Angelica Blatt -CRS, e-pro, GRI, ABR Monterey Peninsula Real Estate

The City of Carmel-by-the Sea is proud to announce its 93rd Annual

Birthday Celebration and Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 31, 2009. The parade begins at

11 a.m. meandering through our commercial district on Ocean Avenue. Adults, children and

leashed dogs are welcome to participate in the parade. Make sure you wear your costume and

join City Dignitaries riding in grand old cars as the City salutes its residents, as well as our elected

and appointed officials. Complimentary ice cream will follow the parade for all participants!

A wonderful hot dog lunch and entertainment await outdoors at Sunset Center parking lot

(located on San Carlos between 8th and 10th) beginning at high Noon! Tickets for the lunch are

now available for purchase at Carmel-by-the-Sea City Hall and at the event, buy early, as a

limited number are available. $5 for a hot dog lunch including chili, chips, a drink, ice cream, cake

and coffee (donated by the Carmel Chapter of the American Red Cross). For ticket information

please call (831) 620-2020.

For up to date information, please call (831) 620-2020 or e-mail clopez@ci.carmel.ca.us.

These past few months I have been working with wonderful buyers that are looking to buy a small home in Seaside, California. They are well-qualified, motivated, have a large down-payment and writing very clean offers. I always write a nice cover letter to the listing agent that introduces my clients and lets the listing agent know how wonderfully qualified they are...blah blah blah!

So far, my clients have not been able to purchase one of these homes yet! Each time we submit an offer there is already 5 to 7 offers..on day one! Or, they come in right after ours. They are planning to write one again today. Keep your fingers crossed!

What I am trying to say is that most of these homes have been bank-owned and therefore the banks have chosen the all-cash offers over those with conventional loans. No matter how good you look or qualified you are!

So the market is good in Seaside around the $200k price point!

A few blogs ago I posted about the deer in my backyard and included a few photos; one with my dog Charlie looking at the deer in the window. Well, last week I found the photo that I thought that I had lost.

One day will making lunch, I saw what I thought was a large cat, dog? I looked up and saw that it was not a cat or a dog well it was a large cat..a bobcat!!! I had heard that they are in the area but I not seen one before so close!

My new Nikon was on the kitchen counter and without even thinking, I ran back to my bedroom..in the direction that the bobcat was headed and I opened the bedroom door (I still can't believe that I did that!) and proceed to take a photo of the majestic cat! He turned and ran down the hill (lucky for me) and as he looked back I was able to take this photo of him. I have not seen him since!

Two days ago I had lunch with friends at LALLAgrill in Monterey located in the Del Monte Center. The LALLAgrill just opened a few months ago and seems to be the new place to be seen! This was my 3rd time eating lunch there and each time the food and the service were great.

When I arrived at the restaurant I was early and the wait staff was friendly and courteous. I was asked several times if I needed help. The atmosphere is upbeat and fun! The interior is decorated with splashes of color thruout and I loved the wall fountain. There is a nice outdoor patio complete with fireplace and I heard you can bring your dog if you sit out on the patio! I didn't see any this day but I will consider bringing my small cockapoo in the future.

There is a full bar complete with two plasma TV's. What really caught my eye was the interesting light fixtures hanging throughout the restaurant. They look like paperdoll cutouts...very cool! The menu has a wide range of selections from interesting salads to Mexican Street tacos. My favorite is the Chopped Asian Chicken salad. I have had this each time I have eaten here...I know I need variety but it is really good! The presentation is consistant. It is served in a large glass bowl with 4 small paninni-like breads.

I love ice tea with lunch and call myself an ice tea snob. When David our waiter took our order we all wanted ice tea and after hearing the choices all decided on the fresh brewed green tea with melon and a splash of pomagrante. It was refreshing and delightful! I also found out that they serve breakfast every day until 2pm.

So if you are looking for a new place to lunch, try the LALLAgrill. There website will be up soon. So in the meantime try www.delmontecenter.com

For reservations call 831/324-4632 http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-7vkJWjtDDpAkSrrA For direction, please click the link.

Not on is the Monterey Peninsula a beautiful place to live and a popular destination it is also home to some fabulous restaurants. In the coming weeks, I will chooses two restaurants and write my opinion/review of them. Feel free to jump in you have any favorites.

Today I am having lunch at the new LALLA Grill in Monterey at Del Monte Center. So I will report back soon. The link provided to LALLA Grill is not available yet so I provided the link to Del Monte Center. When I called yesterday they said there site will be up soon. So today I will take photos to share.

More later.....