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It\u2019s easy to rationalize. Look, you\u2019ve been scrimping and eating corn flakes for dinner, canceled all your pay-TV services and all it\u2019s brought is depression and gloom. Let\u2019s splurge for a few days. Pamper yourselves with a few days or a week at the Surf & Sand in Laguna Beach. Feed the gulls by hand from your California Suite balcony ($2,208 per night\/$1,650 if you stay four nights. Stay four nights and count the savings as more scrimping). The 1,100-square-foot suite has a fireplace, a balcony, a full ocean view, a sitting area, three flat-screen TVs and two full baths. Throw a bit more money at your stay and you can bring your dogs ($200 cleaning fee; dogs under 40 pounds only). Enjoy your meals on the Splashes Restaurant patio. Don\u2019t feel guilty; maybe you\u2019ll inherit some money soon.<\/p>\n
Surf & Sand Resort, 1555 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. 877-741-5908.<\/i><\/p>\n You quit smoking? Good. You\u2019re a hero. But what kind of smoking did you give up? Cigarettes and weed? Bravo! Luckily, you can find loopholes in your resolution. In this case, you can still give up the ugly habit of cigarettes and the mind-blowing habit of hand-rolled reefer while still enjoying a nice blast at your local hookah hangout. Try Xscape<\/a> on Redondo Avenue in Long Beach with a full menu of mixes, ranging from $15 to $20. You can feel free to brush aside the obligatory warning sign: \u201cSmoking is dangerous to your health.\u201d You already know that. It\u2019s why you gave it up.<\/p>\n Xscape Hookah Lounge & Cafe, 674 Redondo Ave., <\/i>562-433-2327. <\/i><\/p>\n How\u2019s that diet working out? Which one did you go with: Atkins? South Beach? Keto? Paleo? The Zone? The Dukan? The 5:2? All that work and self-denial for nearly a month and all you\u2019ve got to show for it is a gain of a half-pound. By now you\u2019re starving. Whattaya say you give yourself a break for just one teensy meal and maybe rethink your strategy afterward? The website Eat This, Not That!<\/a> has helpfully listed the fattest restaurant meals in America so that way you can avoid ordering these dishes the next time you head out to dinner. But haven\u2019t you avoided enough this month? Give up your dreams and try Chili\u2019s Ultimate Smokehouse Combo<\/a>, with your choice of three meats (smoked bone-In BBQ chicken breast, jalape\u00f1o-cheddar smoked sausage, hand-battered chicken crispers or half rack of house-smoked baby back ribs), plus four sides: roasted street corn, homestyle fries, chile-garlic toast and house-made garlic dill pickles \u2013 all for $16.99.<\/p>\n Chili\u2019s, 30 W. Shoreline Drive and <\/i>other locations<\/i><\/a>. 562-590-5103<\/i><\/p>\n This was going to be the year you hit the gym with devout regularity. The problem with the gym regime is the fact that going to the gym cuts into what used to be the time set aside for relaxation: reading, watching TV and napping. So rather than worry about your pecs and abs, let\u2019s look at how you can instead improve the quality of your chill time. Charles and Ray Eames had ideas about making a better world, one in which things were designed to bring greater pleasure to our lives, something no gym has ever considered. Their iconic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman<\/a>, released in 1956, is the height of relaxing in style. Buy the set at Design Within Reach <\/a>for the within-reach price of $6,370.75. Relax, it\u2019s only money.<\/p>\nA helpful smoking loophole<\/h5>\n
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The ultimate in not dieting<\/h5>\n
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Naps, not reps<\/h5>\n
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