Catching up: Scottsdale Trip!

In late September (yes - I said September - I know I'm a little tardy), my family went to Scottsdale for a mini-vacation! It was fun having everyone out a little closer to us - we actually got to drive there while everyone else flew, for a change!

My grandmother aka Mither and Anne ready to go in Nashville:


The reason for the trip was that J.Alexander's had a new restaurant opening there (we know some people) and opening weekends are the BEST - so we thought we'd just all make a vacation of it!


Adam and I were feeling pretty under the weather, but it actually worked out great as we really got to relax and recover - might as well be doing it in Scottsdale, right? There was plenty of shopping, relaxing, emergency McDonald's runs for the pregnant one, swimming, football-watching - it was so fun to just all be together and hang out (sorry we missed you Dan).

The boys all played golf one day on a really nice course - Adam said he played the worst he ever has - nice!:



Enjoying the scenery - you can see a little pooch!


Breakfast at the famous Pancake House - Anne got the Apple Pancake - wow!


The main event at J. Alexander's - for openings, they always have a couple of practice days for the servers - we're happy to let them practice on us anytime!!




A few days and about 10 pounds later, we rolled back home to life, work, and reality in SoCal ~ luckily we found this special thing on the way home - someone was VERY excited:



We have a nerdy little family game that we play to all keep track of the different J.Alexander's locations that we've been to. It's really fun to see the different restaurant layouts, decors, etc. I know - I confessed it was nerdy up front. So with the addition of Scottsdale, this brings me to 14 out of 33 - the recent additions of Orlando and soon-to-be Jacksonville locations really hurt to bring me to less than 50%. Hoping to up that number again soon! Anyone wanna go to Denver?

Restaurant Adventures

So with all of the visitors that we have in and out of town, we have a couple of Southern California tourism books that we keep on hand. One was a gift from Reba (see post below) when I first moved to Cali, and my mom brought the second one.

I like having two for cross-reference.

As cheesy as they can be at times, they have lots of good information in them. I was recently perusing the Orange County restaurants section and came across several places that sounded interesting that we were thinking about trying.

So, locals, what do you think? Have any of you been to these places?

Here's the ones I'd like to try:

Lonely Planet recommends:

Walt's Wharf (Seal Beach): "Everybody's favorite for fresh fish - some people even come from LA".

Bluewater Grill (Newport): "Sit on the wooden deck and watch the boats at this harborside restaurant that serves off-the-boat-fresh fish".

Fodor's recommends:

Javier's (Laguna, Spectrum, Crystal Cove): I have heard some local recommendations for this one. Which location is best? Is it really that good?

The Cannery (Newport): Fodor's recommended - can you tell we like seafood?

Prego (Irvine): A larger version of the Beverly Hills restaurant

So what do we think? Has anyone been to these and what do you think?

Taste and Believe

I know that I've mentioned it before, but I just wanted to remind everyone that the Jersey Mike's in Foothill Ranch is now open! Yippee! A great Eastern tradition that has moved west!

I wouldn't really call myself a sandwich person, per se. I'm not opposed to them but I rarely have times of craving a good sandwich - it just doesn't do it for me. And I do have a strictly enforced rule of no sandwiches for dinner - it just feels like lunch! Jersey Mike's, however, is quite the exception to this (I'm enjoying it for dinner even now as I type!).

Today Adam and I ran in and each picked up a Giant sub - turkey/provolone for me and he got the Jersey Shore Favorite, both served up Mike's Way. They're a little on the expensive side but it will be at least 3 meals for each of us and they're so delicious that it's totally worth it! I know that I can be slightly prone to exaggeration, but as I was eating mine at lunch today I was really contemplating if it was the best sandwich I'd ever had in my life.

Have you had a chance to try it? What do you think?

The Counter

If this photo from the recent Santa Monica blog made you excited, then you're in luck because last night we found out that The Counter is opening in Summer '07 in Irvine next to the new Chick-fil-a. Can life get much better?

Tag, I'm It!

Although I am prone to ignoring this type of thing, I'll definitely make an exception for this one. I've been tagged by my sister-in-law, among others, for this dining meme that seems to be spreading like wildfire. Since this one is food related, I'm happy to oblige and list my top 5 local restaurants. I've only been here a year or so, but it's been a year of good eats!

First, to clear things up:
meme: n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

So here's my 5 OC restaurant list, in no particular order. I won't say top 5 favorite, as I don't like commitments like that, but 5 restaurants that I like in general.

1) Roy's: Adam and I discovered the glory of Roy's on our honeymoon in Hawaii. It's "Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine" - how can that not be good? I think that the Maui location was the second of this chain, but we just discovered this spring that there is a Roy's at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Excellent. Their seafood is amazing with really rich and unique sauces. Of course, no trip to Roy's is complete without the Chocolate Souffle - yum! I just checked the locations and there is one in Atlanta, for you Southerners!


2) Wood Ranch: Wood Ranch in RSM feels like a little piece of home to me with really great barbecue, vegetables like sweet potatoes and mac & cheese (yes, I consider that a vegetable), and rolls! My friend Abbie works there, so sometimes we get to bump into her!


3) In 'N Out: What can you even say about this? Clearly its the best burger fast food of all time and a reason in and of itself to visit California. If you've been keeping up with the Platt's CA trip blogs, you know that they went 5 times in their 8 day trip. Cheeseburger, animal style, with a diet coke and if I'm lucky, a chocolate shake. Yes, please!


4) Chipotle: Chipotle is my favorite that I've found so far for a good burrito. It's a Moe's-style establishment with fresh (sometimes organic) and rich ingredients. Their burritos are huge, and are even better if you order lime chips and guacamole to go with them! There have been multiple rumors of one coming to the beloved Foothill Ranch, though so far we haven't seen any evidence of it. I still have my fingers crossed. Be thankful if you live near Lexington, Atlanta, Orlando, as all of those locations already have Chipotle. I read an article recently that it's the fastest growing fast food chain (it's more like medium-paced food to me) in the country.


5) BJ's: As I've gotten older, I've come to love pizza more and more. Seems like it should be the other way around, but I feel like I could eat it at least once a day and never get tired of it. BJ's is a great Chicago-style pizza place with tons of great variations - white, BBQ chicken, etc., etc. Yum. And, of course, who can resist their Pizookies. Basically it's cookie dough in a dish - baked about 75% of the way - served hot and with ice cream. I love the Laguna Beach location!

I've lost track of who all has and hasn't been tagged, but I'd love to hear from Melissa R (Bham), Courtney G, Cathi, and Ryanne (OC), & Abby (Louisville).

Platt family visit

Earlier this month, the Platts came to visit for a whole week! We are so lucky that they decided to spend their vacation time on us!

We had such a fun week of spending quality time with all three of them. It was so fun to come home from work everyday to a smiling Sydney waiting to greet me!

Our big outing of the week was a trip to Santa Monica. Our first stop was Sprinkles, the gourmet cupcake bakery in Beverly Hills. And can I say, wow! We arrived to a line out the door of about 20 people all waiting for their very own cupcake.


We happily joined in and waited while debating what flavor to choose from. 30 minutes and 8 cupcakes later, we were back in the car on the way to lunch. It's great being an "adult" - dessert is always better when eaten first!


My favorite was definitely the dark chocolate(3), but we also sampled vanilla (1), peanut butter chip (2) and the Cinco de Mayo special, Choco Loco (4). It was amazing! The best news is that there is a Sprinkles in Corona Del Mar, so I'll be visiting frequently!

We then headed to The Counter. Adam's brother-in-law Andy found a list of "Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die", so we checked the first one off our list at The Counter. They had the build-your-own-burger style, so we each got to choose our bread, meat, toppings and sauce. Yum!


We rolled out of the Counter and on to our next stop at the 3rd St. Promenade for some quality shopping where I had an amazing find! Are you curious? This is too good to squeeze into another blog, so look for this item to have it's own entire blog coming soon.


We finished the day with a stroll along the Santa Monica pier - it was my first visit, so I'm glad to check that off my Southern California tourism list!

What a fun day!