San Diego Getaway Recap

The heat here has been unbearable. Combined with high humidity. I know, we live in the desert. But come on, it's late August!

I had last Friday and Saturday off, and really wanted to get out of the heat. We first talked about going to Tucson and driving up to Mt. Lemon for a picnic, then spending the night at the base of the mountain at a hotel and getting some pool time in. Then, we heard that the forecast was for rain both Friday and Saturday. That ended the picnic and pool idea!

Alec suggested San Diego. Well, that's all I needed. My heart had already packed its suitcase and was waiting by the front door! So we booked a room in Carlsbad (biggest, cheapest room I could find on 3 days notice.

We picked the girls up from school an hour early, and headed out of town. Alec decided he would be bored and opted not to go at the last minute. And we decided to take the new car to see how she handled the long drive. She did great, and I especially loved taking photos from inside the car, via the sunroof!

We didn't get to the hotel until 8pm, then headed out for some dinner. We went with a Mexican restaurant, and was a bit disappointed. Well, that happens sometimes. At least we did not eat at a chain! Then we went for a drive along the coast, hoping for a night time walk on the beach, but it was around 11pm at this point and super dark. And we're not familiar with the area, so we decided to play it safe and head back to the hotel instead.

Saturday was jam packed! Mark and I went to hang out by the pool for a bit, while the girls lounged in the room and took their time getting ready. For some reason, they haven't wanted to go to the pool with us the last few vacations. Katie's hair being one reason.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. Everyone got $20 to spend. Mark picked out a new football jersey for $20, Emma chose 2 new cases for her i-touch for $21, Alec was lucky to get a pair of Fossil sunglasses for $20 (after many photo messages with Mark modeling), Katie kept her money to use another time, and I scored with a Fossil watch that I have been wanting for over a year. It retailed at $135, but was $29.99 at the outlet store. Then, I got to take another 25% off. So, it ended up costing me $22.50. Sweet!

Next we took a leisurely drive down the PCH to head Blick's Art Supply in Little Italy and then lunch at Anthony's Fishette at the Embarcadero. We sat at a table by the water and watched all the boats in the Bay. Pure Paradise!

Finally, at 5 pm, it was time to hit the beach. Ended up at Mission Beach. It was crazy busy, like I have never seen it before! May have had something to do with the heat (I've never been to San Diego when it was so hot and humid, even at the beach). Yeah, I know. Just what we were trying to avoid. The girls went in the water about waist deep and jumped in the waves, while Mark and I just went in to our knees. The water was warm after the first few seconds and I seriously regret not changing into my swimsuit and heading in further. I missed my opportunity to swim in the ocean. I'm afraid October will be too cold!

Then it was time to head home. A little later than we planned. It was about 8pm, and we stopped for coffee, and had a change of heart. Mark agreed to get another hotel room and leave in the morning instead. But, we were not so lucky! No hotels left in the city! It was crazy! We stopped at 3 only to be told they were sold out, then I pulled out the I-pad to try hotels.com, but there were 4 hotels in the area with a room available. Yes, I said 4. And they were charging crazy prices. The Best Western in Chula Vista wanted $750. Seriously. Best Western. Chula Vista. The room should have been under $100.

Back on the road, and onward to Yuma. We did stay at the Radisson in Yuma. It was midnight and we were ready to crash. And I'm starting to have trouble seeing at night. A bit more strained. Gosh, I hate getting older! But then we only had to drive 2 1/2 hours in the morning. Mark had to leave for his football draft 10 minutes after we got home, and I left for work 30 minutes later. Too crazy!

Lessons learned:
1.  do not attempt to go to San Diego for 1 night. 2 nights need to be the minimum.
2.  do not assume the beach will be cool (temperature wise).
3.  do not assume the beach will have less that a million people fighting for space in the sand.
4.  sometimes your luck runs out (perfect parking spaces all day long, but no hotel room to be found).
5.  you can add eyelashes to your car's headlights. Yep. Saw it on the PCH.
6.  shopping for bargains can be fun.
7.  sometimes you just don't feel like taking so many photos. it's OK. really.

8.  i still love San Diego and would move there in a heartbeat if Mark would join me.
9.  we need to save up some money and splurge on a new mattress. loved the ones at both hotels.
10. sometimes finding an entire display of markers can make you stop breathing. like the Pitt pens.
11. one tank of gas in Lexi is all it takes to get home from San Diego.

12. traveling with 2 kids is WAY different than traveling with 4 kids!

Carlsbad mini-book

I finally got prints of all my photos and had some time to play.

I started with a basic color theme. And rather than use patterned paper I chose to stencil designs using the 3 paint colors. The goal was to keep it simple, but different from my other projects

However, I did use paper for the covers. I used gel medium to adhere the paper to the book covers and added some rub-ons and a few stamps.

The inside of both the back and front covers are the same polka dot paper.

I attached the photos using tape. Some pages have 1 photo, some 2 photos, and a few even have 3 photos.

They are attached so that 1 side can flip up to reveal journaling on the back of the photos.

The only embellishments used were rub-ons and some inking around the edges.

I wanted to keep the focus on the photos.

I can't believe that I took so many photos in just over 2 days. I originally thought this would be a smaller book. I had to make several design changes due to various factors (such as dropping the Instax idea due to terrible quality of the photos).

The book has about 25 pages, but about 50 photos.

Hope you enjoyed! If you have a fun summer getaway planned, let me know how you are planning to document the trip!

Carlsbad Part 2

Hello everyone. I had trouble with part 1 of this post, and had to quit and walk away. I kept having paragraphs disappear. Paragraphs! Even if I saved every few minutes. Oh well. Let's continue:

After candy shopping, we needed to stop and eat dinner. We picked the place with the long line. Hodad's. They served these awesome burgers and fries and rings and beer in a chilled glass jar and shakes with a chunk of ice cream on top. It was yummy and fun and loud (music) and eclectic and we will definitely be going back (yes, Trevor, we will take you there).

We really enjoyed Ocean Beach. It had a relaxed vibe. Definitely a dog town. They were everywhere. Just chillin.

And the old VW vans were everywhere. Kinda had a crush on them. Especially if they had a surfboard tied to the top!

Time to head to Carlsbad. Checked into the 2nd hotel. Went to the Queen Bee Market. Really cute stuff there, but smaller than I expected. Still managed to spend too much money! Girls had fun shopping. Mark was a good sport around all that girlie stuff!

Back to hotel and bed.

Saturday

Girls slept in late. Mark and I had breakfast at the buffet (not the best). I edited photos and Mark watched YouTube videos and laughed a lot. Hung out by pool and read (Mark napped). Girls watched cartoons in room. They missed some gorgeous weather!

Shopping at Carlsbad Outlets. Fossil store. Coach store. Dooney and Burke store. I did not buy anything. Katie and Emma did buy. I definitely have some teen girls on my hands!

Planned on eating at Anthony's, then heading out, but we ended up at Subway to save time. So sorry to miss the shrimp and fish basket! Next time!

Home 5 hours later. Took soooo much strength to head home. Wanted to stay. Forever. Showered and fell asleep. I'm always sad when a getaway is over. But I do have another one to look forward to (Palm Springs with hubby only for 20th anniversary).

And if anyone is interested in my mini-book I was supposed to work on during the trip.....it didn't happen. The Instamax didn't work right. Think maybe the film was too old (even though it didn't expire until Oct. 2012. All the photos turned out white, with no detail. So, I'm hoping to pick up printer ink today and print tomorrow morning. Will share when complete!

Thanks for staying for the long 2-day post. Hope you get a chance to walk barefoot along an ocean this summer!

Carlsbad Part 1

Happy Monday Everyone!

This post is going to be a long one. So get comfortable and grab that cup of coffee and let's begin.

Thursday

We headed to Carlsbad for a business trip. To check out the Queen Bee Market. What was supposed to be a one night trip turned into two. Alec did not want to make the long drive for such a short trip, so he stayed at home with a friend. We really enjoy our time in San Diego, no matter what we end up doing! Our hearts feel at home there!

We left Thursday around 3 pm. Had a nice Chevy Impala rental to drive. Took us about 5 hours to get there, with 2 short stops. I was hoping to see the sunset from Mission Beach, but we were about 45 min too late.



almost through the mountains and into San Diego

realizing we were not going to make it to the beach for sunset

We checked into the hotel and headed out to dinner at a family favorite, Sammy's Pizza. I adore the 4 cheese pizza.

 We went to one of their locations years ago for the first time. Emma was just a toddler back then. We had spent the day at the beach and were chilly and covered in sand, and needed to eat fast. We pulled in thinking, "pizza, sounds good and not too much money". We were so suprised when the meal was over and we spend $100. We had not paid attention to the prices and they serve individual pizzas, plus appetizers, plus a couple of glasses of wine, plus these giant ice cream sundaes.

 Well, we try to stop at the Mission Valley location when we can. It's too yummy to pass up!



mark and emma at Sammy's

There was also talks about a night walk on the beach, but in the end we were too tired. And it was a bit windy and chilly that night. We just relaxed at the hotel and went to bed at a decent time.

Friday

Slept in. Starbucks and a blog post. Off to Ocean Beach. We have never spent much time at OB. We tend to go to Mission Beach or Imperial Beach by the Hotel Del on Coronado Island. So we tried something new. And really had a great day. The beach was a bit overcast, so no swimming. But we took a nice long walk (my knee seemed much happier in Cali) and collected seashells.

seashells and seaweed

emma "proposing" to her dad

emma and I

showing off the new pedicures

me and Mark

Next we headed out for some shopping. I bought my first pair of Tom's (red canvas). Katie and Emma bought shoes also. We took photos of all the flowers,

katie with the sun in her eyes

petals curled in on some of these flowers

We stopped at a candy shop and bought:

Katie: jawbreaker

Emma: ?

Mark: almond bark

Me: champagne truffle and milk chocolate with caramel and crushed red pepper (yummy)

Family share: chocolate covered bacon (had to try once, but never again) and chocolate covered Twinkie (pretty much what you would expect)

Due to technical errors, see part 2 for the rest of the trip.

 

Hello Cali

Heading off for a short trip to Southern Cali tomorrow afternoon. We will be going to Carlsbad (just North of San Diego). The sole reason for this trip is for business research. Basically, I want to check out the Queen Bee Market. It sounds like a great place to shop and maybe I can apply to sell there at the next market. And honestly, I can't pass up a chance to hit So Cal.

So the grand plans are to arrive Thursday evening and take a night time walk on the beach. Sleep. Return to beach on Friday. Eat at Anthony's Fishette. Maybe go to Little Italy to do some shopping at Blick's art supply. Back to hotel for shower. Then off to the Queen Bee Market. Sleep. Hang out by pool. Head home.

Since I am drowing in unfinished projects at home, but I can't take a trip without creating some sort of mini-book, I'm trying to come up with a simple plan. Only take photos with phone and Fuji Instax camera. Bring along Smash Book. Nothing too complicated. I plan to share the finished product next week (although, I have done a terrible job with the follow through on Seattle and Week in the Life!)

Sandy beaches, here we come!