San Diego, here I come!
Last weekend I visited my dear friend SL in San Diego, staying over from Friday night to Sunday night. She suggested I leave at around 9:00 Friday night to beat the traffic—worked like a charm! I’d never seen her house before, and I was glad I was seeing it for the first time at night, with the candles and the Christmas lights she had going. Beautiful! We talked for awhile, catching up, and I showed her my latest painting (on my laptop).
Saturday we went to the December Nights festival in Balboa Park. Dork that I am, I brought my camera, but did not take one single picture...I don’t know why. There were colored lights everywhere, which contributed significantly to the giddiness of my mood. Coffee and Kahlua also contributed significantly. There was a fenced-off section for adults only—there were different kiosks that sold alcoholic drinks from around the world: coffee & Kahlua or tequila, glögg, pisco...it’s good to be over 21! Everyone was contentedly enjoying their beverages on a cold night. We wanted to hear the old Spreckels pipe organ, but they had played it the night before. We wandered around, with her showing me the gorgeous Spanish architecture of the buildings, all lit from beneath. We went into the Mingei museum, which had exhibits of wooden sculpture (which you really have to touch in order to fully experience it) and of ornate metal jewelry from North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Some of the pieces inspired me for both painting ideas and design elements for graphics. We also hit the Museum of Art, in which we went through labyrinths of galleries, one upon the other. Much of the work was also so very inspiring, especially the portraits. Incredible work!! Then we realized we were starving and had gyros (I was a gyro virgin!), and were going to get a funnel cake (also a funnel cake virgin!), but they were sold out, and didn’t notify the multitudes of us that were in line for seven years waiting. I remain a funnel cake virgin. After the festival we wound up at Clair de Lune, a fantastic coffee house. We walked in and it turns out a drumming circle was playing! Yeah, baby! We stayed till they finished the set. I so could not sit still! Actually, since I play djembe, I noticed the technical prowess with which the soloists played, which was pretty amazing for me. I felt like a real musician...Driving home we listened to techno and Indian dance music, laughing our asses off, cutting up.
Sunday we went to a brunch at SL’s friend Amy’s house. I also met another Gina, another of SL’s friends. Amy, who has the best 1920’s-built house in the world, was hosting a party for Mano Imports, an import company that sells one-of-a-kind handmade items from Central & South America. Clothing, scarves, wood carvings, placemats & napkins, wallets, pouches, etc. I bought a wooden horse and a wooden turtle. Had some great conversations with Amy, who’s also an artist, and does lovely work, and with some other ladies. We had brought champagne and orange juice for mimosas, which turned out to be very popular (and yes, I was a mimosa virgin, too...). After the brunch, we went to Pat’s, a funky antique store that was full of finds. I bought a couple of mini-cabinets (the kind you store jewelry in) to paint and make into art pieces. Later on, we went out for dinner to an excellent Chinese restaurant in downtown San Diego, called Panda Inn. SL really wanted me to try the Honey Shrimp with Walnuts, or Shrimp Heaven. Having an infamous allergy to all things tree nut, I had to taste the ones that had not touched the walnut garnish. I’m not a huge shrimp fan, usually, but she was right. It was Shrimp Heaven. After dinner, we went back to the house and talked until about 10:00. Then I drank boatloads of coffee for the road and drove home, completely high from the previous two days.
Mini vacations. I highly recommend them.
Saturday we went to the December Nights festival in Balboa Park. Dork that I am, I brought my camera, but did not take one single picture...I don’t know why. There were colored lights everywhere, which contributed significantly to the giddiness of my mood. Coffee and Kahlua also contributed significantly. There was a fenced-off section for adults only—there were different kiosks that sold alcoholic drinks from around the world: coffee & Kahlua or tequila, glögg, pisco...it’s good to be over 21! Everyone was contentedly enjoying their beverages on a cold night. We wanted to hear the old Spreckels pipe organ, but they had played it the night before. We wandered around, with her showing me the gorgeous Spanish architecture of the buildings, all lit from beneath. We went into the Mingei museum, which had exhibits of wooden sculpture (which you really have to touch in order to fully experience it) and of ornate metal jewelry from North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Some of the pieces inspired me for both painting ideas and design elements for graphics. We also hit the Museum of Art, in which we went through labyrinths of galleries, one upon the other. Much of the work was also so very inspiring, especially the portraits. Incredible work!! Then we realized we were starving and had gyros (I was a gyro virgin!), and were going to get a funnel cake (also a funnel cake virgin!), but they were sold out, and didn’t notify the multitudes of us that were in line for seven years waiting. I remain a funnel cake virgin. After the festival we wound up at Clair de Lune, a fantastic coffee house. We walked in and it turns out a drumming circle was playing! Yeah, baby! We stayed till they finished the set. I so could not sit still! Actually, since I play djembe, I noticed the technical prowess with which the soloists played, which was pretty amazing for me. I felt like a real musician...Driving home we listened to techno and Indian dance music, laughing our asses off, cutting up.
Sunday we went to a brunch at SL’s friend Amy’s house. I also met another Gina, another of SL’s friends. Amy, who has the best 1920’s-built house in the world, was hosting a party for Mano Imports, an import company that sells one-of-a-kind handmade items from Central & South America. Clothing, scarves, wood carvings, placemats & napkins, wallets, pouches, etc. I bought a wooden horse and a wooden turtle. Had some great conversations with Amy, who’s also an artist, and does lovely work, and with some other ladies. We had brought champagne and orange juice for mimosas, which turned out to be very popular (and yes, I was a mimosa virgin, too...). After the brunch, we went to Pat’s, a funky antique store that was full of finds. I bought a couple of mini-cabinets (the kind you store jewelry in) to paint and make into art pieces. Later on, we went out for dinner to an excellent Chinese restaurant in downtown San Diego, called Panda Inn. SL really wanted me to try the Honey Shrimp with Walnuts, or Shrimp Heaven. Having an infamous allergy to all things tree nut, I had to taste the ones that had not touched the walnut garnish. I’m not a huge shrimp fan, usually, but she was right. It was Shrimp Heaven. After dinner, we went back to the house and talked until about 10:00. Then I drank boatloads of coffee for the road and drove home, completely high from the previous two days.
Mini vacations. I highly recommend them.
Comments
It's so weird: funnel cake has been on my mind, only because of this: recently I saw some show or movie where there's a father and pre-teen or teen kid, and they're at a fair, and the kid is asking about something the father doesn't want to talk about. He keeps responding with, "how 'bout some funnel cake?" "Have some funnel cake!" "Funnel cake?" And finally the kid's exasperated and shouts, "I don't want any funnel cake!"
I cannot remember where I saw this scene and it's driving me batty!