Heaven

Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen... I have an announcement to make. I have discovered Heaven... also known as San Diego. Who knew it was *right there* this whole time!!

I've been meaning to go to SD for like forever. I have some high school friends that live there and they've been trying to convince me to visit since they first stepped foot on the sandy beaches. I was finally lured down this weekend. The carrot? A Dave Matthews concert - predictable, no?

I left work early on Thursday, hopped on a plane, and arrived in San Diego at 3:30... We rolled into the parking lot for the Dave show around 5:30... Hour and a half pre-game and then on to the concert. The show was, of course, fantastic! Danced, sang, and drank beer the whole time. Perfect night. The only downside was that I was EXHAUSTED and running on fumes from Wednesday night - my friend Christine and I went to a fashion show in SF and then to a post party with the models at a place called Dolce... AWESOME time by the way - but that's another story - so much for not burning the candle at both ends, huh?

Anyway... after the concert, the parking lot was, well, a parking lot. I.e. we sat there for an HOUR trying to get out. But, being that we were in the chillest town known to man, no one seemed upset with the situation. Instead, we cranked the radio, opened the sunroof, sat on the roof of the car, and played frisbee with some of our fellow parking lot prisoners. It was so great!

So finally we get home and I crash. I heart sleep. Sleep and I should hang out more often. Seriously. But oh well. We wake up bright and early Friday morning to just another glorious day in paradise, quick walk to Jamba Juice for something *other* than pizza and beer - which is what I've been living on lately - and then it was off to the beach to do absolutely nothing. :) Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. We met another high school friend for lunch, caught up on old times, and then it was back to the beach for a swim. Yes, fellow bay areans (that's a word, right?) you can actually *swim* in the ocean there without being a card carrying member of the polar bear club. The ocean was like a refreshing swimming pool. I've never seen anything like it outside of Hawaii. Fantastic! Swam for a while, and then went home and got cleaned up for the horse races. YAY!

It was my first time at a horse track. SO MUCH FUN!!! And Del Mar is SOOOOOOO pretty!!! As luck would have it, I can't pick a winning horse to save my life, but that's ok! For $2 you can place a bet, cheer like crazy for your horse to win, and then not feel too bad when he doesn't. Plus the horses are gorgeous and you get to see them sorta up close before each race. (Cool!) I can't believe I've never been before. Lame. After the last race was over, there was a free concert (!) - apparently there's a free concert every Friday in the summertime at the track. (Have I mentioned that San Diego rules!) Blues Traveler played and it was the MOST amazing show!!! It was totally unexpected! I mean, I like Blues Traveler and all, but who knew that they were so much fun in concert! And the crowd was totally into it! Everyone was jumping around and singing and dancing. Blues Traveler even covered a few songs including Violent Femmes, Blister in the Sun, and Charlie Daniels Band, The Devil went Down to Georgia. It was a blast. I literally danced till I was drenched in sweat and my feet felt like they would fall off. If you ever have the opportunity to see them - GO!

After the show we went back to Pacific Beach and checked out the local bar scene. PB (as it is affectionately called) is a great town with a ton of bars - each one FULL of beautiful laid back beachy type 20 somethings. My friend Mike tried to tell me that I was in "Man Diego" - but he was wrong... and he has obviously NEVER been to Man Jose.

Saturday morning we woke up and went to the driving range at the Torrey Pines golf course in La Jolla. (Read: VERY posh) It was another first for me. I've never even held a real golf club before, let alone swung one... in public... at a fancy golf course... barefoot. :) My friend Mike was the best teacher though. So patient. And so obliging when I forced him to turn around and not watch me swing because it made me nervous. Turns out I'm not nearly as bad at golf as I am at softball (I've gone 0 for 26 in slow pitch softball batting cages.) I hit the ball just over 100 yards with a 5 wood. Not great for a golfing enthusiast, but EXCELLENT for me. :) I can't wait to go again!

After the driving range, we picked up some lunch and headed to the beach for rest of the afternoon before I had to hop on a 6:30 plane back to San Jose. As I soaked up the sunshine at the end of another perfect day, I asked Mike where on earth he went for vacation. His answer? "Here." And you know what, I have to agree. It's paradise without the plane ticket - at least for those lucky enough to live there.

So all and all not a bad weekend - 51 total hours spent in SD: Two concerts, horse races, golfing, bars, old friends, and two days on the beach - ahhh heaven.