Flower of Sunshine.

Many people don't know that my all time favorite flower is a Gardenia. I have a weakness for parrot tulips, stargazer lilies, and peonies, but nothing compares to my obsession with Gardenias. The first time I came to San Diego, I found this amazing lotion by *kai, that is Gardenia scented. It was kind of expensive, but I had to have it. The silly thing is that I only put it on for special occasions, when I've had a bad day, or when it just feels right, because I secretly try to conserve it.

As we were doing some home improvement projects around the apartment, I drove over to Lowe's and perused their Garden section. To my surprise, I found a Gardenia bush/tree (I can't tell which it is) I was so excited. I initially thought, "I don't care what it costs, I want it" and saw it was $25. Cheap, right? But then I thought, "that is kind of pricey", so I walked away. I kept on shopping and then I thought, "Did I seriously just think $25 was expensive? I've spent more money on sillier things, plus it makes me smile. " (Not to mention that they cost $20 a bloom at your local florist). So, I went back and bought it. I couldn't wait to get it home.

but...

I tried everything to get it to bloom. I re-planted it in a new pot, with new soil, bought it some fertilizer, watered it everyday, and put it in the perfect location. I'd had it for over 5 months, and nothing. I was so upset. I would check it literally, everyday. I kept telling Joseph, "I bet it will have a bloom tomorrow..." almost everyday. Haha. It would have a bud but then it would suddenly fall off. I was so upset that I even considered taking it back.

After feeling down about the Jeep all of Tuesday night, I had to get up the next morning and go to work. I was not in the mood to work at all. But, what can you do right? So I got ready, opened the door, proceeded to lock the front door, and smelled the sweet scent of Gardenia. I looked over, and my bush-tree had one bloom. It was precious. I thought "Everything is going to be okay."

Silver Lining?

We all have to admit that all of our relationships have good days... and... bad days. Well, San Diego & I are having a very bad couple of days. I always appreciate everything that I have and that I have been blessed with, but lately it has been hard to appreciate anything.

When we first arrived to San Diego, as we tried finding a place to live, our Suburban was hit by something. I always thought it had to have been a bus or garbage truck because it dented the entire side of the Suburban and blew the tire. Not to mention that ALL of our belongings were sitting inside of it. Solution: Find a place to live ASAP and file an insurance claim.

After living in San Diego for about four or five months, our Jeep Wrangler was broken into, right around the corner from where we live! I noticed it when I tried to turn it on and drive to work. Someone had completely removed the bottom part of the steering wheel, but I assume was unsuccessful. Thank goodness we had nothing really in it, and that they weren't successful taking it. Solution: File a Police Report & file an insurance claim.

Now, turn the clock back to Tuesday morning. I had the day off and wanted to go out to lunch with my friend. I remember parking the Jeep right in front of our complex gate on Sunday afternoon. I also remember seeing it Monday afternoon. I thought "Maybe Joseph took it and parked it somewhere else." I texted him, no response. So I went to see him at work and asked him about it. He joked "Maybe someone stole it", I responded, "That's exactly what I am thinking!" Uh-oh!

Lourdes and I drove around our entire neighborhood trying to find it. Nothing. **Cue panic mode** After Joseph got off work, he looked. Nothing. Shit. Is this really happening?? Yes, the Jeep was stolen sometime in between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Solution: Call Joseph's parents, Call the Police, and once again, file an insurance claim.

What happens next? The police said most likely it is in Mexico. Perfect, maybe we should just drive down and look for it. Kidding. So, we have one car, that may need to be driven back to Iowa because this is our THIRD major insurance claim and it's Joseph's parents car, technically.

Now, I wonder. What is the silver lining in all of this? I truly believe in my heart & soul that everything happens for a reason. I am trying really, really hard to be positive and find out what that reason is. I have yet to see it, feel it, or think of it. What is the reason? Why all this misfortune?

Let me take a moment to appreciate the good times I had in the Jeep.

I appreciate...

the wind blowing through my hair in the summer

taking off the doors and hanging off the side

the Jeep wave

getting us from Des Moines to San Diego safely

getting me up the Wanek driveway

helping others get up the Wanek driveway

always being reliable

always promising a fun ride

never rolling over



Let me end with saying, that there is a small chance that we may get it back, according to the insurance company. But, we'll see. I do believe that somehow this will not stop us from moving forward.

San Diego Pride.

The San Diego Pride Parade was scheduled to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. A lot of people said they were going to start heading up to Hillcrest around 7 a.m. because finding a parking spot would be crazy. Luckily, we live a block away from where it was set to run through, so we walked over to Joseph's friend, Michelle's apartment complex. Her complex is elevated so we didn't have to sit on the sidewalk and could look from above.

*As we waited for the parade to start, and for Erica to arrive, we saw some pretty interesting charachers.

After being at the parade for only 5 minutes, we saw this crazy walking around. Yes, he was really wearing that crazy outfit with high-heels parading around for attention. It was hilarious, but also really gross. To each their own I guess. After this, I didn't know what to expect!

This was the first group representing their pride in the parade. They were hardcore HOGS. I had to plug my ears from all of the noise the motorcycles made.

I loved these two floats for some reason! I thought the little red car was so cute! I don't even know what the car is representing but I wanted it.

Do you remember ever having a Lite Brite? I do and thought this float was super cute too, and was sending a positive message.

Joseph and Michelle had gone out the night before and were still drunk, I think, and continued to drink, hence the lack of clothing. Eventually Michelle passed out in her room, and Joseph ran home after the parade because he thought he was going to be sick.

I guess the following two floats are pretty typical of the parade, but also probably the two funnest because they had music, dancing, and interesting costumes.

That night we went to a gay night club called Bourbon Street in University Heights with Joseph's friend, Joyce. We haven't really been to a gay club here so we thought it was going to be quite the experience. But to tell you the truth, it wasn't that crazy. Here is a picture of how crowded it was.

I kind of thought that Pride overall was kind of a let down. I am sure it would have been just as fun or better in Des Moines. I'm just glad we didn't pay to get into the festival because or friends who went said it was a waste! We grilled out at our house with a group of friends instead.

Taste of Thai.

**I forgot to mention that after visiting the Chinese Friendship Garden, we had lunch at Taste of Thai in Hillcrest. They were having a $4.95 lunch special, and thought why not try it?!

I ordered Thai Fried Rice & an a Iced Thai tea. I had never had Thai Iced tea, and wanted to see what it was like. It was definitely an interesting color, but the flavor was awesome. I loved it!


Apparently so did Joseph, he didn't order his own, but he sure liked drinking mine...


So I forgot to get a good picture of the food because we were both starving, hence the weird picture after eating more than half :) It was a good price for what you got, I wouldn't call it a favorite but not bad.

Chinese Friendship Garden.

Last week, Joseph and I had a "love" day, where all we do is be together all day, since our schedules can get kind of crazy. We had both heard of of the Chinese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, so we thought it sounded cool and wanted to check it out. Joseph looked it up and got all the info so we drove over, paid of minimal admission, and started our self-guided tour.

Outside of the gardens, there was a beautiful blooming Magnolia tree. This big bloom had fallen on the ground, so we picked it up and put it in the car (unfortunately the flower fried in the heat and turned brown).

Everything was so serene. Joseph noticed this hanging chain from the top of the roof. We immediately thought of the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha. We love these, the rain water runs down them and look so cool. I shot it from below.


A sign was in front of this that said, Light of Friendship. I thought it was really sweet and made me appreciate all of my friends.

An experience like this isn't complete without a Koi Pond! We sat on the rocks and just watched them swim. It was so calming and peaceful. We didn't have to say anything to each other, we just enjoyed each other's company.

I tried to get a good shot of this because it looked to pretty in real life, but the vines don't look as cool here.

I tried for about 10 minutes to get just the right shot of the water drop in mid-air, but wasn't too successful. Oh well, I still really like it :)

They had a bunch of Bonsai trees. I really like Bonsai's but have never had the best of luck trying to grow one.

This is where our tour came to an end, a large Chinese gate that housed storage stuff. Overall it was kind of a let down, but still fun to check it out! I wouldn't pay the admission ever again, so I am happy they have one free day a month.

Dan + Becky = ♥.

I've felt so disconnected lately because of work, trying to have a social life, and everything else that comes along with both of those. BUT, I have some exciting news!

My best friend from high school, Becky, just got engaged! It happened Saturday afternoon, and she called me Sunday morning with the amazing news. I am SO excited for her. She told me how it all happened*, all about the ring, and their plans for the wedding. I can't wait. :)

*If you'd like to see how romantic it was, please click here.

The European Life.

As of the beginning of this week, I've been living a European lifestyle. I wake up, have a small breakfast, go to work for the morning, am off for most of the early afternoon (in which time I go grocery/local market shopping) and prepare lunch for myself and Joseph, and then I head back out to work for the night. I have become quite accustomed to my schedule, and love it (most days)!

Here's an example.

Yesterday, I worked in the morning. I got off work and went to Little Italy for some freshly sliced prosciutto, an avocado, and found an AMAZING Bellini mix that Joseph and I loved from Venice!

We haven't been able to find it anywhere, but I was so excited that I bought. After leaving Little Italy, I drove over to Bread & Cie to get a fresh baguette.

I came home, sliced the baguette, spread home-made pesto on it, placed the prosciutto on top, thinly sliced some Parmesan cheese and placed in on top of the prosciutto, and closed the sandwich. On the side, I arranged some green leaves, and topped them with freshly sliced avocado. Chilled the mix, and waited for Joseph to come home. We had a fabulous lunch, he was so surprised I had found the Bellini Mix.

________________________________

Today, I went to work until noon, came home and prepared myself lunch, since I was starving. I had about 1/3 of the baguette left, so I toasted it a bit to freshen it up and give it a slight crunch, spread the home-made pesto on both sides, sauteed (5) small mushrooms in olive oil, sprinkled with garlic salt, and thinly sliced some parmesan cheese. I thought I needed some lettuce so I topped it off with some greens. On the side, I had fresh blueberries, and thought, "why not have a glass of Cakebread Wine" as well (which Joseph's dad sent us!), I'm french today anyway :) Here's my quick, fabulous, French inspired lunch, enjoy:

My taste buds are happy, my stomach is full, now I am off to watch ellen, and then get ready for work! Hope everyone had a good afternoon too!

Sushi Del 3 - Clairemont Edition.

This week definitely was a busy one! Although I didn't work much this week, I feel like I did a lot. Thursday night, Joseph and I went out to the soft opening of the new Sushi Deli 3 in Clairemont. He works (and has recently been promoted to server & bartender) at Sushi Deli 1, the original, but there is also Sushi Deli 2 downtown. The great thing was that when we got there, they told us they all food & drink would be on the house all night! Who doesn't love taking advantage of FREE-ness!

Welcome to the new Sushi Deli 3. The decor is pretty awesome compared to the first two locations. Also different from the other two locations, this Sushi Deli has a full bar, as opposed to the beer & wine bar at the other two. Michelle, Joseph's friend & manager, was our server.

After drinking a Cadillac Margarita each, we ordered this *sparkling* sake (by the end of it, we ordered two bottles). It was awesome. For those of you who were there to celebrate my 22nd birthday, Geisha style, know that I am NOT a fan of sake, but this little pink bottle was so not your regular sake. It was had a slight sweetness and was bubbly :) Of course, the drink was complete until I added a...

Lychee! I love lychee. One of our friends introduced them to us, and I fell in love. They are kind of like a small pickled orange. Most of the people I have tried introducing them to texture and taste kind of strange, but I don't, more for me! I also had a Lychee Martini, yummy!

For an appetizer (I say appetizer because we had dinner plans with Erica & Chris, an hour after leaving Sushi Deli 3) we ordered three sushi rolls, nibbled on edamame, and finished with tempura veggies, chicken, and shrimp. It was a fun time, but the location was kind of strange, nestled between various warehouses. I hope they do well, and maybe Joseph will be running it soon ;)

Jake's On 6th.

Wednesday afternoon, after taking a walk through Balboa Park because it was a beautiful day, Joseph and I walked over to Jake's On 6th, an cool new wine bar just a few blocks from our apartment. It's locally owned and totally cool. I don't know exactly how many wines they offer, but it takes up about two walls. The atmosphere was cool, they had an outdoor patio, the staff was friendly and cute (which is always nice, right?!) and the food and wine were awesome.

The menu was made of a cork material, love it!

I ordered a Malbec and Joseph ordered a Moscato. Since we were a little bit hungry, we also ordered a panini with salami, melted brie, and arugula. It was so good. I loved everything about it. The salad that came with it was pretty awesome too. I give a two thumbs up and can't wait to return to our new little wine bar!

Prosecco, Art, & Socialites.

Have you ever heard about Dianne York-Goldman?

Until last weekend, I hadn't. In addition to owning the world renown Spa MD in La Jolla, and running her own line of cosmetics, DYG, she will be starring in her own reality show set to air next month, Addicted to Beauty.

Why do I know all of this about her you ask?

Well, I got a call from my friend Allison a couple of weeks ago to help her host a party at Dianne York-Goldman's La Jolla oceanfront home. Not knowing too much about her, and needing the extra cash, I agreed! My duties were to be as accommodating as possible to Dianne's guests and pour wine, Prosecco, and beer.

This was the beautiful view that I got to enjoy all afternoon. Watching the sunset was amazing. If I lived there, I would be in heaven. It was unbelievable. To have an oceanfront home in La Jolla, is a pretty big deal.

The doors behind those people are actually the entrance to her home. Could you imagine walking onto a red carpet every time you came home?! It did feel a little glamorous walking in ;) She was hosting the party to showcase Gene Locklear's, a retired Yankee's player, art.

The party took place inside her home, as well as her outdoor patio. Throughout the day about 200 people came, a lot of which were local celebrities, Padres baseball players, President's & CEO's of local companies, and of course, socialites.

All in all, it was a really cool experience. I had a lot of fun, made a little money, and met some great people. Katie, I guess you were a little right, my life is California is pretty glamorous! Just kidding ;-)