Do, Don’t Pretend About a year ago I discovered a guilty pleasure – the supermarket Fresh and Easy. The closest F & E is in Laguna Hills, next to the DMV. For those of you who haven’t visited, F & E is similar to Trader Joe’s – lots of store brand items, fewer additives in [...]
Girl Time When we first found out that I was pregnant, David and I quickly agreed on one thing that puzzled many, especially my mother. We would wait until the baby was born to find out whether he was a he or she was a she. During my very uneventful pregnancy I really had [...]
Family Movie Night (or Afternoon) My dad is old school in a big way. He goes to bed by 9 p.m. and wakes when it is dark out. He still reads an actual newspaper every morning. And he reminisces about listening to “The Shadow” on the radio when he was little. Back in the day, [...]
An Easy Night Out March is my new favorite month and it has nothing to do with the weather. Turns out that the first break from team sports we’ve had since August happened in March. I couldn’t believe it when I realized it. We had been on the go every Saturday morning since school began [...]
An Easy Night Out March is my new favorite month and it has nothing to do with the weather. Turns out that the first break from team sports we’ve had since August happened in March. I couldn’t believe it when I realized it. We had been on the go every Saturday morning since school [...]
Our Town When I was in elementary school the now iconic commercial “Keep America Beautiful” was in heavy airplay. I can still see that Native American (then an Indian) on his horse looking out over the polluted countryside with that big tear rolling down is cheek. That commercial really hit home with me because [...]
By Rebecca Meekma If you’ve read this column even one time over the past 18 months you’ve probably noticed that I love a deal. I used to think that was because I’m from New York, and all New Yorkers know you never pay retail. For anything. Sample sales. Items that fell off the back of [...]
Rain and Ice By Rebecca Meekma We were lucky last week. No leaks or flooding chez Meekma (with husband in the water and mold remediation business, I should hope so!) But many of our fellow Lagunans were not so lucky. Many in our town faced hardships last week and will continue to deal with [...]
Sugar and Spice By Rebecca Meekma I don’t usually plan a theme to our weekends, but if I had to sum up last weekend, the word would be gingerbread. Something I don’t really want to eat, but is a lot of fun to play around with. We opened with the Discovery Science Center’s [...]
Favorite Time of Year Can someone please explain the Southern California phenomenon of the pumpkin patch that springs up in October in large parking lots? They have straw covering the blacktop and loads of pumpkins trucked in from real pumpkin patches. They have giant inflatable slides and bounce houses and farm animals for petting, [...]
An Artsy Weekend at OCPAC If Isabel and Maggie look tired in their class pictures this year (Tuesday is El Morro’s picture day) I take the blame. We had such a fun-filled weekend that they need to catch up on their sleep. I sent them to bed early on Monday, but bedtime was thrown [...]
Reading Really Pays Off There we were, surrounded by supersized butterflies, gorillas and giraffes. The air filled with the sounds of a great waterfall and the screech of monkeys. All while eating a really good cheeseburger. No, we weren’t at the Wild Animal Park or the Zoo. I needed to do some last minute holiday [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
