Bates Nut Farm* is San Diego’s classic pumpkin patch with gourds of all varieties — huge, mini, grey, white, striped, even a type called “turban.” Located about an hour from downtown in Valley Center, this farm really does it up for fall — straw maze, hay rides, petting zoo and pony rides. Even though Eaman and I are total children and really love doing kiddie things, we just wanted to revel in the pumpkin patch and bring Teddy along. (Leashed dogs are allowed everywhere on the farm except in the store. Bring water for them; it gets hot and dry.) It’s a stunning open space with mountains on one side and corn fields on the other. Yes, I wore a tank top and skirt and it was in the 70’s, but the environment sure felt like fall.
I know pictures make you think one thing, but do know that it WAS NOT EASY BRINGING TEDDY. He’s a canine vacuum cleaner and sucks everything up in sight — whether we’re on a casual walk or at a pumpkin patch. I spent half the time pulling out pumpkin stems from his mouth. Apart from that, he was actually pretty well-behaved! He was extremely popular with the kiddies running around and seemed really amused to climb on top of the pile pumpkins. And because we’re totally annoying and cheesy, we selected two pumpkins for Teddy, put them on the ground and let him pick one. You see, we each brought home a pumpkin: a giant one we’ll carve (Eaman’s), a small white one (mine) and a round orange one (Teddy’s). We also put him in a wheelbarrow at one point. I told you we’re annoying.
There’s also a store full of snacks, nuts and classic candy like Warheads and Double Bubble in barrels. There’s other packaged candy, but I think it’s kind of a crock that they’re selling Sour Patch Kids in different packaging to make you think you’re buying homemade candy. They’re selling you a story. I chose to buy into that story only for the unique candy: chocolate-covered gummy bears, mint chocolate malt balls and pumpkin almonds. I ate half the gummy bears on the way home and the other half after dinner that night. Whoops.
* My friend who grew up in San Diego and went to Bates on school field trips said kids lovingly refer to it as Nate’s Butt Farm. I honestly can’t stop laughing when I say it out loud.
I’ll be honest: I don’t particularly like downtown San Diego. I had my concrete fill in Chicago and New York and moved here not for more tall buildings and car-filled streets; I wanted greenery, outdoor space and calm. (Fact: I really love living in a residential area now!)
But if I were to live anywhere near downtown, it’d be in Little Italy. It’s a tiny ‘hood made up of just a few blocks, but it’s quite charming with plenty of restaurants and interesting boutiques to keep you busy. I took a break from my computer on Monday afternoon to tour the area. I didn’t stop to snack or shop. I just walked — in and out of stores, past beautiful urban gardens and through the ocean-facing blocks. And here’s a little photo diary of it all:
Eaman and I have started a new Sunday tradition: Each week we pick a different breakfast breakfast or coffee spot and practice Farsi. (If you’re late to the party, Eaman is Persian and fluent in Farsi.) Back in New York I had a Farsi tutor and was pretty dang proficient, but then we went traveling and and Spanish, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Malay and Hindi vocabulary pushed all the Farsi knowledge out of my brain.
I’m getting back on track, and for yesterday’s class, we went to Cardamom Cafe & Bakery, a simple spot in North Park. Our French toast was solid but way too huge, and the huevos were certainly nothing to write home about. So why bother talking about this place at all?
Two words: almond croissant, probably the best you will ever have and the cafe’s most popular pastry. It goes well with the house coffee, which is usually so tasteless in restaurants that I almost always go for a latte. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Cardamom’s coffee is actually really wonderful. Beyond the baked goods, the outdoor patio is super pleasant and always filled with dogs. Yesterday we met Teddy’s brother from another mother (not really), an Anatolian shepherd. Fun fact of the day: Anatolian shepherds have six toes!
A couple Sundays ago, I explored Bird Rock, a small (and wealthy) coastal community within La Jolla. There’s not much beyond one street of action and some majorly beautiful homes, but I love how intimate the whole place feels compared to the rest of sprawling San Diego.
Anchoring the town is Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, an amazing micro-roaster with a line out the door on weekends. Besides Caffe Calabria in North Park, it’s the only other coffee spot in San Diego where I don’t have to add sugar to my latte; that, to me, is a sign of a really excellent brew. The cafe itself is really lovely, too, with an open-air design and totally relaxed vibe.
And just down the block is Seaside Smoothie & Juice Bar, where my girlfriends and I got acai bowls for brunch. To be honest, it wasn’t as good as the acai bowls I used to make when I worked at Lanikai Juice in Honolulu, but for a hot Sunday morning, I can’t complain, especially since Seaside is connected to Bird Rock Surf Shop, where the owner’s golden retriever freely walks between surf shop and juice bar. He even has his own spot under a table with a bed and kibble.
This past weekend was extra special because Eaman turned 30! As a surprise, I flew his sister in from New York for a few days of San Diego fun. To fete his big day, we brunched at Fig Tree Cafe in Hillcrest, burned it off with a long hike through Torrey Pines and went out with friends to Soda & Swine, a meatball-themed restaurant in North Park, and Polite Provisions, the Prohibition Era-style bar next door. As far as sweets, I know the key to this guy’s heart and made a four-layer Funfetti monstrosity with homemade vanilla buttercream frosting. And because he’s 30 but forever a kid at heart, I put together a little goody bag of treats including Doritos, Cheetos, Goldfish crackers, Gushers and Pringles. Yes, we felt ill all weekend from all that.
For the rest of the weekend, we hit up Windansea Beach, played Bananagrams during sunset at Sunset cliffs, sipped coffee from Caffe Calabria (the best), grilled on our balcony and continued our Saturday tradition: playtime at the Grape Street Dog Park followed by coffee and croissants and Cafe Madeleine.
‘Twas a good — and indulgent — weekend. Hope you had a good one!
If your restaurant has a cute outdoor patio, I’m probably going to like it. If your restaurant has quality rolled tacos, I’m going to love it. Those two criteria came together for me recently at Ranchos Cocina, a Mexican spot in Ocean Beach with the most darling outdoor space. (Oddly enough, the other diners sat inside! What the what?) The space is more like a home backyard with tons of hanging plants and casual seating. There were even little birdies chirping by our table side. It was basically the enchanted forest from Sleeping Beauty — with margaritas.
The menu is, in a word, large. But they also seem to have the most vegetarian options I’ve ever seen at a Mexican restaurant in San Diego. My cousin found the veg fajitas pretty bland, but I’m curious how the tofu options taste. On my end, I loved my beef rolled tacos and Eaman’s enchilada-taco plate was happily devoured. That said, this place wins more in the ambiance department than in the food department, but it’s certainly a solid choice, especially if you have vegetarian diners.
Oh, and the margarita glasses are all sorts of kitschy wonderful. Check it out:
I’ve been skydiving, bungee-jumping, surfing, rafting, scuba diving and cliff-diving, so you could say I have a penchant for the extreme. And just a couple weeks ago I got to tick two more off that list: paragliding and a helicopter ride. Toyota invited me to a presentation of their 2014 Corolla and day of outdoor fun in line with their new campaign, which is all about elevating your drive. Elevate you drive, elevate your outdoor activities — get it?
The day began with a helicopter ride around inland San Diego, the Del Mar racetrack, Lake Hodges, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, Mission Bay and downtown San Diego. Riding in a chopper is unlike anything I’ve ever done: You’re high enough to get a bird’s eye view but also low enough to see action like reef sharks in La Jolla Cove. It just so happened to be a brilliant day so San Diego was at its most glitter-y, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for living in a place that’s so drop-dead gorgeous. But what’s beauty without the rich and the famous? We saw a lot of ridiculously wealthy homes in Rancho Santa Fe and you should definitely click ahead to see what I’m talking about.
Then it was onto paragliding at Black’s Beach, a beautiful area lined with dramatic bluffs and naked folks. (It’s a nude beach.) Running off cliffs, flying like the wind and landing next to old naked men — what could be better?
Back in June, I posted a summer to-do list, listing 15 things I wanted to see, do and eat. Even though summer apparently extends into October here in San Diego, I feel like Labor Day is summer’s unofficial finish line. So I figured it was a good time to check in on my list because, hey, I got a couple more months to complete it, right?
