House Hunting Over?

Sunday was a busy day. We had two houses to look at, one in Woodbury and one in Northpark.
THe Woodbury one was close to shops and The Commons (big park complex with pools, lagoon, tennis courts, football field etc) and had a great kitchen. Patio was so so, mostly brick walls..but everything looked nice APART from that carpet in the dining area. WHAT is wrong with you folks. We have applied for it, but have asked them to either drop the price or put in a hardwood floor. Welcome to the country where you can get a deal just about anywhere, anything is possible!

Second house is in Northpark. A very nice gated community with some nice pools, rose garden and it is supposed to be so safe, you don't have to lock your door.
Patio was really nice, even had a gas hook up for the BBQ, kitchen was ok (but had no island), nice hardwood floor downstairs. Pretty much the perfect house apart from the dark green funky carpet upstairs.

Both properties are on the pricier side, but I'd be happy to live in either one. However, just because you apply for a house, it doesn't mean you will get it. The search therefore continues. There is a second one in Northpark which has decreased in price, if they would paint upstairs (bye bye pink bathroom and master bedroom) we might consider it. Downstairs is REALLY nice. And it comes with fridge, washer & dryer. Decisions decisions...

Back to the first two houses. We sent off the application yesterday. And even before doing so, the agent asked us questions like "do you make at least $ 120.000 a year", "have you got at least $ 30.000 in you bank account". The joy of leasing from a private landlord?

Photos will follow!

Memorial Day = Beach Day

In Corona Del Mar they had put flags up along the road, very pretty! Impressive!


Initially we were going to Crystal Cove for breakfast but there were a 2,5 hour wait..Don't think so! Had a breakfast burrito at Ruby's instead.


Now - beach day at Huntington Beach! Packled the tent, beach chairs, towels..all ready to go.

Corona del Mar

Ruby's, at the PCH Crystla Cove

Enjoying the View from Ruby's

I Miss You, Swedish Summer

Some of the blogs I read show pictures of the great weather in  Sweden at the moment. I hardly get homesick but at the moment I cannot stand looking at those pics because, dear readers, there is nothing more beautiful than Swedish summer. It is hard to explain to anyone who has not experienced it, but those fields, soft ice cream, water, birches, summer houses, summer radio hosts..and the forest, for god's sake, the most amazing forest..all this combined together gives you the ultimate summer experience that you won't experienced anywhere else. Beautiful! Check this blog out for some great pictures http://sweethomesweden.blogspot.com

This picture is taken from the internet

Houses, and More Houses

Left quite early this morning to look at some rentals. Since we haven't found any great houses lately, we decided to take a look at what Irvine company has to offer in terms of townhomes. I like the townhomes rather than the flats, since they usually come with a patio and double garage.

Conclusion? Well, Ancapa, where we currently live, is not so bad after all.

- The newer the place, the smaller the floor plan is
- There are some really crappy floor plans out there. Irvine company owns just about all the land in Irvine. Big company, lots of money, lots of space but cheap skates - that is my two pence.

Did like Woodbury here in Irvine, though it feels super small. A big plus is the hardwood flooring. Finally!!
After 5 hours driving around (that is a REAL PAIN here, the distance)

Back looking at houses now, Suddenly some of the houses we have seen feel very spacious.

Wish us luck!

Friday Night Fun!

...at Barry's Bootcamp!  What a great workout..although the last class on Fridays is inofficially for sport nerds. All the hardcore people seem to join..again I had "the guy with the shaved chest who takes off his t-shirt after 5 min" next to me. Who likes to chat (calles me young lady, right. Probably twice his age) while running (note, not jogging, RUNNING). I hate college students. So FIT. I can't remeber having hunks like that around me when I went to uni. Good workout though, feeling completely knackered now.

Picked up some healthy food from Tokyo Table on the way home.

Still looking for some great sushi. Tokyo table isn;t bad, but I don't necessarily need overcomlicated sushi. Just good fish. I remember when hubby and I had sushi for the first time in the US back in 2005. It was in Long Beach (now, not the best place for a holiday, I admit. We all learn by our mistakes). Half of the restaurant was a sports bar, the other half dedicated to sushi. Should have seen the warning sign. My sushi had caramellized onion on top. NOT nice. This was the place where hubby got sprayed while sitting at the toilet. Some wicked person sprayed him with some toilet deodorizer while he was doing whatever he was doing. Great first impressions  of the Americans. Weirdos!! However, I do know there is some fantastic sushi in this country, I've had it, both in Santa Monica, LA and Pittsburgh. Just need to find it in Orange County. Nothing fancy, just good.

Better head to bed soon. Hubby has picked a real crappy movie (chronicles) and the internet is playing up.

Go natt!

Yummy

Popped in to the Indian supermarket across the road and bought some popadoms. Needed some inspiration what to cook and we haven'd cooked anything Indian for a long time. It has a wide selection of spices, fruit and anything you can wish for. Haven't seen any popadums in the shops here so I decided to ask the owner how to make them myself (well, they come as "sheets", so I didn't completely make them).

Had no idea how many different kinds of rice there are!

Pretty good result!

Chicken Tikka, Raita and Popadoms

Already got addicted. Went back to the supermarket and got another package of the popadoms. Sooo yummy!

Between Visitors

Have one week "off" between visitors. For some reason I thought we could chill but oh no.

Back on track on my exercise. We both are! Took us a couple of weeks but we are back going to Barry's on our regular days. Need to shred some pounds off ASAP.

Still on and off about Gymboree..should we keep going, should we do something else?

 When we went on Wednesday I was determined I'd cancel the membership, butthe teacher suggested joining the next level to see if we liked it. Level 1 is getting too boring since Emily lies on her stomach all day anyway, she definitely doesn't need extra tummy time. And I do admit, the play gym they have which you can go to anytime you want, is pretty nice. So, let's give the level 2 a shot next week. And then perhaps cancel it.

Sunday Night

Dropped my mum off at the airport last night. Fourth drive in a week, 20th or so this year. Really don't want to drive to LAX again in a while + LAX and Hollywood Blvd - had my fair share this year already.

Had a bit of a blond moment the yesterday. Oh no, not blond - let's call it non American! Because no one else would think of such a stupid thing. Needed to get petrol and went to a different garage than usual. Parked up, slided my card and took the pump of the nozzle. No petrol. Tried again. Pressed the button and took the nozzle off the hook. Put it back, went to a different pump. Same thing all over again. Drove to the next pump. Same thing all over again. And again. And again. I was just about to put my best Swedish accent on to go inside to get some help when the guy ccame outside and said "let's take a look at what's going wrong".
Who knew you had to push the plastic thing the nozzle rests on up in order to get the damn thing pumping!
Stupid stupid stupid.

Casino Night!

So, after having a rather hectic day yesterday we finally made it to the fundraising event for the Swedish school, Monte Carlo casino night at Maria Montazami's house in Laguna Niguel. What a house. Or shall I say, what a backyard! There was a silent auction and we bid (and won) on 2 ice hockey tickets with the Anaheim Ducks. Yaay! I miss watching sports, and I really miss ice hockey! Guess we have to plan that night out way in advance again, making sure we have a baby sitter.

There were all kind of things going, personal training sessions, test drive with the Fisker karma, Swedish biscuits, movie night baskets, goodie baskets etc.

Swedish Biscuits

Swedish Goodie Basket

Nice big Kitchen!

Casino Night!

Maria in the Fisker Karma

Mingle in the Backyard

!

Us on the Red Carpet Entering the House

All in all we had a really good time, though we are not used to being out this "late" (note, we were home before midnight). We were yawning, feet were aching and we suck at mingling. Too many people. And the shoes I wore I used to wear at work. Now, do I have to start practising wearing heels again? Good thing I didn't wear my new super sexy pink pair, that would have been painful.

So nice of Maria to offer her house though - 182 tickets were sold - I am afraid of having more than 10 people in the flat. Yikes! Everyone looked well behaved though. Guess it was an advantage to invite lots of mum and dads who have to get up early in the morning.We got a Martini as a welcome drink - I had to smell it since I had forgotten what it tastes like.

As expected, we didn't make it to the gym (plus, I thought we'd give mum a break from watching Emily) this morning. Ache a lot from yesterday's session which is great!

Swimming and Shopping

What a busy day! Went to Waterworks for Emily's swimming lesson this morning. She finally doesn't mind floating on her back again. Great progress!! Came home afterwards to shower and went to Spectrum for some grub.

Tried some dresses on but the fashion - pattern and polyester - does not go down well with me. Probably tried at least a dussin on.

Not great

Had some lunch at the Cheesecake  Factory. Always good when you have guests since there is a lot of choice.  Artichoke as a starter, yum!

Asked mum if she wanted to go out for dinner tonight..thought she might suggest Javier's (yaaaay) but no..the best food she's ever had here was here.. Lucille's!!

Famous for their ribs and BBQ..NOT fancy at all. And southern style served drinks

So Lucille it was. Funny how all our guests always end up loving the burger joints. Before going home, mum and I popped in to Designer Shoe Warehouse. And voila, I found these - $ 44! What a bargain.

Completely fell in love with me feet wearing them.

Now I am sort of glad a didn't buy the Mahnolos I tried on yesterday, I know no limits when it comes to shoes but $ 44 is hard to beat! Not sure when to wear them but they are sooo cute.

And this is how we are finishing this Friday night..Just because we can!

Chilling..

This is how Emily and I spent the other day....

at Karin's wonderful heated pool. I was so concerned about protecting Emily from getting sunburnt that I forgot about myself. My right side is now lobster red. :( Mum was shopping at Fashion Island while we were having fun swimming.  We are so spoiled!

Sun Sun Sun

Having some fantastic weather at the moment. I am feeling so spoiled. I can barely remember what it was like wishing for sun. Weatherwise, there is no better place on earth than Orange County!

Went to the Swedish school this morning. This term has flown by! It was the last normal class this term, next week is beach day and the following week we are going to the OC zoo. It has been so much fun! Can't wait for the term to start again.

Swedish School

Sitting on the lawn during the fika break

See, no clouds at all. Typical OC weather.

Drove down to Laguna Beach afterwards with mum to grab some lunch at deckonlaguna.com. This place is definitely one of the nicest places in Laguna, you are right on the beach and it has a great mix of people.

And what is a day out without a little shopping..Popped in to this little shop for little ones, Little Bohemian on Forest Avenue. Pricey yes, but sweet!

Little Bohemian

Beautiful Laguna Beach

I thought I might find some dresses, but no no, nothing again. I still have the biggest bum ever because that is where I currently fail - NOTHING looks good. Bought the dresses at White House Black Market on Sunday, it looks like one of them will have to do. American fashion is NOT the flavour of the month right now. Too much nylon, too many patterns and flowers. Yikes. I need to get Sweded up to make sure I don't lose track of my taste!

Now, do some stretching - after all, I just got back from Barry's bootcamp. Yaay! Neck is better, I am back to my workout routine!

Fundraising Event

Next week Friday we are off to a fundraising event for the Swedish school at Maria Montazami's house.

Just two small little details missing....I have no dress and no shoes. Cocktail attire required so I have exactly 5 days to find something. Sigh. Shopping under time pressure NEVER works. Just ran around like crazy at South Coast Plaza. Bloomingdales and Macy's had NADA.

Leasing...

Still looking for a new apartment/house/townhome. Perhaps we will have some luck tomorrow when we are looking at some more properties. It is very different when leasing a flat here compared to renting in Europe, where renting basically means indefinite or until the rental agreement is cancelled.  Here you choose the leasing period in advance, e.g. 6, 12 or 18 months. And if you extend it at the end of the period, it doesn't necessarily mean the rent will be the same.

We have really enjoyed living at Anacapa but I got really annoyed with the leasing office yesterday. Had to pop down to pick up the remote to the gate (which either breaks or needs new batteries every two weeks) and one of the guys (the very slow one) approched me lease which runs out soon. I told him we are looking to move out because we need more space and he started asking questions why we need more space, how soon blah blah. And shortly after that conversation I found a white envelope at our door step! If we decided to renew the elase, the rent will increase by $ 100, if we want to lease on a month-by-month basis, by $ 300 and we have to make up our mind by next week Friday. We have to tell them by the 30 May the latest if we are moving out otherwise we will end up with the monthly leasing agreement. Pushy? Ha!

Think it is time to say good bye to Irvine company.

Walk on the Beach

Beach weather! Drove down to wonderful  Laguna Beach and walked on the beach. Had Emily in the Baby Björn, I really need to start using it more often. So convinient.

Weather was perfect, not too hot and a little breeze sweeping across. It was pretty busy (even if it looks empty on the pics). Had a wonderful time until I stepped on a bee. Ouch!! Geez, hadn't I had Emily in the sling I would have freaked out a lot more, especially since the bee was stuck in my foot for a while. A guy on the beach immediately came up to me and said colgate toothpaste helps. Luckily I got stung in the arch and not on my heel or ball so I could walk back after a while. But gosh, that was quite painful.

Other than that, I am still trying to get Emily on solids. Chek this pic out, not looking to fond of mango puree.

Looking for Houses

What a dilemma. Since the lease is up soon we need to figure out what to do. The apartment is getting too small so we need to move. But where? To another apartment complex? To a house with a hoa (home owner association) and therefore has a community pool? Just a house? It is not a seller's market right now so the leasing market is really in our favour. Lots of choice. Good prices. But we can't make up our minds. Which area seems to be the toughest one. I have realised we will not find anything in Laguna Beach which was our first choice. The houses on the market there are either in the wrong location (right in the city centre) or very old, i.e the houses within our budget. We can get a great townhome in Irvine for $ 1900 but that doesn't get you anything in LB. So we will drive around a little today again to see if we can make a decision. Hate moving and especially when it is with short notice so this time I will plan plan plan. Every little detail.

Phew.

Now, sun is shining outside (hurrah), time to get a pedicure and organise the day!

Slow...

AT&T and Cox are both driving me nuts. I get no wireless on the laptop when sitting on the sofa - which is right opposite to the router! Don't get me started on AT&T right now, we have hardly any coverage in the flat. I have to stand by the front door to get at least 3 bars on the phone. Arrgggh.

Especially annoying since we are looking for a house to rent. Craigslist has just become my new BFF. 3 br, 2 baths, ac, in Newport, Laguna or Irvine...Anyone? And please..none of those fury carpets in the lounge :)

Cinco de Mayo

....today we celebrate the Mexican heritage and pride! There are a lot of festivities going on around here today and we are off to a Cinco de Mayo BBQ in a friend's garden later on. Yay, should be fun!

Hurt my neck last week Sunday at Barry's. Managed to twist it somehow and it was getting better until hubby gave me a neck rub this morning. Ouch! Think I need to book myself into a well deserved Swedish massage at the spa. Only been able to power walk and do some weight lifting at home this week, no barry's or zumba for me I'm afraid. Oh yes, it sucks. There is a new class at Barry's, Hard Core, unfortunately it falls on the same night as my zumba class, Hubby said it was pretty good and sweaty:)

 Weather has been pretty pants, no sun all week  but finally, finally the sun has decided to return today. AND it is getting hot again. Hurrah!



 

I hate hate hate..

anything that has to do with health insurance in the US. It just took me ONE WEEK to schedule an appointment with pure pediatrics. And at least one hour to fill out all the paper work - 8 pages with credit card details and one billion of questions.. sigh. It took them 2 days to verify our health insurance and additionally 5 days to decide whoch doctor we should be assigned to. I can go on and on about this topic so for sure, this will not be the last time I'll bring it up!

Had a very pleasant weekend. Saturday turned out to be super busy. Saturday I went to the SWEA brunch for new members - it was at someone's house in Costa Mesa. And what a house. What a location! Super nice, and some interesting conversations. I did not join SWEA in Cologne for various reasons but I think SWEA here in OC seems really nice. Looking forward to the upcoming events!