Summer Fun!

 

I know that summer is already over, but here are some highlights of the past couple of months. I went down to SoCal to visit my dear old friend from high school that is currently pregnant and awaiting the arrival of her first baby. It was lovely to see old friends and reminisce about high school/college years.  Z and I stopped by San Diego and revisited some of our old regular spots and of course--enjoyed one too many burritos. The Mexican food in San Diego is definitely superior to that found in San Francisco. I have searched for taquerias that are similar to the flavors of salsas and meats in San Diego, but my search has been fruitless. If any of you know of delicious places here in the Bay Area, let me know! 

At the beginning of August, my Grandpa celebrated his 88th birthday! All of my aunts and uncles (there are so many of them--total of 8 kids!), came to California and I was lucky to spend time with everyone. We went to Santa Barbara and Solvang (a cute tourist Danish village located on the central coast that my family used to live near and visit quite frequently when I was growing up).

August also was a month of change for me. I chopped off a couple of inches of my hair and joined the long bob club and got fitted for glasses so that I can drive at night. Overall, it was a busy summer and I'm ready for fall to begin even though right  now it decided to become summer in the Bay Area with our warm temperatures. I am sitting here writing this post wearing a dress (with no tights), a light cardigan, and sandals. What the heck! That almost never happens. Gotta get back to letting my pasty legs see some form of sun while it lasts. Toodles!

San Daygo

Even though Z and I visited San Diego for a couple days, we managed to squeeze in some time to check out a few of our favorite places to hang out. We had so many other places that we would have liked to have visited, but I guess that means we will definitely have to come back again.  We stayed in Del Mar which was much more over-cast than the rest of San Diego, but still beautiful. Before dinner one evening, we took Z's little cousins to the near-by dog beach. We could view the Del Mar fair and its brightly lit Ferris Wheel behind us as we watched the setting sun.

Little Cousins

Del Mar Fair

I almost forgot how much warmer the water is and how soft the sand is!

Z relaxing in the hotel room after the long drive down from the Bay Area.

Z and I decided to go on a burrito binge and went to Rigoberto's (our old burrito place near campus that was perfect for supplying fuel during finals) and ordered a California Burrito (carne asada and fries!).  I almost cried eating the burrito because it was just that good. California burrito, I love you. Never forget. Never.

For the next burrito stop we went to Cotixan, which was closer to our old apartment in University City. Here we ordered the al pastor burrito and cried over how delicious the salsa was.  After eating the Mexican food down in San Diego, I will never again eat Mexican food up here in the Bay Area. I don't want to tarnish my image/memories of the perfect burritos.

Self-timer experiment before heading to the UCSD graduation. I am wearing a TBA dress that makes me feel/look like a little doll.

Packing up to check out of the hotel.

Frutilandia in Normal Heights. Z and I got the fruit salad topped with cottage cheese, raisins, homemade granola, and fresh honey. We also got the strawberries and cream, which is my absolute favorite.

After eating at Frutilandia, we visited a couple of our favorite stores in Northpark/Hillcrest for some vintage clothing and record store shopping. San Diego, I never thought that I would miss you. San Francisco, I still love you.

Con-GRAD-uations

I feel like I've spent the past couple of weeks running from one graduation to another. Z has three younger sisters and two of them happened to graduate in the same weekend. Z's mom decided to split up their graduation parties and we held them one weekend after the other. The first graduation was held in San Diego where Sister #1 graduated from Z and I's alma mater: University of California, San Diego. Z and I haven't been back to San Diego for 2 years, so it was nice re-visiting all our past hang-outs. Z and I want to go back again and spend more time since we were only there for a couple of days.

The next graduation party was in Fremont  for Sister #2. Z and I helped with the set up, decoration, and food preparation. His sisters and I made Lemon cupcakes (with lemon curd inside topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and candied lemon zest) and Strawberry cupcakes with strawberries inside and a Crème fraîche strawberry frosting.

The cupcakes were a hit and we did not have many left over. There was so much good food at the party that I am pretty amazed at his family's catering-like skills. Here is what I wore to Sister #2's graduation party:

Outfit Details:
Plaid Songbird Dress // Madewell
Cream Knit Cardigan // Forever 21
Green Stripped Market Bag // Etsy
Sky High Peep Toe Sandals in Cognac // Swedish Hasbeens

Please excuse the expression on my face. I think Z was taking too long to take the photo I was about to make a snide remark when he snapped the photo.