We watched the sun set, reveled in the view, and talked about moving there.

Surprise friday

picture by StevenM_61's

I forgot how fun it is to do something unexpected and say "yes" to an idea. After searching fruitlessly for the right cafe in Newport Beach, I sat in traffic to hit up some favorite spots in Long Beach. I ate a bean taco, potato taco, and fish taco at Hole Mole. I sat outside and licked my fingers and spooned salsa into my mouth and watched people wash their cars across the street. Then I decided, hey, why not? and drove my car over after my meal to run around before the timer timed out, foam bursting out of my brush and hitting my face and shoulders. It was wet and fun and sweaty. Now I'm drinking a ginger peach iced tea at Portfolio, an artsy air conditioned spot in the Arts District. Life feels good. And that all happened for less than $10.

The OC: Officially gotten good

I think it's safe to say that Jacob and I have officially gotten good at hanging out with each other in the OC.

The first few months of marriage were spent at our laptops looking around, saying, "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know, what do you want to do?"
"I don't know, there's nothing to do in the OC."
"Dammit. I miss LA!"
"I know, me too."
"Sad."
"Yeah, sad."

It all started with the 4th of July when noone wanted to hang out with us. Noone wanted to grill with us or see us in our bikini and speedo and go to the beach and prance around. Why, I wonder? Noone wanted to buy fireworks and light them up. Noone.

4th of July is a sad holiday to be alone.

We decided to make the best of it. We were determined to have fun on our first 4th of July as a married couple. So the first thing we did was get into the biggest fight we have had since tying the knot, complete with waving hands, the D word, rolling eyes, stomping off, getting space and canceling the whole thing.

Then we decided to be friends again and went to the beach. It was way too windy and cold and sandy, something Jacob realized as soon as he jumped into the ocean and ran out with a grin of alarming proportions. Yeah, all those other people in there, hon? Those are the crazies with insanely warm blood. If you were a southern california native, you'd know that.

We laid out on our towels shivering, getting sand in our Vernor's ginger ale and eating sandy Sweet Maui chips and unsuccessfully moving the umbrella in 12 different positions to thwart the wind. An hour and a half later, we decided to call it quits. I was wearing my navy blue swimsuit under an army green jersey spaghetti strap dress and the only thing Jacob had to offer me was this boxy white t-shirt with Chinese calligraphy and a dancing horse on the front. Important note: he took it from his Kansan grandmother's closet. The t-shirt collar came up my neck, the shoulders kept going when mine stopped, and it stopped short at my natural waist. The whole thing looked wrong.

Jacob on the other hand was wearing silky brown fisherman pants from Thailand and a retro button up light blue shirt with thick rimmed glasses. Earlier when we passed a Hare Krishna dude rattling a tambourine on the street corner, we both looked at each other and realized, umm, you look like a hare krishna dude, dude.

We went to the car and ate the rest of our snacks in the front seats. Then we rolled down the coast through the interconnected parking lots until we had to exit. We were quite proud that we had figured out how to cruise through all the state beach parking lots and find a bathroom with no line.

We proceeded to buy fireworks at a booth in the parking lot of Norm's. I detest Norm's because I have this very vivid memory of my brother's friend Chucky cutting into a steak late at night only to reveal fluorescent orange flesh. I kid you not. Well, Jacob luurves Norm's with a passion so we sat down for a piece of pie and coffee. And this is where my freak flag came out.

Ladies and gents, I lost it in the best way possible. I knew I looked like an idiot with a chinese grandma t-shirt, I had sand in my hair, we had at least 6 more hours to go of 4th of July celebration, and I was sitting with my hare krishna look alike partner in Norm's. I started tooling around. I began to sing, talk in strange voices, make up stories, and engage in inappropriate straw shenanigans. And at that moment, I realized I had come across something big, something crucial to the success of my mental sanity and emotional happiness here in the OC. It was the power to create fun when there's nothing to do--something I have long admired my friend Allie for being able to do but just thought she was like that because she grew up in Arkansas. I guess the OC is now my Arkansas.

The night proceeded. We stopped by the 99cents store across the street and bought a box of Tony Chachere's gumbo mix, El Pato hot sauce, and a book called Saints and Animals. We ran around our housing complex, we cut through the communal gardens and ran up the hill for a panoramic view of all the fireworks in the OC. Then we ran back down and cut through the communal garden only to have to pee really bad and well, I won't say any more about what happened to the arugula. Then we lit our fireworks, danced around, gave each other high fives, saw some leftover cheeseburgers in the trash and drove to In-N-Out for our 4th of July burger. We fell asleep utterly satisfied with our 4th of July.

So that's the secret folks... or is it still convoluted? The secret to the OC (sidenote: especially if you don't have money and can't shop) is treating it like the plains, the midwest, the upper peninsula, arkansas, any rural area if you will. You have to unhinge, fly the freak flag, and learn to be your own best friend, stand up comedian, dance partner, storyteller, and mischevious partner in crime. You've got to learn the art of tooling around.

As Allie's mother once said, "You're only bored, if you're boring."
Learn to not be boring and you will never be bored again.