San Diego Weekend

What a weekend! I don't mean to rub it in, but I can't tell you how grateful I am to have the day off tomorrow. After such a fun-filled two days, I need some time to clean, do laundry, and grade. But first, a little recap of all the good times.

Terry and I woke up early yesterday to hit the gym for three miles before driving down to La Jolla (near San Diego) to watch my cousin play water polo.

Yeah #13!!!

The first game didn't turn out so well, but the second was awesome!

Aside from the awesomeness of getting to see Barbara play (and win!), Terry and I were thrilled to get to chat with the athlete too. :-) My uncle also drove down from the Bay Area for the tournament, so we spent a lot of the day with him, learning about water polo and catching up. It's always good to spend time with family!

And I have to say, the athleticism these ladies all show is truly phenomenal. I would have been exhausted after just one or two laps in the pool, but water polo players can (forgive the pun) blow that out of the water. They tread water the entire game, not even bobbing up and down. Their leg muscles are ridiculous. And they can throw! I kept telling Terry how impressed I was by their abilities. I feel like I need to add some swimming to my workouts...

After the games, Terry and I headed down to the Gaslamp for a not-so-great meal at The Marble Room. We thought the cocktails were creative and tasty, but the food left something to be desired. The atmosphere was really fun, but there are plenty of other delicious-looking restaurants in San Diego, so we would try something else next time.

We stayed at the Hilton Bayfront, walking distance to the main area of downtown. We love this hotel and have stayed there several times, but we were a bit disappointed at 4 am when, despite being on the 26th floor, loud beeping from one of the cargo ships in the bay woke us up. It stopped after a few minutes, so luckily we were able to get back to sleep, but we would definitely request a room overlooking the city instead of the bay next time.

But our view really was lovely...

This morning we braved the cold for a 30-minute jog around downtown, including some stairs at the convention center. The city was really quiet and perfect for an easy run.

For brunch we chose Cafe 21, one of the highlights of our trip. Excellent service, innovative and interesting menu options, and fun ambiance.

Terry's massive bloody mary, complete with a garden of vegetables

Terry's curry chicken benedict

My spinach crepes

I also have to share this hilarious Yelp review with you, because it was what ultimately convinced us to check out the cafe.

"It's so hipster that you initially wanna punch someone in the face." Amazing. Also, true.

On our way back home we stopped at two breweries, AleSmith and Lost Abbey. Both had some delicious beers, and I love that you can purchase 4-ounce tastings for only a dollar! Terrific deal, right?

Once we got home, we still had some time to relax, so I decided to try out a new recipe: Smitten Kitchen's salted caramel brownies. While a bit labor-intensive, these guys actually weren't difficult to make at all, including creating caramel from scratch!

And the end result was phenomenal. (No photos. I was busy eating.)

For dinner, we kept things super simple with salads (a la Trader Joe's), toasted bread, and burrata. Delicious!

Even though I'm off tomorrow, I'm still aiming for an early workout, so it's time for bed. Hope you had a great weekend!

What's your favorite brunch item? I have to go with French toast--and mimosas!