A San Diego Christmas

Weather wise, you won't be able to tell that Christmas is coming in San Diego. But don't you worry, San Diego put on her holiday best despite the summer-like sunshine. 

We did our best to match the city's finery and set off into the sun.

The marriott on the harbor was shining beautifully and the grounds were as green as ever.

To me this next picture is the perfect picture of a California Christmas!

I couldn't help a stroll past the Horton Grand.

Or a stop for a quick pint at Dublin Square.

Hello gorgeous poinsettia tree!

And just a touch of romance.

Thanks for letting me share a little glimpse of America's Finest City during the holidays!

And Merry Christmas to you all!!

Glitz and Glitter

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all have been going to holiday parties, eating sinfully delicous baked goods and enjoying a little glitz and glitter of you own. 

Gloria and I certainly have!

San Diego Lately; Vol II

It's been a little while since I've gotten up to one of these posts. But lately life has been a mad mish mash hodgepodge of goings ons rather than structured events, and that is the perfect time for a San Diego Lately post.

I hope you'll enjoy what little wanderings I've gotten up to in this lovely, lovely city, made even lovelier by the end of vacation season.



Exploring San Diego

While the rest of the country prepares themselves for fall, snuggling into warm scarves and preparing roaring fires and sipping hot chocolate, California is still holding onto it's last remnants of warm weather and sunshine. 

Sausage & Meat

A couple of weeks ago during restaurant week, I discovered a new gem of a place down in Hillcrest. If you're a vegatarian, now is probably a good time to stop reading, this is not the restaurant you're looking for. 

It's called Sausage and Meat, or S&M for short (how saucy! Innuendos at the ready!) and as you can imagine, it focuses primarily on all things pig. 

5 Places Around the World to Get Inspired

Have you ever been somewhere that just made you stop, take a breath and breathe it all in? Where time seems to pause and the world slows down for just the briefest of seconds? I hope so.

In the spirit of taking a second to look around, breathe and get inspired, today I want to share with you the top five places I've stumbled on in my travels that have been an inspiration to me.

1. San Antonio De Padua Church

Guian, Eastern Samar, Philippines

Vinaka Fiji!

For our last day in Fiji, we planned to spend it just like everyday should be spent when in paradise; relaxing, soaking up the sunshine and saying our goodbyes to all the wonderful people we had met. 

The day dawned bright and glorious at the Intercontinental.

The drinks at the Kama Lounge

Fiji's Sleeping Giant



I wish I could say that I woke up with the sun, stretched luxuriously and sprang out of bed ready to take on the day.

But that would be a lie. Firstly, it was pouring rain.

Secondly, I woke up hungover. (It happens.)

But a good buffet and a post breakfast nap were all I needed to head out on our day of adventure with our local guide, Joe and our driver, who told us to call him Kelly Slater, like the surfer. Hell yeah!

After rocketing around some rather bumpy roads we emerged at the Sabeto mud pools at the base of the mountain that they call The Sleeping Giant.

The grounds were peaceful and quiet...

 



Honeymoon in Paradise



Ahhh, Fiji.

We were greeted as soon as we arrived and driven an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Nadi and straight to the paradise that is the Intercontinental Golf Resort and Spa, right on the tranquil beauty that is Natadola beach.

The view from the check-in counter nearly took my breath away. We were officially in the most beautiful place I have ever seen.



Tea for Two and Horse Races Too

I have to say, I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful person to spend my time with. Someone who really gets my love of going new places, and who lets me take her on new adventures. 

Her? Yes, you read that correctly. I was talking about

Gloria, of course!! My new husband isn't exactly the tea going type, much as I love him.

For my maid of honor gift, I found a bakery that MSN proclaims to be one of the best in the country, I'll let you in a secret.....they weren't lying. 

The End of An Era and the Beginning of the Next

Well, it is officially the end of an era. Today is my bachelorette party, a day that I wasn't ever certain would arrive.

Looking back,

Stone Brewery

I love sharing fantastic places to hang out! And today I've got one that will quickly become a staple in your rotation, Stone Brewery!

What's better than a beer and sunshine? 

California Country

Lately things have been more than a little hectic around here, what with the wedding and all. But that doesn't mean I don't make time to goof off.

And luckily for me, the people I love happen to have no problem being ridiculous with me.

With that being said, this post isn't so much a story as it is a little look into what all the photo shoots we do actually look like before the magic of editing happens.

Nice pants, sir.

Dirty Parts Festival

It's been all over blogs everywhere, the news is out. 

The time has come. It's festival season! 

It's concert season. 

It's summer baby!

Last Saturday was the Dirty Parts Festival put on by San Diego radio station FM 94.9, and it. was. EPIC!! 

 I can't exactly pull off the pintrest worthy, fringe-having, tanned skin baring type festival outfits that I love seeing on other blogs....so.....

X-Men is always a good alternative right? yup. Totally the same thing.

God, I'm so good at dressing appropriately it's not even funny. (or true. le sigh.)

But for reals though, who cares. This day was about the music! And beer. And sunshine. Damn, I love festival season!!

I didn't get pictures of every band that played as I was busy singing, dancing and just generally having the best time ever, but I got some pretty good iPhone shots.

Check out St. Motel!! You can tell they have a blast performing, and the drummer rocked some pretty sweet shorts straight from the 80's.....and we were not upset about it. 

It was hot as hell, but the crowd didn't even care. The festival took place at the Lakeside Rodeo grounds, so you could either sit in the stands or join us wild folk in the arena between the two stages. 

This next one was In the Valley Below and although I'd heard a couple songs of theirs before, I never really fell in love with them until now. 

Their voices are simply haunting, and the way they move...just mesmerzing. If you've never heard of them, check out their song Peaches, you won't regret it.

And the band I'd been waiting for....Big Data!!! They rocked the house like nobodies business. Not to mention they are stylish as fuck.

If for some reason you don't know them yet, please, please, please do yourself a favor and listen to their song Dangerous. And if you have a weird sense of humor like me, go ahead and watch the music video. I think it's hilarious. I hope we can still be friends.

It was pretty much a perfect day with some of my favorite people. 

Oh, and the cherry on top? Turns out the singer/producer of Big Data is a super nice guy! 

Aghhhhhh!!!!! So freakin stoked to meet this guy!!!

Kongos rocking out.

I couldn't have asked for a better day. 

If this festival happens again next year, you can bet your sweet bum I'll be there.

If you live in the San Diego area, FM 94/9 puts on all kinds of awesome events like this for really low prices. (check out Indie Jam!) In, fact my ticket to the Dirty Parts Festival only cost me $9.49! Check out their link here: FM 94/9 .

Are you attending any festivals this summer?? 

I'd love to hear about it in the comments below and if you have a blog, leave me a link!

Memorial Day in Laguna Hills

The story of my memorial day weekend starts with beer, as all weekends should. 

A pre-race ritual beer in the lovely California town of Laguna Hills. 

Not my race, obviously. But this one here, the crazy one who runs for fun.

I was quite pleased with my rather cheeky glass.

And impressed by Gloria's preparation skills. I think I missed out on that gene as well as the want-to-run gene.

The weekend progressed to the part where I wake up ungodly early on a Sunday to cheer on this crazy chick.

Can you guess which part I liked better? The beer drinking or the early weekend wakeup time?

That's a rhetorical question, btw. Also check out my sweet gray hairs coming in. Hell yeah 26! We're aging nicely (insert sarcasm).

All joking aside, I was super stoked to send her off and watch all these people giddy up and take on the challenge of a 5K, 10K or a half marathon.

I had a much more achievable goal of walking two miles to meet Gloria at the finish line, and I was very impressed! I may not like running myself, but I do tip my hat to those that do. Especially when it's for a good cause like this one.

I saw quite a few interesting things while awaiting Gloria's triumphant return.

A man run a half marathon completely barefoot.

Lots of tutus...on both men and women.

Children who could run circles around me....for days.

And then.......I spotted her coming in for the finish!!

I wish I had some super awesome action shots for you, but she was faster than my camera :(

My little runner!!

And now, a word from the lady herself!!

It was not an easy race. The majority of the course is pure hills!! I don't recall the course having that many hills last year and I was not ready! My calves were on fire by the end of the race, and some how I ended up running 14 miles instead of 13.1. So either I maneuvered a lot through people, the course is not properly measured or I got lost... I'm gonna go with I got lost. Regardless, I still managed to crush multiple PRs :)


We found this adorable little french cafe after the race where we got our post-race face stuffing and it was AH!-mazing!

It really was a truly amazing little cafe. They were a little slow, due to being short handed but it was well worth it.

come closerrrrr...

CLOSER!!!!

mmm perfect. Don't forget to wipe your whipped cream mustache off.

now let's jump into some savory smoked salmon crepes.....*drool*

How about some good ol' butter soaked french toast?

I don't know about you but I get a little excited about food.

What a fantastic weekend. I always love a good little weekend trip, don't you? 

You can check out the details of the yearly Laguna Hills Memorial Day race here.

And you can find this delightful little french gem of a cafe here.

Where do you like to get away to on your weekends??