Tuesday, August 23, 2011

New 52 | Week 34: Coronado Sun Deck Dinner

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Eating a hot dog on a summer evening on the Sun Deck of the Hotel Del Coronado has been on our Summer To-Do List for two summers now.  We finally got the chance to go last Wednesday.  We were both working from home due to the jacuzzi guy coming over to fix our jacuzzi, so we were able to leave for Coronado around 5:30PM and enjoy the summer scenery at the beach. 

Crossing the Coronado Bridge is always so scenic.  I love looking back at San Diego, especially in the golden light of late afternoon.

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Arriving at the Hotel Del Coronado, I saw the opportunity to take this quintessential San Diego photo.  So cool!

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The Hotel Del in all its glory.

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Lately we’ve been having some very good parking karma.  We found this space on the street right at the hotel!  This is unheard of during summer/tourist season!

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Walking towards the beach & sun desk of the hotel.  This view never gets old.

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We found a table overlooking the beach and ocean.

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The Sun Deck Bar. 

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Todd walked around the took some photos of the pool.

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A self-portrait with my little Canon on the table, stabilized by a napkin!

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Our quest was to eat a hot dog on the Sun Deck, ever since we moved here!  But alas, their summer menu is Mexican-inspired food and the hot dog was not in the mix.  Maybe we’ll have to come back in the fall for the hot dog!  Instead, we had chips, salsa, guacamole, grilled tilapia with corn fritters, and chorizo taquitos.

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More views of the beach.  I love this time of day for photos.

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After dinner, it was dusk.  The hotel takes on a new light, but still so beautiful as the sun sets.

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We could not leave without a visit to our favorite creamery in San Diego, Moo Time Creamery.

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Driving back to San Diego across the bridge, with a night view of San Diego. 

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This long-awaited first dinner on the Sun Deck of the Hotel Del Coronado did not disappoint at all!  It was a fantastic experience, one that I want to repeat again.  Next time with a Hotel Del hot dog.  :D

 

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.
Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the link list below. 

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

First Open Water Swim This Year

Some of you have been reading my blog for a while, so you know that Todd completed his first triathlon last September, the San Diego Triathlon Classic. Next month he will be competing in the San Diego Triathlon Classic again. This tri is Olympic distance, which means it's 1500M (0.93 mile) swim, 40K (24.85 mile) bike, and 10K (6.21 mile) run. Todd has been training for it all year. He has been faithfully swimming, biking, and running. The last two months he's had a myriad of injuries to his quad muscle, his ankle, and his calf muscle that has set back his training schedule. But he is recovering and is back on track.

Friday night was his first open water ocean swim at La Jolla Cove this year.  He had been swimming at the YMCA by our house.


I always go with him and watch him like a hawk, just for my own peace of mind. I cannot fathom swimming in the deep dark ocean that far out, I'm so in awe of him.

Got his new Xterra wetsuit on. About to put his wax earplugs in.

Some friends have asked why people wear wetsuits to swim in the ocean in San Diego. Because the SUMMER ocean water temperature tops out at around 70 degrees. That's cold! As a comparison, the pool temperature at the YMCA is between 80-85 degrees.

Off to the ocean with a small group of swimmers.


Down the steps.




Almost to the ocean.


Looking back at me with a big smile.  I remember how his first-ever ocean swim went last year.  He's got so much more swimming experience under his belt now.  Stronger, faster, and more used to swimming in the open water, which is a completely different animal than swimming in a pool.




The first steps into the ocean is the toughest.  The water is cold.


And off he went.  In the next three photos, I've circled him in orange.






I followed him with my eye while I walked up the coast.  I also saw lots of birds and sea lions.


A mere 16 minutes and half a mile later, he came out of the water.  It's funny because I actually didn't see him come out of the water until he was on the stairs.  But I took this photo with my camera and apparently my camera saw him when I didn't.


I was relieved to see Todd coming back up the stairs.


So very proud of him.


We went to Porkyland, where he ate a burrito.  A well-deserved burrito.
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Chronicles of Scaredy Cat

On Wednesday Todd and I worked from home because the jacuzzi fixing guy was coming. We hadn't used our jacuzzi in a few years. We finally decided we want to get the jacuzzi serviced so we could start using it again. We also bought a new, better-fitting cover for it, so hopefully this time it will be more energy efficient. Anyways, the point is that the jacuzzi guy was coming.

When Andy the Jacuzzi Guy arrived in the backyard, Noodle ran off his perch and went hiding on the stairs. Poor thing. He was so scared of intruders in the backyard!

Noodle hid on the top of the staircase so he could survey what's going on.





Remember a few weeks ago I told you how he jumped down from the landing on top of the stairs to the tile floor below?  The big orange arrow shows his trajectory.  So I outsmarted him and now I've got a baby gate up there so he can't jump down anymore.


Noodle stayed up there the whole time that Andy the Jacuzzi Guy was here. Miraculously, two minutes after Andy left, Noodle appeared in the kitchen area again, eating his food. Poor scaredy cat.
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Friday, August 19, 2011

Project Life | July 30th to August 12th

Aha! Finally this Project Life post will catch up to last Friday and I'll be all current. Hopefully I'll scrap this week's Project Life pages this weekend and stay current for a while.


July 30th to August 5th



We went running at Harbor Island and went to Point Loma Seafoods for lunch afterwards.  The Asian Food Club had its 6th and final meeting at Siam Nara for some great Thai food. 


We got invited to the Smashburger grand-opening party in our neighborhood, with free food!  We invited Anne and Gilbert to go with us and enjoy the food and conversation together.


Supplies used:
Rolodex card
Martha Stewart Crafts | Dear World Travel stamps
Elle's Studio | Ledger Love Notes (digital)
Elle's Studio | Everyday Striped Journaling Tags (digital)


August 6th to August 12th



We went to the Little Italy Mercato (farmer's market) for the first time, and it was awesome!  It's our favorite farmer's market in San Diego. 

The left journal card is one from the Project Life - Amber kit.  I typed out the journaling in Photoshop and printed it out on my printer through the rear tray.  Works like a charm. 

I stamped on these journal cards first.  The right journal card was stamped after stamping the left card, without adding more ink.  I thought it would be faded enough to print on it in green and the text would show okay, but it's kind of light.  I was too lazy to re-stamp and print it, ha ha.


More photos from Little Italy Mercato, plus a flyer from JR Organics for their Community Supported Agriculture program.


Monika and David came over for dinner.  We also had homemade chocolate raspberry ice cream.  We went to Phil's BBQ for the first time in weeks.


For the journaling, I knew I wanted to put these tickets on the left, so I created a 3.75x3.75 journaling spot on a 4x6 canvas in Photoshop.  Then I just printed it out and attached the tickets.


I printed on an Elle's Studio tag called "Lil' Snippets:  Summer".


Todd got a new popcorn bowl, after using his old one for 20 years.  We made peach ice cream and brought it to dinner at Pete and Cassandra's house.  I made Crunchy Asian Broccoli Slaw, one of our favorite salads.


Supplies used:
Basic Grey | Farmer's Market Stamps
Elle's Studio | Lil' Snippets: Beach
Elle's Studio | Lil' Snippets: Summer
Jenni Bowlin | NAME DATE PLACE Ticket Embellishment
Kerri Bradford Studio | This and That: Gratitude (digital)
American Crafts | 4x6 Cardstock in white
Hero Arts | Tiny Classic Letter Alphabet Stamps
K & Co | SMASH Tabs
RASDESIGN | Mari & David font
Microsoft | Courier New font
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