San Diego

I went to San Diego for a work trip, but I added on a few days to explore. I've never actually been to the Californian coast, (I know, I'm just as surprised as you are) so I couldn't miss this opportunity to explore a little. I want to tell you how pretty it was, but I feel like everyone already knew that. I just kept thinking, wow, no wonder everyone likes it here. I have cousins in San Diego too, so it was super fun to get to see them on their home turf.

It was much colder than I was expecting and I didn't pack quite right. Once I got to Sara's she loaned me all the warm things, so I made it out ok. :) Also, Sara and I talk about going on runs together all the time and our schedules never really work out. So finally we got to go for a nice long run in Sunny S.D. It was a highlight for me!

One last thing, I didn't get any pictures at Bird Rock Coffee, but that was maybe my favorite favorite one. I highly recommend it.

This is in Mission Bay- I stayed in an Air BnB the first night. I walk in and she just hands me a parrot. He's dancing for me here. Welcome to CA! 

First I went to "Cafe Gratitude"... my friend Kortni told me it was a must. Its a vegan place in little Italy. No offense to all the vegans out there, but generally I don't seek out vegan restaurants. I knew Kortni would never steer me wrong though, so I took a gamble. It was SO good and had the cutest decor. The food was actually AMAZING and I am craving those tacos as I'm writing this. I also got a juice shot with ginger, cayenne, & turmeric. 

My next stop was a TINY coffee shop and the first of about 200 cortados. This trip was actually just a cortado crawl around San Diego. Bonus: I got LOTS of knitting time. 

This is the place with the seals. It doesn't smell great. But the seals are cute and their little dog faces made me miss my pups. One seal stared at me for a solid minute without blinking. So that day was pretty crazy. 

This was my favorite coffee stop- although all the coffee I had was good. I found a good corner spot and journaled, read, & ate my avocado toast. I felt pretty basic but I decided to embrace it. I also got a super cute pin there so... winning. 

Oh shoot, maybe this was actually my favorite coffee. I'm not sure it was all so good. This was a little further North of San Diego. Also, you can spot my new "love bug" pin I got at Communal coffee. Fleet calls me love bug so I kind of had to. Right? 

I meant to go to Torrey Pines and hike around- apparently there are unique trees there that ONLY grow in Torrey Pines. Maybe the trees are called "Torrey pines" but I haven't googled that so don't take my word for it. I happened to go during this big golf tournament and I was running out of time before my conference so I skipped it and went to the beach. I went to the beach a lot in the few days I was there, but I never got sick of it. I absolutely love the smell of salt water and the sound of the waves. I have so many good memories walking on the beach with Fleetwood. It made me miss him a little, but in a good way. 

Invita was a really fun coffee shop that felt very "Californian" to me. It was open and airy and so fun to sit outside and knit. Also, the cortado was amazing.

...Just another gorgeous beach view & a Turkish cardamom latte. Ok, so it wasn't ALL cortados. BRANCHING OUT. 

Coronado felt like an iconic "can't miss" kind of spot. It's such a cute little island. I just walked around the beach and Hotel Del Coronado. I was happy with keeping things low key- walking around and people watching.  

On my last adventure, my cousins Matt & Sara told me this was a really fun stop. I'm so glad I went here- Theres tons of hiking and you can see all of San Diego. The drive up is super pretty, too. Also, I think some of the mountains are in Mexico, so thats kind of cool!