This is why we moved to San Diego

This weekend reminded me exactly why we chose San Diego over any other location in America!  While most of America is buried in a frozen block of ice, this is how we spent out weekend:

A manicure for me and a massage for the man. (We highly recommend Indigo Salon if you're near Hillcrest)

A few hours at Balboa park, searching for, finding, and being disappointed in the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival.  Long lines, an entrance fee and not so many blooming trees was completely disappointing, we skipped it!

Watching planes land is one of my favorite things to do in this city.

Lunch at a funky little bar

 with great menus (and great food)

Exploring Hillcrest, one of my favorite neighborhood here.

 and last but not least, we spent an entire day lounging at Ocean Beach with most of San Diego.

I miss my family every single day but these 80 degree days in March make it just a little easier to bear!

Hope {Nozomi}

3 years ago exactly (at the time of this post) my world changed forever.  I was home alone in our house in Japan when the ground started shaking.  I assumed it would be like all the rest, causing brief pause, then I would go about my day.  I had just returned from an outing with some of my Japanese friends and was working on a blog post.  I remember like it was just yesterday.  You can read some of my posts here and here and here and here.  The days immediately following were chaotic, confusing, alarming, stressful, the list goes on. My emotions pale in comparison to those who lived near the epicenter and in the path of the tsunami.  After months spent in that area after the event with All Hands and on mission trips, I still cannot begin to grasp the fear and despair that ripped through the area.

While it is important to remember to remember the past, it is also crucial to have hope in the future.  On one of my many trips to Tohoku I had the great pleasure of working with a group of women on the Nozomi Project.  Today, while remembering the past, I'm also finding hope in the future.  Hope I see in those who sacrifice(d) their time, money and talents to help the people of Japan heal.

This Week's Eats {a link up}

More catastrophic fails sticking to the plan last week but that's the past.  We're moving forward with a positive attitude this week.

Sunday: takeout on the beach, soaking up the last bits of a warm weekend!
Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch mac & cheese
Tuesday: French bread pizza (the perfect way to use the other half of a loaf used for garlic bread over the weekend)
Wednesday: Our favorite Crockpot tacos
Thursday: Chicken Salsa Enchiladas
Friday: French Onion soup and paninis

What are you eating this week?

Blate Recap

This weekend we had another San Diego military spouse blogger meet up (geez, that's a mouth full).  The weather didn't exactly cooperate and our event wasn't exactly the best photo opportunity so there aren't many photos to show of the day but that doesn't mean we didn't have a great time.

We were originally going to spend some time walking around the old NTC grounds in Point Loma, learning a thing or two about our DSLR's and taking some great photographs but Mother Nature had a different idea.  We had our first rain in months this weekend so instead of walking around we hunkered down at Panera and planned some fun events for the future.

From there we headed to Slater's 50/50, a local burger joint that creates burgers that are half beef and half bacon, hence the 50/50 part of their name.  They had lots of yummy appetizers so we ordered quite a few to share.  I ended up eating so many fried pickles that I couldn't finish my turkey burger (yes, the girl that chose the restaurant, me, doesn't eat beef or pork so I stuck to my turkey burger but I heard the 50/50 was pretty tasty).

Elizabeth snapped this gem while we were waiting for a table and somehow, it ended up being the only group shot of the day!

 From there, we headed over to European Wax.  You see, a few weeks ago, I went to get my eyebrows waxed and dropped my name into a drawing for a "wax party".  I didn't really know what a wax party was but I figured it couldn't hurt.  Low and behold, I won.  The party consisted of wine, snacks and 2 free wax services for me and 25 friends!  I don't have 25 friends so I convinced some of my blogger friends to come with me as our blate this month.

Sorry, no photo of the waxing, no one needs to see that.

While we were waiting, there was a gal doing "mini facials" which turned out to mean rubbing different products on your own face.  I caught Kara and Victoria using the store front window as a mirror.

It wasn't quite like the other meetups we've had but I genuinely love spending time with these girls, and I'd do just about anything with them.

This Week's Eats {A link up}

How is it already Sunday again?!?  Now that I'm back to working full time, after a 6 year hiatus, I find that the weekends go by so much faster than they used to.  I love having a jam packed schedule on the weekends but then I feel like I get no rest before the week starts all over.  We are back to having softball games on Wednesdays (it's the only form of exercise my lazy butt gets these days) and some big plans on Friday but I'm still excited to eat some of these meals this week, especially tomorrow's dinner!  I'm still not a huge fan of most CrockPot meals so I'm struggling to to find meals that are easy to make after a long day of work and still healthy or at least mostly healthy.

Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese (this better be good, I've been thinking about it for 2 weeks now!)  This is also the only link I have for you this week, sorry about that!
Tuesday: French Bread Pizzas
Wednesday: Crock Pot Tacos that will be ready when we get home from softball
Thursday: Grilled chicken wings and corn on the cob
Friday: PENGUINS GAME IN ANAHEIM!!!!!!!!  (We'll have to grab dinner on the way to make it on time with the traffic)
Saturday: Kielbasa, sauerkraut and German fried potatoes

PS, if you haven't seen, I'm participating in a giveaway over at Just Jacq and you can enter here!


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