Monthly Archives: May 2014

monthly favorites

5 may favorites

May 30, 2014

Gone are the video recaps and in comes a new monthly series, where I tell you about 5 things—whether they be meals or moments—that made an impact in my life in the past month. I liked my monthly video recaps. I really did. But as a writer, I can’t help but want to explain the story behind what you see. So this is the monthly recap 2.0. Enjoy!

Imperial Beach, San Diego // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blog

One Friday, at the end of a very painful heat wave, we piled into the car with Teddy and headed south for Imperial Beach. This sleepy, laid-back beach town doesn’t get enough credit. Being there felt like we were transported to a different place. Miami? A movie set perhaps? It seemed a little magical on that Friday, with the farmers market busy and melting San Diegans seeking solace in the cold ocean water. The beach was also an incredible place to watch the sunset. We even witnessed a trio of dolphins swimming across the horizon and then made a vow to make a lot more trips to IB.

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Travel

a first-timer’s guide to palm springs

May 28, 2014

Palm Springs travel guide // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blog

The Hyatt Palm Springs recently invited me to check out their hotel, and I said, “Heck yes!” Palm Springs has been at the top of my road trip list and I was so excited to see for myself what this desert oasis is all about. One of the reasons we moved to San Diego was to take advantage of the road trip possibilities. Theoretically, you can hit the beach, desert, and snow all in the same day. It’s the wild biodiversity that makes California so wonderful.

Palm Springs is known for a few things: mid-century design, antiquing, gay culture, color on color, and pool time. Almost like a movie set, the city transports you to the Sinatra era. Everything feels retro and throwback in a kind of weird, kind of cool way. But the heat is often an even more compelling draw for desert-lovers. The climate ranges from pleasant to purgatory, but on our trip, we lucked out with beautiful 85-degree weather and a cool breeze. That said, the dry heat is something this East Coaster needs to get used to. My skin is still wondering what those two days in the desert was all about.

As for our abode, the Hyatt is situated in downtown Palm Springs on the main strip known as Palm Canyon Drive, right between the uptown design district (color! mid-century!) and hotspots like the Ace Hotel and Parker Palm Springs. (There’s also one of the best sandwich places I’ve ever been to across the street, but I’ll get to that later.) It’s the only all-suite resort in the area, and that extra living room space came in handy when Eaman wanted to watch an NBA game and I…did not.

This was an amazing getaway for us. We love our Teddy, but it was good to have time as just us two, especially since we haven’t traveled anywhere together since our RTW backpacking trip in 2012! When we weren’t at the pool, we were exploring all the quirky fun and must-eats around town. Here’s a little photo diary of our trip:

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Life

happy long weekend!

May 23, 2014

Imperial Beach, San Diego // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blog

You’re either a.) twiddling your thumbs at work, b.) getting ready to leave work, or c.) have already left work and have no plans whatsoever to be checking blogs. So I’ll keep it short. Whatever your agenda may be—hitting the beach (like me and Teddy, above, at Imperial Beach last week!), sitting on the couch, eating copious amounts of barbecue, or observing the holiday—make this long weekend a good one. It’s the unofficial start of the summer!

Have a great weekend!

around san diego - San Diego eats + drinks

brunch at queenstown public house

May 21, 2014

Queenstown Public House // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blog

The decor got me from the start. At Queenstown Public House, a historic house-turned-restaurant in Little Italy, antiquing, upcycling, and bringing the indoors out is what the aesthetic is all about. Watering cans become planters, wire cages house pendant lights, and living room lamps are positioned on the patio. Conceived by Pearl Hotel and Vin de Syrah designer Michael Soriano with co-designers Alina Leyton and Dustin Towery, there are amazing details, including sheeps hanging upside down from the ceiling (scroll ahead for that). And as you’d expect, the space makes for a pretty stellar brunch spot.

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DIY

DIY painted terracotta pots

May 19, 2014

DIY painted terracotta pots // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blogI’ve been wanting to add some green into my life, but after killing my tomato and basil plants—both of which are considered “starter plants”—I thought I should dial it way back to botany 101. Enter: the succulent. Thanks to their desert-friendly personality, the succulent is a hands-off plant. Forget to water them? Not a problem! That sounded like a good fit for my black thumb.

Succulents come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but I was more excited about the pot they’d call home. I started with a classic terracotta base, and for each pot I chose three different designs, working with a color palette of pink, gold, white, and turquoise. I wanted the designs to look very distinct but like they were part of a family. The colors were bright (just the way I like them) and would go well with our teal and white-themed bedroom.

Few may know this, but I actually love painting and always think about nurturing my interest with some proper classes. For now, this DIY was a great way to get back into the flow. It was fun, easy, and took just an afternoon to finish, and the pattern and color possibilities are endless. Here’s how it went down:

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Style + Beauty

weekend reads + a giveaway featuring lorna jane activewear and drybar!

May 16, 2014

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Some light reading for your Friday:

The wildfires that have been raging through northern San Diego are just terrible. More than 10,000 acres have been burned, people have been evacuated, homes have been destroyed, and so far, one burned body was found. Sad and scary. I’m thankful that my worst problem is our sweltering apartment. Thankfully today the temps will start dropping, and the weekend should get the city’s thermostat back to normal. Fingers crossed.

How to plan your perfect nap.

Jaden Smith’s cryptic tweets actually make total sense as Garfield cartoons.

What’s the most commonly spoken language in your state after English and Spanish? California’s surprised me.

I’m obsessed with reading really detailed food and beauty diaries. This Cindy Crawford piece is no exception.

Now for a giveaway! Australian activewear brand Lorna Jane will be hosting an event tomorrow in La Jolla with a workout led by LJ herself, Drybar blow outs, healthy juices from L.A.’s Juice Served Here, and for the first 5 My SoCal’d Life readers to show up, a $50 credit to spend in the store. Just tell them “My SoCal’d Life sent me.” I’ll be there, so I hope to see your workout-ready selves tomorrow, too! Here’s all the info and you can RSVP right here:

Lorna Jane event in San Diego

Hope to see you there, and have a lovely weekend!

First image via

around san diego

neighborhood watch: east village

May 14, 2014

East Village, San Diego // My SoCal'd Life, a lifestyle blog

This is my last week working in the San Diego Magazine offices—don’t get me started or I may will cry—and though I’ll still be freelancing for them regularly, I won’t have an office that helps separate work from home, co-worker chatter to bask in (I may miss this the most!), and the public bus full of crazies to entertain me.

I also won’t regularly stroll the East Village neighborhood where the offices are located. (The location is in a bit of a gray area between East Village and downtown, but let’s call it East Village for all intents and purposes.) Granted, for a work-heavy downtown area, the lunch options are meager, but I have found special places I’ll miss. Here’s an abbreviated neighborhod tour of my favorites:

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Life

a weekend nap when you really need it

May 12, 2014

la-visit

I’m not even going to try to fake it: I was exhausted this weekend and didn’t get time to write a proper post. Eaman, Teddy, and I drove up to L.A. to see one of my oldest, dearest friends, who just got engaged, just got a puppy, and is moving back to the East Coast. There was a lot to celebrate, but between the sun, laughing (of the ab-workout variety), and reigning in two maniac puppies, I came home Sunday and passed out for most of the day.

Usually I’d force myself out of nap time and get my work done. But for the first time in a long time, I took a break. I slept three hours on the couch. Then I did a DIY project (coming to the blog soon!) before crawling under the covers and passing out for another few hours. I actually turned to Eaman at one point and asked him, “When was the last time we even did this?” There’s always something (or someone) to take care of—or at least that’s how my restless brain perceives things.

So here’s to taking a break when you really need it and not feeling bad about it. Hope you had a good weekend!