I was born and raised in Tustin. Here you'll find out a little more about me, and what life is like for me at home.
My Hobbies
Painting- I love to open all the windows, turn on all the lights, turn up the music and just paint. For me, it can take the focus off of anything that might be bothering me, much like meditation.
Refinishing furniture- I think that recycling is important, and It always bothers me when large items wind up in the dump. That's why I started refinishing furniture- so that it can continue to be useful and beautiful
Skiing- I've had a Mammoth season pass for the past decade. I'm fast.
Traveling (obviously)
Hiking- Walking, in general is something that I enjoy. Orange County has decent hiking on offer and I'm fortunate to live very close to a nice canyon that I love hiking in.
Beach- I love swimming and I love the sun
Gardening- I'm actually super into plants, especially succulents! I love that I can leave them for months on end and when I return they're still alive
Do you speak any other languages?
I speak Spanish fairly well. I studied abroad in Spain and continued taking Spanish classes throughout college. Nowadays, I still love talking in Spanish and enjoy using it both when traveling and while at home. It's come in handy more times than I can count, and in places I never expected, like Turkey, New Zealand, and Myanmar, where I met Spanish speaking people either traveling or working abroad.
Work
What's the tea? How can you afford to travel so much?
I'm a real estate agent in California
I sell my paintings here on this website
I sell literally anything and everything else on eBay/ Craigslist
But it's more than just how much you make. It's how much you spend.
That being said, I'm frugal, almost to a fault.
What were you like when you were younger?
Famous places in Orange County
Theme Parks
Disneyland- Personally, I prefer Knott’s Berry Farm
Knotts Berry Farm- I love Knott's, there's typically much less lines than at Disneyland and season passes are actually realistically affordable
Hiking
Peter’s Canyon- This is a figure 8 trail that takes you around a reservoir. I can’t say it’s a MUST do thing, but if you’re looking for something to do in OC it’s a really nice hour loop or so.
Silverado Canyon
Holy Jim hike to the small waterfall
Blackstar Canyon
Top of the world Laguna Beach, Car Wreck trail is a steep descent into the canyon
Beaches
Huntington Beach- This beach is in a flat area and doesn't have any dramatic cliffs or anything like that, just a HUGE, WIDE, sandy beach. Surf City Nights Certified Farmers Market takes place every Tuesday on Main Street (just next to the pier)in downtown Huntington Beach from 5-9 p.m.
Sunset Beach- You'll want to go here if you're learning to surf, as it has the most accommodating waves for learning.
Laguna Beach- To me, the most beautiful beaches of Orange County are in Laguna Beach. It's also home to a thriving arts scene. West street beach is Orange County's Gay beach
Newport Beach Peninsula- The most expensive neighborhood of all beach areas, it has a nice boardwalk that's nice for walking or riding bikes on, and a big wide sandy beach. Many of the beachfront homes here are vacation rentals
Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach)
Landmarks
Disneys green office building
The Matterhorn
Newport and Huntington Piers
The Tustin Hangars
Orange County's Notable Malls and Shopping Centers
The Block of Orange- Now known as "The Outlets at Orange" This is an outdoor mall with outlet stores and a movie theater.
Mainplace Mall Santa Ana- This is a great indoor mall with a nice food scene, midrange stores, and a budget movie theater
The Village of Orange- A smaller mall, home to Ross, Red Robin
South Coast Plaza- Costa Mesa's upscale mall home to high end brand names like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, etc.
The Lab- Costa Mesa. This is a small mall, just down the street from South Coast Plaza, they self proclaim it to be the "anti-mall" It's for vegans and hipsters
Fashion Island- Newport Beach's huge outdoor upscale mall home to high end brand names like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, etc.
Irvine Spectrum- This is a huge, and beautiful outdoor mall. It's modeled after the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. You'll see fountains, arches and more all inspired by the Alhambra.
Downtown Disney- Anahiem. This outdoor mall has some great food.
Tustin Marketplace- This is the shopping center closest to where I live. It's home to some of my favorite food joints!
Tustin Legacy: The District- This is a huge new shopping center just a couple miles down the street from the Tustin Marketplace
Orange Circle- This isn't actually a mall, rather it's the historic center of the City of Orange. In this area you'll find a lot a cute restaurants and a lot of stores selling antiques and vintage stuff. I tend to feel that in general, the items are overpriced but it's fun to browse and if you find something you love, it's probably worth it!
Kaleidoscope- Smaller mall in south Orange County
Brea Mall- A huge indoor mall with midrange stores
Thrift Shopping in Orange County
This is one of my favorite things to do! there's always good stuff. Here's some of my favorite thrift stores with my general insight about each
Boutique Goodwill Tustin- Large inventory and better items that the usual Goodwill
Goodwill Tustin Ave- Orange- Medium sized, This is the goodwill that I frequent the most
Goodwill Santa Ana Fairview- This is a large goodwill with a decent furniture selection and a dedicated electronics section
Goodwill El Toro- This is overall a nice store
Salvation Army Tustin Ave- Orange. Best furniture selection, poor clothing selection
Assistance League of Tustin- Very Small, but good prices if you do find something you like. Limited hours
2nd Time Store; The Christian thrift store in Tustin- Messy, everything is priced relatively high but then there's ALWAYS a 50-60% discount on everything which makes the prices fair
For larger items, use Craigslist(website) and Offerup(app)! These websites/app makes it easy to meet locals who are willing to let their items go for a huge discount.
Foodie Tips: My favorite restaurants in Orange County
Rutabagorz- there are 3 locations serving up healthy food. My two favorite salads are the BBQ Chicken Fiesta Salad, and the Garlic Chicken Salad.
Valentinos Pizza- The cheapest, best, one-topping pizza you’ll find!
Costco- You don't have to be a member to eat at the food court, even if it's an indoor one. They have great pizza, Churros, hot dogs and more!
In N Out – Chain restaurant, Burgers As easy as 123, Well, actually, as easy as #1 ! I always order a #1 no tomato, add pickles, add peppers, with grilled onions. YUM! Free hot chocolate on rainy days! Look up the secret menu!
Taco Factory – Mexican. I order the Chimichanga, made with green salsa instead of the red/pico de gallo that they normally put in it. They have a great salsa bar too. Huge Cheap and Delicious- the three most important things when it comes to food.
Natraj Tandoori – Indian I love the Chicken Tikka Masala
Tapatio #2 - Mexican. I love the tacos here
Hatam– Persian The restaurant has an upscale feel, and the best Koobideh!
Ruby’s on the Pier- Burgers
Red Robin- American. This chain restaurant serves Great hamburgers and has an awesome rewards program, especially recommended if you're visiting on your birthday!
Seoul Garden- Korean All you can eat KBBQ Pick it up yourself buffet style. Be careful of weekend/holiday/can’t fathom why it’s randomly really expensive pricing. Also, this place is much cheaper at lunch and has most all of what’s offered at the dinner price. I’d say it’s a better deal at lunch. If you’re going at dinnertime, I’d say Gen is better.
Gen- Korean Chain – All you can eat KBBQ where you order from a menu and the waiters bring it. Be prepared to wait in a long line if you’re unlucky/here at a regular dinner hour
Cafe Rio- Mexican Chain, I love the sweet pork tacos and sweet pork quesadilla. They're delicious. I think this place has my favorite tortillas of anywhere- they're thick and unique. I also like the fountain drinks selection which isn't just the same old Coke/Pepsi lineup
HONDA-YA – Japanese- Only open in the evenings, this place is cheap and gooooood! Write your name on the sign in sheet and wait your turn!
Taiko – Japanese food, the combination plates are HUGE and cheap!
Ikea- Honestly the food here is cheap and delicious. My two favorite things! Unfortunately, it's the kind of place that I go for meatballs, and walk out with a new kitchen.
For dessert:
Joe’s Italian Ice- Don’t be shy to ask for samples. This place is awesome.
Cauldron Ice Cream – Nitrogen Ice cream parlor. “The Cauldron” Is the treat I always order, on a Puffle cone!
Grocery Stores in Orange County
From my travels, I have learned to truly appreciate the grocery stores we have in Orange County. Let's face it: we're spoiled. VERY spoiled. We have such easy access to literally millions of products that come from all over the world.
Costco- You have to be a member to shop here, or have somebody who is a member buy you a gift card. This warehouse sells food in bulk, alongside a large variety of other things like electronics and clothing. You don't need to be a member to buy alcohol or eat at the food court here.
Trader Joe's- You'll have to walk slowly down these aisles because there is such a huge variety of products; unlike typical grocery stores, Trader Joe's carries a limited selection of each product type, so you won't find 50 kinds of peanut butter, but the couple that they do have available, are super good ones.
Albertsons- This is my go-to "regular" grocery store
Ralphs- Similar to Albertsons
Target- Target has a limited grocery store but I find it to be better prices in general than other grocery stores so I tend to stock up here on things that last a while on the shelf
Bodega R Ranch Market- Mexican Grocery Store. I love the fresh cheese from here. This is a great place to get cheap veggies that are tasty but not necessarily beautiful
After all, LA isn't so far away
I can be in Hollywood in around an hour
And with LAX, the world isn't really so far away, either.
Rumors about California- It's not always sunny
Well, actually it's mostly true that it's always sunny in Southern California. We boast some of the best weather in the world, but it's different than many places. When it rains in some places, it's evening showers, but daytime is sunny. In Orange County winters when it rains, it tends to drizzle nonstop for several days consecutively. Weather is opposite here to most of the world because here in Southern California, summer is the dry season and winter is the wet season.
February 2019- On my birthday it rained so much that the gutter fell off our roof.
The best thing about home is that there's so much global influence and diverse population that I can find things that remind me of abroad everywhere!
Thanksgiving
I'll always remember the first time I spent Thanksgiving outside of the USA. I was in Cashel, Ireland and I remember going to the grocery store that day and hearing the newscasters on the TV at the store talking about how it was Thanksgiving in America. It was weird. No turkey on sale. No honey baked ham. Nothing.
Our family always gets together for a thanksgiving meal.
Visiting During Christmas time?
Visit Tustin's Christmas Lights Street!
Here around the holidays? OC’s winter wonderland is on Olwyn Dr – At the intersection of Red Hill Ave and Olwyn Dr. Be careful to not come too late though as a lot of the houses will turn the lights off around 10 or 11pm. (probably so people like you won’t be hanging out there ALL night)
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