For four years, I have been coming back from Berkeley to visit my family for most holidays, vacations, and occasional getaway weekends. Taking the 5 or landing into John Wayne, I arrive back in Brea, only to find some new unexpected, rapid development. In the past four years, Brea has added Target, specialty grocery stores, and every chain I know to its landscape. Not to mention how posh Downtown Brea has become. Not only can you go to see the newly released movies at either theater, but you can also get a sandwich-waffle. Waffle-sandwich?
After getting coffee with an accomplished writer today, I joined Terri Daxon at Bruxie's one year anniversary ribbon-cutting ceremony outside their store on the Brea Promenade. Their criss-cross design and pocket-like patio seating matches their waffle-sandwich concept, varying in savory and sweet options. With the ceremony sponsored by the Brea Chamber of Commerce, Bruxie chefs boasted of an very admirable accomplishment. They are #2 on Yelp across the nation! However that is measured. Now, that is a feat for any restaurant.
The Brea I know has evolved so much since I was a kid, yet it is still the place to which I always come back. Now that I am stationed in Brea for the time being, I have to accept the changes while simultaneously adjusting to new developments in the making. There is no magical escape, return, and the awe-filled drive through town noticing what is new and what lost its gusto in the midst of all the growth. Instead I am part of this community now. I can sit back, or I can contribute. Talking with Miss Brea 2012, Linda Shi, I found out that she also graduated from Berkeley just a year ahead of me. Cool, right? Attending Chamber of Commerce events, meeting the people that make Brea so posh, and getting free food sounds like a deal to me!
As I adjust to the Orange County lifestyle, with no destination short of a ten-minute drive, I found a lot of joy being at this event and seeing some familiar faces. When I was volunteering in the foster care home in Spain, I came away with the conviction that one must contribute to their local community, wherever that may be. I hear echoes of my Grandpa McWeeney saying, "grow where you're planted." Yet I found my university education to be a very selfish lifestyle. Me, me, me! My grades, my accomplishments, my health, and my fun! Slowing down the pace in Brea, I have time to think about you, about us, and how I can contribute to the 'we'. Where does writing fall into that equation?
All that from a ribbon-cutting ceremony, would you believe it!
The Brea I know has evolved so much since I was a kid, yet it is still the place to which I always come back. Now that I am stationed in Brea for the time being, I have to accept the changes while simultaneously adjusting to new developments in the making. There is no magical escape, return, and the awe-filled drive through town noticing what is new and what lost its gusto in the midst of all the growth. Instead I am part of this community now. I can sit back, or I can contribute. Talking with Miss Brea 2012, Linda Shi, I found out that she also graduated from Berkeley just a year ahead of me. Cool, right? Attending Chamber of Commerce events, meeting the people that make Brea so posh, and getting free food sounds like a deal to me!
As I adjust to the Orange County lifestyle, with no destination short of a ten-minute drive, I found a lot of joy being at this event and seeing some familiar faces. When I was volunteering in the foster care home in Spain, I came away with the conviction that one must contribute to their local community, wherever that may be. I hear echoes of my Grandpa McWeeney saying, "grow where you're planted." Yet I found my university education to be a very selfish lifestyle. Me, me, me! My grades, my accomplishments, my health, and my fun! Slowing down the pace in Brea, I have time to think about you, about us, and how I can contribute to the 'we'. Where does writing fall into that equation?
All that from a ribbon-cutting ceremony, would you believe it!
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| The ribbon-cutting crew, with Miss Brea 2012 Linda Shi on the far left. |
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