The Newport Sort

Sandy and Kirsten Cohen have nothing on the O'Gradys.

My good friend E. -- (a smarty pants pal from university, now doing his MBA at Stanford at the tender age of 24) -- was down from North Cali to do a little house-partying at his friend's parents' place (the O'Gradys) on Ocean Heights Drive in the Newport Coast.

We're talking seriously gorgeous home: security-guard gates (your name has to be on a guest list to enter and you get a street parking pass with your license number on it), a stunning view of all coastal Orange County (during the day apparently you can see L.A., and during July 4th you can see about 30 fireworks displays), putting green beside the heated pool and hot tub, mural painted bathroom walls, all tile, mad-cool BBQ set up, open space, huge windows, ceramic vase fountain bubbling over at the entrance, two or three mini courtyards and comfy, ethnic decor (the inhabitants certainly seem well-traveled).

The crowd was good-looking and pleasant (stylish too!), E.'s business school friends were funny and intelligent (Ronald, you sure got me with your "Bolivian" accent), the catch-up conversation between us two old friends was comforting, and the multiple glasses of chardonnay were exactly what I needed to kick-start the weekend.

Give me a couple (ie. many) more years of grinding and toiling -- maybe I'll be able to build a fantastic Newport Coast home someday.

Or I can go the easy route and find a rich MBA husband at Stanford on what they call "Black Monday" (legend has it that the day after attached MBA-ers get back from their first holiday, they break up with significant others, rendering them single once again)

Nah. I think I'll take the road less travelled.








I'm Lovin' it: All things Voom by Joy Han. I just wrote an article on the Voom brand for December's 944 Magazine issue. I seriously wanted to buy her entire showroom during the interview. The clothes were actually distracting me from my line of questioning, they're so fabulous!

I'm Over it: The sudden turn for the chilly weather here in SoCal. Better get used to it, I suppose. I'm a-headin' home to freezing cold Vancouver in a month! Time to retire the short-sleeve shirts.

Track of the Day: That 30 Seconds To Mars song I blogged about in my last post (but couldn't recall the name) is called "From Yesterday".

* Photos property of wireimage.com, orpheus.ucsd.edu