All in all, a very satisfying birthday. :)
I have to really give credit for my boyfriend stepping up this year. I had planned on a haphazard trip to the ballgame and he got us tickets to a foodie restaurant walk with some mutual friends. I wanted so desperately to go to the food walk in Del Mar a few months back but missed it due to work. So I was super stoked about The Taste of Hillcrest, 12pm-4pm, 52 restaurants offering samples.
And so the morning rush of cute clothes and sex before we drove to the other side of town. The mutual friend's birthday is the same as mine, only a year apart. It's funny how things turn out. Her and Br--- were the epitome of my boyfriend's favorite year in San Diego and huge introduction to me into the world of parties, techno, and jello shots. Things have changed and mellowed, and they've grown apart and my boyfriend and I have drifted too, so it was a sweet thing to meet up like this again.
And of the food! Food and food. Braised meats, creamed cheese, buttered croissants, dripping hot burgers, and margaritas in shot glasses. Do I have the time? Why not?
Urban Eats Plates & Bar-- Pulled pork sliders. Fucking best way to start a food walk. Salty, meaty, and a tang of sweet.
Saigon On Fifth--Spicy rice and fish. Not quite me.
Burger Lounge--A small cheeseburger. No lie, a legit small burger. This is when we figured out that Hillcrest wasn't messing around and that "taste" didn't mean a bite of scrap on a toothpick.
Luna Grill--Slow roasted lamb and well-seasoned chicken. One of my boyfriend's favorites, and holy crap that chicken was incredible.
Fig Tree Cafe--Stuffed French toast. Wow and wow. I've been to the Fig Tree Cafe before and loved it, so this may be a reason to return.
Pink Noodle--Fucking weird. Part Japanese anime, part ancient Indian, part children's paint, and what a weird image (noodles shouldn't be pink). The chow mien wasn't very good either.
Bread & Cie--The kind of place I love and hate their prices. Fresh loaves every day and displayed like buttery heaven invitations. The croissant was tasty and I was appreciative that they gave out water.
Fiesta Cantina-- My favorite place. The chicken leg was good and true, and holy crap I will be ordering that southwest roll again. Best of all, they gave out shot cups of Patron margaritas. Oh yes, I do love food walks.
Edible Arrangements-- Chocolate covered apple slice. My second favorite place due to the huge surprise at how succulent that near dark chocolate was around a well-cut apple slice. Rich, near dripping, perfect. Deserving of sexual imagery.
Ortega's, A Mexican Bistro-- Oh honey, no. The chicken taco tasted like cinnamon, and not in a good way.
EmpireHouse Urban Palate-- Also a miss. Their chicken taco wasn't anything special.
Lotus Cafe and Juice Bar-- Too healthy for my tastes. I liked the grilled bell peppers; the faux chicken, not so much.
Bombay Exotic Cuisine of India-- Definitely went all out. There was a bell dancer, free bindis, an open house of pea/potato samboas, curry, rice, this delicious pudding, alcoholic and non-alcoholic punch, and a movie going on in the background.
The Wine Lover-- Ironically, no wine samples. Instead they had toast with high quality cream cheese on top. I mean, it was ok but most people in line were annoyed.
Whole Foods-- I HATE quinoa. Quinoa is bullshit rice, and tastes like shit too.
Taste of Hillcrest--Noodles and meat sauce I could have made myself.
Eden--Another miss. It was a burger that just didn't...taste like a burger.
Ono Sushi--I don't eat much sushi, but everyone loved the fresh salmon
Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt-- A huge portion and yummy.
Wine Steals-- They had both white and red wine with small pizza slices. A good vibe with only the slighted edge of contrite.
Bamboo Lounge-- Sangria of both white and red. Some Like it Hot was on, and it felt like the kind of trendy/pretty/bar place you don't pick as your first choice but have a good time once you're there.
Einstein's Bagels--Standard turkey sandwiches. Nothing special.
Baby Cakes--I finally made it here! It has such a big reputation for its dessert cocktails so I was super happy to make it 2 minutes before the end of the freebies. Oh yes, they were snobby. But those choco-tinis were delicious.
And I enjoyed the company. The mutual friend was having a great birthday and her shy friend/coworker slowly warmed up after a few drinks and a stuffed stomach. We made plans to go clubbing later and jetted off to our hippy part of town.
Sexy time, and apologizes if I missed your birthday call. I was....busy. Haha. And it was nice, between rounds to talk about things. And things needed to be talked about. I wish we had both got what we wanted this year--good jobs, happy roommate situations, confidence. So what do we do? Because despite the bullshit and the disappointment, yeah, we still do love each other that much. Ya know. It just is. It's something annoying unconditional during the rough patches, but it's honest. And so what do we do? How do we fix this? Should I try to get another internship here? Move to a better place? Will his side jobs with connected people turn into more income? Life and its curve balls. Talking talking, and deliciously not talking and flushed hours later it was time to hit the clubs.
Off to downtown! Admittedly, it's been...well over a year since I clubbed downtown, so this was perfect. It was the mutual friend, the shy friend, plus her roommate, the roommate's friend, and an old friend. In total, 6 girls, plus my boyfriend. They were fun girls, not flashy girls, the kind of girls who take shots in the living room and got their dresses at the local shop on sale, and who have a sort of genuine niceness about them. I liked them and was happy I got to spend my birthday with peeps after all.
Lime was one of those pizza/tequila bars that about 5 weeks away from turning into something else equally as uninteresting. Plus, the pizza sucked which is a egregious error in calling itself a pizza place.
Sway was packed, which was fine with me, and I definitely enjoyed the live drummer who played along with the club mix. It was the kind of place to get one beer and move on, which is basically what happened.
The Hotel Rock Hotel is exactly how you see it on The Real World or Kendra-- tons of douche bags, blue flames coming out of pebble aisle blocks, no doubt some coke being snorted somewhere, and a surprisingly peaceful view of the Convention Center and the Coronado bridge. We stayed there the longest and I sipped on my extra sweet cosmo most of the night and enjoying the sights of the bored pretty people and the enthusiastic guys. We all sort of chilled with cocktails, a 1-hitter, and some dancing like happy fools.
And we can't forget piling into the car for the ride home and drunk talking. "Crack heads tend to do that. [on them stealing tvs]" was at least one thing I said slightly slurred and laughed. A good night, and I do wish I had been able to stay awake for the sunrise but sleep took me under warm sheets and warm skin.
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| Before |
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| after |
And yesterday slipped into a nice afternoon. We slept in late, and I made us chocolate chip pancakes before heading out for my mission. Time to get rid of the ghetto-est phone. I was at AT&T for a solid 45 minutes looking at all of the smart phones, but in the end, the camera capabilities, siri, and video clarity beat the rest, and I'm now the proud owner of the iPhone 4s! [Warning: I may turn into one of those people]
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| My sexy Kate Spade case |
The boyfriend cooked us dinner of spaghetti and chicken as we watched our weekly Anthony Bourdain and Games of Thrones.
All and all, a good birthday. Now if I can get my oil changed, my car insurance changed, and my landlord issues fixed by this week I'll be even more excited for my productive year to come. Hello, 24!
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