Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Date Night!

Who needs grown up date nights when you can have kid-like one's?!

The hubs and I had the opportunity to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' new show, Built to Amaze on opening night and man oh man was it lots of fun.

And let me tell you, the circus wasn't always my favorite place to be. *cough* clowns can be creepy as hell *cough*

Here's some pics of our fab night.

Hubs actually said "I look like a stroke victim in that picture," when I told him I was using it on the blog, haha.

Dude, it totally looks like I'm cross-eyed. Sexy.

-Lin

OC Fair & Damsels of Destruction Demolition Derby Ticket Giveaway

We're half way through summer and what's the best way to celebrate? Going to the Orange County Fair, that's how!

The hubs and I visited the fair last weekend, had a total blast and have decided if we have another day off together we're heading back for more fair food fun.

Visit ocfair.com/2013 for a full listing of each day's offering.

The 2013 OC Fa, themed Come & Get It, is July 12 – August 11 and brings 23 days of food, rides, exhibits, animals, music, action sports and fun, as well as the Toyota Summer Concert Series at the Pacific Amphitheatre, The Hangar and Action Sports Arena.

Concert tickets, action sports reserved seats and single-day general admission are available for purchase online at ticketmaster.com or from the on-site Box Office.

The popular Super Pass, which offers the pass-holder 23 days of admission, is available for purchase from the onsite Box Office or any public entry gate during regular Fair hours.

Also, download the free OC Fair iPhone and Android apps available now.

Now for the great news...we have a giveaway for you! What, you didnt think we'd throw all this coolness in your face and not offer you something, did ya?

ONE lucky winner will win 2 tickets to see the Damsels of Destruction Demolition Derby on Fri. 8/9

 (includes admission to the fair before & after show)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway will close on Thursday, August 1 @11:59 pm (pst) & is open to U.S. residents 18+ only . Winner will be chosen at random & notified via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hrs a new winner will be chosen.

(Disclosure: Lin was provided with complimentary OC Fair tickets in exchange for posting this information/giveaway. The complimentary winners ticket giveaway will be mailed directly to winner via USPS by Lin.  SoCalBlog was not monetarily compensated for this post and the views expressed in this post are all Lin's.) 

A Day At The "Orange County Fair"

If you live in SoCal then chances are you've been to the OC Fair at least once. Most of us, go at least once a year, if and when the sun doesn't feel like it's inches from the pavement haha,

On Sunday the hubs and I decided that walking about in humid 90-something degree weather was a way better idea than sitting on our butts in a comfy air conditioned apartment. Smart pair, right?

It was hot but it was fun. It always is. We didn't buy anything but fattening fair food - which I gobbled up so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to snaps some photos of. Yeah, it was that delicious.

I just had to snap a photo of this horrific ride. Look at those brave souls up there, hanging up side down. Oy.

Those people up there are actually sculpting out of sand. Too cool.

The OC Fair is open now until August 12 so if you have a chance roll on by...or stop by here on Thursday for a little giveaway we have for you guys ;)

-Lin

ROC Race

I did it! I participated in the ROC Race!! I definitely recommend doing it next year if you missed out this year! I'm SO not a runner but it was perfect because we could go at our own pace and there was no pressure to go super fast. Most people were walking!

So. much. fun.

Visit my blog today to see more pictures and hear more about it!

Super Easy (Cake Mix) Cookies

Get in mah belly!

Standing in front of a hot stove isn't my idea of fun. I'm sure you're sitting there nodding away. So when I found this great recipe for super easy and delicious (believe me, it's true) cookies, I went for it.

I don't know if it's because they're made with cake batter or what but these things are little bites of scrumptious-ness.  One box probably made well over 2 dozen cookies and my dad ate about 3/4 of them in the first hour haha.

via

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

1 - box vanilla cake mix (or any flavor you choose)
2 - eggs
1/3 - cup vegetable oil

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs and oil until well combined. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or just lightly spray with cooking spray).  Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until slightly golden. Let cool completely.

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter; softened
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar (more or less, depending on how thing/runny you want it)
A few drops of your choice of food coloring

Directions:  Combine all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies and top with sprinkles.

ENJOY!
-Lin

We Wanna Hear From You!!

Hey, everybody! I hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend! It was a beautiful sunny day here in Southern California and cooled off at night, which was perfect!

We always go to my husbands grandparents house where we can see a bunch of different firework shows from her backyard- including the Angels Stadium and Disneyland!

Anyway, as I was sitting around with family eating some BBQ, this blog came up in conversation (my FIL is "mad" that I posted about his "secret beach spot" when we first started this blog...oops!) and I let them know that they should totally tell me if they ever find an awesome thing to do in Southern California. They mentioned a couple of different things they've found but that reminded me that we have a page that you can use to recommend things you want us to blog about! We want to hear from you!!

So, please, take a few minutes and fill that out for us!! I hope you had a great weekend!

-Shelley

I Got My Berry On at the Temecula Berry Company

Last week I coerced the hubs into taking a trip to the Temecula Berry Company. It was awesome but man was it hot. Like, 109 kinda hot. 

Ick.

You know what wasn't ick? This place. The staff was sweet, the farm was so much bigger than I expected it to be and it was so much fun, even if I was all sweating in parts no one should. 

Their blueberry season closed that weekend so we were pretty darn lucky to find any at all. You can bet I'll be prepared to head over there right away when they open shop next season, May 2014. I'll also have a gift for you guys when they open up since I bought a gift certificate to giveaway without realizing their season was closing. Oh well. 

You can at least pretend you were there with me...

-Lin

Picking Perfect Fruit

One thing that I love about living in California is we are lucky enough to have such an amazing assortment of fresh produce to choose from. My sister, when she was living in Utah, said that the students there would go to Jamba Juice to get their "fruit" via smoothies. As much as I love smoothies (and trust me I make them daily), there's something about biting into a fresh piece of perfectly ripe fruit. Am I right?! 

I was thinking it might be helpful to some of you to name some fruits and how to choose a good one from the bunch. Nothing's worse than eating fruit that isn't quite ripe enough...or too ripe!

From my experience, this is what I've found to be helpful in picking out fruit.

Watermelon- I kind of knock on it and if it sounds hollow that seems to be the best kind.

Cantaloupe- I do the knock trick for this one too but what really helps is picking it up and smelling it. If you can smell it from the outside, it's perfect!

Bananas and Apples- Those are pretty obvious. I just go for the ones that don't have holes/scratches/ and aren't overly bruised. When the bananas at home get too bruised I either make banana bread out of it or peel them, break it up into two or three pieces, and put in a freezer bag in the freezer specifically for smoothies. I have one for strawberries too.

Strawberries- Not too mushy, perfectly red, no mold or holes.

Grapes- No mushy grapes!

Peaches- Not mushy and not too hard. It should be soft.

Those are my go-to fruits. Do you have any more helpful tips for picking out fresh fruit?

-Shelley

Killer Heat

It's officially July and I'm officially over this heat. It's seriously too hot to even step outside for a minute without feeling like you're going to spontaneously burst into flames and die.

Emily played outside with her Papa this weekend and kept insisting he spray her with the hose. Whatever works, right??

What are some things you do to keep cool? 

-Shelley