things I've enjoyed recently

1// Evening stroller walks with the babes. My husband and I were fortunate to have two separate strollers given to us for free from friends who no longer needed them, so we've been using those for our walks around the neighborhood. And just in time too, because my boy is already two inches(!) away from outgrowing his infant car seat.

2// Children are velociraptors.

3// Lisa Hanawalt's new book, Hot Dog Taste Test, is kooky and hilarious and strangely comforting.

4// I went to First Thursday at the Lafayette last night, and designed a mini planter to take home. Because you can never have enough succulent planters.

5// My friend Jennie and her husband have started an amazing podcast called Breaking Español, which you should follow and listen if you've ever wanted to not just learn a second language, but immerse yourself in it and try to live it every day. Even after living in Spain for three years, my Spanish is only so-so, so I really admire Jennie for doing this and sharing her journey.

6// I put a little mixtape together for Tiger + Ox's Monday Tuna a few weeks ago. I finally got to meet up with Leah (who runs the blog with her husband Cruz) in person here in San Diego, and it was so great, and I feel like I genuinely made a new friend. Not to mention we both have cats named Cleo and tattoos done by the same tattoo artist :)

7// This quote to remind me to put down my phone sometimes.

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! :)

local gem // La Mesa's Classic Car Show

One more reason I love my 'hood: every Thursday evening during the summer, La Mesa Boulevard is transformed into a nostalgic antique car show. I noticed it going on a few times last month, but last week I decided to stroll through and check it out.

So many sexy cars. Let's take a peek, shall we?

So not only are there beautiful cars to ogle (for me, it was that incredible red Shelby Mustang), but it's also a chance to socialize with your neighbors (I went with two friends who live down the street from me), and then maybe pop into one of the bars or restaurants right there on the boulevard.

La Mesa, you keep on impressing me.

local gem // La Mesa's hidden stairs

Not long after the mister and I moved into our house, we met this cute old lady on our street one day while she was out for a walk. We started chatting about how great the neighborhood is, and she told us about these "walking stairs" just up the hill a bit, and that we should definitely check it out. The stairways were installed several years ago to help facilitate foot traffic through the different neighborhoods. I was intrigued, but it wasn't until yesterday that I decided to grab my camera and check it out for myself.

Okay. So I already knew that this would be a bit of a workout; lots of locals use the stairs for exercise, and I had read somewhere that there were 248 or so steps to the very top. So I was prepared to sweat. What I was not prepared for: HOW OUT OF SHAPE I AM. No joke. My thighs burned. I wasn't even walking at a brisk pace, and I had to take a break halfway up the second set of steps to catch my breath. Obviously, I could use a little more exercise in my life.

So I took my sweet time, but I made it to the top. Which is just another residential street, but happens to be one of the highest points in La Mesa. I walked down the street a bit, and found another set of stairs going down. So I decided to take this way back to my house.

Don't be fooled by these charming-looking steps. They're steep, they seem to go on forever, and your legs will hate you if you're out of shape like me.

But the walk down? Oh so sweet.

this week's Bringers-Of-Happiness

These are the things that made me happy this week (and the week before, if you wanna get technical):

Okay, I'm still getting used to all this southern California weather. And even though I just came from southern Spain, whose weather is nearly identical to here, for some reason it felt "normal" over there and now feels foreign over here. But I'm not complaining, I swear. Give me sunny and 80 degrees every day of the year, and I'll die a happy woman.

I've been wanting to try the whole brightly-colored-pants thing for a while, so when I saw these at Forever 21, I snatched them up, tried them on, and bam. Instant mood-lifter. The only downside is now the rest of my closet looks depressingly lacking in color next to these bad boys.

Oh neighborhood walks, you surprise me yet again and fill me with joy. While walking home from a coffee stop one morning, the mister and I found this. Behold this epic (plastic?) rhino guarding his turf, complete with rusty chain to ward off any thievery. And now it makes me really curious to know more about the people who live at this house. Surely we would get along?

What's better than watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Watching it poolside at The Pearl Hotel's dive-in theater night! A very spontaneous date night, I must say, but so fun.