Monthly Archives: February 2013

Life

video recap: february 2013

February 27, 2013

Here we are again — mighty quickly I might add — the end of another month. And since I don’t post on Thursdays (tomorrow is the real last day of February), you know what that means? A video recap! This month starts with a hike in Cuyamaca and apple pie in Julian and goes on to…show you how much I eat. Seriously though, if I were a stranger watching this video, I would think all Archana does is hike and eat, which I guess is actually a good combination.

But there’s more: the beautiful architecture in Balboa Park, seeing friends in L.A., showing my friend Katy around Coronado, La Jolla Shores (sea lions!), and the microbreweries, and hiking up Cowles Mountain, which clocks in as the highest point in San Diego.

Take a look:

Music: “A Night Like This” by Caro Emerald

Check out the January 2013 video recap.

Design + Interiors - Life

12 tips for shopping at flea markets

February 25, 2013

We’ve lived in San Diego for a little over 6 weeks and have been to flea markets five of those weekends (4 Kobey’s Swamp Meet in San Diego, 1 Long Beach Antiques Market). It’s my new obsession and probably stems from our travels, where I was constantly picking up unique pieces from local artisans and markets. Now in San Diego, we finally care enough about our home to furnish it with pieces we love — pieces with history and in some cases, pieces that can be refurbished the way we want. It’s a fun, creative and cheap way to get one-of-a-kind decor.

After all our flea excursions, we’ve picked up a trick or two about how to work the system without losing our heads. So get your tape measure ready, ’cause here are my 12 tips for shopping at flea markets:

read more

around san diego - San Diego eats + drinks

a san diego brewery tour: alesmith, green flash and karl strauss

February 22, 2013

Northern California may have Napa and wine, but Southern California has San Diego and beer — beer (hoppy in particular) that’s won accolades and microbreweries that have earned international recognition. Eaman had been to a couple without me, but with my friend Katy in town this past week I finally had a chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Let me first put it out there that I don’t like beer. I don’t enjoy drinking at all actually. I once did, but those were different times when I could go clubbing until 4am, eat Taco Bell and then wake up to study for a psychology exam the next day. Now I have trouble even smelling the stuff. So why am I even telling you about breweries? Well, 1. They’re a staple of San Diego culture, 2. I had a trio of taste-testers at my disposal and 3. These microbreweries are such interesting set-ups that it’s fun to check out even if you’re not imbibing. Many, including the ones we went to, are located in industrial parks in the suburbs. The reason being that the space is large and rent cheap enough. But since these breweries are a happy hour favorite, people are basically going from one office building to the next. If you build it, they will come I guess.

We started at AleSmith, a smaller operation located in Miramar where you can see a few barrels and try saucily named drinks. (Most 4 oz. samples are $1.) Our friend Mike, who has lived in SD for a number of years and counts AleSmith as his favorite, is fond of the Grand Cru, while Eaman liked the Old Numbskull. What did I like? The enormous, beautiful, gentle Newfoundland, Jake, who seems to be something of a brew house pet.

read more

Food

persian soup-e jo

February 20, 2013

I spent one month in Oklahoma with Eaman’s family before moving to San Diego and I think 75% of the time by choice I was eating soup-e jo, a traditional and healthy Persian soup made of barley (“jo”), lentils, turmeric and herbs. (Eaman’s mom would make a huge pot-ful and I’d be happy to clean off all the leftovers.) As much as a treat as it was to have her cooking different menus for us, it was the soup that always got me rabidly excited.

She was kind enough to share her family recipe with me, and today I share it with you! I took some creative license by adding cilantro and eyeballed the proportions, but that’s the wonderful thing about soup: Just throw it all in there.

read more

Travel

less than 24 hours in los angeles

February 18, 2013

You know that movie 2 Days in Paris? Or 2 Days in New York? Well this is the photo diary of less than 24 hours in L.A. We were there this past Saturday to visit a friend I’ve known since the diaper era, and I can’t quite articulate how amazing it is to see such a good friend after going through all the newness of moving, but let’s just say, it was SO FUN. Eaman and I have also been working particularly hard lately, so it was awesome to get away and get a bit silly.

I’ve been to L.A. before and back then I ventured to a lot of neighborhoods on my own out of traveler’s/food lover’s curiosity. This time we headed to previously uncharted territory: Venice, where we walked up and down the famous Abbot Kinney Boulevard, checking out the boutiques and trying not to bore the boys in the group. We also managed to squeeze in a view of Santa Monica beach before driving out to West Hollywood for Mexican food. It was such a great change of pace to be in the thick of things again in a big city. The fashion was riskier, the crowd was more diverse and the restaurant patios were spilling over with drunk twentysomethings. Ah, just like New York — with palm trees.

Check out the rest of the snaps from my L.A. diary after the jump. It’s a lovely one-day itinerary if I do say so myself.

read more

Style + Beauty

inspired by california fashion

February 15, 2013

“I see you’ve got your whole…New York thing going on,” is what a San Diego native said to me during my first week here. We were at a party/networking event, and I was wearing my favorite Forever21 trench with studs on the lapels along with a fancy purse and dangly earrings. My hair was also slicked back; perhaps that was the giveaway. I’m clearly still clinging to much of my New York style (i.e. streamlined silhouettes, statement jewelry, black anything), but between walking around town and reading my favorite SoCal blogs, I’ve recently been inspired to embrace my new environment.

As sad as I am that my heels will probably never again see the light of day, I’m excited to try something different — more casual, still polished. To help my cause, I’ve been taking style cues from the aforementioned bloggers above:

— Sarah Sherman Samuel is the beautiful face behind Smitten Studio Online. She’s a talented graphic designer but could easily moonlight as a model. I really dig that pink maxi skirt.
Sincerely Jules blogger Julie Sarinana has that California cool I’ve rarely seen done so well. I particularly love her ability to mix feminine pieces with cool sneakers.
— Sarah Yates of A House in the Hills has a bohemian, hippie-chic aesthetic that matches her Palms Springs habitat just perfectly. This bright yellow number is one of her dressier looks; it’s like a jolt of sunshine.

Of course my eyes have also been wandering to some online window shopping. Take a look at my picks after jump and tell me which one I should buy first!

read more

around san diego

when hiking meets dessert: hitting the trails (and pie) in julian

February 13, 2013

I live for hiking. But I hate camping. I hate going to the bathroom outside and feeling grimy as I sleep, but I lurve hiking. And SoCal’s many hiking trails is part of the reason we moved here. We recently took a mini-road trip with our friends Sara and Adam to Cuyamaca, located about an hour away, for a Saturday hike. There weren’t any steep ascents and much of the trail grounds are still burned to a crisp after the horrible 2003 Cedar Fire, but it felt good to exercise the way I love most with good people, good conversation and the gorgeous green mountains in the distance.

But the real reason we drove all that way for a hike was to reward ourselves with dessert afterward. (Duh.) Near Cuyamaca is the town of Julian, an old mining center that’s still reminiscent of the Wild Wild West — homogenous population and all! — and famous for its apple pie. We walked through the (touristy) town, bypassed a llama (yep) and made a beeline for Julian Pie Company, where we obliterated any calorie burn with slices of Apple Mountain Berry Crumb (apples, raspberries, boysenberries and strawberries), caramel apple pie and a cider donut. They also offer a wollop — certainly not a “dollop” size — of homemade whipped cream. Four slices of pie, a donut and coffee? That’s acceptable. But tack on cream? That’s just crazy.

read more

Life

why moving to another state can be harder than traveling the world

February 11, 2013

Friday marked our one-month San Diego anniversary (San Diego-versary?) and my, so much has happened in just 4 weeks. We: moved into our new apartment, scored a ton of awesome furniture at flea markets and thrift shops, met new people, tried out Ashtanga yoga, networked like CRAZY, secured freelance gigs and made about 1,000 trips to Target.

But now all that movement has for the most part settled and I finally have time to reflect on this big change we’re going through, and you know what? In some ways it was much harder than I thought. In fact, moving to California has at times been harder than traveling to third world nations with just a backpack and some common sense. I mulled over our RTW trip so long that I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. It was also a bit of a fantasy life, where I could city-hop, eat great food and live responsibility-free. But San Diego? I  just threw my arms up and said, “OK!” and I’m now absorbing just how drastic of a change it’s been to go from a booming metropolis like New York to backpacking to a completely new city, where I have no family, just a couple friends and no clear vision of what’s next. And not knowing what’s next for someone like me can be a struggle.

Each chapter of my life was about looking forward. In high school, I looked to college. In college, I looked to New York. In New York, I looked to traveling. In traveling, I looked to San Diego. And now that I’m in San Diego, where do I look? I’ve always had trouble sitting still, constantly dwelling on the future rather than soaking in the present, and in the past month I felt it like a hot fever.

read more