Browsing CategorySouthern California

mission trails flowers

You may not know this, but San Diego was in an eight-year drought until last month. Pretty much the entire time I’ve lived here. I can think of periods where it had been months since we had even a sprinkle. Pretty unbelievable if you live somewhere where rain is more commonplace. But this winter was incredibly wet (as I’m writing this in May, it’s raining today). Other than giving me an excuse to buy cute rainboots, one of the perks of a wet winter is what comes in the spring. This photo was taken in Mission Trails, where I love to…

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frances mayes

The entire hour, I was glassy-eyed. I was in the presence of one of my author idols, Frances Mayes. She was doing a book reading at Warwick’s in La Jolla for her new book, See You in the Piazza. After painting Italy with her lilting Georgia accent, she moved toward the book-signing table. She stopped and turned toward the crowd. Her eyes met mine.

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mad hatter's ball

I’ve been staying close to home lately, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t traveled. I recently went down the rabbit hole to a unique experience in Wonderland. I attended The Mad Hatter’s Ball, a zany event where everyone dressed up (Red Queen approved) and we enjoyed a circus performance with the March Hare balancing on chairs, the caterpillar swinging from silks, and the Cheshire Cat doing some flexible acrobatics.

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baja mexico

I am embarrassed to admit this: I could drive to Mexico in 20 minutes from my house…and yet I have only been a handful of times in the nine years I’ve lived in San Diego. My excuses have been many, as you will soon see, but a trip taken with San Diego’s branch of the organization Travel Massive to Valle de Guadalupe in Baja changed my tune completely. Here’s why I put off my trip to Mexico for far too long (and am now kicking myself for waiting):

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