The 2008 Downtown Mixer (04/03)

Delilah Snell, owner of the eco-friendly Road Less Traveled Store, and Board Chair of the the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council asked me to pass along this invite to residents and friends of the Santiago Street Lofts.

This is an invitation to the Downtown Santa Ana Business and Neighborhood Mixer. Come and meet the many people who make Santa Ana a great place to live and work. Bring information about your business to share and sample delectable appetizers from Jason's Downtown Restaurant and Wine Cellar complimentary of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council.

• see upcoming branding and marketing images for the area


• interactive website launching


• receive a copy of the area's new map for visitors


• view a list of 2008/09 events


• share your thoughts with business owners, community leaders and residents
  

When: April 3rd from 5-8pm

Where: Jason's Downtown, 416 West 4th Street (across from the Ronald Regan Courthouse)

Who: you and others that you know, please pass this along!

Contact: Delilah Snell, 714.836.8727 for more information.

Saturday Night at Jason's Downtown (03/29)

Last month, Dustin White and the Jeff Jones Trio packed the house at Jason's Downtown Restaurant like never before and tomorrow night, they're looking to do it again.

With the evening weather warming up, a table outdoors with a seat right next to a patio heater could be the perfect compliment to the good eats and swanky tunes.

For table reservations at Jason’s Downtown, call (714) 347-1122.

The Crosby Opens April 1st!

There are many things to look forward to being a homeowner in Santa Ana as the city begins to pick up the broken pieces of a once golden metropolis.

Downtown Santa Ana's potential for a renewed greatness will soon be one step closer with the opening of The Crosby on April 1st.

What is The Crosby you ask?

The Crosby is a combination restaurant/bar/bookstore/lounge that owners Marc Yamaoka, Phil Nisco and Chris Alfaro describe as a "Haven of Creativity", and just happens to be open until 2AM.

The wife and I were ecstatic when we were given a sneak peek of their shop and were delighted when we got a chance to check out their unique sound system consisting of multiple 80's-styled boom boxes.

Who would have known that 14+ boom boxes linked together could sound so good?

What's even better is that these down-to-earth guys are oozing with creativity. I highly suggest you check out their work on iTunes by clicking here or by searching under "Free the Robots" in iTunes.

Let's just hope this isn't a cruel April Fools' joke.

Here, you can read a great OC Weekly article about the hoops the masterminds behind The Crosby had to jump through with the city of Santa Ana, and you can also check out their mySpace page here.

Muerte en el Agua

I inherited my father's curly hair and my mother's thumb–green thumb that is. She could pretty much resuscitate any dying plant or drop any random seed in a pot of soil and within a few weeks, we'd be looking for a permanent place of residence for the fresh sprout in the backyard.

Before moving to the Santiago Street Lofts, I had a small collection of potted plants. Some of them were store bought and others were grown from seeds that I bought at Home Depot. All of which were flourishing with basic maintenance and water straight from the tap.

Unfortunately, the move to Santa Ana ended up costing me the lives of many of my dear and longtime (plant) friends. I'm not sure whether it's the hardness of the water, the chlorine, or whatever mysterious funk seen in this video, but the water in Santa Ana has been deadly to my plants.

The only plants to have survived were my water "lucky" bamboos (insert pun).

After reading up at various sites and consulting with Poison Ivy herself (my Mom), the best option for growing healthy houseplants in Santa Ana would be to switch to distilled water. Turns out that hard water contains minerals that can be very harsh on houseplants.

Another option if you don't want to go distilled is to fill your watering container and let it sit for a minimum of 36 hours. By this time, the chlorine should have dissipated and be a little safer for your babies.

If you go the way of a water softener, remember that this water contains heavy concentrations of salts. The salts will hinder the growth of your plants, or even worse, pull a 187 on them.

Finally, when watering your plants, make sure the water is at room temperature. Very hot or very cold water can shock the roots and damage, or even kill your green friends.

Here is a great site about watering houseplants.

March Art Walk

One of the coolest things about living here at the Santiago Street Lofts is the fact that there's usually one big party every month that which we now call the Art Walk at the Santiago Art District.

Here's a list of the galleries that I know are open this Saturday, March 15th:

Curbside Gallery
928 E. Santa Ana Blvd.

Salu Gallery
919 E. Santa Ana Blvd.

Gallery 675
675 Poinsettia St. (interior/south side)

J. Lewis Gallery
906 E. Santa Ana Blvd.

Art from the Hive
712 N. Santiago St.

J2 Photography
916 E. Santa Ana Blvd.

Omi Gallery (New!)
708 Santiago St.

Sundaze Gallery
667 Poinsettia St. (interior/south side)

A gallery directory can be downloaded here.

Ample (free) parking is conveniently located across the street at the Santa Ana Train Depot on the corner of Santa Ana Boulevard and Santiago Street.

If your gallery is open Saturday and you're not listed above, please let me know.

AdSense Update

About a month ago, I signed up for Google AdSense in hopes to raise donation money for Pet Pro Life—the loving and generous organization where my wife and I adopted our adorable fur ball of joy.

AdSense works by allowing Google to populate this blog with ads that relate to the subject matter; which so far seems to be Santa Ana foreclosures and various loft developments. It's up to me to make the ads unobtrusive and fit seamlessly into the layout.

Donation money is raised every time someone comes to this site or even better, when someone clicks on the ads. Payment trickles in a few cents at a time, but every little bit counts.

In one month, you the readers have raised $28.46 just by stopping by, clicking and commenting.

You guys seriously rock and I thank you.

Keep up the good work and I'll see about getting some better (sexier?) ads on this site :)

If you are looking to adopt a dog, please consider these wonderful organizations:

Pet Pro Life
Rover Rescue
Devil Dog Ranch

Party Poopers

About two weeks ago, a very nice dog-owning couple renting at the Santiago Street Lofts moved out–with them went our mysterious problem of unpicked-up dog poop.

It was frustrating to see the blatant disregard for other dog owners and folks that walk around the community or sit in the community courtyard, only to be greeted by a steamy pile of mush, accompanied by a swarm of angry flies.

What irked me more was that even after multiple signs were posted in the common area by “yours truly”, the problem persisted; in fact, it got worse!

These renters, as nice as they were, were “bad renters” in my eyes. I say “bad” because they proved the generalization that says that renters just don’t give a crap.

When it comes down to it, the blame ultimately lies with the individual(s) who makes the decision to rent their place out in communities such as ours.

If you don’t want to take part in our kick-ass community, then please, rent your place out to someone who does.

Barbecue Season is Officially Here

Whether you're a person that likes to cook, or someone who loves to eat, you’re in good company here at the Santiago Street Lofts.

This past weekend, a good amount of neighbors took advantage of the beautiful southern California weather and rang in the extra hour of daylight with a delicious barbecue.

The hit of the “Q” was definitely Dr. Jason’s Newcastle-marinated ribs. I have to say; I’ve never known a dentist that used barbecued ribs to get me to floss.

So, if you’re on the fence about moving here, then hopefully knowing that you’ll have some kickass neighbors will be the push that you’ve needed. If you live here and missed this Sunday’s barbecue event–don’t worry; there are plenty of barbecue days ahead of us.

A Sinking Ship?

First, their sweet corner location goes up for sale, then their website is nowhere to be found, and today the OC Register reports that Urban West has backed out from the proposal that would have built over 400 condos and commercial space in the Parc Anaheim Project (which was later slated to become an RV Park.)

Of course, who could blame Urban West for not wanting to build an RV park—they're way too hip for a project of that caliber.

But is Urban West on their way out?

Sign Unveiling Ceremony at Chepa's Park

This Saturday, March 8, city elected officials and community members will join the family of the late Mrs. Josephine “Chepa” Andrade during the sign unveiling ceremony for the recently renamed Logan Park.

Chepa's Park is located at 1009 N. Custer Street, just 1-2 minutes walking distance from the lofts within the historic Logan neighborhood.