Spring Break Road Trip 2016 - Day 4 Highlights

Taskmaster that I am, we were out of the hotel by 7am...

So we could snag a prime parking spot...

Spring Break Road Trip 2016 - Day 3 Highlights

Morning coffee was in order...

A ten minute walk encompassing the five blocks from our hotel to downtown was all it took...

Spring Break Road Trip 2016 - Day 2 Highlights

Even though I was so tired, I still woke up super early!  We had things to do, places to visit. Chop! Chop!

(the scene at our super cute French inspired hotel's cafe counter)

After enjoying a few mini crepes at the hotel, we were ready to get going...

Spring Break Road Trip 2016 - Day 1 Highlights

Although Spring Break began after the 18th, we didn't leave for our trip until the day after Easter...
at the ungodly hour of 3 am!

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

There was on last stop that was on our list since "we were in the area"...

I've heard so much about Jeni's Ice Cream so of course we had to try it...

Return to Por Vida

Last weekend we revisited Por Vida...

this time with our daughter...

Seafood Friday #7 Bun with Shrimp @ Pho Hung Calli

TC and I were out doing errands this morning. I had my hair touched up (respiked on the left side) from my hairstylist, then it was off to the west side of CV to look for a formal dress for TC.  She got asked to another school's prom from a youth group friend.

Since we were in the area, instead of going to Cali Baguette, our "go-to" Vietnamese eatery in west CV, we tried a place we hadn't been to before...

Glow mural @ the One-Ten Liquor Store next to the Palm Reader

On the way home from an outing with TC, we took the long way home to get away from traffic.

From the 5, I took the Main Street exit so I could get on National City Blvd where we passed by the iconic Palm Reader sign (in the 70's and 80's the sign had an eyeball on it instead of a planet)...

Tipps Thai Cuisine

We figured we were on one of the main streets, we would have dinner someover over here...

That somewhere happened to be across the street...

Ventura Pier, mermen ornaments, buildings and more

Our way down to Ventura was quite nice. No traffic and decent weather all around.

There were some foggy patches though...

but we made it to Ventura intact...

The Granada Theater

Our lunch at Renaud's hit the spot so we set out to take a stroll on State Street...

and take a closer look at the Granada Theater...

Pappalecco, Kensington

It was the morning of visiting new places...

From the very new Imperial Grounds Coffee to the newly opened Pappalecco over in Kensington...

we were excited by the new additions to San Diego's neighborhoods...

Imperial Grounds Coffee

Earlier this morning we made our way to the neighborhood of Grant Hill...

I saw online that there was a new coffee shop in town...

aptly named Imperial Grounds since it was located on Imperial Avenue...

10 Year Blogaversary!

It's been this long folks...

(formed by Belly Flops Jelly Belly jelly beans, aka "the ugly mutants no one wants so they sell them separately under a different name")

A damn decade, or as Paul Spericki would have said...

Blue Bottle Coffee, Echo Park

A few steps away from Woodcat Coffee Bar was yet another coffee place...

We'd been to the Blue Bottle in SF before; the Echo Park location is their outpost in Southern California...

It's been awhile...Bean Bar and Bake Sale revisits

[Update - Bake Sale closed Spring 2017]

It's been more than a year...

and we still remembered how great the coffee was at Bean Bar in the East Village.

During a recent morning date, we made sure to stop by once again...

Farmer's Market + Surf Market, Gualala

I keep switching back and forth from our Summer 2014 trip to our 2015; this one is from 2015. Our next destination north from having breakfast at the Sea Ranch was a small town called Gualala.

If you blink while driving through, you might miss it.

It's a pretty small town, but we made sure to stop by. Lucky for us, it was also the same day as their Farmer's Market...

Seafood Friday #6 - Sushi House + dessert from Nestle Toll House

The day I was waiting for, the day that I go on Spring Break!

I was getting so antsy and now it's here...it's here (insert maniacal laughter).

Bert and I had some time to kill since TC was still at track practice so we went to Sushi House on Telegraph...

El Nuevo Carrito

Next door to Por Vida is a restaurant that used to be called El Carrito...

Since it is under new management, it is now called El Nuevo Carrito Restaurant and is housed in a vintage streetcar complete with a kitchen inside...

Renaud's Patisserie

It was quite a warm and lovely day in Santa Barbara...

Fresh from obtaning a boxful of treats from Spudnuts and Bagels, we headed over to State Street for lunch...

Por Vida

Last month Bert and I went to check out a new coffee shop in Barrio Logan...

which has been experiencing a resurgence with many art galleries and eateries within steps of each other.

Spudnuts & Bagels

All that ostrich and emu feeding was tiring, ha ha.  We headed south to Santa Barbara for lunch...

but first, we stopped by here for some donuts of the potato persuasion...

Summer Road Trip 2014 Day 5 - Ostrich Land USA, Solvang

The fifth day of our Central Coast summer trip took us south to Solvang...

No, we weren't here to see the town. Been there and done that. Plus old people galore.

No, we were here to stop at a roadside attraction that was definitely on the quirky (dare I say tourist-trappy) side...

Cotija's, Santee

With my one lone blueberry filledpowdered donut in tow, breakfast was just up the street...

literally a few steps away from the original Mary's Donuts...

Out with the old (not quite) and in with the new! Mary's Donuts

Bert showed me a video posted last night of the opening of the new Mary's Donuts...

For old time's sake, we visited the old location first (it's actually still open)...

Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab, Arroyo Grande

In the Central Coast, there are three Doc Burnstein's locations: San Luis Obispo, Orcutt and here, in Arroyo Grande...

In fact, this location is the flagship store and it is located in their charming downtown business district...

Downtown Arroyo Grande

Arroyo Grande's main street is East Branch Street...

where there are many old buildings housing mom and pop businesses, eateries, and cute shops...

Seafood Friday # 5 - Cotija's fish & shrimp tacos

Welcome to another installment of Seafood Friday..

This time, featuring tacos from Cotija's....

Arroyo Grande Bridge

Finally, we were here...

A small coastal town in San Luis Obispo County...Did you know this is the hometown of pretty boy Zac Efron?  Well, now you do! Onward...

Windmill Farms

Just before hitting the town of Arroyo Grande, we went here first...

it's a farm on the outskirts of Arroyo Grande, near the Nipomo border. You can see the giant rooster off the 101 freeway.

(pay no attention to the craptastic window glare)

The place is called Windmill Farms and I just HAD to see that giant rooster up close...

Animals and ice cream at the Avila Valley Barn

We were tired from the beach and it was time to have some lunch...

as well as snacks. We went to a place nearby that was recommended by Astroboi...

Return to Aroma Thai

Don't you just love this drive by shot....

which was taken by TC. The last time I was here, it was night time so this time, we could enjoy it during daylight hours...

Denny's, Roseville

The kids were still amped from the concert...

They were also hungry but we chose to go to the Denny's that was farther away from the SoMa...

Avila Beach Pier

Just look at this beach...

it was one of the most pristine beaches we'd ever seen...

Graciela's Taco Shop

There's a new taco shop in Bonita next to the Post Office. This is also in the same shopping center that has Hans and Harry Bakery.

The taco shop took the place of one of those failed "prep your own dinner" places that was popular in the mid 2000's.  You paid a certain fee and the business provided the kitchen and the ingredients. Well that didn't last long...

Late last year, I noticed Graciela's had appeared out of nowhere...

TJOB #2

I was recently here with a few friends for lunch...

We were all up for mariscos...

Summer Road Trip 2014 Day 4: Avila Beach, the VoG & Hula Hut

Finally, a return to our Summer Road trip from nearly two years ago...

We left our hotel to head over to Avila Beach, which is a tiny bit south of Pismo beach.

Even though there was fog along the coast, it eventually burned off by the time we arrived...

A quartet of bakeries - Los Pollos Cuban, Hogetsu, Papa Luna's & 85c

This post is a compilation of a few places where I had baked goods...

at places that aren't quite traditional bakeries. The first is a fairly new place in East CV...

Seafood Friday Week 4 - Breaded Shrimp & Oysters

I went over to Seafood City after work to see if I could rustle up something for dinner

walked out with these...

My parents' garden, a homecooked lunch & crispy banana lumpia

TC and I visited my parents over the weekend.

My dad was happy to show my their garden's latest progress...

Filipino Food & Bakery revisit

[Update - Closed as of last year. :( ]

Earlier this year, I met with with a few educator friends for a planning conference...

which was held at a Filipino eatery on the edge of Barrio Logan.