We had a fun weekend planned for no apparent reason. Lunch at a delicious Lebanese spot, shopping at the mall with some gift certificates, a movie at an actual theater (we never do that anymore — so expensive!)*, trip to the dog park followed by acai bowls, BBQ with friends, an IHOP breakfast and a relaxing day with a groggy Teddy who just got neutered yesterday.
It was a good exercise in letting go and remembering that’s it’s OK to chill. This hasn’t been an easy lesson to learn since becoming a freelancer. When you work for yourself, you often feel like there’s always something else that can be done. And when you work from home, it’s often hard to officially end the work day. In this day and age of teenage entrepreneurs and wildly successful start-ups, does anyone else ask themselves, “Am I doing enough?” I’m not saying we should praise laziness, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I sometimes feel guilty for getting some R&R.
But Teddy’s surgery ended up being the catalyst I needed to tell myself, It’s OK to relax! Post-neutering, the poor guy was in a total pain medication haze and could barely walk or keep himself upright. He’s forbidden from much exercise or activity for the next couple weeks, and for his first day, I wanted to make things as soothing as possible. I just sat on the floor — in harem pants no less! — petting him while watching the Emmys. And then we ordered Papa John’s. And then I fell asleep reading magazines on the couch. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel guilty about any of it.
*We watched Blue Jasmine. I can’t give a proper review because I fell asleep intermittently, but from what I saw, I didn’t like it. Cate Blanchett’s character was so unlikeable. What’s with the good reviews? Someone please explain.
In this series I often feature people I’ve never met but admire from afar. Today I’m so happy to introduce you to a fellow blogger friend I’ve had the pleasure of actually meeting. (Imagine that!) Rashi and I connected through our mutual friends and as soon as I discovered her blog, Bucket of Squash, in late October, I quickly emailed her to tell her I was in love with her design style. Thankfully, she didn’t think I was a creepy girl fan, and after years of hearing about each other, we finally met up in NYC for coffee to talk blogs, design and everything in between.
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!
One thing I took from our year-long backpacking trip is that a person’s energy can be one of the best ways to connect (or stay away from someone). And all I could feel when I learned about branding/design agency Hey, Sweet Pea from random Internet browsing is oodles of positivity. From their fun bios to their active and engaging Facebook page, this husband-and-wife team are all about motivation and goal-setting. Even though I haven’t worked with them, browsing on their site and social media channels for even a few minutes made me want to go-go-go.
Let’s get to know this cute, talented couple on today’s rituals.
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:
As I mentioned on Friday, it’s always amusing to make my monthly video recaps because it paints such a perfect portrait of life. But we all know life is filled with just as much anxiety, trouble, frustration and tears as it is smiles, laughs, skips, hops and jumps. So to balance out the perfection I portrayed I Friday, I thought it was only fair to be totally honest about something that’s been bugging me lately.
The funny thing is that this week was kind of terrible on a few accounts — work-wise, heat wave-wise, even stomach ache-wise. Yet here I am with a video that makes life seem perfect. Keep in mind 1.) It’s not and 2.) This just goes to show you that even though things can suck, you should focus on the positive. I actually think it’d be very therapeutic for everyone to at least once visually recap the happiest moments in one month. It’s a fabulous reminder of all the good in life.
This month I checked out the open streets event known as CicloSDias, hiked a bit (Torrey Pines, Mt. Woodson), finally saw the zoo, hit up San Diego Magazine‘s Best of San Diego party, introduced one of my best friend’s to my favorite fish taco, rode in a helicopter and went paragliding and welcomed my cousin to San Diego. Oh, and you’ll also see our new favorite weekday tradition: Getting ice cream for each of us at South Park’s A Daily Scoop — even special dog ice cream for Teddy. He loves it.
