A Tale of Three Kids’ Birthday Parties

April 15, 2013 by 18 Comments

IMG_7047My birthday boys (not the guy in the middle!)

April is a month of birthdays for our family – my own two kids were born in April, 2 years and 8 days apart – and many of their friends celebrate birthdays in April, too. I still make my boys celebrate their birthday at the same time, whether we have a big birthday party or take them on a fun trip. I’m not sure how long I can get away with that, but I’ll keep trying.

Treasure Hunt

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This year, my kids wanted a scavenger hunt for their birthday. I took that idea and changed it up a little devising a clever but easily solved treasure hunt for them and a few of their friends. It was hardly Pinterest-worthy, but I did craft a pretty good hunt. I limited the kids to just a few friends each, and sent them off in two teams in opposite directions around the block. Here are some of the weird and random locations:

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The goal was to find the treasure, and there were 10 clues that led them to it. To find the next clue, they had to solve a puzzle or a riddle which would tell them the next location. I planned this thing for two full days. It took them 30 minutes to complete. During the rest of their visit, they had an epic squirt gun fight and some birthday cake.  Done.

Socks Mandatory

IMG_7087My boys stealing some poor kid’s thunder

The next day, we attended back-to-back parties in Simi Valley. The first was at Imagymnation, a warehouse-turned-gymnastics center for kids. The helpful young party workers led the kids through games and jumping around. Not even an hour into it, both of my boys were sweaty and happy. The parents sat on the sidelines, chatting or checking their smartphones. The party ended with pizza and cupcakes.

The second party was on the other side of Simi Valley at Scooter’s Jungle, a relatively new indoor playground that has giant inflated slides, bouncers, a climbing structure, and mini scooters. Again, the kids were let loose to climb, jump, and slide, and they did it over and over again. At one point the party leader had the kids grab their parents to go down the giant slide with them, but I was spared, because my kids ignored me. If I hadn’t tweaked my back I would have made more of an effort to join in, because it looked like fun!

After the frolicking, we all went into a cafeteria-style room for munchies, vegetables, and pizza (again) and birthday cake. The whole thing lasted about 3 hours. I thought the children would fall asleep on the ride home, but it was me who was bushed! I noted, however, that both locations, aside from being great for kids’ birthday parties, have free play hours during the week, which will be perfect on hot summer days when I have to get the kids out of the house to burn up energy!

Filed Under: Around Town, Fun, Local Businesses Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Keep Your New Year’s Resolution! What To Do With All That Clutter

January 30, 2013 by 8 Comments

There is a box inside my front door that has been there since a few days after Christmas.  First, it sat by the Christmas tree.  Then I moved it to a side of the kitchen, where I would be sure to see it every day, thus ensuring that I would deal with it sooner than later.  When that didn’t happen, I scooched it up the hall to where it is now.  And that is where I walk past it every day, not even remembering that it exists.

Sigh.

Do you have a box like this?  Is your house filled with boxes like this, or other things?  I mean, that box is just a symbol for the greater plague of TOO MUCH STUFF.

It’s a common New Year’s resolution:  I’m going to declutter my house and get rid of all this crap.  Right?  I’ve made that resolution many times, attacking corners of my house with renewed purpose at year’s beginning and other days throughout.  This year, I’ve amassed quite a giant pile of items that are too old/small/unused in our house, and now I have to get rid of them somehow.

And just because it’s nearly February doesn’t mean I have to give up on it.  I still consider February the “new” part of the year.

Here some great ways to get rid of your clutter:

Sell It

Craigslist – yes, the concept of hooking up with a stranger to sell something on Craigslist can be kind of weird, but I’ve done it several times and it always worked out in my favor. Someone came to my house, gave cash to me, and then took away the thing I didn’t need anymore but was still in really good condition.  You never know if someone is looking for just that type of old desk or needs a working flatbed scanner.  I suggest starting with Craigslist – Ventura and Craiglist – San Fernando Valley for closer buyers, but you can branch out to other Los Angeles locations if you have a rare item that someone needs so much she would be willing to drive for it.

EBay – With a tiny little bit more effort, you can get more money for your barely or never-used items by auctioning them off on EBay or other auction sites.  I sold a pair of men’s work boots that I couldn’t return but were never worn for more than half their sale price.  The trip to the post office wasn’t really that big of deal.

Yard Sale – this is the most time consuming and arduous way of getting money for your items, but it’s best if you have a lot of stuff, like I do. There is a small-car-sized mound in my garage right now.  It’s organized and ready to go, but I’m dragging my feet with the yard sale because it’s just so much work.  If you do it right, though, it’s worth it.  Here are some observations from a local mom about yard sales in Agoura Hills:

-what are the best areas for yard sales out here?  specific areas, parts of town?   Old Agoura had a few good yard sales, but some of them have been really expensive. The best areas are the tracts that have neighborhood yard sales. You can pretty much walk door to a few doors down and find tons of stuff.

–what are some features or things you remember about the sales where you got your best finds or had a really good time, esp. with the kids?  The boys love to find things that they really like. My son bought a big print of a sunflower, because he liked it and it made him happy, for a dollar and it now hangs in our bathroom. He’s very proud of his helping with the decorating. We also love the houses that have an “everything is $.25” bin. They can get a ton of stuff for a couple of bucks and they are happy all day feeling like they really got to pick their own stuff.  ALSO, We bought him a Mongoose bike ($ 140.00) for $40.00 and it was in good condition, it just needed the brakes loosened.

–can you share an anecdote about celebrity yard sales?  I remember a story about a Duke of Hazard… That was trippy. It was an Estate Sale for the blond Duke, can’t think of his name right now. It was weird, I felt like we were pawing through a dead man’s stuff even though he’s not dead, just that part of his life…

-if you were to hold a yard sale, what are the most important things you would keep in mind, in light of your experience in our area over the last 2 years? I would keep in mind that I’m getting rid of this stuff, I’m either going to sell it, donate it or give it away, I don’t need to try and get my money’s worth. If I have a big piece I want to sell I’ll do it on craigslist. People go to a garage sale to pay $1.00 for a book not $20.00. Silly people. Overcharging for stuff that they no longer want, need or can repair. Someone once had a bench, like a picnic table bench, for $90.00. You’re kidding me right.

Let people know about your yard sale by posting it on Craig’s List, or even buying a small ad in the Acorn.  Signs are great too, for directing people to your location, but note!  Agoura Hills does not allow you to TAPE signs to existing pole and street signs.  They will come and take them down!  Best bet is to get stand alone signs or lawn stakes, and put them up in the morning, early, on the day of your sale to avoid super early birds, if you don’ t want those.

Recycle It

Discarded materials like electronics, hazardous waste, batteries, lightbulbs, metals, etc. are collected at special events in locations in and around Agoura Hills periodically.  Regular scans of the Acorn’s pages will often reveal a large recycling logo, and there you will find that a collection event is coming soon, usually in the parking lot of the Vons plaza in Calabasas.  I have hauled my electronics all the way up to the Calabasas Landfill at the top of Lost Hills Road.

Donate It

There are a few ways to donate your used possessions, the easiest and most obvious would be the Goodwill or Salvation Army drop-offs.  (As in, that’s what you do with the leftover stuff that is still there after your yard sale.)  Goodwill has donation center/bookstores at the Vons shopping center on Kanan, and in the plaza at Lindero Canyon and Kanan.  Beware of entering those bookstores, though.  You might come out with an armload of low-cost used books that will replace what you just donated!

You can also call one of the many non-profit organizations that will send a truck to pick up your donations.  I often use The Arc of Ventura County, which serves individuals who have developmental disabilities.

Or you can give your stuff away to another person who might be looking for the thing you don’t want to throw away, but you just don’t want it in your house anymore.  Freecycle is the perfect way to do this.  You can also use the free listings on Craigslist, but I like Freecycle because so far in my experience it seems to be used by a community of like-minded individuals.  You can post things you want to give away, and if something catches your eye, by all means you can go receive free things, too.  People give away all kinds of weird things.  But then again, you usually need all kinds of weird things, don’t you?  Especially if you have kids.  Someone has a metric ton of pipe cleaners they want to unload?  Bring them on!  Craft supplies for the next 100 years!

This should not be your closet

Whatever method you choose to get rid of your clutter, the key is to DO IT.  You can’t let it sit around in your space for much longer, collecting dust and cluttering up your brain.  You don’t even know it’s there after a while, but trust me – when you get rid of it, you will feel so much better.  If you simply don’t have the time or the energy to tackle it yourself, there is a wonderful husband and wife service based in Ventura called The Domestic Assistants who will help you with all of it.  They are paid by the hour, so you only pay for as much work as it takes to tackle your mess.

Now excuse me while I make a phone call.  I’ve got to deal with that box before February 1.

Filed Under: Local Businesses, Local Services Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Four Seasons’ Lobby Lounge Says “Delicious” in Italian

January 9, 2013 by 13 Comments

For a special occasion, you could do a Sunday brunch.  To get authentic Italian food, you could go to an Italian restaurant.  Or even Italy.

But why bother with any of those things?  Right here in Westlake Village, the Four Seasons Hotel’s Lobby Lounge creates an Italian marketplace every Saturday night.  To encourage you to try everything on offer at their weekly Mercato Italiano, they offer a prix fixe menu and a varied and colorful array of different foods.

A marketplace buffet is laid out in a square in the middle of the Lobby Lounge, complete with umbrellas even though you’re all inside.  Along one edge is the salumi bar, where the chef puts the plates together and calls out “SALUMI!” when a plate is ready.  The salamis and pungent cheeses are brought to your table on slate slabs.  You can nosh on this while you nibble on the fresh bread served in little paper bags.

Continue along the right side of the square through the salads and antipasto bowls full of fresh market vegetables and freshly made pastas, to the bruschetta bar, where a server makes your bruschetta from scratch for you.

 

 

Take a left after the bruschetta to the pasta bar, which is reminiscent of an omelette bar at a brunch, except this is way better.  Any kind of pasta you want with your choice of toppings and sauces.  The butternut squash risotto was just the right combination of flavors, and used squash grown on the premises for the California Health and Longevity Institute.

And look at the wonder on my child’s face as he orders and receives that most wonderful of childhood delicacies…

…plain pasta with butter and parmesan cheese.  Look how happy!

Along the fourth edge of the square are the prepared entrees – you serve yourself here buffet-style.  A piping hot lasagna Bolognese, a tender pork loin dish, salmon nestled in pillowy mountains of garlic mashed potatoes, and lamb osso buco – something I had never tried before but looked so delicious I had to taste, and it indeed tasted just as good.  Come hungry to this meal, friends, because you’re going to want to taste everything.

The atmosphere of the evening is lively with Italian music playing loudly on the speakers, giving kids license to be their noisy selves.  Seatings are at 5pm and 7pm, so there is the early option for families with little ones.  Our kids enjoyed the bread and pasta and one of them even ate from the salumi plate, but the best part of the night for them was making pizzas with Chef Manny.

Along with salumi plates, bread, and beverages, the pizzas are brought to the table, and Chef Manny shouts the names of the pizzas as they leave his prep station so that the servers will come get the pie, walk it outside to the wood-fired oven, and return with a plate of delicious pizza.

This handcrafted artisan pizza has garlic aioli instead of tomato sauce, and is topped with butternut squash, spinach, and goat cheese.  Since our son made it, the taste was even more wonderful.  Of course, by the time it was done, the adults were filled with all of the other treats, and we still had to save room for dessert:

The gelato cart was serving up a variety of flavors.  We tried peanut butter and jelly, salted caramel, and pumpkin.  The PB&J was the grown-up favorite, while good old chocolate was a tried and true hit with the kids.  We also sampled the tiramisu (perfect) and one of each of the fancy tarts.  See that tray of shot glasses toward the middle of the bottom of the photo above?  Those glasses hold vanilla custard served in eggshells topped with tiny diced strawberries.

I was so delighted by the presentation that I forgot to get a close-up before I gobbled it down.

Also with dessert I tasted the special authentic limoncello that restaurant manager Massimo Cibelli told me is made from lemons grafted from Sorrento in Italy.  They are grown in Ventura, where the limoncello is made.  Served chilled, alone it is tart and powerful.  Poured over ice and mixed with sparkling wine, it would be a perfect dessert cocktail to sip by the pool in the summer.  Alas.

On this night it was snowing outside the Lobby Lounge.  It was manufactured snow, but it was snow nonetheless.  We shall have to return on a warmer evening and test my theory.

Executive Chef Mario Alcocer (below, left) conceived Mercato Italiano as a one-time special event, but it was so popular that the feature is now weekly with no end in sight.  The restaurant fills both seatings regularly, so reservations are recommended.

Not Italian, but very good with his delizioso.

Mercato Italiano happens every Saturday evening starting at 5:00 pm.  Prices are $45 for adults and $25 for children.  My family and I were guests of the hotel at this meal to facilitate this feature.

Filed Under: Food, Local Businesses Tagged With: , , , , , ,