The Farmer in the Beach...The FARMER in the Beach...Hi Ho

Ho?

It turns out that each Wednesday from 4-8 in the summer (4-7 in other "seasons"), there is a huge farmer's market in OB. It takes up three or four blocks on both sides of Newport Ave, all the way to the water from Cable St. I was expecting to see a bunch of hippies selling hemp shoes or something, but this was organized and HUGE! They had fresh fruits and vegetables, honey, oils (bath, aromatheraputic, and cooking), breads and cakes...and all kinds of exotic foods made to order. Mmm...I had visions of Farmer's Market in Union Square in October. *sigh*

Then, I got a surprise call from Taylor. Turns out that he and Brice--AND my car--were going to be coming into town early due to poor weather conditions in New Mexico. They were supposed to build some hiking trail at like 10,000 feet in some isolated park, but there were Monsoon (not Monsen)-like rains, so that was that. Needless to say, when my WRX rolled up onto Ebers Street, it looked like it was splattered in hot fudge. Ewww...

So, we hit the town, with Brice as our tourguide, doing the whole Mission Beach thing. It's not far from here, and the boardwalk is very chill. The only thing I know about Mission Beach is that it is near Sea World (and the fireworks), and that I always inadvertently wind up there when I am trying to turn east toward the mainland. We had a few drinks at his local bar, harrassed Summer, the flu-ridden, overworked waitress, and hit The Tilted Stick in OB.

Now, The Tilted Stick has got to be the coolest bar. And I don't even drink. They have rules posted about dog ettiquite. So as long as PenPen and Ollie don't make Play-Doh poos (or pees) on the floor, or attack other dogs (thanks, e-collar), they are welcome. And Chris likes the $1.50 Miller High Life drafts. Win-win. Chris wants to wait until we have become true locals before bringing the unpredictable likes of O and P, and I see his point.

Anyway, Matt and Brice were so helpful with my interior design quagmire. It turns out that I can decorate anyone else's place, but I freeze up when it comes to our own. So we decided to put a wall of bookcases in the BR to save wall space in the LR. And, I am putting my desk in the dining room, making it an office/studio. The living room will be divided into two spaces--an eat-in area, and a TV area. Yay. Brice even gave me advice on the paint chip selection dilemma, while Matt was all, "You know how I know you two are gay? Because you are talking about paint chips on a Saturday night...AND you have a framed Asia poster in your bedroom."

Here is a pic of Penny wearing her "don't shoot me" orange e-collar. I WISH I could show video of Ollie getting buzzed, because it's priceless. It's worth the cost of a JetBlue ticket. I promise.