r.i.p., off vine

during last night's local news, we were saddened to hear that off vine, the restaurant where we had dinner before seeing wicked in february, suffered a devastating fire yesterday. apparently, faulty wiring contributed to the second floor going up in smoke. luckily, there were no patrons seated up there, and no one was hurt. but now they have half a million bucks' worth of damage, and even if they rebuild, it won't be the same. we may have been decidedly underwhelmed by our meal there, but we could appreciate the history of the place, and it was beloved by many. sad.

in happier news, we decided to escape yesterday's oppressive heat in the valley and headed off to the beach for a fun day out. the hub spoke briefly to his parents, who suggested meeting for dinner in newport beach, and so to the o.c. we went for surf and sand.

the beach we actually ended up going to was huntington - it'd been years since either of us had actually gone there to sit on the sand, so we found parking and then busted out the stroller.

the big girl stroller!

the bean had never been in a "real" stroller before - we'd always just attached her car seat to the stroller frame, which came in handy - especially when she was asleep. but she's getting so big now, and we thought that maybe it might be more fun for her to be able to sit up and see everything around her. and sure enough, she loved it.

we loaded up the tiny stroller basket with all our beach gear - towels, sun tent, my bag full of necessities - and wheeled over the sand till we found the perfect spot. after struggling a bit with the tent (which i'd only ever assembled once, and the hub hadn't ever even seen it), we spread out our towels, got everyone adequately sunblocked, and sat down to relax.

we hung out for two hours, during which we played with the bean, fed her, gave her a sippy cup of apple juice (organic, of course) for the first time, and just hung out and enjoyed the ocean breeze. but we hadn't planned it as perfectly as i'd liked, so we'd forgotten reading material, drinks, and snacks - and we got bored pretty quickly. and for some reason, we never even made it into the water! heh. oh well, next time. i'm thinking we'll head out there again next weekend, with the kid.

so since we still had time to kill before the ILs got there, we headed over to balboa island to walk through the shops and grab a snack. neither of us were in the mood for a balboa bar, so we ended up just grabbing green tea lemonades and cookies at starbucks and browsing through all the cute little stores. and in even sisters, i managed to scoop up an adorable julius tee and socks for the bean. i so love that small paul stuff is now available in infant sizes!

after we'd walked up and down that little street twice, we got back in the car and went on a mini-tour of the neighborhood. there are such cute little houses on balboa island, and we're debating looking for a vacation rental for a weekend in the summer.

when we finally got the call that the ILs were in the vicinity, we headed over to the crab cooker. because they're so predictable, i told the hub jokingly that i was totally going to laugh my ass off when they placed their order for their usual combination plate, and then suggest heading over to balboa fun zone for a balboa bar and a ride on the ferris wheel. when the ILs were in high school, their prom was at balboa pier, and so they have fond memories of it. the balboa bar and ferris wheel ride were things they did on prom night, and they make a point of walking down memory lane every time they're in the area. it's sweet, but it's such a crack-up. and this is ME - the queen of cheeseariffic sentimentality!

it was a lovely sunday, and a nice way to end the weekend.