🍊 Good morning, OC. We're finally here.

So this is the one where I find out if anyone actually reads it.

Good morning, OC. Welcome to the very first OC Buzz.

Big week to start on: Father’s Day lands Sunday, summer officially kicks off this weekend, and the World Cup is on. Here’s the dealio, every issue I hand you the few things actually worth knowing around here. Stuff to do, places to eat, openings, a peek at the housing market, a local worth knowing. Just the good stuff, fast.

🔥 THE BIG THING

World Cup summer has arrived, and OC is leaning all the way in.

OCVibe, the roughly $4B district rising around the Honda Center, just announced a free, public World Cup Final watch party at ARTIC in Anaheim on Sunday, July 19 (12 to 4pm, doors at 11). Food, cultural programming, and a giant screen for the biggest match on earth. Free tickets are at ocvibe.com, walk-ups allowed, but grab one now before it’s “sold out.”

It’s the first real taste of what OCVibe wants to be: OC’s year-round gathering place. We’ll be tracking it all the way.

📅 AROUND TOWN

A few things worth leaving the house for this week:

Thursday: Hoag Summer Fest at Newport Dunes (6–8:30pm). The 37th annual food-and-music night on the waterfront with top Newport restaurants, all benefiting Hoag.

Saturday: International Surfing Day at the HB Pier. Beach cleanup, sand art, yoga, surf lessons. The most on-brand Saturday Surf City has all year.

Sunday (Father’s Day): Father’s Day Car Show at Balboa Bay Resort, Newport (11am–2pm), or the Cruisin’ Brea classic-car takeover of Birch Street (10am–4pm). Pick your waterfront-or-downtown vibe.

(Double-check times before you go. Events move.)

👨‍👩‍👧 OC WITH KIDS

I’ve got three of them, school’s out, and if you’re a parent right now you already know the summer question: what are we DOING today?

So here’s what’s actually on my list:

Free movie in the park. OC Parks kicks off Sunset Cinema this Friday with Freakier Friday at Craig Regional Park in Fullerton. Free entry, free parking from 6pm, food trucks, movie at sunset. And that’s just one of 100+ free outdoor movie nights across OC this summer.

Soak City at Knott’s is open for the season. Fifteen acres of slides and a wave pool. Bring the sunscreen you’ll forget to reapply.

Boom! lets go!

🍽️ EAT / DRINK

Chicago just invaded Orange. Jim’s Original, the legendary Maxwell Street hot dog stand that’s been slinging Polish sausages in Chicago since 1939, just opened its first-ever location outside Illinois on Tustin Street. And i’m writing this on my phone because I’m running there right meow to grab a dog!

Order the Maxwell Street Polish with everything and a pile of grilled onions. Trust me. Eighty-six years of history, now ten minutes from the 22.

📍 TODAY IN HUNTINGTON BEACH

Every issue we’ll spotlight one OC city. First up: Surf City, and it’s got a stacked week.

A restaurant is coming to the actual pier. “Huntington’s on the Pier” is set to open in 2026 halfway down the pier itself, with 360-degree ocean views and live surf-cam feeds piped inside. Meanwhile The Lighthouse opens this summer on the upper deck at Pacific City.

This weekend: International Surfing Day at the pier Saturday. And every Tuesday, Surf City Nights takes over Main Street with a street fair and farmers market.🏡

🏡 HOME OF THE WEEK

A quick read on the market, because half of you are obsessed with it (no judgment, same). OC’s median sale price is running around $1.3M, up nearly 5% from last year, with homes moving in about 36 days.

And the headline: a beachfront house in Laguna’s Emerald Bay just sold for $110 MILLION, all cash. The most ever paid for an OC home.

The wild listing: chasing that record out in the open is “Mystique” in Newport Coast, asking $89 million. 11,000 square feet, six beds, and a glass-enclosed wine cellar that looks like a jewelry case.

(Soon we’ll feature a real local listing here every week. OC agents: reply if you’ve got one people should see.)

⏪ REMEMBER WHEN

Before the world knew her, Gwen Stefani was just an Anaheim kid. No Doubt formed in Anaheim in 1986, forty years ago this year, back when Gwen was at Loara High playing backyard parties and OC ska clubs. Years before Tragic Kingdom went diamond (named, yes, as a wink at the park down the street). Just Anaheim kids who took over the world.

What’s the OC memory you’d bring back? Hit reply and tell me. Best one gets featured next week.

👋 THAT’S THE BUZZ

If you made it this far, genuinely, thank you. You’re a founding reader and I won’t forget it.

Two tiny favors: hit reply and tell me one thing you want more of (food? events? real estate? kids stuff?). And forward this to one person who’s circled the Trader Joe’s lot in Crystal Court twice waiting for a spot. That’s literally how this thing grows.

See you next week. — Kevin