Last Christmas my Dad started a conversation about taking my Mom on a girl's only trip. She has been through a lot in the last 6 months with my Grandma being in and out of the hospital and needing constant care. It's also getting harder to enjoy time with each other as we chase more kids around... each one is a blessing, but makes visiting chaotic! So we jumped at the chance to go on a trip together and surprised my mom with Christmas airplane tickets to San Diego.
The trip was planned for March, and it was a long time coming! We watched the weather forecast and just happened to choose a week when they were having record heat, perfect for beach time!
It was hard to leave all the kids and husbands behind... it's always hairy getting schedules figured out and kids where they need to be. Mike took some time off, but he was slammed at work so his Mom came a couple of afternoons to help, and neighbors filled in the gaps. I feel so blessed that they were willing to take my place for a few days! There were tearful goodbyes, but of course once we were on our way, excitement replaced worry!
We finally made it to sunny San Diego, and what a beautiful sight!
Dana did a bunch of research online and found us the perfect beach cottage on Mission Blvd. It was right in between Mission Beach and Mission Bay, each within a few minutes walk. We all fell in love with our little cottage!
It was old with original wood floors, but renovated with a beautiful kitchen and such cute decor.
The beds were super fluffy with down comforters and down pillows, and even fresh flowers on the tables! We felt so spoiled.
These close up's are for me to remember the details.
The first morning we woke up early and got ready to go to the temple. We stopped at this cute Swell Cafe down the street for acai berry bowls to-go. It was a huge bowl of acai smoothie with tons of fruit and granola, and I can see why they're so popular... delish!
While we were waiting we gawked at this palette garden growing up the wall. So cool!
The San Diego Temple is breathtaking. Noelle always wanted to get married there, so it was a dream come true to go inside. The architecture is so unique, all based on a square theme, which was designed by a man who is a sealer there now. The coolest part is that each spire is an atrium open to the very top! On one side there is a grand staircase that is unsupported and it looks like it's floating for three floors. The spire under Moroni is the Celestial Room, and after our session a sweet lady told us to go up another level to look at Moroni from the 3rd floor atrium. It was so amazing! While we were there one of the temple presidency approached us and asked if we wanted to see a sealing room. He showed us their largest sealing room, which has two walls made almost all of windows. Then he took us to the top of the grand staircase and told us more about the spire vault and how they clean it and paint it with cable systems that come of out of the walls. We felt so lucky to get a special tour.
There really wasn't a better way to start our trip than being in the temple together. Besides my husband and children, I love them more than anyone in the world (and my Dad and brother!). They know more about me than anyone, and we share so many memories... happy, sad, and funny! I'm so thankful for eternal families, and for this trip we had to make more memories. And I'm happy to say there was very little friction the whole trip, and lots and lots of laughs.
After the temple we set off to get scheduled pedicures. Pure heaven.
We still had some time to kill before the sun went down, so we went home and changed and set out for the beach. After crossing the street, this is how far we had to walk!
Ahhhhh.... nothing like the feeling of warm sand between your toes.
And even though it was in the 80's (unseasonably warm) it was pretty breezy and the water is frigid, so this is as much as I got wet!
Hope Dana doesn't kill me :) but we took cheesy pictures of each other sun bathing to send home.
That night we went and changed again and then walked the boardwalk looking for a good place to eat. And boy did we find one!!! I don't even know the name of the place, but it said fish and steak and we were lured in. It was right on the beach and we watched the sun go down as we ate the best meal ever!
I had warmed bacon spinach salad, and if I had the recipe I would eat it every day.
My main dish was salmon over penne mac and cheese with asparagus... divine. We finished it off with three shared desserts: key lime pie, creme brule, and something chocolatey. I just have to say, my parents so generously paid for the food on the trip, and we enjoyed it immensely--probably even too much, our waistlines might say.
The next morning we woke up early again (although because of the time change it was really 8 o'clock my time, which is sleeping in!). I took a selfie on our pretty patio surrounded by palms to send to my family.
We drove into the city for Little Italy's farmers market. Before we could walk the aisles we had to stop for brunch at the cutest restaurant that was an old house with half the dining indoors and half outdoors on the patios and lawn. It was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen. We were all oohing and aahing over the decor and refurbished furniture, like this door over our heads made into windows in the pergola.
The food did not disappoint either, from my farmer's platter to my sisters cinnamon roll french toast with ice cream!
And then we were onto the farmer's market, which was a feast for the senses.
We bought jewelery, salad makings and a fresh pizza for our lunch the next day, crusty artisan bread, garlic & rosemary infused olive oil, and local strawberries.
It was even hotter inland and we roasted on the streets, but it was worth seeing the sights! With what energy we had left we wandered a few more streets to get a better taste of Little Italy.
They had fresh flowers on every corner, and I saw many planted in wheelbarrows, so cute!
We saw an old vintage fire truck pass and grabbed a picture to show our little boys.
We asked a nice guy to take a picture of us under the sign, after an epic fail trying to get a good group selfie. We laughed the whole trip that we should have bought a selfie stick.
We were pretty beat after walking most of the day, so we headed to the beach to relax, this time on Mission Bay. It was less windy than the ocean, and pretty much heavenly.
One thing I was disappointed about was not getting authentic Italian food while we were in Little Italy, so my sisters found a great little Italian restaurant for dinner that night (they used Yelp for every meal, and we were always happy with the results!). The servers were even Italian, so we knew we were in the right place. I've always wanted to try authentic gnocci, and it was amazing!
That night we caught a late showing of Cinderella. We couldn't pass up the chance with just girls! I want to take my own girls again because they will swoon over it, especially because her name is Ella! It got all of us chanting "Have courage, and be kind" the rest of the trip.
Sunday morning we went to the San Diego 6th ward for church. Then we went back to our cottage for our farmer's market meal, which was so delicious.
We decided to stay close to home that day and just enjoy the area. We took beach cruisers and rode in a circle from Mission Beach and then around to Mission Bay along the board walk. It was such a fun way to see the homes and rentals up and down the beaches and imagine all the people who live in the beautiful homes.
We stopped for ice cream at the Big Cahuna's stand, which had been tempting us all week.
We walked the pier out over the water and watched the surfers try to catch a wave.
We couldn't pass up the Belmont roller coaster right on the beach! I love roller coasters but I seriously can't remember the last time I rode one. Noelle had to hold my hand at the top cuz I was freaking out a little bit. But it was sooooooooo fun!
We tried to watch the sunset from the beach to see the "green flash" which supposedly happens right when the sun goes over the horizon, but alas there were clouds in the way.
Our bums were sore by the end of the day but it was so fun to ride our cruisers all day.
I guess you could say we're really big nerds because we all bought matching t-shirts, then took silly pictures in them. I am the only one that was never involved in cheerleading, so I got sucked into their stunt pose.
Our last full day there started with a bang. Our cottage rental came with two paddle boards, and Emily couldn't leave without trying them out. None of us had done it before, so we were a little nervous because we had heard it's hard. We chose to do it on the bay to avoid the wind and waves, and first thing in the morning there was nobody out so we had the whole bay to ourselves!
With the sun reflecting on the water, the ducks swimming around us, the blue sky, and the palm trees, it was pretty dreamy. And it was not hard at all once we got our balance! It is up there as one of my favorite parts of the trip.
After working up an appetite, we rode our bikes to this Olive Cafe we had been passing on the boulevard over and over. I finally found me a green smoothie, and the Aegean eggs full of veggies were pretty tasty, as long as I didn't look at Dana's berry cream cheese french toast. She had a knack for choosing the best thing on the menu.
Then it was onto the beautiful Balboa Gardens. I knew the gardens would be spectacular, but I had no idea the architecture was gorgeous too! This bell tower and tiled dome are dominant landmarks as you approach the entrance.
So intricate!
This is called the organ amphitheater, and the building houses the organ and pipes. My mother-in-law would have been spellbound by it! We missed a live concert by a day.
We started our tour in the Japanese gardens, where so much was in bloom already! Wisteria is my favorite... I must have some someday.
The camellias and azaleas were in full bloom and smelled like heaven.
I wish I knew what this tree was called! I love the darker pink/purple flowers, and looking close up they have yellow throats.
The cherry blossom gardens were glorious!
I love what Emily said about this picture: "Just being a bunch of nerds at Balboa Park. I sure am lucky to have these girls as my sisters!"
The next stop was the Botanical Gardens conservatory.
The place was an orchid paradise!
Now this is how houseplants should grow. We only see the puny versions at Home Depot, but given the right climate and growing conditions, they are huge and happy!
As my neighbor put it, this is my happy place. I came by my love of plants naturally, because my mom told me the name of every flower that we ever saw growing up. We could have stayed a lot longer, but we had places to go!
Our last stop was the Spanish Gardens, where the information guy told us they change out the plants every 90 days. That's pretty impressive!
Speaking of impressive, this gigantic fig tree from India probably got the most commentary! This picture doesn't do it justice... the trunks were just massive.
And just like that we were moving on, to pack our day full of last minute stops! Dana was dying to shop in La Jolla, and we stopped at a restaurant nearby she had heard was really good called Tender Greens. It was right up my alley because their philosophy is local, organic, and reflective of seasons. My harvest salad with grapefruit, oranges, sunflower seeds, and goat cheese was perfect.
I can't believe we didn't take any pictures in La Jolla, but we found the cute shop lined streets in the middle of town and shopped till we dropped! Dana could have kept going forever.... she is a little pro-shopper. The rest of us were famished (again!) so we picked a yummy Mexican street food place called Puesto's as our last restaurant. Raja, chicken, and zucchini cactus tacos and frozen horchata were just the right note to end on. The way they fried and rolled the cheese was ingenious. Wish all the amazing Cali restaurants could come home with me!
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We stayed up too late the last night giving back massages and lingering so that the trip wouldn't end... and it was tough to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to catch our flight. The sunrise gave us a beautiful San Diego farewell.
It already feels like this trip was a dream. I sometimes had to pinch myself to make sure I was really living it. I know it came as a great sacrifice on the part of the families (and my parent's pocketbook!) and I am just so grateful we were able to enjoy that time as girls. I love my mom so much and admire how she gives of herself so freely to everyone that needs her, from us--her needy children--to her ailing mother, to the ladies in the ward she makes blankets for every time there is a baby. She is always doing something for someone. And as for my sisters... I've heard it said that "Sisters make the best friends!" Ain't that the truth.
