Fidel's

Fidel's quickly became my favorite Mexican restaurant in the Encinitas area. Well, it's probably tied with Tony's Jacal which I'm sure I'll share at some point. When my best friend Kandi asked if we wanted to meet for a triple date, we were all for it. Even better is that we were triple dating with my old buddy Jordan and his wife and daughter. Jo and I have been friends since we were 15 years old. We don't get to hang out every weekend like we did when we were younger but when we do get together it's like no time has passed at all.

I'm not a huge drinker but it had been a long day and a Mojito just sounded refreshing. It was humongous {and delicious}

Mmm carne asada taco with black beans and spanish rice. Mouth watering.

Brooklyn showing auntie Kandi her full belly

I've never see a toddler under the age of 2 who likes hot sauce as much as Brooklyn!

"Don't look and maybe they won't come over here."



Fidel's has two locations, one in Solana Beach and one in Carlsbad that is now called Norte. 

You would NOT regret visiting, and gorging yourself on this traditional Mexican cuisine. 

Their chips and salsa alone are worth the trip.
Do any of my San Diego peeps know of any delicious Mexican restaurants I might be unaware of?
I want to try them all.

Julian

Julian is a tiny mountain town in Southern California that is famous for their apple pie. When Brandon and I were first dating we took a day trip to Julian, and we've been going back every year in April.

We've come to Julian every year and taken a picture in this exact spot - 2012

2007

2009 - I didn't say all of the pictures were in focus

Things to do in Julian:

Candy Stores:

Remember cigarette gum?! Had to buy a pack.

Shops: filled with old, pretty things...some that smell nice.

Yummy BBQ: in old barns with checkered table cloths

Pretty streets

and most importantly: Apple Pie and other delicious fattening treats...

I hope we always continue to take day trips to Julian.

We've yet to go in the winter when there is actually snow but I can imagine that could be pretty fun as well.

Happy 5th "Dateversary" Brandon!

The Tale of the Mysterious Poop

Last week Brandon and I went on a mid-week date night to the movies. 

We saw Cabin in the Woods, which is an entirely different story in and of itself. 

We left the movie without speech. Bizarre, is really all I can say about that. 

So we get home and Brandon goes into the bathroom to pee and yells, 

"Looks like someone pooped and forgot to flush."

Umm, excuse me? 

I absolutely did NOT leave any poop in the toilet.

So I reply that clearly it must have been him. 

We get in a debate back and forth, each of us swearing in certainty that it was not us.

Suddenly, I stop and look around our dark house,

and the creeps settle over me in a big way.  

Someone else has pooped in our house while we were out. 

My heart starts to pound as I envision the pooping culprit hiding in the closet.

Has he left poops on our pillows? 

In the guest room?!

 I beg Brandon to flush the enormous poop and be rid of it. 

He flushes. 

It won't go down.

He flushes again.

Still there. 

When I saw it float back out the second time I ran shrieking from the bathroom. 

{We can blame the horror movie we had just watched for my hysteria.}

Brandon goes to look outside and I panic,

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! YOU CAN'T LEAVEEEE"

I plead and beg,

certain that if he leaves the room the pooper will come creeping out of hiding.  

I follow him outside. 

I don't know what we're looking for.

We live in a duplex, and the unit next to us is vacant while the owner finishes repairs. 

We determine that it must be a worker.

Since the house next door is empty, they must not have toilet paper.

So either our landlord gave them a key to our unit, or they broke in.

Either way they pooped, 

thought they had flushed and hidden all evidence,

not realizing it had floated back out to betray their presence.

Brandon gets all upset and decides that he's going to call our landlord 

and confirm that he isn't letting anyone into our home. 

But then we realize how absurd it will sound if he asks us 

"WHY"

we think someone was in our house. 

"Well you see Scott, there was a massive poop in the toilet."

So what do we do?

We set booby traps.

Yes, booby traps. 

Brandon places toothpicks in the front door and the back door

and my job is to make sure they are still sticking out of the doors when I get home from work.

They were.  

But I'm still terrified that he's out there somewhere

watching...

                                   waiting...
                                                                        pooping.

Five Years of Dating Bliss

Mr. Gray-

Today marks five years that we've been together. Actually, if we're being honest, you asked me to be your girlfriend on April 20th, 2007, but when we realized that our anniversary would be 4/20, we switched it to 4/21. Yes, we switched it. I can't wait to spend the afternoon in Julian with you eating apple pie and finding a hiking trail.

I love that when we go out to eat you always give me your tomatoes and broccoli

 {it helps that you hate them). 

I love that at night you allow me to place my freezing cold feet between your warm legs. 

I love that I can be completely "me" when I'm with you. 
 You've never tried to change me,

and there is a sense of peace that comes from that kind of acceptance.

I love that you'll clean my glasses every time I hand them to you.

You're so good at making sure there aren't any smudges. 

I love the way you're made and the way your mind works.

I love you!

Young pip squeaks!-2007

Friday Letters

Dear Husband- you finally found the car you've been searching for. A 1968 red and white Bronco. A part of me is relieved that you will finally have an old car to work on again {it's been a whopping five months since you sold the last one}. Your favorite thing in the world is scouring craigslist and auto forums. In fact, I think you recently snapped off the plastic piece on my car window on purpose, so you could have a part to look for online. 

Dear Disney Movies - the other day I got very nostalgic for all of you. Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Lady & The Tramp, Alice in Wonderland, Lion King, The Little Mermaid {you get the point}. On a whim, I decided I was going to purchase the entire collection of all of them on Amazon. They're old so they'll be like five bucks, right? WRONG. They are each between $28 - $48 dollars. I'm sorry, whaaaat? I didn't buy any.

Dear Instagram friends - I posted a picture of my new sparkly nails (Sally Hansen's Nail Effects) on Instagram and mentioned the one lonely freckle on my palm. Who would have known there were so many others (4 to be exact) with a freckle in the same place. It makes me feel like we are in a special club.

Dear Thursday - you marked day SEVEN in a row where I replaced my regularly enormous lunch with a meal replacement smoothie from Jamba Juice. 100% fruit with added protein to keep me filled up until dinner. While Victoria's Secret will not be asking me to model bikinis anytime soon, I do feel lighter and slightly more energized. 

Dear Readers- I've seen fun Q&A sessions on other blogs and thought I might dare to ask...do you guys have any questions for me? Anything at all? If so, let me know and I'll do a post answering them :-)