Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend.
We are officially in operation pack-the-house-for-an-upcoming-move mode, so our weekend wasn’t filled with anything you’d want to read about. Yup. The secret’s out … we’re moving! Destination? Wouldn’t we all like to know. I’ll be sharing where as soon as it’s a definite answer, but it’s happening pretty quickly.
Until then, I thought it would be fun to dive back into covering our recent visit to California.
Catching up?
San Diego: Downtown & La Jolla
San Diego Weekend Snapshots
Our (last) Saturday morning started with a stroll downstairs to Little Italy’s Farmer’s Market. Scott and I were on the lookout for a hot cup of coffee and breakfast and BOOM there it was! Literally.
We looked out the front door of our friends’ apartment lobby, and it was right in front of us. Nice, right? Little Italy is so beautiful.
We used to frequent Farmer’s Markets often while living in Orlando. They always have the best produce and freshest flowers. Any morning starting with views like these is a great one.
Most of the produce stands had an impressive collection of exotic fruits I’d never seen before. Have you ever tried a cherimoya? It’s best described as a mix between a banana, pear, and pineapple with watermelon-like seeds.
After a breakfast of overnight oats (that stand was awesome) and our fair share of samples, we finished our journey down the local tents with a homemade guava juice and a cherimoya to split. It was all really good!
One thing I happily passed on, however, was the sea urchins. They were making seafood ceviche and serving them in those pointy little suckers. To each their own I suppose …
Something you shouldn’t pass up is a sample of the made-to-order crème brûlées …
The guy making and selling them is from Paris, France and also very nice. We sampled almost every flavor and bought three different brûlées. They were all extraordinary.
Our friend, Joel, met us downstairs with his bulldog, Rosie, and joined us for a while before we headed back in. The skies weren’t blue, but it still felt beautiful out. It’s a bummer that we didn’t pick a better week of weather to visit!
Before we flew out to the west coast, I made plans to meet up with one of my best blogging buddies, Gina. She ended up subbing a barre class we originally planned to take together, and it was so fun to see her on the mic and in action. She was tough, but encouraging!
Our friend Jess joined in on the sweat sesh, too. I met her last year at the IDEA World Fitness Convention and was excited to catch up with her. We both agreed that no matter how much you feel like you are in shape, there’s nothing that prepares you for that barre burn when you’ve escaped it for a bit. #ohmyquad
Jess had to get back home, but Gina and I spent the afternoon chatting away on the way to brunch with the guys. Her husband, Tom, met us with their two precious daughters and put our names in for a ridiculous, 2-hour wait at Snooze in Hillcrest.
Hillcrest is a cute part of San Diego. We didn’t stay long, but I can tell you there is a strip of hipster shops and restaurants that takes an incredible amount of patience to park. We took our wait time at Snooze like champs and congregated outside of a healthy and delicious looking cafe next door called Lemonade.
You order by portions, and we purchased a few items to split along with a chocolate hazelnut macaron.
Liv loved the macaron. I can’t blame her.
By the time Scott arrived (and parked), we finally got our table at Snooze. It’s a great retro-designed environment, and I couldn’t get enough of the 90s hip-hop playlist going on. Oh … and the food?
Dreamy. Our friend, Joel, met us after work and split that beast of a cinnamon roll pancake you see on the left. (What?) I ordered a veggie loaded omelet with potato hash and toast which was perfect. And, of course, mimosas.
Eventually, the restaurant closed and we had to say our goodbyes. Scott, Joel, and I bounced around different areas of San Diego (he’s a great tour guide!), and we finished our night watching a UFC fight at Society in Pacific Beach.
Unfortunately, I caught a nasty bug on our trip and felt it coming in full force the next day en route to Los Angeles! Scott was in charge of taking the majority of the photos, and I’ll be back to share more from our day in LA soon.
More snapshots from our time in San Diego include escaping the storms (unfortunately, no bikini-wearing took place whatsoever) …
Getting my acai bowl fix …
Spending time with our friend, Kylee, when I wasn’t coughing up a lung inside of their apartment …
Sushi and tapas at The Joint in Ocean Beach with Kylee, Joel, Gina, and Tom …
And visiting the San Diego Zoo!
I’ll be back to share more on that this week. All in all, we had a fabulous time. Even though it rained and stormed while we were in San Diego (<- when does that ever happen in SoCal? You might recall the answer is any time I visit California.), we made the best of our sunny days.
I’m linking these highlights up with Katie and Erin, and I plan to pop back in later today with my latest workout playlist. See ya then!
Questions of the Morning
• Does it ever rain every time you visit a specific area?
• What is your favorite sushi roll?
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy the fresh sushi on this trip. My stomach was all out of whack from being sick, so I ended up surviving on salads, toast, and sweet potato fries. Normally, I like anything with shrimp and a kick of spice. The Mexican roll might be my fave!

I can’t wait to see where you move to! Hopefully somewhere warmer?? Good luck packing everything up! San Diego is a place that’s on my to go list. I would love to get out there. My husband has been out there working on air craft carriers, but I haven’t made it with him yet. Hoping he has a work trip in the next year or so and the little girl and I can go! PS Hope you’re feeling all better!
Heather @Fitncookies recently posted…Chipotle, The Park, and family time
We shall see! Thanks so much. Packing sure can be stressful. San Diego is very dreamy. You should definitely try and tag along next time the hubby goes out there!
Eee yay for moving! Hopefully you’re going somewhere warm ;-). San Diego’s such an amazing place. I wish I had a reason to go out there every year!
Kelly @ Kelly Runs For Food recently posted…A much-needed long weekend
You just never know. 😉 Right? I’m already ready to return. It’s so dreamy!
Excited for you and your move. Hopefully it’s somewhere warmer! I have definitely had some rough weather on vacations. Unfortunately…it’s always so unpredictable. Austin can be amazing, but sometimes we get rain, etc. I feel a lot of pressure when people come to visit!
Thanks! I know … growing up in Florida, it rained almost every single day. But, it usually only lasted a short while. I’ve heard Austin is gorgeous!
Sorry it rained during your time there!! I’m from San Diego and went to visit in September and it rained the first 2 days I was there. I couldn’t be mad because they’ve had a severe drought for yrs- they really need the rain!!;) San Diego is an awesome place to visit but just so** expensive to live there.
That’s what I kept hearing, “we need you to come visit more often because we are in a drought!” Glad I could bring the showers with me, folks. 😉
My publix has cherimoyas sometimes! We tried one once and it was good, but not something I’d bother with often haha. Looks like you guys had a great trip!
PUBLIX SUBS! <3 That is all. 😉
All this food looks so amazing, I can’t wait to visit my good friend in SD again just to try it all! I can’t imagine that 2 hour wait though…
Well, we did go to brunch on a Saturday in the early afternoon. I bet the wait wouldn’t be half as bad on a weekday or earlier in the morning!
It has rained almost every single time I’ve visited the north shore of Kauai. Only once did it not rain. I went to college in San Diego and I don’t remember it raining a lot. But this is an El Nino year so there’s more rain than usual. We need it though! Are you moving to California??
Stephanie @ Wholesome Paradise recently posted…Jerky and ‘Bucha and Broth, Oh My!
Oh man, that’s a bummer! Actually, no. But … maybe someday. It feels like paradise out there!
Congratulations on the move! That sounds exciting. Love San Diego. My brother in-laws live there. We are hoping to make a visit out there soon.
Beautifully Candid
Uhm made to order creme brulees? YES! I’m dying to visit there – everything looks tasty!
Morgan @ Morgan Manages Mommyhood recently posted…Mom’s Emergency Car Bag
I’m still dreaming about them!!
Best of luck packing! I’m in hard core packing mode over here as well – and I know it’s exciting and exhausting!
alexandra @ my urban family recently posted…Friday Favorites Week 29
That it is. There’s still much more do to! Eek!
I love the farmer’s markets in CA. They have the best produce and the best breakfast options!! Glad you guys had a good time!
Erin @ Erin’s Inside Job recently posted…St. Patrick’s Day Weekend in Chicago
This trip looks like so much fun! I’d love to travel to San Diego someday. My favorite sushi roll is a coconut shrimp roll! Ahh I love sushi so much.
Amanda @ Exploring Life & Things recently posted…5 favorite road trip snacks + travel dreams
Looks like you had an amazing trip! We went to the same farmers market and I was amazed with the sea urchins too! So strange. We’ve also visited Snooze several times. So good and worth the wait! Hope that’s the new landing point for you 🙂
That it was. I’m still waiting for the perfect vacay to CA where it’s not raining and I’m not sick. 😉 Sadly, that is not where we will be going to next. It’s dreamy, but not practical for what we need. UGH. So great though!