California Lifestyle

Over dinner last night, we had discussed what we all wanted to do the next day (Thursday). Dad told us that we were very close to Anaheim, where Disneyland was, and so Zaynee and Hanaa decided instantly that they wanted to spend the full day (and night) there. I, on the other hand, wasn’t as interested, since we had just been to Disneyworld in Florida a few years ago. I wouldn’t have minded going to Disneyland with Zaynee and Hanaa, except they were planning on spending over 12 hours in the park, something I knew I just wouldn’t have the interest of capacity to do. So we planned on dropping Zaynee and Hanaa off at the amusement park at 9:30am and then Mom, Dad, and I would go off and do our own thing.

Zaynee literally jumped out of bed this morning at 7am, actually chanting, “Disney! Disney! Disney!” over and over again as she went to the bathroom to get ready. It was the first morning she was up so early and so enthusiastically! Even Hanaa followed suit and, despite getting lost on the 45 minute drive to Anaheim a few times, we made it to the park by 9:35am and let them go off to enjoy the magic of Disneyland.

Zaynee and Hanaa in Disneyland

Mom, Dad, and I stopped off in a neighborhood/town called Tustin just off the I-5 (everything in California is apparently “just off the I-5” though) and Mom used her Yelp skills to find us a café for breakfast called Morey’s Place. In all honesty, it looked a little sketch and the interior decorations made the empty restaurant seem cold and daunting, but the rave reviews led us inside. It turned out that the food was delicious and our server and the owner, an Iranian man who hates black coffee and prefers tea, as he divulged to us, quickly became our friend and personally came outside to wave us goodbye once we had finished.

Morey's Place

My aunt in London, Khala, who I know is reading this and will appreciate this shout-out, advised me to check out a few Californian boutiques while I was here, to get a taste of the laid-back fashion of the West Coast. Believe me, I was more than happy to scope out boutiques, but it was difficult without my own car and a lot of time on my hands to do as I pleased. So, I had researched one boutique in particular last night that I really wanted to visit and brought Mom and Dad along with me (well actually, Dad was driving) to the shop called Irene’s Story.

Irene's Story

I had expected this little shop to be in a small town, maybe by the coast, with nobody else in it. However, the store ended up being in a gigantic mall in the town of Irvine, California, off the I-5. I was completely amazed by the enormity of the mall, and how everything was once again, so impeccably clean! It was mainly an outdoor mall, with a carousel and palm trees and outdoor dining, and since the sun was shining so brightly, there were lots of people milling around outside the warm orange shops.

Photo of Irvine Spectrum Center Mall at night

Mom and I went into Irene’s Story and I fell in love. Ok, that’s a bit dramatic, but the store was incredible! The pieces were all very unique and ranged from casual to formal, and none of the prices were too steep. In addition, they stocked Free People clothing…my favorite! I have never taken so many items into a dressing room before in my life. I think I took nearly the whole of the small store! I tried on dresses, skirts, tops, pants, shorts, everything as quickly as I could because I felt bad that Dad had to wait around, and that is never fun. I ended up with a skirt and Mom found a vibrant orange scarf for herself. I also found a dress that didn’t fit quite right, but the salesgirl said there was just one other Irene’s Story in California, and it was very close by, in a town called Mission Viejo. Mom was up for the hunt for the other store, so we found Dad and he took us to another gigantic mall, though indoor this time, about 10 minutes away to see the other Irene’s Story. Lucky for me, this shop had different clothes from the previous one! I got the best of both, and once again found a number of items to try on in the dressing room. This time, I ended up with a top, a necklace and earrings, and an iPhone case that was also a wallet…something I have wanted for a long time! It was an incredibly successful shopping expedition, despite the dress I had come searching for not working out in any other sizes either.

Dad spotted a Jamba Juice near the food court as we were leaving the mall once again, and we all bought smoothies that we meant to save for the beach, where we were headed next. The beach at Laguna Niguel was very close to this mall, but we all still managed to finish our drinks before we even parked! This was the same town we had come to a few days earlier, when we went to the yucky Scandia Bakery. This time, just Mom, Dad, and I went to the beach, which was a lot busier because of the gorgeous warm weather, to take a walk. We didn’t even need sweaters!

Laguna Beach

We walked from the busy part, near where volleyball players had a game going and down past beach front homes, hotels, apartments, and restaurants, all perched a little higher up on the cliff above the beach. The sand was warm and the water was pleasant, so I took off my sandals and walked through the waves slapping the sand. Mom and Dad walked close by, and we all made it to a jetty of wave-beaten black rocks far down along the beach. We climbed up and out towards the sea and had an amazing view. The waves were all much larger around the rocks and we could see for miles. There were people paddle boarding on surfboards, up and down, parallel to the beach, and there was a huge group of young children, maybe about 10-15 years old, who were practicing surfing in the waves. The waves weren’t huge, but the kids were pretty small, so it was fun to watch when one was able to catch a wave and stand up on the surfboard for a few minutes before wiping out. I hope I get to learn how to surf soon! I want it to be in warmer weather though, rather than the middle of winter…this water is just a little too cold for me to want to get in!

Hanging out on the rocks

We spent some time relaxing in the sun on the rocks, but soon, Dad became a bit hungry, and we walked back along the beach to find a restaurant where we could watch the sun set while eating. The Cliff Restaurant and Bar was in a perfect location. It was all outdoor seating and it was high up on the cliff overlooking the beach and ocean. The view was gorgeous and we all enjoyed salads and sandwiches (in Dad’s case) while watching the sun sink lower and lower over the ocean. We left when the sky turned from orange to red to pink and finally to a light purple, and the weather started getting a little chilly.

Mom's delicious Greek salad with ahi seared tuna

Dad enjoying his sandwich while the sun sets

We drove all the way back to Anaheim and arrived around 7pm. Mom texted Zaynee and Hanaa and said we were here and if they would be ready to be picked up at 8pm. The message we received in reply was “No.” A phone call to the two enlightened us that they would not be ready for pickup from Disneyland until 10pm, so now we had 3 hours to kill in Anaheim. It was slightly annoying and we should have just gone back to the resort to relax before coming all the way back to Anaheim, but Mom and Dad decided we would go see a movie instead. There was a theater nearby, and since we’d already seen “Les Miserables” a few days ago, there wasn’t a whole lot of choice left. I remember getting emails from Nancy Mosser Casting Company quite recently about being an extra in the Tom Cruise movie, “Jack Reacher,” so since that one was filmed in our old hometown of Pittsburgh, we decided to see that, despite knowing that the reviews weren’t amazing. We caught the 7:35pm showing in a gigantic AMC movie theater, that was once again, in an gigantic mall. There are tons of malls in California!

Movie Poster

The reviews were right. “Jack Reacher” had no cohesive plot or storyline, no character development, no resolutions, and a completely open end that made no sense at all. In addition, I didn’t think Tom Cruise did a very good job, neither did his co-star, the main female lead who I already forget. There was just too much violence and unnatural death and gun use for my liking. Movies like this keep coming out and America wonders why we have so many gun incidents happen—all that happened in this movie were men shooting at one another and at innocent victims! I was not impressed. The only good part about the movie was the incredible shots of Pittsburgh. I never realized how photogenic our old city was! The movie started by following a car driving on the Fort Pitt Bridge and onto the 376, which was the same route I took for five years driving to and from my musical theater school. In addition, there was filming done in Lawrenceville, near my high school, in a bar near my favorite South American restaurant, Kaya, in the Strip District, and inside the courthouse, which I have been inside while taking AP US History in 11^th grade. There was an epic car chase through all of downtown Pittsburgh, and I recognized almost every street (downtown Pittsburgh is not that big!). Finally, one prominent street of filming was done just off of one of my best friends’ streets back home in Pittsburgh! Seeing Pittsburgh again was the only highlight of the film.

Mom and Dad agreed with me, that the movie was pretty terrible, but at least it killed three hours for us and we went to go pick up my sisters. All the highways in California are confusing and we got lost about three or four times trying to get back to the parking lot of Disneyland to pick up Zaynee and Hanaa. By the time we got them, it was just past 11pm and they had been in the park for about 14 hours! They had a great time though, and didn’t stop talking about it all the way back to the resort. Though we were separated for the day, this was my favorite day in California, just because it was so relaxing! I really needed a day of complete relaxation after my hectic fall semester.