June Stop: San Diego, California

It felt like coming home for a month. Our trip was amazing and could’ve only been better if we saw even more friends and had extra time there. San Diego is a hard place for us to leave. While we were going to SDSU and living in SD, we made it our home which makes it special to visit.

Connor actually lived in SD for three years after our graduation. I would try to visit him once a month on a weekend while I was living in Arizona during that time, so it took me a couple weeks this trip to feel like I wasn’t just there for a weekend.

We started the month off with a bang though, a family wedding!
Connor’s cousin got married so we got to be with his family and a bunch of his extended relatives too. The whole first week of June was a blast because of this. We got quality time with his immediate family and we got to celebrate with everyone else at all the fun wedding events.

We are so happy for the newlyweds and wish them the best, they are amazing! I love Connor’s family, so getting to be with them was perfect.
After the fun fiascos only weddings induce, we got to settle into our new SD routine.
I was super excited to get a job at a local yoga studio where I checked students in and set up classes! I didn’t get to teach since I was only there for a month, but I loved the Mind Body Love studio.

I wish I could’ve stayed there longer! I highly recommend it for people looking for all levels of classes and energy healing. Outside of the studio, my personal yoga and running continued as usual with only a couple bumps here and there. Speaking of, I did a run club…I’m happy for the voluntary runners but I was not equipped for that. It’s good to try new things though!

As I mentioned, we tried to pack in as much as we could. We went to some of our favorite places like Sunset Cliffs, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, and Balboa Park. We saw some of our best friends. And we went to some of our favorite food spots, but we also tried new experiences and explored new places. SD is a large city with small neighborhoods, so it is really fun to visit all of the different ones.

The next weekend after the wedding was all about fun in the sun. My best friend and I went to the zoo together all day Saturday, and we had a blast! It’s crazy how big the SD zoo is!
We walked six miles all around the exhibits and tried to see as many animals as we could. My best friend is a professional though, borderline zoo tour guide.

She knew exactly which routes we should take and how to optimize our visit. She is a pass holder and comes as often as she can. If I was living back there, I would get one too so we could go all the time together.
I love the zoo though! We had the best day! Then, we even grabbed a movie together once we had cleaned up. We saw Materialists in theaters, and I have mixed feelings, but don’t get me going on a rant.
I’m so happy I got to see her at least a few times this trip. Quality time is huge for us, so it meant a lot getting to be together almost once a week when normally long distance had kept us separated.

She even had a birthday party Connor and I got to go to on our first day in SD. We got to hang out with a bunch of fun people and play games. So, getting to have that time together was amazing. I love her!

That following Sunday, after the zoo day, was a beach and breakfast day for Connor and I. We went to one of our favorite spots called Shorehouse Kitchen which is right next to La Jolla Shores.

I almost always get the chilaquiles there, and they have fun coffees and cocktails. We enjoyed our breakfast before walking to the beach to relax for the rest of the day. We wanted one fully calm day, and what better place to have one than on the beach. The day was beautiful for it too. We played in the water, tanned, and people watched.

We pretty much spent the whole day there before coming back home to make dinner. Thankfully, neither of us were burnt. We did also get to see the live action movie of How To Train Your Dragon in theaters which was incredible. I loved the original, and this live action totally did it justice. It made me so happy to see the new movie stick so closely to the original story. They did an amazing job, and I really loved it.

During the week after work, two of Connor’s best friends from college met up with us for dinner and drinks at Kairoa Brewing Company. We sat in their rooftop seating which I really enjoyed. Their food was yummy too. We got to meet one of the guy’s girlfriends who was awesome, and the night was so fun all around. We loved catching up with them!

Another fun moment during the month for me was getting to have dinner with another one of my best friend’s parents. Chatting over Thai food is probably on my list of top favorite activities, and us three had so much fun. If only we lived closer and could see each other more often. I miss them already.

I also met up with my close friend from college for lunch in La Mesa, and we had a blast too. We got to catch up on each others’ lives at Farmer’s Table which had great food. It was so fun getting to spend time with her!

We caught up with Connor’s cousins at Gravity Heights which is a brewery we love going to, and it’s always fun getting to hang out with his cousins. They were the ones that got married at the beginning of the month, but I feel like people don’t get enough time with the bride and groom on the wedding day, so I’m really glad we got to do dinner with them again.

A bunch of my old coworkers, who I love, were in town for a work event, so I got to meet up with them too! What perfect timing. I miss them so much, so getting to see them was a highlight for me. They are mostly spread out across the U.S., so it’s rare for them to all be in the same spot. I didn’t want to miss out on seeing them while we were all in the same city, so we made it work and got to see each other for a night. I hope I get the opportunity again one day.

While we were in SD, I really wanted to visit Kate Sessions during our trip because we used to love going up there for sunsets and enjoying the beautiful view looking out over the bay and being surrounded by dogs, friends, sports, and all kinds of park activities. Time was flying by that month though, and we ran out of possible picnic days.

Thankfully, an amazing friend of mine was happy to get coffee together one morning and wait out the fog with me at the park. We were there early, but it was still so pretty. Getting to hang out with her was the best part though, we could’ve been catching up anywhere and I would’ve had such a great time. I love her and miss her. Kate Sessions was just the cherry on top.

Of course Connor and I had to go to a farmers market while we were in SD. Unfortunately though, we couldn’t make it to the big La Jolla Saturday market, but we went to a cute one nearby our place in North Park. They have one behind the Observatory on Thursday nights that has coffee and plants, so you can’t go wrong.

Another place to go to on my list was Balboa Park. Luckily, I got to visit it a couple times a week which was unexpected and fun. I didn’t realize how close our place was to it originally, but my first couple runs in the area took me to the park! I was so surprised! I got to enjoy runs through Balboa all throughout the month, and Connor came with me for a date day too. We walked through the rose gardens, visited the unique buildings, and went around the whole park. It’s so cute and interesting there, we love it. We also went to the rose garden at the perfect time because the buds were in full bloom. It was mesmerizing to watch the huge, bright blossoms flow in the wind.

Overall, my SD to-do list ended up being pretty long.
June 19th marked Connor’s and my eight year anniversary which made us both excited. It felt extra special to be in the city we met in to celebrate this milestone.
The morning was full of coffee surprises and flower bouquets before we each had our full work days. Then, we got to dress up and go to our old anniversary spot where we used to get our anniversary dinners which was really fun.

And we also tried a new bar nearby. I would recommend checking out Tahoma. It is a mezcal bar right next to the old cemetery, and their cocktails were fantastic.
The atmosphere was really cool because of being next to the graves, I highly recommend checking it out.

Also, what is a SD trip without a house music festival? We went to a day of Into the Horizon! Festivals are a blast, but what made it the best was being with my best friends. We had planned months ahead of time to have a couples’ weekend where us three best girlfriends got together with our significant others, and it was such a fun weekend. We had a delicious dinner in Little Italy to kick it off on Friday night, and Saturday was the festival.

Into the Horizon was a great time! Insomniac did a really great job with the layout, vendors, and activities. They could definitely improve on sound quality and technology issues next time, but overall, so fun!

We got to see a couple artists we love, and some iconic ones including Alesso and the Chainsmokers. Their sets made us feel like we were all back in college together playing our old party music. We danced and sang all night. I’m so happy we have these new memories together now. It felt nostalgic in the best way.

We recovered the next morning by going to Superbloom Coffee&Juice on Mission Bay. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for enjoying a bevy and a stroll. Once the couples parted ways, Connor and I rested for a bit at home before driving to Sunset Cliffs.
Sunset Cliffs is my favorite SD place alongside SDSU for the memories and Torrey Pines for the experience.
The crash of the waves and fizzling of the white foam entrances me immediately. I used to go and sit by myself sometimes just to listen to and watch the waves.

The sandy cliffs and stubbly plants are the perfect place to enjoy the sunset over the watery horizon. I almost always watch for the green flash, but I’ve never seen it.
Regardless, the sunset skies are heart warming. We stayed until it got dark and then picked up OB Noodle House to eat at home. It was a perfect end to the weekend.

We had a really busy last week in SD, and didn’t get a chance to pack until the last minute. We didn’t pack until Saturday night and we were supposed to leave Sunday morning, so that was rough. But there were people to see and things to do!

One of the things we really wanted to do was visit SDSU. It’s our Alma mater, so of course we had to see it. And wow, it’s even nicer than when we were there.
I’ve always loved SDSU’s campus, but the upgrades they have done since we graduated are amazing!

I was jealous of all the current students.
I wished we could time travel for a quick second to go back to when we were living on or around campus with all our friends in college again.

It was so fun walking through campus and remembering a bunch of fun times. SDSU is beautiful, and I can’t wait to visit again in the future. I miss it in a happy way.

On the Saturday before we left I completed a pretty big personal accomplishment. I finished my first half marathon! I ran it by myself up and down Torrey Pines’ trails. I had wanted to hike around Torrey Pines already and I needed to do the run for training purposes, but I didn’t have time for both. So, I combined them! It was really hard, but I’m so glad I did it. As I already mentioned, Torrey Pines is one of my favorite places in SD.

I love it because of the pine trees, the sandy trails, the cliffs, the beach, and the ocean of course. That combination is always amazing whether it is the PNW coastline or sunny SD. It was a beautiful day and the park was full of people, but I didn’t really mind. It was full of fun energy with everyone enjoying their Saturday. Going up and down the mountain was so hard for my first half marathon, but I had to make my plans work. I didn’t run on the beach though, that’s a whole extra level of fitness I am not equipped for right now.

Torrey Pines is a magical place with the green pines and turquoise ocean. I love being there. It refreshes me. I even loved it when I was limping to finish the 13.1 miles.

After I finished though, I got to jump in the ocean. How awesome is that? Completing my first half marathon and then washing all the grit off in the crisp salty water was incredible.
I wanted to stay in the ocean for hours but I had a dinner to get to. I hopped in my car with my soaking leggings and said bye to the park.
Dinner was with a great friend of ours, and it was so fun getting to see him. It had been a few years since I had seen him last, so I’m glad all the plans worked out. We got sushi in La Jolla at Harumama.
My food was delicious, but the atmosphere was a little loud and I wanted to be able to hear him easier. It was still so great though.

Like I said, we didn’t start packing until after our dinner with him, so we had a lot to do. We ended up packing all of our stuff and agreeing to pack the cars in the morning. We would’ve struggled doing the 12 hour drive to NorCal on no sleep.

The drive was pretty easy though! We actually finished much quicker than we were expecting, about two hours faster. Princess was completely unmedicated this time and it was one of her best drives yet. I’m not sure if she is just more used to it now or the medicine was making her more anxious, but she calmed down after about an hour and only got up a few times on the drive. She continued to throw up as normal from being car sick, but her anxiety seemed much lower.

Honestly, it felt like SD couldn’t have been more different than Utah. Utah we were alone, out in a small mining town in the desert and we loved the otherworldly landscape. San Diego was full of friends, family, and memories with sunny shores and tropical parks. It was perfect having them back to back because we got the best of both worlds. Now, we are in NorCal for the month of July! We are back in my home town, in an agriculture valley full of my family and magical places. I can’t wait to share it with you all next month!

June Stop: San Diego, California

May Stop: Kenilworth, UT