California...Here We Come!!

Anyone else out there still mourning the very untimely demise of The O.C.??? No? Well, you should be. This was the most awesome thing to happen to TV teen dramas since Beverly Hills 90210. But they had one thing 90210 didn't have--Peter Gallagher's eyebrows. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go add season 1 to your Netflix queue. I miss you, Sandy Cohen...

I know Marissa and her drunken, anorexic hijinks mucked up season 2, but by season 3 Taylor Townsend totally made up for it, and what about the tour de force performance from Kirsten Cohen (don't know her real name) as a secondary season 2 storyline? Don't tell me that's not Emmy-worthy.

Anyway, even though The O.C. is dead and gone, I can still relive it in all its glory whenever I visit my hometown of Torrance, CA. You see, the O.C. doesn't look anything like the TV show because they filmed most of it on studio lots and in Redondo or Torrance, a good 40 miles north Newport Beach, the supposed location. The exterior shots of the rock club where 16 year olds could see live performances by national bands without having to worry about having ID or being crushed in a mosh pit were done on the Redondo Beach Pier. There's Mike trying to grab a little of that Ryan Attwood stardust...
And all those scenes of Marissa contemplating suicide at some deserted life guard station are all on the stretch from Redondo to Torrance Beach. See, it's beautiful...


I grew up in Torrance, a low-key beach city south of Los Angeles that has one of the most perfect climates on earth. They say that about San Diego, but San Diego is cold. I wouldn't lie to you. Torrance is just right. Mike and I flew in to visit my family and attend a wedding this weekend in San Diego. My sister who has been living in Brazil for the past few years is in CA too, along with her fantastic boyfriend, so we've been having a lot of fun in SoCal. They took us to the Torrance farmer's market where stone fruit, figs, squash blossoms and summer tomatoes are abundant...heaven!

They also made Sangria for us, and it was outrageously good. I'm still wrangling the actual recipe out of them (like most great things, it's sort of intuitive), but when I do, I will definitely share it. It transforms inexpensive sauvignon blanc into something amazing involving strawberries, oranges and Bigelow peach tea.

Right now, Mike and I are in Buellton, CA. You might know it from the little movie, Sideways. We are loving the local wines, and I had the greatest burger of my life last night at The Hitching Post. We also stopped for lunch at the taco stand in Santa Barbara where Julia Child used to go. As we watched the cooks making the corn tortillas in their little kitchen, we knew it would be great. We were right. More on California to come in the next post.

What is everyone else doing for their summer vacation?

And for all you O.C. fans...if you were Josh Schwartz, how would you have saved the show????



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