around san diego - Travel

weekend recap

October 27, 2014

Native Poppy flower workshop

I’m pretty pleased to share that the beaut above was arranged by yours truly and made this weekend at The Library Shop’s workshop with Native Poppy. As a thank you for recently featuring her on the blog, Natalie of Native Poppy graciously invited me to take part in the floral workshop. Here’s what that and the rest of my weekend looked like:

library-shop-san-diego-workshops-events

floral-workshop-san-diego

Natalie put a lot of thought into the class, selecting flowers that grow in San Diego and marking each place setting with a quote that ties together botany with life lessons. When it came time to arrange, I had an ugly duckling situation. What started out as a hot mess blossomed into an arrangement I could be proud of. I like flowers and being crafty but had never taken the time to learn the art of arranging. (Believe me, it’s an art!) Natalie taught us useful info, like keeping your arrangement two to three times the height of the container and making the greenery so full and lush as a base that it could be the arrangement itself. I love Natalie’s wild, free-form arranging style, so it was fun to be her little apprentice—and take home my finished product plus the shears we used—for the day.

best-desserts-san-diego-azucar

The mango cheesecake at Azucar in Ocean Beach is one of my all-time favorite desserts, and this Cuban patisserie is the best dessert spot in San Diego. Check it out if you’ve never been.

often-wander-at-noon-ocean-beach

While in OB, my friend and I stopped in at Often Wander, a newish boutique filled with home goods, paper goods, jewelry and the owner’s speciality—handmade candles poured into unique vintage containers.

grape-street-dog-park

While Eaman was out of town, it was just me and Teddy this weekend. And when it’s just us, I like to go to the dog park for a really long time, longer than Eaman would prefer. Being the obsessed dog person that I am, I get such a kick out of meeting and playing with other dogs, too. It’s my childhood dream come true. Plus, the Grape Street dog park is a fantastic place to catch the sunset.

rancho-la-puerta

I finally got to check out the wellness resort Rancho La Puerta yesterday as part of an invitation to the resort’s semi-annual culinary week known as Fiesta de la Cocina Que Canta, featuring big-name chefs like (dreamy) Javier Plascencia. I’m still learning about the Baja food scene, but I did know that this was a really impressive round-up of chefs with inventive menu items like hibiscus and goat cheese tacos and a deconstructed carrot taco (left). I was at Rancho for the whole day, which also gave me time to check out the grounds, some fitness classes and see what it’s all about. More on that on Wednesday.

For now, happy Monday!

6 thoughts on “weekend recap

  1. Jen @ Marshmallows and Margaritas

    That flower arrangement is spectacular! And I love Azucar. I don’t think I’ve checked out Often Wander yet, though, so will put that on the list!

    Reply

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