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!