With our activities mapped out to span the three day weekend and the reservations booked for a date night dinner out, we decided to take it one step further and look for a place to stay while "visiting". We logged into www.homeexchange.com and found the perfect place (http://www.homeexchange.com/show.php?id=198203) and guess what - IT WAS AVAILABLE! Just three blocks from the beach and to the center of town, how could we pass it up? We jumped at the opportunity! The couple who exchanged with us were lovely people... :)
We documented our three-day weekend with pictures. And if you're lucky, when you come visit us, we'll turn our staycation into your dream vacation (yes, I'm now a sales-woman who really wants visitors... so plan your Laguna Beach trip TODAY!)
Friday Evening:
- Brownie Lovebug Madness: Scott and I checked in after a hard day's work at Temple Bat Yahm where close to 140 people showed up to Shabbat Under the Stars - about 80 people attended Shabbat dinner (craziness!). To celebrate, we baked some reduced guilt chocolate brownies from Trader Joes. We each then ate one. (No picture to document Brownie Lovebug Madness enjoyment. Just picture a pan of brownies and me and scott eating one... on a plate with fat free whipped cream.)
- Woke at 8:00am and headed to The Wedge to watch the surfers/boogie boarders play in 20-25 ft waves off the coast of Newport Beach. Due to the winter storm off the coast of Antarctica, massive waves were hitting soCal up the coast and we were told that waves like this don't come as often as you would think. We had to take advantage of checking out the sights. Waves like this make you scared to go into the water ever again. But- look how gnarley that is!! And yes, that is a boogie boarder riding the wave in the last picture.
- Next staycation activity was the farmers market. A bonus about home exchange is that there is a kitchen! It was time to stock up on produce. For a weekend all about us, it's perfect that we bought heart plums. Not only are they delicious, but they're super cute since they are shaped liked hearts!
- Now it was time for a little bit of fun. The afternoon's activity was mountain biking. We took a Laguna Beach Transit bus up to the Laguna Canyon Wilderness Park at the Top of the World and rode around the sandy mountain bike/hiking trails. What a different experience biking on sand! Much harder than biking in Frick Park. We stopped along the way to take pictures of the sights. Scott is so happy that I do these things with him and that I enjoy it. The smile plastered on his face the whole time was priceless. It was nice to get away from the materialistic Orange County to be surrounded by nature. The trails were almost completely empty. Sadly, we didn't come across any mountain lions. I still want to see one - from afar, of course.
- After mountain biking, it was time for lunch and a little r&r. What better place for some relaxation than Main Beach - only 3 blocks away. It was a little chilly near the ocean so hoodies and sweatpants were acceptable attire at 4pm. Needless to say, we didn't go into the water, but sitting by the ocean reading a magazine was just what we needed after the mountain biking
- Then it was time to shower and to make dinner in our staycation home exchange kitchen. The gadgets this couple have are so fun to play with - they must be getting married soon! We had a lavish meal of meat, couscous, and asian broccoli with a side salad. Delicious!
- We completed Saturday with a trip to the best gelato shop in Laguna Beach and a movie on the couch. Of course, I fell asleep before it was over - as always.
- We are so lucky to know the people we know through my job! I work with some FANTASTIC volunteers who make my job worth it. One of my favorite volunteers, Adrienne (and her husband Neal) gave Scott and I their Anaheim Angels Club seat tickets for the 12:35pm game. Scott has been talking about going to a game since we moved here. The game itself was low scoring - but the people watching was great! Thank you so much for allowing us to check something off our "California To-Do" list, Adrienne!
- Following the game, since we were so close to walmart, we went to pick up outdoor chairs to match that table that we bought with the Federation gift card I received before moving. They match perfectly! O, and the shiny thing in the background - we'll get to that...
- After getting back from the chair purchase, we went to the FREE Laguna Beach tennis courts to work on our game. Scott and I have recently picked up the sport. We're not good. My game improves everyday and Scott can pretty much beat me every game because he has a good serve. Gotta love these free activities!
- Sunday night was spent making a delicious homemade pizza and playing chess... Another game Scott likes to beat me in...and if you know me, you know I'm super competitive. Scott and I don't play chess anymore.
- On the one day when most of the country has off from work in honor of Labor Day, it rains in Laguna Beach. It was extremely unusual. See, I think I figured out why rain freaks Californians out... Hear me out. The reason is because unlike the east coast, Californians don't have to look at the weather multiple times a day to know "what it's like outside." Everyday, the temperatures are pretty much the same. Scott and I have discussed that the reason the meteorologists on the news are so ditzy and dress like hussies is because it's not hard to say "it's sunny and 72 today and will stay like this for the remainder of the week" and the news needs some entertainment value for people to tune in - even if that comes from hooker meteorologists. Regardless, it's not that Californians freak out when it rains as much as they are just surprised that it's precipitating. It's a huge shock to them that it's ACTUALLY raining since "that never happens here." This somewhat foiled our plans to go to the beach - but it wasn't a waste of a day.
- We made a pact that by the end of the weekend, we were going to buy outdoor chairs AND buy a grill. If we didn't go out to buy it due to lack of funds, we were never going to. We don't want precious grilling hours to pass right by, so we bit the bullet and bought one. That is the shiny thing in the picture above. It was pretty much half off. It's a beauty.
- After assembling the grill, it had cleared up and was time to go to the beach. I took a little power nap while Scott read - in our hoodies since the winds hadn't died down from the Antarctic winter storm. We spent about 2 hours there.
- After showering and getting ready, we headed out for our fancy date night at one of our favorite local affordable places. It was delicious and a great way to end our holiday staycation.
miss you all. promise to write more often.
