Irvine Housing Forums

Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach

2009-11-20T17:42:13-08:00

The food looks yummy and they had a nice right up in the Register today. Has anyone tried it out?

This is from the article today—

One of my favorite O.C. wine bars is the Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach. What makes it so good? In addition to the owners’ talents for sniffing out excellent wines and unusual varietals and labels for decent prices ($8 a glass for most vino), the place has a terrific food menu. Every time we go we’re impressed with what’s coming out of the kitchen.

artichoke bruschetta

smoked duck breast grilled cheese sandwich

Check out that menu on the Web site, which co-owner Chris Partlow warns is “a little out of date.” Here’s what’s new and popular: swordfish tacos ($12), a warm homemade crabcake ($15), white truffle butter popcorn ($5). “It’s a fairly large bowl, too,” Partlow told me. Something I will definitely order the next time I’m in: a warm crab po’boy sandwich ($15).

Main Street has been open since September of 2008, but Partlow says they’re making some adjustments because of the economic climate. “Our prices have come down and we have a lot more inexpensive things on the menu.” He mentioned homemade pickles ($5) and hummus ($8).

Partlow also let me in on the latest: a new Happy Hour will be launched next week from 4-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. “All of our $8-per-glass wine will come down to $5,” Partlow said.

Another thing I like about this place: If you buy a glass you can take a bottle of that wine home for $16. “It’s a unique way to drive our retail business,” Partlow said. “When you go to BevMo or Costco you’re picking something blind. But at our place, the cost of the glass of wine is deducted from the bottle price. You can get a glass and a bottle for $24.” You can also try that wine with decent food, which tells you how it will pair up.

http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/20/booze-on-a-budget-friday-roundup-2/43007/

www.mainstwine.com

Gold

2008-05-20T12:09:06-08:00

For all of you gold experts out there, I purchased some shares of a gold mutual fund in my IRA account and it has increased 40% in less than a year. Is now a good time to sell or is gold going to continue to rise?

Interracial Couples

2009-06-30T12:17:19-08:00

There has been a lot of wedding pictures on the IHB these days; some of interracial couples. Irvine has always pride itself of being a “Global Village” of diversity. Although that may or may not be in comparison to other cities in OC and beyond; how much of this diversity cross over into long term relationships and marriage? I just have to take a poll.

The following are examples of the options.

Same Ethnicity; same Culture – Our friends from church who live downstairs, are both 1st generation Taiwanese-Americans. They both came here roughly in their teens (high school) and went to college in the bay area. They married a couple of years ago and moved to Irvine; they don’t have kids yet.

Same Ethnicity; different Culture – A couple comes to mind; I know of a white pastor from South Africa who married a native OC lady. They live in Orange and have one daughter. They are both Caucasians but they are very different culturally.

Different Ethnicity; same Culture – Another friend from our small group comes to mind. She’s Caucasian from northern California and he’s African-American from Alabama. They live in Long Beach and also don’t have any kids yet.

Different Ethnicity; different Culture – One of my high school friends comes to mind. He’s ABV – American born Vietnamese who married a 1st generation Korean. She barely spoke English when they meet 6-7 years ago. Although they are both consider Asian; I still consider them different ethnicities. They don’t have kids and are actually doing great the last time I spoke to him!

Personally, I guess we fall somewhere between Different Ethnicity; same Culture and Different Ethnicity; different Culture. My wife is Caucasian born in Whittier; and raised in the OC; while I’m 1st generation Taiwanese American. Our family immigrated to the states in the early 80’s. My first culture is Taiwanese, but I’m pretty much Americanize.

I realize there isn’t an option for multi-ethnic and multi-cultural couples; I think the poll would just get too complicated, besides there isn’t room for that. You can respond with a reply for your situation. Thanks…

What do you do on the weekend?

2009-11-20T16:45:17-08:00

This is totally random, but I’m just wondering what everyone does on the weekends. I think it’s because I secretly think everyone is having more fun than me.

Anyway, here’s what I do (very different now that I have a child!):

Friday night: Eat dinner at home and then watch TV, occasionally go out to dinner with family or friends
Saturday: Try to do a fun family outing, otherwise run errands
Saturday night: Eat dinner at home or occasionally go out with husband and leave the kid with the grandparents
Sunday: Either go out to lunch with my sister or with the family, then either relax at home or run boring errands

How about you?

MalibuRenter’s summer in Dallas

2009-05-19T19:06:39-08:00

So, here is the field report from Dallas. So far it’s a very positive impression.

Some things are pretty much as advertised:

-Lower traffic, yes. Of course, that’s true anywhere but NY, Cairo, Mexico City, or Tokyo. Average rushhour speeds on freeways are 50+ mph. Not quite screaming along with impunity, but pretty good.
-Parking, yes. Not many limitations. So far, I haven’t seen any gratuitous “No parking third mondays, full moons, except with zone 14 permit” kind of signs.
-Friendly people, yes. As a native Southerner, I pretty much expected this.
-Attractive women, yes. It’s kind of like being at UC Santa Barbara or USC, but on a bigger scale. FAR better than LA, moderately better than OC.
-Much lower housing prices, especially for nice places with big lots in good neighborhoods. However, inventory is building up and prices are dropping. Not an LA/OC/Riverside kind of collapse, but another 15-20% off wouldn’t surprise me. In Dallas there is no jumbo conforming and it’s hurting the high end. Still, a $700k property here would be $2.1 million in Irvine.
-Somewhat lower rents. Nice furnished place, short term lease, takes dogs, excellent neighborhood, 3 br 2 ba, 2000 sf, 1/2 acre lot. $2000/mo.
-No state income taxes. Just got my first TX paycheck, and yes, there is no state tax.

Some things aren’t at all as advertised:
-Rednecks, very hard to find in Dallas. There are some poor people, but not sunburned alcoholic guys with shiny cutouts of women on their mudflaps.
-Heat and humidity, missing in action. Santa Barbara’s summer weather appears to have been kidnapped and brought here. Very clear air, highs in the high 70’s. This might change at a moment’s notice.

Not advertised, but apparently true:
-Fewer tattoos.
-Much much less graffiti. I’ve found like 3 pieces of graffiti, and was able to read all of them.
-Almost no trash on the freeways. While this isn’t much of a problem in OC, LA apparently never cleans the freeway emergency lanes. You could do your Christmas shopping there.

Further updates as I notice things. Feel free to ask questions.

Parenting in Interracial Families

2009-11-17T16:40:42-08:00

I don’t really care who lives around me, I’ll force them all to come over and have a beer in the backyard. Although I will note that I generally have more success in that endeavor with the Caucasions and the Koreans than I do with the Chinese. YMMV.

Just for the record and on a totally personal note, we like Irvine because there is a much bigger proportion of families (and kids) that look just like ours as compared to anywhere else we have ever been. Eight of 22 kids in her class are half white/asian just like our daughter. We like that. As a bi-racial child we want her to be raised a setting that reflects her. Not that one can’t thrive wherever they live (don’t need anyone chiding me for that)—- but kids can be mean, and being an oddity in a sea of people who look don’t look like you is just one more hurdle. Southern California is a very diverse place—- but it also can be very segregated. Living in a place where most of the kids look like me (south OC) or like her mother (Arcadia) is not the environment we were looking for. This one fits.

Wahoo’s 21st birthday bash: free food, gift cards & more (11/21)

2009-11-20T19:09:39-08:00

Wahoo’s Fish Taco is celebrating its 21st birthday by giving away freebies such as gift cards and goodie bags to customers on Nov. 21.

The Santa Ana-based chain operates 15 Orange County restaurants and 38 nationwide. When each store opens at 11 a.m., staff will hand out various presents to customers to thank them for their loyal support, Wahoo’s said.

The first 21 guests will receive a goodie bag, which will include items from action sports companies such as Famous Stars and Straps, Tony Hawk Inc., 900 films, Jakks Toys, Liquid Force and Tilly’s.

“Everyone who visits their local Wahoo’s to celebrate our milestone will get a present from us,” shared Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s.

http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/20/wahoos-21st-birthday-bash-free-food-gift-cards-more/41725/

Unique and Interesting Websites

2009-06-03T22:11:24-08:00

Over the years while exploring different interests, I have come across a number of websites that still reside in my browser favorites in an archive file. I thought some of you might find them interesting and perhaps would like to share some of your own.

Flash Animations for Physics

Long Bets

Photo Gallery of Japanese Zen Gardens

Golf Club Atlas

Lucid Dreaming Website

I have many more of these.

Linked In

2009-11-20T00:53:26-08:00

My boss asked us all to become members of linked in. I thought it was kind of a neat site and signed up. Shortly after we all created our accounts he dictated that we had to hide our connections. Initially I thought no problem. But then, I have had a few of my connections tell me that this is rude. Frankly, I agree with them and think I should be able to have my connections viewable by the people I am connected to.

Initially my linked in page was something the ceo told us to create, but now I feel that it is really my page, so this evening I opted to remove my colleagues from my network in the mode that they will not be notified and opened up my connections for my connections to view. Am I safe? What if I wanted to put something in my status that says I’m currently looking for new opportunities, would my company be able to see this?

Aliso Viejo Discussion Thread

2007-11-25T13:15:27-08:00

Does anyone currently reside, or have lived in Aliso Viejo? If so could you please provide us with some info on the city, its neighborhoods, quirks, etc.? I’m also very interested in traffic situation during daily commute times. As a RE board, I’m sure everyone is also interested in the types of housing, HOA fees, prices, etc.