Potluck Feast

This Saturday we had a Potluck Party with our friends at Cypess Lawns. I love our apartment community. Its a HUGE complex comprised of 6 buildings and managed by the Irvine Company. So I still have a piece of Irvine and its famous upkeep even after leaving Irvine 7 months ago. When we drove to San Jose in January, it was raining and trees were bare. I knew that not many places exist like City of Irvine .They polish their streets like obsession ,rebuild them even when according to me they are perfectly smooth , their shopping centers are great entertainment places and they are children friendly, have water fountains everywhere, surrounded by Palm trees which are covered in lights even when its not holiday season and the trees have speakers on them playing music all the time. They have beautiful, manicured parks and so many of them. And, you can't beat 15 minutes drive to ocean. A dream place !

Moving to silicon valley here was exciting but we were leaving Irvine, not a town in Missouri so obviously I was skeptical. Amidst the rain , cold and exhaustion from our trip to Disney the day before , we entered the North Park Village and I knew by looking around that I still would have a bit of Irvine with us. The community is around a rectangle shape city park followed by another GRAND rectangle shaped building which reminds me of a Las Vegas Hotel. This building is surrounded by Palm trees, has a huge pool. spas, cabanas, grills, fire places, couches, dining tables around the pool and then a gym, indoor basketball court, spinning room, yoga room , a large round water fountains surrounded by sofas and an Internet cafe. Did you think I was describing a resort? Very much like it ! It has 6 communities and all of them have their own facilities what I just mentioned and the residents have access to all of them . For a jog, picnic, barbecue or a pool party you never have to leave this place. Don't wanna cook lunch, the complex has Quiznos and tables outside looking over the park. Want to have coffee with friends , Starbucks is right here. Its late in the evening and you run out of milk, the community has even a store . Read a book in the library , play billiards , work out in a cardio-theater , shoot hoops in the full indoor basketball court, have a swim , get the chair massage at pool side and eat barbecue all the times. A perfect vacation spot, if only we did not have to work to pay the rent.


We have made a great group of friends here and we try to get together as much as possible. We had a pool party few weeks back and yesterday we had a great Indian lunch. Shahi Paneer, Chicken Biryani, Dahi Bhalle, Dal Makhani, Pulao, Idli, Sambhar, mixed veggies and Gulab Jamuns. We ate and ate and packed left overs for dinner. All the husbands took the kids for a nap while the ladies stayed for heart to heart discussions on blessings in life, aspirations, frustrations, kids and husbands.

A great lunch and a greater conversation , even the dinner and Sunday's lunch was taken care of. Life is good and doesn't stop here since we decided to do high-tea next time.

And I am thinking, I gotta send this to my community manager - she should agree to make my next year's stay rent-free :)