Happy Friday, neighbors.
Two of our three towns have live music outdoors tonight, and the third takes its turn Sunday. Here's your weekend.
📅 This weekend
Friday — Mission Viejo: Common Sense on the Green
Reggae-rock from the OC's own Common Sense, 6–8pm at the Village Green by the Norman P. Murray Center (24932 Veterans Way, inside Oso Viejo Community Park). Free and open to everyone. Food trucks, beer and wine for sale, free bounce houses for the kids. Low-back chairs and blankets yes, dogs no. This one doubles as Relay For Life of South OC's Concert for a Cure, with a luminaria ceremony after the music. It's the last Mission Viejo date we can find on the calendar this summer. → Concerts on the Green
Friday — Ladera: 80z All-Stars + Kids Vendor Market
6:30–8:30pm, and heads up: this week it's at Founders Park (28275 Avendale), not the Town Green. Kids run their own vendor booths before the band starts. Free, community event. → laderalife
Saturday — Mission Viejo Farmers Market
9am–1pm, 25282 Marguerite Pkwy. → details
Sunday — Ladera Ranch Farmers Market
9am–1pm at Founders Park, 28275 Avendale. 50+ vendors. → details
Sunday — RSM: Sega Countryside at Central Park
Country, 6–8pm at the Central Park amphitheater (30842 La Miranda). Free and open to the public, with the Rotary del Sol beer & wine garden. Bring a low chair. → city concert page
🍴 Open & shut
Quiet week — nothing new opened its doors, but two things are worth watching:
The Goldfinch is still targeting late summer at Plaza El Paseo in RSM (22312-A El Paseo), next door to Redshift Coffee, which is fully open now and pouring 7am–2pm daily.
Blue Bottle Coffee is confirmed for the Outdoor Village going up at The Shops at Mission Viejo — alongside North Italia, Pacific Catch and Arhaus. Still under construction, no opening date announced. → the announcement
💬 Around town: summer's last call
The outdoor-music season is shorter than it feels. What's actually left:
Ladera — one more, Friday Aug 7: Undercover, paired with National Night Out, 5:30–8:30pm at Founders Park. That's the finale.
RSM — Sundays keep going through Aug 16 at Central Park. Free, public, every week.
Lake Mission Viejo — The Fabulous Thunderbirds Aug 8 and The Band Perry Aug 22. Worth being clear about this one: these are members and invited guests only. There's no public ticket. Guests need a $20 pass from a member, up to four per household, and you have to walk in with the member. If you're not on the lake, it's not a maybe.
Then school's back and it's pumpkin season before anyone's ready.
💎 One good thing
TJ's Tap & Table at Tijeras Creek — the thing most people don't realize is that Tijeras Creek is a public course, and its restaurant is open to anyone, seven days a week, whether or not you've touched a club. Breakfast through dinner, a dozen rotating drafts, a fire-pit patio that's family- and dog-friendly, and a view down the oak canyon that beats most patios in the area. Good landing spot after Sunday's concert. → menu & hours
Hit reply and tell us: what's the one thing you still want to do before summer's over? We'll put the best answers in a future issue.
Know someone in RSM, Mission Viejo or Ladera who'd want this? Forward it along — that's how OSO grows.
— OSO 🐻