SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Kicked off my actual birthday with a 6am flight to San Diego where we made a bee line for the beach and had the yummiest chorizo breakfast scrambles. I was in no condition to do things after being up at the crack of dawn and deciding it was a great idea to plan for heels at the airport. Update: it was not a good idea.

It's my birthday I'll brunch hard if I want to.

Lucky for me, we had a rental car so I could run back and grab some flip flops before we went off to explore. Not so lucky was the fact that Old Navy flip flops aren't actually suitable walking shoes either...4 miles into our beach "stroll" and my feet weren't so happy! I'm not sure why but Kyle was on a mission to get tons of walking in on this trip. Either that or he was trying to kill me off so he could enjoy a solo vacation. Sadly, our ideas of vacation differ drastically from one another. I'm more of a "just plop me by the pool with a drink til I burn to a crisp and wake me up when it's time to go to dinner" kind of gal, whereas he is very much so a "let's go explore and run a mile in the heat because it's beautiful here then go to all of the museums and see all of the things" kind of guy. To me, exercise and vacay don't really mesh but I'm learning to love his Dora the Explorer ways.

I'm moving in.

On Friday night we popped our Uber cherry (lol) and went in to Downtown for the Padres game. Mom hooked us up with some amazing seats for my birthday and it was so fun! Drank a lot of beer, dodged a lot of foul balls, and made friends with a crazy lady and her garlic fries in the seat next to us. Though we were both extremely sun burnt (whoops!), we managed to have an excellent time.

Padres fans for the day!

Day 2 consisted of a delicious brunch with the avocado toast of my dreams and an entire bottle of champagne, followed by a 3 hour trek through the San Diego Zoo. And let me just say - it was awesome! And very worth the $50 entry fee. *sigh* Saw some of the cutest wittle creatures and my animal lover heart was about one sleeping flamingo away from bursting.

"The whole bottle, please."

Now That's What I Call Avocado Toast // Volume I

These shoes were also NOT made for walking.

Naturally, we followed that adventure up with a trip to In N Out because, well, because California. Why else? Though I've never really understood the appeal of their burgers, they do have some awesome fries and I can appreciate the novelty. When I lived in LA I ate there maybe twice and each time I was a little disappointed. I expect to have this amazing, juicy burger experience that everyone is obsessed with, but it's really JUST a burger. Sorry guys! Catch me at Chick-Fil-A or Burgerville for some good eats.

Raise your hand if you got way too much sun today!

On Sunday we explored Old Town and ate at one of the million authentic Mexican spots there. Waited in line while someone's humble abuela made fresh tortillas on the sidewalk. YUM. After lunch we bopped around the historical museum and checked out some of the local vendors selling handmade jewelry and wind chimes. I wanted to take every one of these baby succulents home with me!

If San Diego were a color...

We finally made it back out to the beach - along with the rest of the world. It was packed. And as soon as we found parking and a spot to sit, the clouds were rolling in and everyone was headed out. I didn't mind too much, though, considering my burn was still a shade close to purple. A quick breezy nap and we went back to clean up for dinner.

After an hour long Yelp search, we decided to just get in the car and drive out to La Jolla to see what we could find. We watched the sunset over the cove and got super close to the seals sleeping on the beach. It was so cool! La Jolla might have been one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. It's beautiful out there and the houses are super dreamy. Not to mention, I had the best lemon and shrimp angel hair pasta a girl could ask for and it was the perfect birthday dinner. Live music on a rooftop overlooking the cutie neighborhood below - it doesn't get much better!

Backyard goals.

Having a love affair with this pasta...

On our last day, we went back in to the Gas Lamp District and walked a bunch more in search of a lunch spot. Man, we ate a lot on this trip! We settled on some sandwiches and had a front row seat to some police vs. bum action on the sidewalk. Excellent ambiance. Ha! Kyle had been dying to see the military ships so we took a super awesome audio tour of the USS Midway Museum and walked through the giant ship to see where all the action took place. About a mile away from the airport, we finished just in time to make it to our flight.

It was a much needed weekend away to recharge (er, workout) before returning to a super busy work week in preparation for my first craft show coming up. Oh, and an excellent end to my birthday celebration!