Filed under: Ordinary Life | Tags: architecture, Family, food, life, music, travel
Our quick get away to Arizona was a lot of fun despite the 105+ degree heat. It was fun catching up with family we haven’t seen in years. It was fun floating around in a giant pool. It was fun enjoying some great food. It was especially fun for me to see some of the amazing architecture and venues in the Valley of the Sun. You can check out some of my iPhone Arizona Trip Photos on Flickr
While I do love traveling, and especially a good road trip, it is good to be home now where it’s currently a beautifully cool 68 degrees. I was reminded of one of the reason why I love living here when I heard the music in the park next to our little place in Orange earlier. I always forget about the annual summer concert series on Wednesday nights in Hart Park until it’s about half way into the summer and I’ve already missed all the good shows, only hearing them occasionally from a distance. In case you live around here too, be sure and catch at least one of these.
2009 Concerts in Hart Park dates (thanks to oc.metblogs.com):
* July 8, The Wise Guys Big Band Machine – Big band/swing music
* July 15, The Fenians – Traditional and contemporary Irish music
* July 22, Stone Soul – Motown, soul and R & B classics
* July 29, Open Wide – Classic rock
* August 5, Crashdance – Top 40 dance favorites
* August 12, The Sam Morrison Band – southern classic rock
* August 19, The Hodads – 50’s and 60’s rock-n-roll
* August 26, Film at Eleven – Motown and R & B classics
Hart Park is located at 701 South Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
The music may be a little hit and miss for your taste, but it’s all free and free makes everything better, right? Are there any summer traditions you enjoy that make home just as sweet as a good trip?
Spending the weekend with family in Tempe, Arizona and decided to visit a place that Guy Fiere recommended. He’s the host of a show on the Food Network called Diners, Dives and Drive Ins. It’s a place in Glendale called La Piazza Al Forno.
The pizza was really good and the service was even better. We got the Itallion Stallion with a load of spicy meats, the Piazza Blanco with basil and white sauce and the Mediteranian with pesto and feta.
The place has a really comfortable and relaxed family feel. I’m sure that Guy’s feature on this simple brick oven pizza joint has helped business quite a bit. They’ve capitalized on it with a banner our front and literally putting Guy’s name on the place with his signature on the wall right by the front door. Have you ever gone to a place just because you saw it on TV?
Filed under: Extraordinary Life | Tags: entertainment, Family, food, Football, fun, life, travel, vacation
After wrapping up VBS last week at Calvary, I got to follow it up with a great weekend away. Leslie and I headed out first thing Saturday morning for San Diego.
We met up in Old Town with my brother Ty and his wife Shelley and our favorite nephew Connor, who had already been down in SD for a few days on vacation. From there we headed over to the harbor to go on a SEAL Tour. It’s one of these huge open-air bus/trucks that drive you through the city and then drives right into the water and becomes a boat to take you around the harbor. Our tour guide was really funny. The whole experience was like one big smile. (even though in the photo below, they’re both too busy looking cool bother with smiling)
After that we grabbed some good grub at Buster’s Beach House and Long Board Bar. The rest of the fam headed back to the OC and we spent the afternoon shopping and chillaxing (that’s a word our tour guide used, and Leslie immediately knew I wouldn’t forget it.)
At about 5 pm we got on the Green Line train from Old Town to …. Qualcomm Stadium! It was the very first game of the preseason with the Chargers playing the Cowboys. It was my first time going to an NFL game. We got there almost 2 hours before game time to take in all the pregame warm ups and see all the sites we could. Leslie had gotten us tickets as a gift for our anniversary back in July.
Sunday was perhaps the most relaxing day I’ve had all year. I felt a little twinge of loss for missing out on the big One Service we had at Calvary on Sunday to close out VBS. But, that feeling drifted away as I listened to the breeze blowing through the giant pine trees around the pool I was floating in.
We were able to extend the weekend into Monday as we celebrated Leslie’s grandma TooToo’s 90th birthday. Her family all got together in Laguna at Las Brisas for brunch. We just hung out all day with her and wrapped it up with dinner at Mike’s in Whittier. It was like a perfect Toot day and great way to end the weekend.
Last night Leslie and I went and had dinner over at our friends’ Andrew and Angela’s house. Good burgers and fries and some home made desserts. Then, today Leslie and I went and had breakfast at The Original Pancake House in Yorba Linda, which is ironic because it’s actually a chain of restaraunts that all have that title. It was pretty good and they’re actually putting one in Orange just up the street from our place so we’ll have to check that out once it opens.
After breakfast we went for a walk around the pond at Carbon Canyon Park. It was so beautiful out today. The time we were at the park was all blue skies with a cool breeze. About an hour after we got home, it started to rain. It just goes to show that timing is everything and you have to take advantage of good opportunities while you can.
I love having the time to do stuff like this now that my job has really changed. It’s so nice to be able to have an entire day each week with nothing to do but hang out. I don’t have to worry about setting up the stage or doing some event. It feels good and it makes some of the new pressures and issues worth it, knowing that I can build this margin into my schedule.
Last night Leslie and I went to Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen in Old Towne Orange to celebrate the four year anniversary of our first, blind date. We got a gift card from P Diddy at Calvary and decided last night was the perfect time to use it. Gabbi’s has a lot of buzz as a new, cool place to check out. It’s so cool they don’t even have a sign out front. So, we went with high hopes. And then…..
I tried calling ahead for a table the day before, but apparently they don’t take reservations. They do have “priority seating” though. A very loose term. We got there about 6:40 pm, but didn’t get our table until almost 7:20 pm. The chips and salsa were great. However, they couldn’t seem to figure out how to get a diet coke right at the bar since it’s so complicated – so I stuck with water. I soon discovered that almost everyone at Gabbi’s takes full advantage of the bar as the tables around us got louder and louder as more and more alcohol was consumed. By the time we got our food, the table of cackling, shrieking women next to us was out of control. It took away from what was really an aesthetically beautiful room.
So, the food – we shared the empanadas appetizer on the recommendation of our waiter. It was actually pretty good. I got the tacos dorados and Leslie got the enchiladas suizas. I thought the tacos were pretty good and had a unique flavor, but I thought the rice and beans were average if not sub par. Leslie was less than impressed with her meal, but she can be picky sometimes ; )
On first pass, I’d say Gabbi’s is overrated. But, we’re willing to go back again and try something different and maybe try to get there a little earlier to beat the crowd. In the end, I left last night thinking about how important it is to make a good first impression. No, matter how beautiful the space is, or how well planned out the menu is, or how well trained the waiters are, or even how much buzz you’ve generated in the community – each customer’s experience is unique and you only have that one shot to make a good first impression. I think that’s something we need to remember in the context of welcoming people into our churches. What are we possibly doing or maybe not doing that could be creating poor experiences for visitors on Sundays? What can we do to remove those obstacles so that people have the kind of experience we want them to on a more consistent basis?
