WELCOME TO “AFTER ORANGE COUNTY”

WELCOME TO “AFTER ORANGE COUNTY”

Ninety minutes from the fast lane of Orange County, California, with its never-ending competition to see who’s thinner, younger, richer and blonder, and up a meandering mountain road, lays a little slice of heaven called Lake Arrowhead.

For decades, Lake Arrowhead has been the weekend and vacation destination for those looking to retreat from the pressures of Southern California. It’s where Orange County Housewives, Beverly Hillbillies, and Valley Girls alike go to escape, to slow down, to enjoy breathtaking scenery, and breathe some fresh mountain air.

As a life-long Californian and former resident of The OC, I too used to run for the hills on the weekends. My husband Brad and I would pack up our 5 kids and make the pilgrimage to our little lakeside cabin in the sky. We’d leave our gated community, fight bumper-to-bumper traffic, and finally breathe deep when we reached what the locals affectionately call “The Hill”.

Like clockwork, almost every Friday night the Rim of the World Highway would deliver us from our stresses, and the weight of the world would roll off our shoulders.

So the idea to move to Lake Arrowhead full-time was always a little inside joke with our family. I mean, no one in their right mind would actually do that, right? But it sure was fun to dream about life at a slower pace. Being in our little cabin, away from our hectic everyday life, our family relaxed. The kids actually enjoyed playing with each other and even with us! The mountain air and lake water seemed to have a calming effect on everyone, including our dog Charlie.

And then one day, as our oldest son Nathan was finishing his senior year of high school in Orange County, Brad looked at me after a glass (or two) of wine, and said, “Let’s do it! Let’s move to Lake Arrowhead!” Now I can admit that I used to be a somewhat stereotypical Orange County girl, and that at first I reacted with shock and horror, and by the way, so did almost all of my friends! Lake Arrowhead was our escape, not our reality. I worried….. would I have anything in common with the locals, would I make friends, would I ever go to a dinner party again, and what about the schools? Twenty minutes and a lemon drop martini later, I was mentally there… and in a few short months, our family was living in Lake Arrowhead full time, building the Spanish-style house of my dreams.

To my surprise, the kids thrived in the local schools, the locals were warm and welcoming, Brad and I actually had time for each other again, and most weekends came with a dinner party invitation from a new friend! We feel incredibly fortunate to have made our dream a reality, and we enjoy the simple pleasures of being a family in one of the most beautiful places on earth. As my kids will tell you, I stay busy up here… cooking, planning parties, gardening, and making the most of the mountain lifestyle. In the process of building our house I started a “Hand-Forged Wrought Iron” business.