A new start in her sweet spot: Manhattan Beach

BIANCA KAJLICH can’t stop smiling these days. There’s the freshly minted marriage to L.A. Galaxy soccer star Landon Donovan, the new Manhattan Beach digs and, at long last, a hit TV show: CBS’ “Rules of Engagement,” with David Spade.

“I don’t know what to do with myself,” Kajlich admitted. “I told my representation that I’m having an identity crisis. Like, ‘Remember me? I’m the person who did all those shows that nobody watched?’ But now with ‘Rules,’ I’m just trying to be in the moment and enjoy it.”

No talk of showbiz

On weekends when Landon has a Saturday game, we try to get a good meal in him on Friday night. There’s a cool place in Manhattan Beach called Bora Bora. It’s Polynesian-themed with upscale comfort food. You can get a huge slab of steak and family-style sides. They have the most incredible mac ‘n’ cheese. I order the baby-back ribs.

Afterward we might go to Coldstone for ice cream. I’ll get their sweet cream with brownies mashed in. Right across the street is the Pacific Manhattan Village 6.

Nice, quiet Fridays are my favorite. I love it when we don’t have to leave Manhattan Beach, which reminds me of my hometown in Washington -- a beach town, laid back, and no one talks about show business.

Shopping and soccer

On Saturday I’ll wake up early and go to a meditation class at the Insight Center in Westwood. I usually take the hour class. Then I come home and we’ll make a big breakfast -- eggs, turkey bacon and whole-wheat waffles. Afterward I go to this enormous sand dune down the street where a lot of pro athletes work out. Landon might walk down there with me, but he won’t run up the dune, especially on a game day. After I’ve killed myself for an hour or so, we’ll come back and hang out. He’ll watch soccer on TV or play Xbox. I’ll make some whole-wheat pasta with turkey meatballs for him to eat before the game, and then I’ll meet up with Leah Albright, the wife of his teammate Chris Albright. While the men are occupied, we go shopping.

We love Alandrea in Redondo Beach, a boutique that sells Rebecca Taylor and other upscale designers. They know us by name. Another shop down the street, Champagne, has great dresses, but we can spend three or four hours in Alandrea alone. When we get back, the guys will have left for the game, so it’s safe to drop off the bags without a lot of questions. I really get into the games now; I didn’t even know L.A. had a soccer team when we first started dating.

Win or lose, we might head down to a boutique hotel called Shade for drinks with the team, and if we still have energy and Landon still has his legs, we’ll go to Chakra. They have good music and a big enough dance floor for about half the team.

More time with the team

On Sunday we’ll grab some breakfast at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, a little shack with a view of the ocean. There’s a line on any given morning, even weekdays. I order the scrambled egg whites and Landon will get an omelet, and then we’ll share a stack of buckwheat pancakes with banana and macadamia nuts. We might take our bikes and ride along the Strand and then meet a bunch of the team’s guys and wives for beach volleyball. We wrap up the weekend with a late afternoon barbecue at the house for everybody.

-- Mark Sachs