If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Thee to a Motel 6

Escaping the heatwave on my birthday

Hey-o, so the weather earlier this week...what was THAT about? Don't get me wrong, I've experienced hot, humid weather just never while living in San Diego. I've learned to deal with hot, but not I-can't-breathe-sweat-in-my-eyes kind of temps that blasted down upon us. 

Like many San Diegans, I don't have air-conditioning in my apartment, so when the temperatures rise, the old walls just hang onto all that heat and let me bake slowly inside like a chocolate chip cookie. Saturday to yesterday were bruuutal. 

And, then that pseudo-hurricane. Are zombies really getting ready to attack? I mean, is this IT?

I decided with wisdom that can only come from turning another year older, that me and my love would hit up the Motel 6. Scoff if you must at my self-indulgent decision, but I swear it saved my sanity. Once in a great while, I make impulsive decisions based on the notion that I like to do whatever I want.

Motel 6, man, is not comfortable. The sheets are scratchy and the bed is like the poor fold-out beds from the couches you had growing up. The towels are like paper towels that barely cover anything let alone dry you. But, their A/C was working like a charm with WiFi to boot!

We spent two nights at Motel 6 and went for a third night at an equally cheap hotel with equally uncomfortable linens and a weird, onion-type smell, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

There is a practical side of me that knows what I could have done with that extra money, but the more dominant side of me doesn't allow for that type of reasoning. I don't know how you all handled the heat, but I applaud you. The weather is now back to a reasonable cool where the fans running 'round the clock work just fine. 

Who knew that a Motel 6 would come through in a pinch?

Cheers to the Patron life!

Once upon a time, Patron Social Club asked, "Hey, would you like to be our Secret Dining Society guest and eat and drink to your heart's content while you get a sweet beach buzz?" To which I quickly replied, "Um, YEAH!"

On a perfect August evening, M and I enjoyed a culinary adventure courtesy of Patron and their traveling dining crew. When they host these dinners for an exclusive 50+ guests, it is an EVENT. 

I read that when they stopped in St. Louis, it was held at Busch Stadium, an experience M would have loved being from STL and a tried and true Cardinals' fan. However, our San Diego experience on Silver Strand Beach was none too shabby. 

Here are some photos of the fun-filled evening if you didn't catch me posting minute-to-minute updates on Instagram. I also rehashed the whole beautiful thing for Examiner, complete with food menu created by one my favorite Top Chef alum, Richard Sweeney, for your reading (and drooling) pleasure. 

If you had seen me eat this, it would confirm my lack of elegance, mainly in dining situations. I first attempted to nibble it from the side and then just chomped it from the top. 

It's like we were crashing someone's beautiful beach wedding. Hey, Patron, can I just hire you to cater my upcoming nuptials? 

I don't have a bad tequila story. You know those stories you hear about people falling off curbs and vomiting in gutters, never had that. Talk to me about vodka, different story altogether. Wouldn't it be insane if Absolut had a secret dining society. Who can I start a petition to for this cause? 

I forgive whomever made up these menus for misspelling "dessert" because they were probably drunk off Patron. Hey, shit happens.

Life in Balance: Barre3 + San Diego County Fair

I work out. I do. If I'm being honest, I mainly do it so I can eat more. And I want to be strong in case I ever need to kick anyone's ass.

This past month I've been able to try a different rotation of workouts in addition to my typical kickboxing/yoga/body pump classes. First, I have tried reformer Pilates. When I walked into the room, the machines looked like torture devices. Those suckers are designed to sculpt you. I've only taken three classes so far, so if you see me, just know results may vary.

Then, the Yelp Community Manager, an awesome dude named Brad, organized a Yelp Elite Event at Lorna Jane. The store, brand and vision are all incredible. They gave attendees free workout tanks emblazoned with positive messages. After our yoga workout, we were treated to Tender Greens salads, charred bread and edamame hummus and grilled veggies. Super good!

Tender Greens has the best salads

And most recently, I was invited to attend a free Barre3 event held at Hotel La Jolla on the 11th floor with a gorgeous ocean view. 

#thatSDlife

Following their yoga class they gave us free smoothies and provided a make-your-own granola bar and refreshing fruit-infused water. 

My point with all of this is that working out can actually be fun. You just have to look out for the opportunities that align with how you like to be active. If you're anything like me, you're sitting down most of the day and doesn't it worry you that one day your legs literally may be fused into a sitting position? I think about this all the time. If I had delicious, but healthy drinks and salads always prepared for me to enjoy post-workout, I might even work out more.

Whenever I'm "good" I like to balance things out by being bad and eating something like this:

MEAT!

Or, this:

Beer-battered potatoes with CHEESE, but what makes them Australian?

What is it about fair food that's so dang good? The fat? 

I spent seven freaking hours at the fair this year, which means I was able to see and eat everything I wanted. I went on the lift to get a good aerial view. The only thing I kept thinking is, what if I lose my flip flop?

No flip flops were lost in the capturing of this photo.

The things my friend and I wanted to do: go on a ride, watch a milking demonstration and cheer on the turkey stampede, because when else in life would you have the chance to do these three things in one day?

I learned I am officially too old to ride fair rides. I went on the long row one that flips you upside down three times in a row and then you hang upside down and when I got off, I immediately began forming a headache. Later that night at home, I thought I was dying as the headache settled in full force. I actually thought I saw the light, but I think it was the aura from a migraine.

I also became paranoid thinking about my aligned spine (from yoga and all) and how I just jacked it all up for some ride that cost me six tickets. I had to get ice cream to recover.

You can also see by the above photo that I decided making large bubbles might be cool. I waited my turn in line with all the other kids.

I can't tell you about the turkey stampede. It's just something you have to experience yourself.

Despite all my eating, I do have a tracker on my phone that supposedly monitors all your steps, although I have my suspicions about its accuracy. However, it made me look like an absolute champ. 

It was just an all-around wonderful, San Diego day. Do I think a life in balance really means work out and then eat like crap? Some days I do. Life is too long to be doing or eating stuff you don't like all the time. 

Eat the fried potatoes, the salad will still be waiting for you tomorrow. Watch turkeys run around. Sniff someone's prize-winning flowers. Eat ice cream. Indulge in all the small things that make summer and life so great.

California Dreamin'

It's been almost a year since I packed up my bags and drove my little red Suzuki Forenza (RIP) the long (but surprisingly not awful) drive from Kansas to California. My friend, Candice and I packed my car full of essentials and snacks and avoided a speeding ticket in Oklahoma, suffered through short downpours of rain in New Mexico, and drove exhausted and road weary around the mountains in Arizona.

Let me say one quick thing about Arizona: I do not like the state (don't be fooled by the photo). At the height of border security last summer, my equally tanned friend and myself joked that maybe we were too dark to drive through the state. Maybe I don't like it because it was the final destination after a long day of driving. Maybe because driving around mountains in the dark makes you start to hallucinate UFOs. Maybe because it's hot and desert-y and full of cacti. Or, maybe my experience with the state has not been the greatest because of things that have nothing to do with the actual state. Others have insisted it's a great state because their hot's not humid. 115 degrees is still FUCKING HOT!

The last leg of our trip led us to drive through two checkpoints along sand dunes and the sights of Mexico literally just over the horizon. When we finally pulled into San Diego, I felt excited, happy and surprisingly, at home. My furniture had yet to arrive (and wouldn't arrive for three more weeks!) so we camped out on the floor of my month-to-month rental and planned for some fun days before my friend had to fly back to Kansas.

We ventured to LA with free tickets to George Lopez in the hopes of seeing T.I. When we arrived, they announced T.I. would not be appearing so we decided to hop a double-decker bus and ride down Sunset Boulevard and through the Hollywood Hills to take in the sites like true tourists. We took our pictures next to the wax figure of Samuel L. Jackson and along the various sidewalk stars along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later, we staked out the premiere of "Takers", saw T.I., Chris Brown, Hayden Christiansen and then Snoop Dogg walking on the sidewalk right past us. We don't play nonchalant aloofness. We like celebrities. We took pictures.

When my furniture finally arrived, God bless the movers who had to shove all of my stuff into my small apartment. It was the dead of summer, no air conditioning and they had two moves following mine and not once did the complain or act like they had somewhere better to be. One of the moving men even gave me the floor fan from his truck letting me know it would come in handy on those late summer days.

What was to follow was a cycle of fun, adventure, and at times literally just getting by on hope alone. San Diego offers so much to newcomers. Most San Diegans I've met aren't natives at all. They too had the ocean calling their name. The perfect weather. The laid-back attitudes. I have been able to watch sea lions up close and personal in La Jolla. Kayak in the ocean. Watched a whale leap out of the water, several times in fact. I have ziplined at the Safari Park and had chances to make it back to LA. I have walked around the Fashion District. Walked along the Santa Monica Pier and been mesmerized by the skaters of Venice Beach.

I have been able to experience the most perfect food of my life - the Surfin' California burrito from Lucha Libre and enjoyed the quest for the best chicken mole (which has not yet been found). To sum up a year, a dream, isn't really possible. To say there hasn't been difficulties would be a lie. But those days have quickly been replaced by waking up to sunshine and cool weather, ocean breezes and sand beneath my feet. To enjoy a freedom and independence and sheer "because I wanted to" attitude that can never be taken away from me.

It was about two years ago that I told my friend I wanted a change. I felt restless and unsatisfied. Maybe I'll always have a little bit of that feeling in me. But it was just a year ago, I changed that and moved my life two time zones away to set up a little place to call my own.

Was it the right time, the right choice, the right decision for my life? Those really aren't the kind of questions I tend to ask myself. I ask, will I regret not going? Will I wish I would have moved? I'm definitely a "so glad I did it" kind of gal and not a "really wish I would've" type of person. When seeking adventure, taking chances, the best question to ask is that's shouldn't really be a question at all is: Why NOT?

What it Takes to Climb a Mountain

Cowles Mountain - San Diego, CA
Elevation: 1,591 ft. above sea level

On May 11, 2011, I climbed my first mountain. To those native to San Diego or those just generally in good physical shape, climbing Cowles is no big deal. People do that hike weekly. Some probably walk it every other day. The trail is easy to follow with few steep hills and relatively flat terrain. When my friend, Deondre came to visit he decided that climbing a mountain would be a fun thing to do. Having wanted to conquer a mountain myself, I said, "Let's do it!"

It was a beautiful, cool evening and we began our hike up the mountain. There seemed to be two trails. One to a smaller peak and one to the top. Standing from the bottom looking up we both thought the same thing without saying it out loud: There is no way in hell we're hiking up there. Neither D nor myself are what I would call "in shape". I try to frequent the gym as much as possible, but trekking up a mountain is out of my comfort zone.

After walking over a mile, we reached the summit. Looking down from where we came, it seemed like we had hiked a long way. Looking to what lay before us though, we hadn't even made it to the path that would lead us to the top. I told D I would go for as long as he would. Part of me was hoping that he would say he wanted to go back so I wouldn't have to be the one who gave up and went home. But like a champ, he said, "Nope. We're going to make it to the top!"

And so we continued. People were passing us on both sides. We stopped to rest more than once. But then I saw a man carrying his baby in a pouch walking next to a KID who looked like walking back down that mountain was the easiest thing he'd ever done. So it turned out that my will to reach the top did not come from myself, not from Deondre or from the grace of God. It came from a child who I wanted to outdo. If that kindergarten tot could do it, I could too!

Halfway up the mountain, the sun began to set and we were able to witness some truly breathtaking sights. In that moment, I did send up a silent 'thank you' to God for the pure beauty of that sunset. When we finally reached the top, you would think we had climbed Kilimanjaro. That's how I felt. I was in awe of the city, how beautiful it looked, how on top of the world I felt. I could see the a panoramic view stretching out to more mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. I could have stood there forever.

It was setting out to do something, to really experience what it would feel like to climb a mountain and then doing it. It was the difference between going halfway and understanding that would never be enough and pressing on. And in a way only D can express, he summed it up best when he turned to me and said, "We climbed a motherfuckin' mountain, b!"

So, what does it take to climb a mountain? It's just like anything else...you put one foot in front of the other and go. It's no Kilimanjaro, but as always, there will be other mountains to climb. Bigger things just over the horizon.