San Diego

Every year, Lauren and I set aside a week for some quality +more time. This time must have a few qualifications, OK....just one. A beach.

This year, we looked into going to Tulum, Mexico but after some research and tightening of budgets, we decided to visit one of our favorite places and a classic standard....San Diego, California.

We headed out late afternoon last Sunday. After a stop at Sonic for some Happy Hour Vanilla Cokes, we hit the I-15 and headed south for the week.

Thanks to Lauren's diligent research and dedication, we stayed at the Hotel Solamar, located on 6th and J in the Gaslamp District. 4 stars but lacked free wifi and a coffee maker but made it for it with the animal print robes....making us just too sexy every time we put them on.

Monday we woke up and hit the beach. And we did the same on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

And I got some much-needed juicy reading done.


Since we were staying in Gaslamp, we had plenty of options for our nights spent in SD. We had to hit Fred's for some Mexican but apparently totally screwed up by going on Monday night and therefore blowing our Taco Tuesday. We did check out this awesome bar called Neighborhood, where they look down upon ketchup. Luckily, we were just there to drink.

We saved our big night out for Thursday though when our dear friends Lisa and Amy were able to come down for a cocktail or 12. Or 7. And pizza. And a noise complaint but we'll get to that. To start our evening our right, Lauren and I made reservations at Cucina Urbana. Everything was farm-fresh, definitely worth the trip if you're in the area. The drinks were all made from fresh ingredients and were to die for (plus mine came with a flower so :) )

After dinner, the party got started with the arrival of Lisa and Amy. The night brought great conversation, drinks and a new best friend, Michael, our pedi-cab driver who had a killer system and got our party started off right - and got us home safe when we called him at last call for a ride back to the hotel.

And then came that noise complaint. Lisa was crashing with Lauren and I back at the hotel and we, of course, had to stop at Gaslamp Pizza (with Michael) for a 2 a.m. snack. We got back to the room, ate a large pizza and then the giggles came. Around 3 a.m., we get a knock on the door and they had sent their two best men to come and settle us girls down. Which, no surprise here, just set us off for another good 20 minutes or so. Here we are, at 27, getting a noise complaint and the fact that they sent not one but two guys to handle the situation really got us rolling. Some things never change though, and when the three of us get together, and gigglefest 2010 is bound to happen. Lock up your children!

Friday morning, we managed to pull ourselves out of bed and head back to Vegas as Lisa headed off to work. It was the quintessential vacation. Relaxation, good eats, better company and lots and lots of memories.

San Diego, I miss you already. Thank you for being you - in all of your gloriously perfect 75 degree beach weather and endless nights.