Back to Reality

Encinitas, CA

After 11 blissful days of vacation in San Diego and Las Vegas I had to return to work today :(. Rest and relaxation gave way to mounds of emails, laundry and things to catch up on at work. So after a long day I figured I would relive a few of my vacation memories with you.

Since I was in San Diego for a wedding/bachelorette party/rehearsal dinner and a bridal shower, the week in SD was quite busy. I think I made about four separate stops to Target to get gifts the week I was there. As soon as I got off the plane, stepped outside and felt the cool breeze, I realized I had forgotten what warm breezy non-humid weather feels like. It was kind of a shock to be able to go outside and be able to breath and not be choked by the hot humid air we have been having here.

The first thing I set out to do was stop by a few of my favorite home stores that are not in St. Louis. The first stop to to Ikea for wall mounted wine racks and then to Z Gallerie (I was soo sad when they closed their Galleria store) for a couple of pieces to use at my annual Halloween party (more on all those items later this week).

Otis (How freakin cute is he?!?!?! )

The next day I drove to Newport Beach to visit an old roommate and her dog Otis who was basically like my dog too when we lived together and he is one of the cutest and sweetest dogs ever. As evidenced in the picture above he has aways thought he was smaller then he really is :).

Besides getting a speeding ticket on the highway in Newport like four years ago I had never been there. It was beautiful, just like it looked on the OC haha, even though that show was actually taped right down the street from where I lived in Redondo Beach near LA not actually in Newport or the OC for that matter. The drive up there from San Diego was really scenic and relaxing so I didn't mind the hour drive at all. We had brunch at a place called Billy's on the Beach which was right on the marina and had ahhmazing crab cakes.

Delicious goodies from Elizabethan Desserts

On the third day I had to make a stop at my favorite bakery for some tasty treats. I grabbed two berry buckle muffins which are these delicious old fashioned buttermilk muffins with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries with sugar crumb topping. They are so good my mom has been trying different recipes for a few years now trying to replicate them. Then I stocked up on an assortment of mini cupcakes to share with friends including black and white marble, passion fruit, strawberry, peanut butter and banana, chocolate toffee and my favorite red velvet that she makes the old fashioned way with beet juice instead of food coloring. I also got one of my favorite things there, her oatmeal raisin maple iced cookies which was warm when I got it so it didn't make the picture as I could not resist gobbling it up in the car on the way home. Then I had to get a piece of what she called St. Louis gooey butter cake to take back to give my friends a taste of St. Louis. Bad idea. I have had some rich gooey butter cakes in my day, Paula Deen's recipe is one of my favs although it is super rich, but this one was so over the top it was inedible. It literally tasted like I took a stick of butter, rolled it in powdered sugar and took a bite of it. Not tasty and my friend was not impressed, so the next time I visit I am going to have to bring her some real St. Louis gooey butter cake straight from the source. Other then the gooey butter disaster everything she sells there is soooo good so I highly suggest if you are ever in San Diego and happen to be near Encinitas area you stop by and try it out.

Goat Cheese "Queso Fundido" and margaritas from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill

Once in Las Vegas I met up with my family members that live there and we went to eat at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesar's Palace. Deciding what to get off the menu here was close to impossible as everything sounded delicious. Since I had trouble narrowing it down I decided to get two appetizers instead of one large meal and then shared some of it with the rest of the group. I settled on the smoked chicken and black bean quesadilla with guacamole and toasted garlic on top which was delicious and the goat cheese "queso fundido" or as I like to call it heaven in a cast iron baking dish. I found a recipe online that sounds like the same recipe used at the restaurant so I am going to have to try to make it at home it was that good. Everyone loved what they had which included the halibut, salmon and New York strip streak. At the end of dinner we all split the banana cream pie which was a perfect end to a great meal.

Atomic #7 menu

The process of freezing our ice cream

On my last day in Vegas I treated my aunt and grandma to ice cream at Atomic #7. Upon arriving at the shop you get a dry erase menu to mark you selections on. There are a lot of choices to make including milk or ice cream type, sugar type, flavor (create your own or choose one of their flavor creations), mix ins, toppings and what you would like it served in. They have so many options because your ice cream is made right in front of you. They mix together all the ingredients as if you were going to make your own ice cream at home in an ice cream maker, but instead of putting it in the ice cream maker they put it in a Kitchen Aid mixer and freeze it instantly right there with liquid nitrogen. It was very Bill Nye the science guy, the servers even wear lab coats. It was also probably one of the coolest ice cream experiences I have ever had. The best part was that they had a lot of healthy options for your ice cream. I ended up getting bananas foster and peanut butter made with yogurt, almond milk and agave sugar. Mmmmmm.

That is just a sampling of the fabulous things I got to do on vacation. It was soo much fun. Now I just have to deal with the wait before I go back next summer. :)