Chasing Down The Muse: Summer days and evening delights

The summer fun just keeps on rolling. Gray morning and flat surf aside, the afternoons have been gorgeous with light winds and bright sunshine.

Merri Pike, a Laguna Beach High School alumna and lifelong friend, breezed into town over the weekend to celebrate her 60th birthday. With her daughter, Kerri, in tow, the two headed immediately out to the Sawdust Festival.

Saturday night, I sent the girls off on their own, while I headed south to Capistrano for the annual Laguna Beach Business Club summer party.

This year, Omar Gonzales, of Omar’s Exotic Birds, hosted the party at Omar’s Petting Zoo. The Zoo is located just across the tracks in the Rio District, and if you haven’t been there before, it’s worth the trip.

Acres of pet-able animals — including hamsters, rabbits, sheep, and horses — make the outing a fun one.

Olamendis catered the party, and the food was fabulous. The menu included taquitos, a beef or chicken taco bar, rice, guacamole and salsa, and for dessert, flan.

Per the request of John Campbell, tequila shots were available for those so inclined. I know it was a good party, because several artists including Lu Campbell, Tom Lamb, and Dave Cler’s wife, Linda Grossman, took time off from their festival duties to join the crowd.

Sunday night was the annual luau sponsored by YogaWorks. The festivities began with an introductory yoga class with Cathy Cox on the lawn at the Montage. A crowd of about 30 yoginis gathered on towels and mats to stretch their limbs in down-dog, up-dog and warrior poses.

After stretching and twisting, we walked back across the highway to the YogaWorks building for a fabulous luau feast. Vegetarian spring rolls and a tasty green salad were followed by cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. Refreshments in the form of virgin piña coladas and mai tais poured from icy machines.

Filled to the brim, the attendees gathered in Studio One where the staff had laid blankets on the floor to sit and watch the entertainment.

Chief’s Tropic Sound filled the room with Hawaiian guitar and drums, while two beautiful hula girls danced to the sounds of remote island nations.

Weekend festivities — not done yet!

Sunday, Merri and I lunched at Surf and Sand’s Splashes Restaurant to celebrate the day of her big 60. As always, the food was sumptuous and the ocean-side table divine. We lingered, watching the waves and sharing stories of our own summers growing up in Laguna.

To finish off the evening, I had procured tickets for the Pageant of the Masters — Merri’s choice for her birthday. We had great seats — center section Loge, and the night was just the right temperature. Blankets not needed.

The show this year, “The Muse,” calls right after my heart (this is the “Chasing the Muse” column).

How can a show that focuses on the power of women to inspire creativity be anything but great? My favorites in the first act were the Dali and Gauguin, and the stunning Maxfield Parrish recreations.

After an intermission of gelato, we settled in for the second act, which opened with a mural of Diego Rivera.

Followed by Frieda Kahlo, his muse and lover, this part of the show was rich with both history and the creation of art as only the living paintings of the Pageant can portray.

Sleepy girls (can 60-year-old women still be considered girls?), we worked our way through pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Back home, we smiled at how rich the day had been, how joyous the celebration of another year on the planet, and plotted how to celebrate just exactly what comes next.

CATHARINE COOPER loves summer in Laguna! She can be reached at ccooper@cooperdesign.net.