Hard at Work on Roxy's Best Of...Laguna Beach, California!

If you've been wondering why you haven't seen my usual several posts per day here at Roxiticus Desperate Housewives, it's because I've been hard at work on my new Roxy's Best Of... WordPress MU (multi-user) Community.

While dropping 300 EntreCards for Roxy's Best Of... for each of the past three days, I've learned how easy it is to get caught up in the "business of blogging" and forget that the content of daily posts is what keeps readers coming back.

Today, I'm blogging from our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, but my subject is my favorite beach on the West Coast: Laguna Beach, California. For the past four years, Rex and I have taken London and Maddie out to California for every February school break to enjoy our favorite art galleries, restaurants, and shopping in Laguna Beach, and of course, Disneyland in Anaheim. Hope you'll all drop by and check out Roxy's faves!

Outside the Roxiticus Valley: Roxy's Best Of...Laguna Beach, California

Art Galleries in Laguna Beach, California:

Pacific Edge Gallery has been a favorite since we bought our first Tom Swimm painting almost ten years ago. On this year's February break, we bought Oyster Bar (below) by Susan Cox and Rex found the perfect spot to hang it in our Roxiticus eat-in kitchen.

Across the street is the William Merrill Gallery, which I find to be a more "sophisticated," New-York-style gallery. We don't own any of their artists, but perhaps it is just a matter of time (and wall space).

I hope to take the girls to California one year in late July or August, in order to attend the Pageant of the Masters, a really cool event in Laguna Beach that I haven't been to in years, since we started our annual February break trips. The web site describes it as "ninety minutes of living pictures - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind." The first time I went, over 10 years ago, I was skeptical. I was picturing an Edward Hopper "painting" with a couple of actors hanging around a pool table, but the way to think about it is people as the pixels of the painting.

Restaurants in Laguna Beach, California:

Dinner at Sorrento Grille: Way too big delicious appetizers. The girls love the rack of lamb. We never save enough room for the Tin Roof Sundae dessert.

Sunday Brunch at Savannah Chop House

The Studio and The Loft at the Montage.

Where to Stay in Laguna Beach, CA:
Despite the fabulous restaurants at the Montage, the Montage is actually away from town, in Laguna Niguel, so our favorite hotel is the Surf and Sand in Laguna Beach. Visit Luxury Link and get a nice low rate for a room in the tower with a full ocean view. Perhaps most importantly, it is right across the street from Koffee Klatch.

Heads Carolina, Tails California

"Baby, what do you say we just get lost?
Leave this one horse town like two rebels without a cause.
I got people in Boston.
Ain't your daddy still in Des Moines?
We can pack up tomorrow.
Tonight, let's flip a coin

Heads, Carolina Tails, California.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
Heads, Carolina Tails, California.

We can load what we own in the back of a U-haul van.
Couple modern day Moses', searchin for the promised land.
We can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas.
We can drive for a day, and then we'll take a look at the map.

Heads, Carolina Tails, California.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
Heads, Carolina Tails, California.

We're gonna get outta here if we gotta ride a Greyhound bus.
Boy, we're bound to outrun the bad luck that's tailin' us

Heads, Carolina Tails, California.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
Heads, Carolina Tails, California.

O---oh, California! Carolina! California!"

-- "Heads Carolina, Tails California" by Jo Dee Messina

Roxy's been listening to country music again, and talking to Brent about his August trip to California, where housing remains so expensive, compared with new homes Greenville SC. Brent is from Spartanburg, South Carolina, and now lives in Westchester, New York. He is always amazed when he travels home to visit his family and friends in South Carolina and sees the size of the homes they can buy for less than the price of his lovely home in the NYC suburbs. As Brent and I always say since we received this quote from a vendor increasing our monthly rate for services, "New York is a special place."

Spring Cleaning: Bloginization

In an effort to better organize Roxiticus Desperate Housewives, I am launching several new blogs:

• Roxiticus Desperate Housewives Directories: will include directories of the Best of Mendham, NJ; Best of Bernardsville, NJ; Best of Chester, NJ; Best of Far Hills, NJ; Best of Peapack-Gladstone, NJ; Best of Morris County, NJ; and Best of Somerset County, NJ. Given the other content here at the original Roxiticus Desperate Housewives, I thought it best to create a place for readers who come looking for "toddler ballet class" who might not want to be exposed to Eliot Spitzer scandals and nipple piercing posts....although there's not much here that you won't find on CNN or MSNBC!
• Bay Head New Jersey: Bay Head seems so far away with blustery winds here in the Roxiticus Valley on the eve of Spring and about two months to go before we open our beach house, but over the next 6-8 weeks, I will post all of the good stuff the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives do for fun in Bay Head, NJ. And maybe some photos, too. A long, long time ago (15 years maybe?) I saw this movie....I think it was called Smoke....and every day this guy comes out of his shop and takes a picture of the same scene. Of course, every day the photo is just a little bit different. Ever since then, I've wanted to do that, take the "same" picture every day. I started to do it one summer, but of course, unlike the guy in the movie, I'm never really in the same place 365 days in a row.
• Makin' the Bacon: Since I've spent a lot of time surfing other people's blogs to get idea for Roxiticus Desperate Housewives, I have started to learn a bunch of tricks for making money by blogging. My new blog, Makin' the Bacon Online, will be devoted to helping others to earn money online.
• Laguna Beach Blog: While Rex and I, and later the kids, have been visiting Laguna Beach forever, we can hardly claim that Laguna Beach, California is part of the Roxiticus Valley and I thought it was time to give Laguna Beach a space and a blog of its own. I'm hoping to find the time to work on a thorough Best of Directory for Laguna Beach and Orange County, CA: shopping, restaurants, kid stuff....all the things we like to do when we visit every year.
  
• The Daily Soup takes its name from something they do in my daughter's first grade class. In first grade, it is actually The Daily Scoop, but my faulty hearing caused me to hear it as The Daily Soup. I'm going to use this Rated G blog for daily posts such as Vocabulary Word of the Day, Thought for the Day, Book of the Day, Song of the Day, Quote of the Day, etc.
• Roxiticus Book Blog: Since the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives and our kids love to read, I thought it was time to give Books We Love a space and a blog of its own. I'll do my best to divide it into books for kids and books for grown-ups, with reviews and comments by moms and kids.
  
  

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Planning a Vacation for Brent

I recently learned that Brent has never been to California! I do know that he does not take enough vacation time. So, over the next few weeks, I am going to plan out a trip to California for Brent and Fitz (these are my gay friends, I saw Malcolm X).

They will have to go in late July or sometime in August, in order to attend the Pageant of the Masters, a really cool event in Laguna Beach that I haven't been to in years. The web site describes it as "ninety minutes of living pictures - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind." The first time I went, over 10 years ago, I was skeptical. I was picturing an Edward Hopper "painting" with a couple of actors hanging around a pool table, but the way to think about it is people as the pixels of the painting.

Outside the Roxiticus Valley: Best of Laguna Beach, California

I don't have time to post everything tonight, but we just got back from a great vacation in Southern California.


Art Galleries in Laguna Beach, California:

Pacific Edge Gallery has been a favorite since we bought our first Tom Swimm painting almost ten years ago. We just bought Oyster Bar (below) by Susan Cox and Rex hung it today.

Across the street is the William Merrill Gallery: http://www.williammerrillgallery.com/, which I find to be a more "sophisticated," New-York-style gallery. We don't own any of their artists, but perhaps it is just a matter of time (and wall space).

I hope to take the girls to California one year in late July or August, in order to attend the Pageant of the Masters, a really cool event in Laguna Beach that I haven't been to in years, since we started our annual February break trips. The web site describes it as "ninety minutes of living pictures - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind." The first time I went, over 10 years ago, I was skeptical. I was picturing an Edward Hopper "painting" with a couple of actors hanging around a pool table, but the way to think about it is people as the pixels of the painting.



Restaurants in Laguna Beach, California:

Dinner at Sorrento Grille: http://www.culinaryadventures.com/restaurants/sorrento/. Way too big delicious appetizers. The girls love the rack of lamb. We never save enough room for the Tin Roof Sundae dessert.

Sunday Brunch at Savannah Chop House: http://www.culinaryadventures.com/restaurants/savannah/laguna_niguel/

The Studio and The Loft at the Montage.






Where to Stay in Laguna Beach, CA:
Despite the fabulous restaurants at the Montage, the Montage is actually away from town, in Laguna Niguel, so our favorite hotel is the Surf and Sand in Laguna Beach. Visit Luxury Link and get a nice low rate for a room in the tower with a full ocean view. Perhaps most importantly, it is right across the street from Koffee Klatch.