Balboa Park, San Diego

     8:30 on a gloomy Saturday morning found us bouncing along in the back of my parents car. Coming from their house in north Orange County to pick us up in San Clemente, we all made our way down the coast to the Spanish Artists exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park. But first we must stop for breakfast. I'll take any excuse I can get to eat at Claire's on Cedros, a cafe in downtown Solana Beach. It would be a perfect resting point between our house in San Clemente and Balboa Park (of course a one-hour car trip requires a rest stop), not to mention Jordi's parents live in nearby Encinitas and agreed to meet us for a morning cup of organic coffee at the scrumptious and eco-stylish cafe.

     Cedros Street in Solana Beach sits a few blocks back from the ocean; this downtown district is where shops, restaurants and even the train station conglomerate, and of course, it's where Claires on Cedros is located. 

Back Patio at Claire's

     Going to Claire's is an experience, and I think this is why I like coming here for a leisurely breakfast. Walk up the steps and through the front door of this house-turned-cafe, and a kind hostess will put you down for the inevitable wait. But waiting is fine because you can order your cup of coffee early and enjoy it on the porch or walk around the front garden. Once seated, either outside on the back patio or inside the cozy clattering front of the "house", you are presented with a seasonal menu, replete with local food from local farmers, humanely treated animals cooked to tasty perfection, homemade breads, muffins and jams. But the homey building of Claire's itself is as conscious as it's food in regards to "being green". Claire's is Platinum LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - an internationally recognized green building certification system), but you would hardly know it because it just feels cute and comfy. While not obvious, the quirky touches all have their reasons - from the recycled glass in the floor design to the fruit and herbs all over their gardens, every whimsical touch is a conscious decision. With all the eco friendliness, humane animal treating, bike racks in front and recycled everything, you would think it would be crazy hippies serving us in a solar paneled green house, but all this deliberate green translates seamlessly to a welcoming, fun, and most importantly, delicious place to relax with friends and family. 

     After an incredible breakfast, stimulating conversation, and oggling over the treats behind the counter on our way out, we finally were on the road to Balboa Park, ready to be impressed with the Impressionists. 

     An unintentional detour through downtown San Diego and Hillcrest eventually led us to the park. Balboa Park is huge, and there are many entrances and exits on all sides, so it's definitely a good idea to bring a map.  

As we drove towards the Museum of Art, we passed a riveting game of lawn bowling, ladies doing lunges on the grass with their dogs on leashes looking bored, a swarm of teenaged girls dressed up in gold sequined dresses, tour groups and all the other families and people there for a myriad of reasons. If you're ever bored, go people watch at Balboa Park. 

     We found the museum and were able to park about a 5 or 10 minute walk away. Most of the museums at Balboa Park are in one area, the Museum of Art being very prominent at the front of the line-up. The rest of the museums are down a wide and leafy pedestrian walk way, with a fountain at the end. Here you will find the Science Center, Natural History Museum, Museum of Photographic Arts, Casa del Prado, and Casa del Prado Theatre - buildings from the 1915 Pan American Exposition. Throughout the park there is also an aerospace museum, the San Diego Zoo, Japanese gardens, and much much more.

Valencia Beach - Morning Sun

Joaquin Sorolla

Oxen - Study for the Afternoon Sun
Joaquin Sorolla

     We entered the museum - $12 each for an adult ticket - and spent a few hours looking at the paintings. Near the entrance is a coat-check to check your bag (but keep your jacket as it can get cool in the rooms), a fun gift shop, and bathrooms towards the back. There were no water fountains, so I would definitely recommend bringing water and snacks, as walking around a museum for a few hours can be tiring (Jordi was starving by the time we left).
     The main exhibit advertised the works of El Greco to Dali, although I didn't see as much Salvador Dali as I hoped. However, I really enjoyed the Spanish artist Sorolla's work, and posted my and Jordi's favorite (guess which is which ;)). Aside from the special exhibit, they had the usual rooms of Eastern, American and European Art; it was fun to see Monet and Cassatt as well.
    Wandering by a few other museums and gardens on the way back to the car, we then drove somewhere quieter to have a picnic on the grass. However, in this effort we first found ourselves being chuted onto the freeway before we knew it, but we u-turned back into the park. Then we found ourselves in the parking lot of the zoo. This was actually dejavu of a dozen years ago when our family had tried to have a picnic before going to this same exact zoo, and ended up on a patch of grass on the side of the highway across from the zoo. Before that could happen again, I highly suggested we leave the zoo area. After driving all around the park, we finally found the grassy area where we had seen the lunging ladies with bored dogs earlier, and here we unpacked our picnic and relaxed on grass.

With our bellies full of veggie pitas and fresh peaches, we finally set out for the trek home. A great opportunity to see some amazing paintings turned into a fun-filled day with our family, and a chance to do something and go somewhere new. I'll take that chance any day! :)  

Garage Sales

This wasn't even the worst of the downpour! But it got better - 

the sun eventually came out and our neighbor eventually 

moved his truck.

I would pay a dollar for homemade apple cinnamon coffee cake

 and hot fresh coffee in the rain. Apparently everyone else would 

only like to take it for free. "Can I just have a little bit of coffee?"

     Sometimes an explorer must lighten his or her load in order to more effectively wander. After weeks of deep house cleaning, I accumulated bags of Stuff to get rid of. My husband and I went through our closets, the garage and kitchen - making a good solid pile of unnecessary, unused or overused items. While not exactly "fun", weeding through my things did make me reevaluate what I own, and feel confident about everything that made the cut. When we lived in Redondo Beach, our street had a center divider where everyone put their bags of clothes, couches, bikes, washing machines, etc - and someone would usually pick it up. I loved this method because I could put something out and know if and when someone grabbed it. For instance, I finally put my cute albeit old and broken beach cruiser out there, and was happy to see my neighbor riding around on it just a few hours later. He didn't care that the chain fell off every few minutes, and I was glad to see him enjoy it. But that gets missed when you drop off your stuff at a thrift store; it's stuff you supposedly don't want, but still - you want someone to want it! This is why I decided to have a garage sale. If we didn't have a center divider, at least we could try to sell some of our things to good homes, and then give away the rest to oblivion.
     Extremely hot weather this week, and the fact that Jordi would be around on Saturday, prompted me to plan the sale for this weekend. We made signs, recruited other people's old stuff, and made coffee and coffee cake to sell as well.
    Early Saturday morning brought cold winds and ominous clouds. As soon as we finished loading our things onto the driveway, we heard rattling thunder, and the clouds turned into angry bursts of rain. RAIN??!! Really?? Come on! And not sprinkling - fat and fast pellets. Yes, while it was almost too hot to sit at the beach two days ago, I was now wearing my Uggs, soaking and freezing. Unfortunately neither vengeance, passive aggression nor any other methods work in revenging the weather, although I was racking my brain trying to think of something as we pulled our stuff from the driveway into the carport area.
    Luckily we have a carport, and were able to squish all our stuff back there. A few times throughout the morning the thunder came roaring the the rain came pounding. I hardly see it rain that hard in the winter! Apparently there was even hail in some parts of the town. I could not believe that hot weather could turn into this without any warning - these thundershowers weren't on the news or forecasts, no one expected them! Plus, there's nothing I like better than being cozy in bed at 6 a.m. during a good rain. But I was not in bed. I was standing in the middle of it, quite miserably, way too early on a Saturday morning. While Jordi thought it was hilarious, I thought I would cry, but we both shivered and sat through it. We were not going to give up - not after all the work of putting up signs, making coffeecake, and going through our closets the night before!
     When the rain subsided, people did venture over. Not one single person actually bought the coffee or coffee cake, so I was giving it away. The number one thing about garage sales that makes me mad is that although almost everything at a sale is a good deal, some people will go through everything asking to pay half of whatever I say - this is not only annoying, but rude. There are some things that we just want to get rid of no matter what, but there are other things that I would rather keep than sell to an ungrateful bargain hunter, and it can feel quite demeaning not to mention depressing to deal with some of these garage-salers. There's also the great garage-salers who take piles of the most random stuff and seem glad to do it, pay the asking price, or at least are polite in asking for something lower.
     At the end of the day, we made $100 exactly, and still had a good amount to take to the thrift store. Getting rid of our stuff was good, and $100 is nice, but I still have a distinct notion that I never, ever ever want to have another garage sale. Especially during a freak thunderstorm.
     I'm not sure what another option would be - but I would rather give my things to people who will appreciate them than auction them off to the lowest bidder. What are your garage sale experiences and is having a sale worth it to you? Besides a garage sale or thrift store, what are other options?

Music Under the Stars

In a last minute, last ditch attempt to have a date on a Saturday night, after a long and hectic week, we were scouring our brains and the internet for something of interest. Through word of mouth, we stumbled upon something - a concert series at the Mission in San Juan Capistrano called Music Under the Stars, that happens on Saturdays throughout the summer. We couldn't get too much information off the internet, so we decided to just go over there and check it out.

    We hurriedly put together a ramshackle picnic consisting of half a bottle of wine and the crumbs of a bag of chips - it was the end of the week and we were obviously not prepared for a picnic. Anyways, we grabbed a blanket as well, and ran out the door. As we screeched up to the Mission an hour after the festivities had started, I ran up to the window and asked if there were any more tickets. There were, just lawn seating though. "That's fine, how much is it?" $25 a piece! I was a bit dismayed at this news - $50 for us to go sit on the grass? But I love the big Mission, and I could see through the gate to the magical lights and beautiful gardens, and hear the fun music inside. Besides, it would be the same cost if not less, than dinner and a movie - and it would be something new. So we decided to go for it. Walking in through the gardens into the lights and music,  I was instantly glad about our decision.

     For those of you who have never been to the Mission in San Juan Capistrano, it's one of the biggest and most beautiful missions I've ever seen. A huge plaza, brick walls showing through the cracked stucco, archways, rose gardens and fountains - it makes me wish I lived in an hacienda back in the day, with fresh tortillas and fiestas and chickens running around. But for that nights festivities it was the summer fresh watermelon, a steel drum band, and older people dancing around.

     I don't know where the people our age were, but they were not at this concert. Which is too bad, because along with the fun ambiance, the music was awesome and the dancing (by the professional dancers) was impressive. The dancing by the rest of the generation or two above us was pretty zealous and entertaining. During an intermission, we ended up running to a taco stand in a strip mall across the street (old chips and wine apparently did not suffice), bringing it back to enjoy with the second half of the show. Eating our picnic of the most delicious albeit lardy Mexican food ever, listening to reggae, watching the dancing, and exploring the mission - all under a balmy summer evening - was a fantastic way to spend an impromptu date night.

     Although there is only one more Music Under the Stars concert this summer, I definitely encourage you to go - if not Saturday, September 3 then next summer! If you buy tickets early enough, you can get a group of friends together and split the cost of a table. It can be a great deal for a talented concert in the Mission Plaza, with your friends and a fancy picnic. Of course, cheap Mexican food and lawn seating is pretty good too!