SHOP LOVE: VIGNETTES | SAN DIEGO

If you're the Antiquing type you'll love strolling down Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. Personally, it's not my thing but I do love to decorate my imaginary house with grand, unique pieces. My parlor is now filled with french antique inspired decor from Vignettes :)

Visit Vignettes while you're down in OB and get a little taste of the french shabby chic style in Cali!

VignettesAntiques

SAN DIEGO | SIGHTS YOU CAN'T MISS.

If you know anything about me at all, then you know I am visually stimulated person. Hence why I am such a fashion magazine addict: can't get enough pretty pictures!! (My life is dumb) Same thing goes while traveling: gimme a nice sight and I'm happy. Here are two picturesque places that you can't miss seeing while in San Diego:

Balboa Park, San Diego's cultural hub. This place is HUGE! Bigger than Central Park in Manhattan. It houses 15 museums, an Imax theatre, beautiful gardens, restaurants and the San Diego Zoo. My favorite thing to do here was to walk around checking out the Spanish Renaissance and Spanish Pueblo style buildings (which is FREE to do).

Bonus Points! Space Invader sighting at La Jolla Cove.

La Jolla Cove, what a treasure spot! It was funny seeing seals sunbathe along with everyone else. There's no way you'll catch me in that water though- where there are seals, there are sharks! <-- Not based on scientific proof, just my paranoid deductions. --UPDATE: I just read the official site for LJC, and there are INDEED leopard sharks in there!.... occasionally.-- It was an easy 20 minute ride from our downtown hotel. Plenty of restaurants and shops around to keep busy after the beach!

STYLE BOARD | SAN DIEGO

While traveling, I'm always on the lookout for local style trends. The peeps of SD have a pretty laid-back style as a whole. At the beach, when it was cloudy and chilly, I spotted a trend of girls wearing different combos of long skirts and sweater. They were usually studying while checking out the surfers. 

Three words to describe San Diego style: Easy, Beachy, Sporty.

Pack accordingly. 

SAN DIEGO | OUTDOOR ADVENTURES.

Are you an outdoorsy type? Me neither. Even so, you gotta go hiking at least once in San Diego. The are so many mountains to choose from and they all have amazing views. Whether you'd like to hike for leisure or hike for a workout, San Diego's gotcha covered. I mean, let's be real, you could use the exercise- TAKE A HIKE!

SAN DIEGO | LAIDBACK RESTAURANTS.

Lunch: Taco Surf! Mexican. Come here after a chill session at Pacific Beach.

Breakfast: Snooze! American. I will tell my grand children about this breakfast one day.

Dinner: Craft & Commerce. American. We ate 'til we could see no more. It too much, but it was too good. Very cliched hipster gastropub. Don't let that scare you away, it was cool inside! I promise the food wont annoy you! At the end of the night, our check came in a moleskin pad (I told you it was a hipster cliche!) and customers left notes and drawings for memories sake. Weird thing about this place: NO VODKA. NO KETCHUP.

Get SCHOOLED on "taste" at Craft & Commerce.




 


Brunch (& Dinner!): Searsucker. American. We came try the brunch menu- AHHHMAZING. And we liked it so much, we decided to come back for dinner- AHHHHMAZINGER. Downside- it's pricey. Spent our last pennies here. Worth it.


For detailed reviews and other bites I had in San Diego, check out my Yelp page!

*These are the top picks based on my full restaurant experience: Good Food, Good Service, Good Ambiance, Fair Price. 

SAN DIEGO | BITS + BASICS.

Ahh, the beachy city of San Diego. You're going to have a hella good time in SD, guaranteed! It has everything needed for any kind of fun: Beach? check. City? check. Mountains? check. Before you go off chillin, partying and hiking, read these bits of basics based on my experience:

Weather:
- San Diego has awesome weather! Mostly sunny and breezy days year round, chilly at night. Plenty of good hair days here, thanks to low humidity. It gets really foggy at the beach though which can be a bummer, but don't skip that sunblock! You'll burn anyways. Best time to go: Spring.

Getting Around:
-Traffic sucks. San Diego spreads wide and you'll be doing quite a bit of driving. Avoid it during rush hours or you'll get infuriatingly acquainted with Cali traffic. Public transportation is limited, consisting of buses and trolleys downtown. I highly suggest renting a car and GPSing your way around.

Where To Stay:
-We stayed at the Motel 6 Downtown- it was a jackpot! I chose this place because it was the cheapest and looked the cleanest via Kayak. It was a few blocks away from the Gaslamp Quarter- nightlife and restaurant mecca of SD. It was also near the I-5, which we hoped in and out of to get to the beach, shopping, mountains... Great location, safe neighborhood, indeed clean. Super recommended.

What To Pack:
-Girls, you can skip this section. You're going to pack your entire lifetime anyways butttttt if you wanna hear me out: Pack light. SD is a pretty laidback styled city (See the Style Board). Like I said, it's sunny so you'll probably wear shorts and a top most of the days but it gets really chilly as the sun goes down so, definitely bring a scarf you can wear as a shawl, a jacket and jeans. Also, pack tennis shoes and clothes you don't mind getting sweaty in! You'll need them to go hiking at the beautiful, beach-view mountains.

Cost of Living:
-Hella expensive. So choose wisely where you spend your money on! There was NO shopping for me here and all the activities we did were FREE (meaning we never paid an entry or cover charge).We spent all our touring bucks on FOOD! GOOOOOD FOOD!