Beer + Cookies + Code, OH and San Diego

the beer and cookies and code have zero relevance to this post, other than the fact that the beer made me want to bake cookies, and the cookies reminded me that at this time last week, i was eating cheesecake in a king size bed. in a hotel suite. with a flat screen TV that swivels. in CALIFORNIA.

[![](/content/images/2011/06/sandiego-300x225.jpg "sandiego")](/content/images/2011/06/sandiego.jpg)
oh, and the code was the reason for the beer.

so. last week, brett had to go to san diego for work. i had never been to san diego (or even CA for more than a few hours), so i bought a plane ticket to go, too. there aren’t many times when a free 4-day hotel stay in sunny, perfect, oceanside, CA finds its way into your life, so i couldn’t easily pass that one up. we flew out last tuesday and got there with the whole afternoon to spare.

[![](/content/images/2011/06/hotel1-300x225.jpg "hotel")](/content/images/2011/06/hotel1.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/hotel2-300x225.jpg "hotel")](/content/images/2011/06/hotel2.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/cheesecake-300x179.jpg "cheesecake")](/content/images/2011/06/cheesecake.jpg)
what did we do? as it turns out, our hotel was in the same parking lot as one of the cutest little hole in the wall bars i’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking in. not that i’m hard to please in that aspect–any bar that serves a good IPA coupled with either cheeseburgers, cheese fries, or cheesecake is an A+ in my book.

walk 40 feet, drink glen livet with strange old biker men (they kept buying brett beer, so i bought them/us scotch, i don’t understand my logic either), walk 40 feet home, sweatpants, TV, cheesecake, angry birds, sleep. oh, good heavens. it was just what the doctor ordered.

since brett was at work until 4:30-5:00 most days, my days were… wide open.

here is how i spent every day in cali:

  • wake up at 7:00 when our alarm went off
  • play angry birds and watch “taxidermy america” and “deadliest catch”
  • shower
  • come up with as many reasons as possible to drive ANYWHERE, just so i could get behind the wheel of the dodge charger that national rented to us
  • go back to the hotel and work hard on getting tan
[![](/content/images/2011/06/car01-300x224.jpg "car")](/content/images/2011/06/car01.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/car02-300x225.jpg "car")](/content/images/2011/06/car02.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/car03-300x225.jpg "car")](/content/images/2011/06/car03.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/car04-300x225.jpg "car")](/content/images/2011/06/car04.jpg)
**wednesday…**

found my way to vista, CA, and ate at el callejon. i have never been this confused by mexican food. the “queso” was melted mozzarella in a bowl. and stretchy. and did not want to be dipped. they gave me an actual salad with italian dressing. they gave me tortillas, in addition to my enchiladas. i never found out what i was supposed to put in them. they had an entire wall covered in JUST tequila. when caught eyeing the tequila, the bartender told me, “not until you’re older!”

[![](/content/images/2011/06/mexican-300x225.jpg "mexican")](/content/images/2011/06/mexican.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/mexican2-300x225.jpg "mexican")](/content/images/2011/06/mexican2.jpg)
walked up the block to the [cupcake shop](http://littlecakeskitchen.com/) and bought a red velvet cupcake. i opted not to get the pancakes and bacon flavored one. i am not that adventurous. in my defense, they all looked good but they were huge, and i didn’t want to go overboard.
[![](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake-300x225.jpg "cupcake")](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake2-300x179.jpg "cupcake")](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake2.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake3-179x300.jpg "cupcake")](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake3.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake4-179x300.jpg "cupcake")](/content/images/2011/06/cupcake4.jpg)
drove back to the hotel, and laid at the pool until brett came home.

showered, and gorged on fried chicken and macaroni at felix’s BBQ with soul. food coma followed.

thursday…

made the GORGEOUS drive to san clemente (mountains on my right, ocean on my left, unbelievable), got a burrito at chronic tacos as i was told to do, and drove around town.

[![](/content/images/2011/06/taco-300x225.jpg "taco")](/content/images/2011/06/taco.jpg)
i found a street filled with boutiques and surf shops, and i’m pretty sure this is right around the time my debit card # got jacked, and $200 stolen, before i had it turned off.
[![](/content/images/2011/06/sanclemente-225x300.jpg "san clemente")](/content/images/2011/06/sanclemente.jpg)
left and continued on my california adventure, and found the exit for san clemente state beach. put a few quarters in the parking meter at the beach park, and made my way to the ocean. it. was. packed. and it was windy, and barely 70 degrees. i was most definitely the only person wearing cowboy boots. tons of surfboards and hoodies and shorts. i felt so “at home” around others wearing hoodies and shorts. i found comfort in knowing that other people think it’s comfy and not weird.
[![](/content/images/2011/06/beach-300x179.jpg "beach")](/content/images/2011/06/beach.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/beach2-300x225.jpg "beach")](/content/images/2011/06/beach2.jpg)
yes, that is a train next to the ocean. i didn’t know such things existed. it whizzed past me, like 4 feet from where i was sitting. crazy.

hit up wal-mart real quick, and went back to the hotel pool until brett came back.

had the strangest ricotta/spinach manicotti (it was actually green inside) at the italian place across the parking lot, where i got barked at by a crotchety, italian waitress for not knowing what i wanted to eat 2 minutes after being seated. i told her i was sick and she quit coming back to our table. we spent the rest of the night on our laptops drinking away our sicknesses.

thursday…

drove to mcdonald’s for “breakfast”. nugget craving killed my willpower.

after writing down all that i ate on this trip, i realize it was… the furthest thing from healthy. good lord. anyway, it was a beautiful day so instead of driving around, i went to the pool. after realizing that you could get drinks delivered to your lounge chair, i decided to stay at the pool.

[![](/content/images/2011/06/pool-300x179.jpg "pool")](/content/images/2011/06/pool.jpg)
walked across the parking lot for a slice of pizza, and when i got back, the lady in the lobby told me that the power in the hotel was going to be off for an hour (someone was fixing something, i don’t know) so i… sat at the pool and continued to order drinks. better than sitting in the room staring at the wall, right? right.

after writing down all that i drank on this trip, i realize that i sound like an alcoholic. and i promise that i am not. i was on vacation. and alone. and it was one of the only things that would soothe my sore throat.

anyway, had a few beers until brett got back, and then he and i headed to DISNEY LAND. disney freaking land. i never thought we would end up there, of all places. originally, we planned to go to the zoo, but it closed at 9, and that would mean we only had ~3 hours for the $40 ticket. disney was open until midnight, which left us with ~5-6 hours for an $80 ticket, and i mean, it’s disney land. COME ON. i didn’t get as many pictures as i would’ve liked since it was dark while we were there, but the video i got of us screaming on the matterhorn more than makes up for it. that, and the electrical parade.

[![](/content/images/2011/06/disney1-300x225.jpg "disney")](/content/images/2011/06/disney1.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/disney2-300x225.jpg "disney")](/content/images/2011/06/disney2.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/disney3-300x225.jpg "disney")](/content/images/2011/06/disney3.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/disney4-300x225.jpg "disney")](/content/images/2011/06/disney4.jpg) [![](/content/images/2011/06/disney5-300x225.jpg "disney")](/content/images/2011/06/disney5.jpg)
disney parades always make me nostalgic. and to make it come full circle, my mom and her not-boyfriend were at disney world on the same day, down in FL. too awesome.

it has taken me like 2 hours to write this post because i keep having to get up to get more cookies and try and remember everything. thank god for NFL HD channel to keep brett from punching me in the back of the head. apologies for the rambling and such.