san diego 2008

What can I say, I have a super fun book club. I’ve been in this book club for 4 years. People come and go but it’s been so fun getting to know them. A few months ago, we were entertaining the idea to all go to san diego. One of the girls has a friend who let us use his points for a couple of condos. Seven of us ended up going and we had a freakin blast.

Thursday we all boarded the same flight. Once in San Diego, we went to Filippis for Pizza in Little Italy. Then we headed to the condos to check in and hang out until we needed to head to Old Town for our Haunted Tour (THAT was hee-lar-ious). We piled into our mini-van and, following Mapquest’s directions, we set off. Only to get stuck on Hotel Circle (the Bermuda triangle of San Diego). Mapquest seriously had some issues with the directions to Old Town because we kept going around Hotel Circle. Finally, we pulled into a shopping complex and the nice people at Thomasville gave us some better directions. When we got to Old Town, we had some time to kill, so we shopped at the little street vendor stands for awhile. This is where I purchased my fabulous new handbag:



Then we met up with the Haunted Tour which consisted of 2 overly dramatic tour guides and a pimped out van/bus complete with black lace curtains, a pin-tucked black fabric ceiling treatment, and candelabra wall sconces. Really. We jetted around San Diego and stopped at a few of the haunted hot spots. The first couple of stops were in the gas lamp district which was fun to walk around at night. Then we went to some old house for more overly dramatic stories and re-enactments. We finished up in Old Towne at the Whaley House and after hearing the stories of the Whaley family, we were given ‘ghost poo’ (marshmallows) and sent on our way. As it turned out, our way was right to a yummy Mexican restaurant. I packed in a deluxe burrito enchilada style and some chips and salsa. One of the things I miss about Arizona are all the Mexican joints. And the palm trees. And the warm weather in the winter. And the tiled roofs and terra cotta color palette. Anyway, I digress.

After dinner we went to Food for Less and stocked up on Honey Nut Cheerios and all the makings for a great Friday morning breakfast. (fruit and yogurt).

Friday we got up and after our Food for Less breakfast, we all piled in the van again and set out for Coronado Island. The weather was warmer than we had all imagined. It had forecasted to be 80 degrees, but felt warmer than that. So nice. I usually FREEZE in San Diego so I was glad to be able to enjoy short sleeves. We walked around the Hotel del Coronado and some of the shops, had lunch at Panera and then ice cream from Cold Stone. (Sweet cream with brownie and peanut butter for me.) At this point, some of the girls wanted to just hang out by the pool, so we dropped them off. Nikki, Trina, Camille, and I decided to go check out Seaport Village. After a short little detour where we almost ended up in Mexico, we found our way and headed back to where we needed to be. Ooops. Seaport was fun to walk around (although to be honest, I actually don’t like Seaport Village at all… ) But since I wasn’t planning on buying anything at all, it was fun to look and walk around and enjoy being right next to the ocean and marina.

Next stop? Pick up April, Jill, and Emily and rush to La Jolla for the sunset. We hiked a little way to the cliffs and got the pictures we went for.

April had suggested that one of our nights there be a girls night. That meant jammies, junk food, and lots of laughing. We all picked out a treat and headed home to hang out. My dinner consisted of a buttermilk donut, half a slice of pepperoni sausage pizza, 2 bowls of asian chicken salad, 1/3 of a pumpkin pie (my treat of choice), half of a chocolate chip cookie, chips and salsa and a bite of a reese’s peanut butter pumpkin. I was so full I could hardly move. But it was so good I couldn’t stop eating. The conversation was super. Trina had bought a game in Coronado that was a stack of cards that all had questions on them. So we passed that around the room and all had to answer. So much fun.

Saturday was our day at Balboa Park. We got up and I ate another 1/3 of the pumpkin pie for breakfast. Because why wouldn’t I. After I ate that 1/3, I took the remaining pie, dumped it in the garbage and smashed it so I wouldn’t even be tempted. I tell you… Someone had to stop me. ;)

All of the other girls had gotten tickets to the play “The Women” which is a movie out right now. I have been a cheap skate lately and have been a lot more judicious in my spending, so I opted out of the play. Even though I was totally aware that I was the only one. I brought my book and planned on sitting out somewhere in the park to read, or call people… Well, we walk around for a couple of hours and grab a bite to eat and then it’s time for them to go to the play. I go to use the facilities and end up getting 2 calls. It was Nikki and when I had a chance to call her back a couple of minutes later, she tells me that as they were walking into the play, these cute little ladies came up to them and asked them if they needed an extra ticket. ? Um, yeah. They said they did (because they have a cheapskate friend who didn’t want to buy one) and they called me. How lucky.

After the play, we went back to the condos, changed and went back to Old Towne for some Café Coyote. I love Mexican food. It’s my favorite thing. I had a chicken tostada and a couple of tortillas. When they brought out the salsa and chips, we were all dying because it was pretty hot salsa. I typically like hot, but this had serious kick. When the server came back, I asked her if we could get some of their mild salsa. She kind of laughed and told us that it WAS their mild salsa. Too funny. Apparently I don’t like hot like I thought I did. She brought us out some salsa fresco. Hilarious. Well, we had some time with the shops and I ended up with another fabulous bag (this one bigger than the giraffe bag). This one Zebra print with red accents.

Crazy Saturday night parking story... We were trying to park the mini van on Saturday night in the middle of Old Towne. We were driving around and around the parking lot and we see some people in their car who look like they may be leaving. I get out and go over to the car to ask them if they were planning on leaving and the lady in the passenger side (who’s door was open) looks back at me and before I can even finish my question says: “We are NOT leaving.” And she had serious attitude. So I start walking away and say (absolutely loud enough for her to hear) “It was just a question.” And she says back to me all snippy, “Good BYE.” Hello. My, wasn’t she pleasant. I get back in the car and we drive around the parking lot again. When we got back to that row, we saw these people pulling out (people, this is not even 2 minutes later). Really? Seriously. Why can’t people not be a struggle.

So we move to a different parking lot and we see some people getting into their car. Nikki pulls up to take their spot, but they were in a corner space and it looked like there was another car that was going to pull around and snag our spot, so I jumped out and ran over to stand in the middle of the street in case anyone had plans to sneak in ahead of us. But you’ll all be glad to know that we got the spot and happily went on with our night…

Sunday was our last day and the girls wanted to go to Café 222 for brunch. After packing up, we got there just in time for the 25 minute wait. I ordered Pumpkin Waffles. SO good. I had a hard time deciding between those and the peanut butter banana stuffed French toast. I almost ordered them both, but I managed to hold back. After walking around a bit by the marina, we went back to the airport to fly home. This is where I ate the last ½ pound of fudge I had packed and brought with me. On our way there, security had searched my bag and found the fudge. And then in San Diego, they did the same thing and searched my bag. Only to find a little ziplock with fudge in it. It was hilarious because who packs fudge?

Anyway, it was such a fun trip, a much needed break from work, and loved getting to know the girls better. Had a great time!!