Sally Dean

Grooving to the Beat at the Libbey Bowl

This past Saturday, I had a great time with some friends at the Ojai Classic Rock and Reggae Festival.  It took place at the Libbey Bowl, as do most great events here, and it was filled with good music, great vibes and some fun people.  Well, make that some rather funky people.  I think these types of festivals bring out all of the most “interesting” individuals…including those who have forgotten that they lived their teen years long ago. But, no matter.

Anyway, the line-up was entertaining with The Fortunate Sons, the Grateful Dead by Skull & Roses, the Jerry Garcia Band by The Maykers, Cream by Yesterday’s Child, Lynyrd Skynyrd by One More From the Road, and the Beatles by Sgt. Pepper.

It was a bit of a trip down memory lane which is always fun.  And, I got to hang out with friends that I don’t see too often.  I managed to come home with a headache (no big surprise after listening to so much music!) but I curled up with Bernie and enjoyed some sleep.

Overall, a successful event for the weekend!

A Spanish Paradise…the Azu Restaurant

So, I’m not going to tell you too much about my recent date, since my good ‘ol mom reads this blog, but I will tell you all about the food.  One word – YUM!  We went for a first date to Azu which is a Spanish restaurant on Ojai Avenue.  It was completely over-the-top, out-of-this-world delicious.

We started with the Arugula and Dried Fig Salad.  I’m not usually a fig person, but this was amazing.  It was filled with figs, argulula, ham, feta and almonds and had a great dressing drizzled over it.  We also shared another appetizer since my date said he loves brie.  This brie had honey on it and some walnuts and it was amazing.

Then, for dinner, I had the Seafood Paella.  I don’t have a Spanish background at all, but my mom used to like to make paella for dinner (thanks mom!). She always said that it was “quick to make and hard to mess up” since you just throw every seafood known to man into a pot with rice and…viola!

So, when I saw the paella on the menu, I decided that it was for me.  And I was right.  I spotted shrimp and calamari in it. I think there were also scallops and there was definitely rice and peas.  It was incredibly hearty (I don’t think I’ll eat for days!) and was just fantastic.

The ambiance is quaint and sweet as well.  I think it was a bit pricey.  I’m embarrassed to say that I happily did not pick up the tab. I watched my date’s face in case he had a heart attack or anything…but he seemed to maintain his cool when he flipped over the bill. But, I’m guessing that he has a poker face because I think it was pretty steep.

Anyway – if you’re in Ojai, get yourself over to Azu, or find yourself a date who wants to pay for you to do so. It was awesome!

4th of July Fun

Alright, I admit it. I’m a sucker for the 4th of July. I simply love all of the excitement, energy and fun that surrounds the holiday. Sure I love America. But I don’t usually get all sappy about it. The 4th of July, however, brings out that sap in me.

And this year was no different.

I had an awesome time on the 4th enjoying the many things that Ojai has to offer. I wasn’t originally going to go to the Ojai Independence Day Parade, but my friends arrived in the morning and dragged me out of bed.  And I’m glad they did.  It was such a cute experience watching all of the various groups going down the main street from the Country Club Road to Park Road.  The theme this year was “Proud to be an American” and I definitely felt the spirit.

Then, after hanging out and relaxing for awhile, we went to the Nordhoff Community Stadium where there was a flag ceremony, food booths, games, rides and entertainment.  The fireworks were awesome as they lit up the night sky and got everyone “oohing” and “aaahing” and I definitely oohed along with them!

Happy 4th to Everyone! Until next year…

Bathed in Lavender at the Ojai Valley Lavender Festival

My brother has arrived…and so has the noise! Wow, I didn’t realize just how noisy two cute kids could be. Nevertheless, we are enjoying ourselves a great deal.

I have to laugh, since I created an air-tight schedule of events for the time that my brother is in town…but then so many interesting things have come up.

Take today for instance. Today, we stumbled upon the Ojai Valley Lavender Festival at Libbey Park. I had no idea what was going on as we went to the park for a walk, and stumbled into a sea of purple. Turns out that today marked the 8th year that they’ve had the festival.

The mission of the Ojai Valley Lavender Festival is to demonstrate and promote all of the possible uses of lavender. It’s also focused on broadening public awareness about lavender and educating potential growers and farmers about all of the benefits of this plant.

So, today Libbey Park was awash in all sorts of lavender products. There were lavender plants, gardens created just for the event, vendors who were selling all sorts of interesting foods and home items, talks by lavender growers and producers and more. Of course, there was awesome live music to go with it all.

The entire park was packed – they say that they usually get 5000 visitors and I could definitely tell that they were close to that number. I was ready to collapse by the end of the day, but it was certainly a fun experience and something unusual to enjoy!

Getting Down to Business for the Bro

My brother is coming for a visit to Ojai (I’ve been lobbying for this for quite awhile!) and I’m running around like a maniac trying to figure out what we should do.  He’s a successful lawyer in Arizona (don’t ask how he ended up there) with two adorable little kids.  So, I’m taking a week off of work and we are going to enjoy ourselves.

But, since I’m pretty new to Ojai, I’ve been trying to brush up on the scene and figure out what we should do while he’s here. Turns out there are an amazing amount of options!  Now, since the kids are quite young, I had to rule out a few of my best ideas.  I want to go Jeeping sometime.  Doesn’t that sound great?  But Jerry vetoed the idea for now.

So, we are going to take a day to visit Lake Casitas and go boating.  I’ve heard that Casitas Water Adventure is supposed to be great as well, so we might check that out while we are by the lake.

I think the kids both cycle, so I want to take them on a bicycle ride as well. I ride the Ojai Valley Trail by myself all the time, so I figure that they’ll enjoy that one.  And I’ve lined up a great hike for us on the Gridley Trail so that we can check out Ojai Valley from the top.  It shouldn’t be too strenuous a hike, and I’m hoping the kids will get into that.

Alright, I’m getting tired just thinking about entertaining the family for a week. Time for bed for me!  Gotta save up my energy for this adventure!

Art in the Park with Libbey

This weekend I had an amazing time at Libbey Park. And it wasn’t because I was dragging Bernie around as he checked out every female dog in the vicinity.  I actually left Bernie home this time, and went to Libbey to check out the art in the park scene.  This was, according to the flyers that I saw, the 31^st annual Art in the Park event for Ojai and for Libbey Park. That’s a long tradition!

It was really quite fun.  There is always a juried art show, which I enjoyed browsing through. Although I’ve got to say that I simply don’t understand modern art.  I don’t think I ever will – no matter how much people try to convince me that the empty canvas with one black dot on it as actually art.

But, anyway, it was fun to check out all of the art and to see the activity surrounding it. There was also live music which was really fun to listen to, great food stands and more.

I can home absolutely exhausted (whose idea was this dog that I had to walk anyway?) but the entire experience was really fun.  I’m hoping I’ll still be here for the 32^nd annual event – I don’t see any reason that I won’t!

Really? Time to Get Up Already?

I’m really enjoying teaching at the Weil Tennis Academy, but it’s so hard for me to get up in the morning after working with the kids late into the night.  Now that the school year is winding down, we’ve been doing a lot of late night practices and gearing up to end the year on a high note.

So, needless to say that’s it’s not always easy for me to get out of bed the next day.  And I’m definitely not ready to make myself anything when I do finally roll out of bed.  So, today I was thrilled to go to Eggs N’Things on Maricopa Hwy.  Have you ever been there?  It’s simply terrific.

I happen to love breakfast, even though I hate getting up in time for breakfast food. I’ve decided, since I don’t enjoy getting up, that I’m allowed to eat breakfast all day long (whadya think about that, mom?).

So, the breakfast was delicious…even at almost noon. It took me a long time to figure out what to order. Their cinnamon roll French toast sounded amazing, as did the Special Benedict and the Country Omelet.  I finally fell for the French toast, and I could barely move when I finished the meal.  YUM!

Shopping with the Girls

I tend to stay in my tennis whites most of the time, and when I’m not wearing those, I’m most likely found in sweats and a big t-shirt.  This weekend, however, my friends got the crazy idea that it was time for some more grown-up clothing. (What’s grown-up about clothing anyway?)

So, against my better judgment, we went off on a shopping spree.  Now, mind you, I don’t have tons of money to throw around, but I did actually end up enjoying myself and buying a few cute things (yes, mom, you would approve).

We started at Rains, which I understand has actually been in the village for more than 100 years. That’s pretty cool.  I got a cute sundress there and a great beach hat.  Then, we jutted into Serendipity Toys because it was just too tempting not to.  I picked up a few small toys for my nieces and nephews and had a great time looking around.

Ok…back to shopping. We hit a few more of the hot spots around Ojai and then collapsed for a great cup of coffee and some pastries.

And, of course, no trip to town is complete without popping into Bart’s Books.  Have I mentioned how much I love Bart’s?  I happen to love bookstores, no matter what the ambiance is, but this place is amazing.  It’s a local hotspot (if a bookstore can be a hotspot!) and it’s got the most eclectic mix of books, people and activity that you’ll ever find.

So, all in all it was a successful day.  Now I just have to get my tan going so that I can look cute in the sundress!

Bernie Checks out Libbey

No, this is not a match-making site.  And no, mom, I haven’t yet met the man of my dreams.  Rather, this week I took Bernie, my beautiful new dog, to check out Libbey Park.

I love Libbey Park because it’s like an oasis right in the middle of the city. It has terrific playgrounds for kids, great grassy areas and tons of action.  I always feel like I’ve had a fun time when I come home from Libby, even if I’ve just hung out by myself there for a while.

So, I figured that it was time for Bernie to experience Libbey and to get his feet wet in the park.  He didn’t know what to do first. There was so much to smell and so much entertainment in the park; actually, I was the one who suffered as he dragged me every which way in the park and left me feeling a bit dazed and dizzy!

He did settle down after running like a madman for over an hour, and we enjoyed a cute little picnic together in the grassy area.  I think Bernie is smitten.  I’ll have to make sure to bring him back to Libbey, his new love, whenever I get the chance!

Divine Desserts

I’ve certainly blogged enough about how much I love food.  I’m particularly fond of good desserts and I enjoy making them myself as much as I do going out for a night-cap and some great dessert.

So, after a very busy week at Weil Tennis Academy, I decided that I needed a night on the town.  I didn’t have a date ready to sweep me off my feet, so I invited two of my girlfriends to go with me to the Garden Terrace.  I had heard that they had really good desserts and that was definitely the case.  Wow!

I had the chocolate pecan caramel turtle tart and I thought I would never get up from my chair. It was just incredible.  I know I’ll have to bust a move a bit on the court next week to make up for it…but it was worth every bite.  My friends shared the chocolate hazelnut flourless cake and the pear almond tart. They didn’t love the tart, but they almost licked the plate of the flourless cake.

And the coffee was quite good too.  We were hoping that we just might find three single guys out for dessert as well…but alas that was not to be.  While it would have been the icing on the cake to meet someone – the cake itself was so good that it really didn’t matter!