5 Favorite things to do in Old Towne Orange!

In the last week, we have left and came back from our Italy trip, made some huge career changes (more to come on this!) and signed a lease on a new house!

September has been thrilling and I couldn’t be happier where life is right now. Before I get into career and Italy details (posts to come!) I want to chat about our new place! This last year Jared and I were living in an apartment in a suburban/industrial area of Orange County.

While I really am in love with our first apartment and how we have fixed it up, we were ready for relocation.  The underlying factor of the whole move was Rascal desperately needed a yard! As much as I wanted it to, our little patio just wasn’t cutting it. 

We are now moving into a small 2-bed/1-bath house with a very cute little yard! Everything is really small and quaint but I think it will be a perfect fit for us. Stay tuned for plenty of new makeovers and room stylings!

We are still in Orange County and close to a very quaint and walkable old towne area. Old Towne Orange is one of my favorite areas in the OC and I am so excited to be able to have restaurants to walk to and coffee shops to work form! The little area is JUST like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls mixed with a college town feel. I think it will be a great place for the three us.

To kick off this new house I have put together a small Old Towne Orange medley of a few of my favorite places! The ‘circle’ is filled with antique stores, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Basically all of my favorite places to spend an afternoon!

1. Antique Shopping

AKA prop paradise! Old Towne Orange is FILLED with small and large antique stores. Poor Jared, it is as hard for him to spend a day antiquing with me as it is for me to sit on the couch watching football #oppositesattract. But really, I could spend all day weaving in and out of each kitchen section. If you are into thrifting I could not point you in this direction enough. There is something for everyone! You have to be a little careful because some tend to be overpriced but most of them are pretty fare!

2. Smoqued Barbeque

I truly am a BBQ lover. Living in Colorado for a few years really does this to you. I hadn’t found a ‘good’ bbq place since we’ve moved back to California last year. But smoqued turned that around for me. The first time we walked in we just knew it was going to be good purely based on the aroma in the restaurant. We weren’t disappointed when out BBQ platters came out filled with smoked meats, deviled eggs, homestyle mac and cheese and brown sugar bacon. Yes, you can get bacon JUST as a side. If you’re ever in the area be sure to put it on the top of your dinner reservations.  

3. Nectar!

Do stores like Forever 21 kind of freak you out? Or am I alone soldier on this? Since I’ve gotten a little older, I have unfortunately lost some of my patience in the shopping world. My 16-year-old self would have loved to have weaved through those 6-inch wide aisles between racks of clothes, but I just don’t have it in me anymore. Nectar is just the right size boutique and offers everything from the softest lounging clothes to an outfit I can snag for a spontaneous night out. I always walk out under $100 and feel so good about the pieces. They only stock limited quanties of each item, so I alway know I’m coming out with something new and fresh. 

4.) à la minute

The fact that I am walking distance to a la minute is …. dangerous! They have some of my favorite ice cream in all of Orange County! It is also the only liquid nitrogen ice-cream-shop that I actually like. I’m usually not a fan of the consistency but a la minute really has it down to a science. They use fresh and in season ingredients that push the menu flavors into an upper-level category. Plus, they always put extra salt on top of my salted caramel scoop. They clearly know the way to my heart. 

5. Pizza Press

If you love pizza places like pieology or you’re a literary wizard than you will love this place! They have a few regular selections but it has the same concept as subway or chipotle where you can pick your own toppings. I had never seen so many pizza toppings in one little area. Everything from artichokes to fancy cheeses to pepperoni to the white sauce, they have it all. The cutest part, all of the pizzas are named after different newspapers like the times, the gazette, etc!