life lately...

1// Getting some brunch time with girlfriends at yummy places like Great Maple.

2// Taking advantage of some gorgeous weather and checking out the Botanical Gardens at Balboa Park with the babes. East coast, I miss you, but you just can't beat 70 degree weather in February.

3// Celebrating my friend Raina's first art show with her rad botanical watercolor paintings and handmade ceramic planters at Te Mana Cafe.

4// I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

5// Checking out the Downtown at Sundown event at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego with a good friend.

6// Getting out of the house at least once a week sans babies has been my sanity. It's funny how "normal" I feel just by putting on real pants and walking around Target for an hour. It's the little things :)

things I've enjoyed recently

1// Checking out a little pocket of Mission Hills, and trying out Kettle & Stone, a rad little coffee shop + boutique

2// This beautifully haunting photo series by Ville Kansanen on chronicling depression.

3// This delicious spiced pear sangria that I made on Thanksgiving!

4// The twin babes' first Christmas tree! Even though the only things they care about right now are food, sleep, and cuddles, it's still nice to have a freshly cut tree in the house, trimmed and decorated for the holidays.

5// I'm currently reading One More Thing, and Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, and they are both excellent.

6// The mister and I went to this year's Makers Arcade to check out the vendors, but mostly just to get out of the house with the babies. The cocktails were yummy, and I wanted to buy all the things.

7// This and this made me laugh, cause it's true.

let's wander // a day trip to julian

Last month, a couple of friends and I decided to take the hour-long drive to the charming nearby town of Julian for (possibly) apple-picking, wine, and just to take in the sights. And this is how I know that I'm an adult in my early 30's, because 23-year-old me would not have squealed with the amount of glee that I did upon partaking of this trip. They had me at "day trip." Who needs sports bars? Give me apples and wine!

The drive there was freaking beautiful. Lots of twisty roads and wonderful lookout points such as this one. We stopped and photobombed the place, as one does.

Naturally, we took a vino break. Blue Door Winery was small and friendly and unpretentious, which I appreciate since I can barely discern a syrah from a merlot. But the wine was yummy, and there was a friendly dog running around underfoot happily eating all our crackers.

Not pictured: gorging on some of Julian's famous apple pie at Apple Alley Bakery. I had the apple crumb with whip cream and I regret not buying a whole pie on the way out.

So we knew we were about a month late to do any actual apple-picking, but we hoped we could at least walk through one of the nearby apple orchards and frolic around. Yes, I may be an adult, but I still like to frolic. So at the suggestion of our friendly Blue Door Winery guy, we stopped at Calico Ranch, but alas, they were closed. So the best we could do was park on the dirt road surrounding the property, and do more photo-taking and lament the poor apples on the ground that nobody wanted. It was still awfully pretty though.

I'm coming back for you next year, Julian. Get your apples ready.

let's eat!

I love to eat. I love to eat even more when I don't have to make it myself. And therein lies my weakness of living in San Diego: there's so many good restaurants here, sometimes it's hard to convince myself to cook at home. Especially when the person I love to cook for the most is currently thousands of miles away for his job. (sigh)

So here's a couple of rad restaurants I had the pleasure of trying out over the past few weeks.

After attending an event with some fellow Navy wives, one of them suggested we hit up Kahn's Cave in Clairemont Mesa for apps and cocktails. It's sort of an Asian-American fusion place (like me! ha!), and the food was excellent. There were four of us, but we probably ordered enough food for eight. Pork gyozas, calamari, panko shrimp, lettuce wraps, fish sliders...yep. Just get in my tummy. Right now.

A friend and I were wandering around Hillcrest with the intent of finding a "new and adventurous" place to eat, so I turned to my trusty Yelp app on my iPhone to see what was around us. When Kous Kous popped up, I remembered that I had read about it before and knew it was supposed to have good Moroccan fare. I was smitten the moment we walked down the stairs to the front entrance. Cozy benches with patterned pillows, rugs, and poufs greeted us before we even stepped through the door. I wanted to hang out there all day. And inside was even more of the same, with comfy couches and hanging lamps everywhere.

Since we were Moroccan food virgins, we asked our waiter to suggest good things for us, like the Kefta Kabob and the Chicken Tagine. It did not disappoint. Their pita bread is the best damn pita bread I've ever tasted, and the hot mint tea made a perfect after-dinner drink. Oh Kous Kous, I am so going back to you.

has it already been a year??

The Mister and I arrived in San Diego approximately one year ago, and my mind is blown. We found a fantastic place to live, we met great people who've turned into close friends, we explored our city, and I kept going with my photography. I feel so incredibly lucky that this is my life.

I put together this little video yesterday as a two minute visual reminder of what this past year has been like. It's (nearly) every single photo I've taken since I arrived here, complete with iPhone photos, 35mm film photos, and DSLR photos.

the first year from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

When I watch this, it occurs to me that the reason I obsessively document my life is pretty simple: to help me remember. I can barely remember things from my childhood, or even college for that matter, unless I'm looking through a photo album that shows those periods of my life. So all these silly photos I take, day in and day out, it makes up my own digital family album. And that is a precious thing to me.

Photography aside, I'd also like to list my unofficial San Diego Pros and Cons.

Pros:

1. My neighborhood. Downtown La Mesa is my jam. From my house, I can walk to the grocery store, the post office, the library, the farmer's market, Friday food trucks, the trolley, antique shops, coffee shops, and a bunch of bars and restaurants. If I didn't like the rest of San Diego so much, I'd never drive.

2. If you've never been a great parallel parker, this city will whip you into shape quick. I'm pretty sure I do more parallel parking here than I ever did in Spain. And not to brag, but even with my boat of a station wagon, my method is now flawless.

3. Sun. Lots of it. Sometimes this is a con though (see below). It's like Spain all over again, except most people speak English and I can shop on Sundays. 

4. All the different neighborhoods. As much as I love La Mesa, it can't fulfill all my needs all the time. So maybe I'll pop over to North Park and people-watch the hipsters as I eat at a vegan Mexican place. Or maybe I'll take the trolley to downtown to get that urban city feel. Ocean Beach has perfected that 70's beach town vibe, and if I wanna feel really poor, I can wander through affluent neighborhoods like La Jolla and Del Mar (this is all tongue-in-cheek though, I love all these places).

5. San Diego is amazingly dog-friendly. I'm not sure why I'm listing this, since I don't have a dog, but it's still really nice to see. I always see people with their dogs sitting on patios of local eateries, and a lot of places will put out food and water bowls for them. And tons of dog parks everywhere. It's basically dog-topia.

6. Living in San Diego and not liking beer is like living in Antarctica and not liking ice. Okay, maybe not, but I do love the local beer selection here. And if you're one of those people that has never liked the taste of beer, come visit me, and I will prove that you just haven't tasted enough beers to make that statement.

7. I'm about a two hour drive from all my favorite people on television. If I ever decide to stalk Jon Hamm, it'd be totally easy right?

8. Mexican food. That is all.

Cons:

1. Sun. Lots of it. It gets a bit much at times. Even more so since I live inland. Sometimes I just want three cloudy or rainy days in a row in the middle of summer. Is that too much to ask?

2. It's true, I do miss the change of seasons that I got while living on the east coast. I totally took it for granted.

3. Old house = No AC = Not super fun times. August and September were brutal. Anything over 80 degrees outside was like Satan's armpit in my house. 

4. Honestly, I can't think of any more cons. Just writing those three above makes me feel slightly whiny and ungrateful. Which I'm not. I feel incredibly lucky to be living here.

So here's to year two! :)

rad life things

I honestly couldn't think of a better/more clever title than that, so....sorry. This isn't one of my usual specific-subject posts, just more like, fun things that I partook in during the past week. In Instagram form.

Beer. Wonderful, delicious beer. Especially when it's a collaboration beer between Sierra Nevada and Russian River enjoyed al fresco at KnB. I'm not gonna pretend to be even remotely knowledgeable about its flavor or oaky notes or what it pairs beautifully with. Just trust me when I say it's good. So good that I picked up an extra bottle to take home with me. To save for either a rainy day or for the Mister when he gets back from his sea travels. Probably the latter.

I'm still in the process of adding/arranging things on our lovely bookshelf, but I was so happy to finally find an awesome print to display in this particular space. Not too shabby for an IKEA print, if I do say so myself. I also have plans to spray-paint my thrift store skull a nice gold color. So a trip to Michael's is in my near future.

AND! I went to L.A. last weekend for the Renegade Craft Fair with a new friend that I met at last month's Creative Connection (her name is Corey and you can read about her adventures here). So much fun! Before we hit up the fair though, we made a stop at the Santa Monica Pier to photobomb the heck out of it (cause we're photogra-tourists and that's what photogra-tourists do), and also to satisfy our mutual burger cravings at this awesome place called Pier Burger. Easily one of the better burgers I've had in awhile.

Also worthy of note from that day: while we were walking towards the pier, we couldn't help but notice all these groups of fit guys (and some girls) working out on various workout equipment, and at first we were like, "the heck?" But then we realized, "it's Muscle Beach, of COURSE." So it's basically an outdoor beach gym where abnormally fit and shirtless men make you feel like crap cause they're doing push-ups on raised parallel bars as easily as you and I drink water. Kidding. Kinda. But it was cool to see.

it's like a lemon factory around here

Dear Lemon Tree In My Front Yard, you are amazing, but you are producing more lemony goodness than I can keep up with. I make fresh lemonade regularly, but then there you go, dropping six more lemons on the grass almost daily. Short of giving away free lemons to my neighbors (which I should probably do anyway), I need more ideas of what to do with all that fruit.

So thank goodness for Pinterest.

Here are some lemon-related treats I've been pinning, and need to start making. Like now.

Lemon Chili Marmalade

I'm a fan of adding booze to fruit. Or fruit to booze. Or both.

Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars

To be honest, I've never really been a fan of oatmeal, but I'm willing to give this recipe a shot.

 Little Lemon Souffles

Well doesn't this look fancy. And it also makes me wonder, do I like this recipe because of the actual recipe, or for the presentation? I mean, c'mon, the lemons act as mini bowls, and I am such a sucker for things like that.

 Lemon Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. I love lemons. It's gotta be a win-win, right? AND, there's even Limoncello added to the glaze (which is optional, but you know like heck I'm gonna do it). A recipe after my own heart.

playing host is totally fun. and exhausting. but mostly fun.

I feel like I'm just now catching up on regular life things, and can now do a proper blog post. I've been totally slacking this month on keeping up with this space, but hey, it wasn't like I was sitting around doing nothing. The mister and I were enjoying our duties as Official San Diego Host & Tour Guide for a good friend who visited us from the east coast. Yay! We love when people visit!

Okay, less talking, more photos.

The nice thing about still being kinda sorta newish to San Diego is that some of the places we showed our visiting friend were new to us too. Like the San Diego Zoo! We were totally impressed and had a blasty. Also, I just realized that in the photos above, there's only one in which the animal is real. Ha. Hint: it's not the one where my husband is being petted/molested.

We like to dine and wine our visiting friends. It's only polite, right? There was obligatory tequila-sipping at Cafe Coyote in Old Town, and sushi boat coma time at Zen 5 in Pacific Beach. AND! We found out through a neighbor friend that La Mesa has its own food truck gathering every friday. WHAT? How did we not hear about this sooner? Cheap food, four or five different trucks. We are so going back. And of course, a visit to our city would not be complete without visiting a local brewery. It seems like you can't throw a rock in any direction without hitting at least one. So we hit up the Ballast Point Brewery to sample some very tasty beers and take a little tour of their operations. A word of advice: the Habanero beer is exactly what it sounds like. Oh. My. Word.

At some point during the week, I got the idea in my head to get my husband and his bff together in a kiddie pool. With lots of Yuengling. And assorted props. And take a picture of it. Just normal dude stuff right? You can check out the final image (plus two more) on my flickr page. 

flashback // Spanish feria

Sometime last week, a friend on my facebook feed who still lives in Spain mentioned going to the local feria, and bam....I started missing Spain again. I know at some point, I'm going to have to stop with all the España posts, because obviously, I live here now, and the whole point of this blog is to share my new adventures in California, but dang, it's hard sometimes.

Back to feria though. It's basically the country's week-long party held a couple weeks after their Easter Holy Week, and in my humble opinion, it's full of the best parts of Spanish culture: Sevillana dancing, sherry, tapas, friends, huge jugs of rebujitos, dancing your little butts off, and those delicious chocolate buñuelos.

Here are some photos I took at last year's feria in Puerto de Santa Maria (taken with my Diana Mini film camera).

The Spanish women get dolled up in the most gorgeous Sevillana dresses, and for them, it's a huge deal. Many will get them custom-made like, months in advance. Even pushing a stroller, that woman looks super classy. In fact, I barely even notice the stroller.

The best part of feria? A delicious pitcher of rebujito (a dry sherry mixed with Sprite). There I am, holding my prize. The second best part of feria? Walking anywhere you want with your pitcher of rebujito, because this isn't America where they section off a drinking-only zone because they think we can't handle ourselves (I'm looking at you, Cinco de Mayo festival in Old Town).

Pardon the blurriness, but I do love this photo. It's a group of little girls (and maybe a boy or two) dancing a traditional Sevillana dance. Yep. They get in on the feria action too, and they kill it.

Feria's motto should be: "You won't leave hungry." And if you come to feria on a full stomach, you're an idiot, cause sometimes things just taste better served fried and under a tent.

Amigos buying tickets for a ride. Adult-friendly rides. Rides that were set up within a day. Perfectly safe.

No, it's not a Tron movie. Just that perfectly safe ride I was talking about.

Speaking of rides, here's what several seconds of bumper cars looks like to a camera lens.

Do you like cheap shopping? I do. And feria has cheap shopping. Mostly clothes and bags and jewelry. Lots of jewelry. Granted, every bracelet I bought from feria broke after about a year, but that's okay, cause it was only 2 euros.

Double-exposure/blurry goodness. But I actually love it like that, cause it kind of embodies what feria was like for me. Chaotic, crowded, dusty, bright lights, and just damn FUN.