When you freelance for a wedding magazine, you start to learn pretty quickly who the best in the (local) biz are. Planners, venues, florists, cake makers — yeah, I’m pretty well-versed in all that. Of all the vendors I’ve come across, though, I’ve been most smitten by the romantic images captured by Shelby and Taryn of Joielala Photographie. This San Diego-based duo shoots events (weddings, engagements, etc.), family portraits and even boudoir scenes. I asked the gals how they like to unwind from the non-stop party train that is summer wedding season. Hint: It involves a juicer and international jet-setting.
I’ve never been one to class up a picnic. In fact, I had every intention of sharing a few snaps from a little outing we had a few weeks ago. Eaman and I had picked up sandwiches from BFD (Big Front Door) — skip the overpriced sandwiches, go for the cool craft sodas and epic cookies — and headed over to Old Trolley Barn Park on Adams Avenue in University Heights. (It sounds much more “country jamboree” than it really is.) But the fact of the matter is, there wasn’t much to show. A canvas tote? Small sandwiches? Tattered blanket? It got me thinking about how I’d style my own picnic given an expense account and some freedom to go with a melon color palette.
A glance at the weekend that made Thursday feel like Saturday, Friday feel like Monday and Saturday feel like…Tuesday?
I finally, finally baked an American Flag Cake. It consisted of boxed cake mix, Cool Whip and berries, so, sure nothing supremely innovative here. But there is something so wonderful about a junk food cake like this. I thought I’d have had leftovers to give to the neighbors, but that obviously never happened.
You know when they say that a person’s reputation precedes him/her? In the case of Puja and Steve Thomas-Patel, their recipes precede them. I haven’t even met the San Diego husband and wife bloggers in person yet, but their recipes are proof enough that we’ll get along mighty nicely. My first introduction to their food was in May at the San Diego food blogger bake sale, where the couple sold their chai-spiced sticky buns. I was sold. I then checked out their website, Indiaphile, a blog where the couple shares original recipes for Indian food and the occasional musing on Indian culture. Remember my post on baked tandoori wings? That was all Puja and Steve.
Today the culinary pair gives us a look at what day-to-day life looks like for the foodies/techies/dog lovers/beer drinkers. Take a look:
Memorial Day Weekend I wanted to go to the beach with Eaman’s friends who were visiting, then Teddy got diarrhea and I was sequestered at home. In mid-June, Eaman’s family came to visit and I let them have a long day of beachy fun while I took care of the puppy. That’s all fine and well — this is the responsibility I accepted when becoming a puppy owner — but after I got back from my week at home in New Jersey, I basically mandated a beach trip.
So last weekend, we packed up the badminton set, magazines and body board and headed to our favorite beach (so far): Windansea in La Jolla. It’s clean, populated by a nice, non-fratty clientele and there’s a good amount of sand to lay on. On that day, the waves were huge and the surfers were doing all sorts of tricks. It was crazy to watch some young kids get out there, too.
And when it’s a beach day, I can’t not have Mexican food, so we tried out the chain Rigoberto’s. You must order the beef rolled tacos with cheese and guacamole (pictured after the jump). You must not order the chicken anything — very suspect meat.
We ended the day at Bardot, an artisanal ice cream shop that specializes in girly, gourmet bars. (You may remember that this was #12 on my summer checklist!) I had a hard time deciding between flavors: mascarpone and dulce de leche or mint chocolate chip? Raspberry green tea or strawberry cheesecake? We ended up sharing the “Honey I’m Home,” a cookies and cream bar topped with an Oreo covered in edible glitter. The glitter may or may not have been the deciding factor. These bars are expensive ($5-6 each), but legit. Fun fact: Bardot is the first place where I’ve seen alfajores — traditional South American sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche — since our three-month stint in Argentina.
Click onwards to see what this beach, those rolled tacos and that sparkly Oreo are all about:
I feel as though it’d be wrong to make you guys think that my life is all about beaches, farmer’s market-sourced dinners, parties, friends and domestic bliss with a new puppy. Yes, those things are a part of my life, but there’s also a lot of less fun stuff involved. Actually, some of the stuff is downright frustrating, miserable and boring.
I don’t like to air my dirty laundry here; I like to use this space to focus on the positive. But for argument’s sake — and to prove that no, my life is far from perfect — here’s a random smattering of less than happy moments as of late. I think it’s important to be honest:
