June arrives soon, and with it warmer weather—a perfect time for al fresco jazz concerts in Newport Beach. Up first is the annual Newport Beach Jazz Festival, held May 31 – June 2 at the Hyatt Regency on Jamboree Road. Enjoy three days of world-class jazz and blues from such...

It was a busy eight days for the Newport Beach Film Festival, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019 with a record attendance of 58,000 people. The Festival opened on Thursday, April 25 with the West Coast Premiere of “Luce” starring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spence, Tim Roth...

Orange County has long been a hotbed of creativity, especially in the music department. We had an explosive punk rock movement in the late 1970s and early 80s, which is when I was playing drums in a band called Desperate Living while managing other local bands and producing demos...

Telluride, Colo., is best known as the premier ski resort in southern Colorado.  We however, found it to be one of the most beautiful summer destinations in the southwest.  At almost 9,000 feet in elevation, the mountain vistas are spectacular. Wildflowers bloom here in summer. ...

During a recent spring visit to observe and photograph wild flowers in the Eastern California deserts, Death Valley was abundant with not only flora, but fauna in the form of many desert animals and the surprisingly resilient Death Valley Pup Fish.  A hold over from the last ice...

The area around Medford, Ore., is very well known for a lot of reasons.  For nature lovers, hikers and photographers, the Rogue River Gorge, Crater Lake and Mount Shasta are short drives. For wine lovers, the region is loaded with great wineries and tasting rooms. Historic...

Hundreds of Maine lobsters will be flown in to Newport Beach on Sunday, August 7 for the 8th Annual Lobsterfest, held at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina from 3 to 8 p.m. More than 700 people are expected to attend this annual celebration of summer, which centers...

Summer hits with a bang this weekend thanks to the Fourth of July, and continues all summer with myriad events from concerts in the park to Shakespeare on a diamond (a baseball diamond). Fourth of July Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina teams with the City of Newport...

Get ready for the biggest beach party to be held in Newport Beach this year: Newport Beach Party: A Celebration of Community, held at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort June 26 – 28. The three day event is designed to raise money for a variety of charities, including the Newport...

I have a good friend who frequently uses the hashtag #raisingreaders on her social media posts. Truth be told, she is kind of a supermom, and while there are many things I adore about her, one of my favorite things is her dedication to instilling in her children a passion for...

Recently, I took a fifteen-hour road trip with my oldest son, ferrying him home from school for the measly three week break that will act as his “summer.” After flying in to help him move out of the dorm, and into his new digs, we made the trek back to California via the open...

The passing of Memorial Day ushers in a certain season. While the day itself is about somber reflections, and gratitude for sacrifices made on our behalf, it leaves in its wake a lightness – the ability to appreciate more fully the dawn of a new day, knowing the price that was...