Bodega's Temp Close + End of Year Replay

Hi everyone and welcome to 2025!

First, for everyone asking, YES, Bodega in downtown Laguna Beach closed this morning. Bodega was a concept shift for Restaurateur Ivan Spiers after he tried an initial concept there - the Laguna Fish Market. With the largest number of restaurant concepts in Laguna Beach, Spiers knows when to hit “PAUSE” and reevaluate … or when to pull the plug completely. Spiers tells me its a concept he’s “still working on,” so we’ll look forward to a refreshed look and feel in late January/February.

More details on Bodega in the coming week.

REPLAY – My last radio show of 2024

The above audio link - see it at the top? - is a replay to my radio show, Best of Laguna Beach,” which airs live on Mondays at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET. Here are details about this week’s show:

On Monday, Dec. 30th (seems like weeks ago already), I took a bit of a detour from my regularly scheduled “Best of Laguna Beach” show at KXFM Radio 104.7 To wrap up the year, I told two personal (and sort of funny) stories.

I first talked about how most of the residents here CHOSE Laguna Beach for their permanent residence … me included. How I actually arrived here is a rather astounding story.

Then, I shared an old Christmas letter I wrote way back in 2003 about my beloved great Pyrenees, Merlin, passing away just a few days prior.

Merlin’s first Christmas at 10 months.

Merlin was my 12-year companion who moved multiple times with me … four time, alone, to and within Laguna Beach.

Our first Christmas in Laguna Beach when Merlin was 8.

That particular Christmas letter about Merlin ended up being shared to a list of thousands of people, and it generated thousands and thousands of responses directly to me. In the short letter, I wrote about the greatest lessons Merlin taught me, and apparently those teaching moments from the lovable fur ball struck a chord with people all over the world. It was amazing. So, the Christmas letter eventually became a small e-book, and this is what I chose to read to all of you lovely listeners in my last show of the year.

Merlin’s last Christmas with me at age 11. He almost made it to his 12th Christmas with me.

Here’s the e-book if you’re interested, but I do hope you enjoy hearing my audio tale as well!

Cheers to your New Year, dear reader!