Festival of Lights at Mission Inn in Riverside, CA

Mission Inn Festival of Lights

Rating: You Should Go

This was the first year I had heard about the Festival of Lights at Mission Inn, so I really wanted to check them out.  I had been to the Mission Inn twice before - once to get ready for a wedding and once just for fun because the place is so beautiful.  My next visit was very different

Party Idea #4: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Martian-mallow

B-movies are a favorite of ours.  We love to watch them and make fun of them ourselves, or watch them with RiffTrax and laugh along with the commentary.  Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is one such movie that we found while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K for us geeks) that has become a Christmas tradition in our house.  We choose to watch it with the MST3K commentary, but it's also ridiculous just on its own.

We decided just to make this party a dessert get-together

Temecula Turkey Trot

The Giant Hill to Cougar Winery

Rating: You Might Like It

This Thanksgiving we decided to find a more local 5k (even though it's still a 45 minute drive from us).  This one was not only closer, it was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving instead of Thanksgiving Day, which made it nice not to have to rush back for a big family lunch.  The Temecula Turkey Trot starts at the top of a hill at a place called Cougar Winery.  There was plenty of parking along the main road at the

Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, CA

Pottery

Rating: You Should Go

The Sawdust Art Festival is held each summer in Laguna Beach.  This year, it was open from June 24-August 28.  The admission cost was $7.75 for adults, $6.25 for seniors, and $3.25 for children 6-12 (plus whatever else you want to spend on art or food while you're there).  We

VooDoo Doughnut in Portland, OR

Rating: You Should Go

Voodoo Doughnut is a fun little store located in the heart of Portland.  Its quirky style and products match the weirdness that Portland prides itself with.  When we went, there was a short line out the door, but it went very quickly.  We didn't have any time at all inside the store to pick out what we liked, but we the cashier was patient and help us pick out some good food.  (I would recommend looking on their website before visiting so

Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, ID

Awesome Roller Coasters

Rating: You Should Go

Silverwood Theme Park is located just north of Coeur d'Alene in Idaho.  It is reminiscent of Knott's Berry Farm in California, except that the rides are more fun to ride.  (Personally, I think the rides at Knott's are painful because they

Stoneridge Resort in Blanchard, ID

Our Family Picture

Rating: You Should Go

Stoneridge Resort is located in northern Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene. It's a typical golfing resort with an indoor pool, mini golf course, tennis courts, indoor racquetball, and horrible internet access.  All of the amenities were well-kept and

C&D Drive-In in Boardman, OR

Home of the Bozo Burger

Rating: You Should Go

C&D Drive-In was our food stop from Oregon to Idaho.  It didn't look like anything special, but there was quite a crowd around it.  Apparently, it's known for its "Bozo Burger", but I still don't know what that is because there weren't any

La Palma Chicken Pie Shop in Anaheim, CA

Rating: You Should Go

The La Palma Chicken Pie Shop has been around for decades, and so have its employees/customers.  The decorations look like they haven't changed since they first opened, either.  Although this place caters to an older crowd, it has a nice small-town feel

Comedy Sportz in Los Angeles, CA

The Wall of Comedians

Rating: You Should Go

ComedySportz LA is an improv group that performs weekly in LA.  The shows are very family friendly, even discouraging audience members from giving crude or inappropriate suggestions by threatening to put a brown bag over your head if you do (which actually happened to my brother because he wasn't there to hear the warning).  They're a lot of fun to watch and there's no pressure to participate if you don't want to.

Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, CA

Rating: You Should Go

MOCA is split into 3 buildings: 1) the Geffen Contemporary, 2) MOCA Grand Avenue, and 3) the Pacific Design Center.  Only the first 2 are museums, and the one we went to was Geffen.  The museum is featuring Art in the Streets (street art) until August 8th, including some of Banksy's work.  (If you don't know who that is, I would recommend watching the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop", now available on Netflix instant watch.)

Party Idea #3: Scott Pilgrim Palooza

Rockin' Out Sex Bob-omb Style

This was another party based on something a lot of our friends liked.  You could do the same thing for any movie you and your friends obsess about really, this is just the one we chose.  This party was rather simple to put together.  We provided food for the BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers) and asked others to bring drinks, sides, and desserts.  Key items we included were Coke Zero and garlic bread, since those make a big showing in the movie (you could also include Gin &Tonic for a drinking group).  We had the idea to dress up hipster,

4th of July Fireworks in Yorba Linda, CA

Rating: You Should Go

We moved to Orange County on July 1st and looked around for a new place to celebrate Independence Day.  Luckily, we have friends that have lived in the area for years who invited us to join them at Veteran's Park.  The events begin at 5pm hosted by a DJ, and the fireworks show starts at 9pm.  There's no parking lot so everyone parks along the streets.  It's a hilly walk down to the park so you might want to bring some good walking shoes.

Party Idea #2: Minute to Win It

"Winning!"

When our zombie party was a hit, we decided to do another themed party.  This time it would be a test of skill based on the games of the show Minute to Win It.  Our friend looked up the games and instructions on the Minute to Win It website and picked 10 of them.  Then she asked each of us to bring some of the materials that would be needed for the games (most of which are household items).  We had a simple dinner of cows in a blanket (which is like pigs in a blanket but with ground beef instead of hot dogs).  Pizza or any other

Symphony on Birch Street in Brea, CA

Rating: You Should Go

We actually found out about Symphony on Birch Street while driving around Downtown Brea one day.  It was the second year the Orange County Symphony offered this free concert, and it was a blast!  We went on the second night, which featured music from movies (perfect for my film-maker husband).  We got there just when it started at 7pm, and there were still plenty of places to sit.  They actually close of Birch Street (the side the Edwards

The Brandin' Iron in San Bernardino, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

The Brandin' Iron Saloon is a line dancing club and bar.  I used to go here on Wednesday nights because they mix line dancing and regular dancing on those nights, and I like to do both.  It's also college night which means 3 things:18 and over allowed, no cover charge

PianoPiano in Claremont, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

PianoPiano is a dueling piano bar attached to the DoubleTree Hotel in Claremont.  It features two pianists on a stage in the front of the room.  They take tips to play songs requested by the audience or for special events like

Party Idea #1: Zombie Bash

Zombie Me

Whenever you just feel the need to celebrate with friends but you don't really have a reason to, make one up!  That's what we did with our first themed party.  We have a lot of friends that like a good zombie movie, so we decided to get together to celebrate it.  We asked party goers to dress the part.  Even though we didn't plan this, we ended up with an equal amount of zombies and survivors, which made for fun pictures (see below).  We started with food and the more serious movie to see who could stomach it (I had to sit away from the TV,

Fox Theater in Pomona, CA

Rating: You Should Go

Nate and I first went to the Fox Theater for a fundraiser for a high school music program, but there are all kinds of acts that perform here, from comedians to musical groups.  The theater is a historical building, built in the 1930's as a regular movie palace.  It maintains

Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles, CA

The Zeiss Telescope

Rating: You Should Go

We celebrated the first day of summer at the Griffith Park Observatory with Nate's family.  We got there around 5pm.  Parking was pretty bad so Nate's dad dropped us off and parked down the hill.  We picked up food outside the park and ate at a table overlooking Los Angeles.  This would have been a great idea if we had remembered to ask for utensils, but we made do.  After, we watched a showing of Centered in the

T. Phillips Alehouse and Grill in La Verne, CA

Rating: You Should Go

T. Phillips Ale House is just a short walk from the University of La Verne.  It's a cute downtown area that would be fun just to walk around.  The building has a vintage feel, which is aided by the old pictures and signs they have hung everywhere.  This is also the kind of place

Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, CA

Beautiful Architecture

Rating: You Might Like It

Nathan is very interested in photography (which is why he does it for a living), so this part of our anniversary trip was especially for him.  The Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) is located in Balboa Park amidst a slew of museums and gardens.  We walked around Balboa a little, but we really only went into this one museum so I'll have to review the entire park and other museums another time.

Mt. Rubidoux Hike in Riverside, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

On Christmas Day, we decided to work off our large lunch with a nice hike up Mt. Rubidoux.  It's a leisurely 1 mile walk up the left side of the mountain (or a 3 mile loop if the right side is open, which it wasn't when we went).  Mt.

Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego, CA

Rating: You Should Go

Extraordinary Desserts kept coming up in our search for food, so we saved some room for dessert and tried it out.  It was in the middle of a busy city area and kind of stuck out from everything else around it.  The inside is beautiful, with a large display of all their desserts, high ceilings, and tons of indoor seating (although you wouldn't know it from the amount of people that were gathered outside).

Sea World in San Diego, CA

Rating: You Should Go

For our 2nd anniversary, I thought it would be fun to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine...to touch a penguin.  I knew Sea World offered special tours that would allow this dream to become a reality, so I bought our tickets online and away we went.

Sea World San Diego is an interesting combination of things (although maybe all Sea Worlds are the same, I

Hodad's in San Diego, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

We found Hodad's while searching for a place to eat near Sea World.  This place had good ratings and had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives so we thought we'd give it a shot.  It's a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant very close to the beach in an otherwise slightly shady part of San Diego.  They have a simple menu featuring different sizes of burgers, fries, and onion rings.

The Poseidon Restaurant in Del Mar, CA

Rating: You Should Go

The Poseidon is an upscale restaurant right on the beach in Del Mar.  The view is amazing (the perfect place to watch the sunset), and the food is even better.  There's a large bar area inside that seems to be the place to go for singles on a Friday night.  We sat on the patio, though, which is where I would recommend anyone sitting if they just want a relaxing evening out.

Legends in Upland, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

Legends Burgers has a few locations, but the one I visited is in Upland, CA.  The restaurant has a classic car theme, with license plates and 50/60's memorabilia lining the walls.  There are even street signs at the front of the line and an electric "train" of classic cars running on a track overhead.  Legends is a traditional diner, including a large menu and large portions.

Ice House Canyong Trail in Mt. Baldy, CA

Rating: You Should Go

The Ice House Canyon Trail is a fairly easy trail in Mt. Baldy (I mean, I work from home all day and hardly exercise and I was fine on it).  It's the gateway to several other trails so it's hard to find information just on the canyon trail.  From the sign at the trail head I discovered the canyon trail itself is 2.6 miles long before it reaches Ice House Saddle Trail (that's 5.2 miles round trip).  I think I probably hiked half that distance when I went.

Muzeo in Anaheim, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

I love trying out new museums (especially as a future teacher scoping out possible field trip spots).  Muzeo is a rather small museum in the business district of Anaheim.  Instead of having several different-themed rooms, it focuses on one theme at a time that takes up the entire space, ensuring a new experience every time you visit.  When we went in 2008, the theme was Africa (which I was excited to see after having visited Africa the year before).  Right now, the exhibit is Gold, and starting June 11th it will be Chocolate (yum!).

Crepes de Paris in Rancho Cucamonga and Brea, CA

Rating: You Might Like It

I had a craving for crepes one day, so Nate and I went out late one night hoping to get a little dessert while trying out a new place.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered the store actually closed at 9pm instead of 10pm like the website said.  That night we ended up going to TGI Friday's and eating the Oreo Cookie madness instead.