Travel Journal from California

A daily journal of 2 Canadians skipping winter for 91 days in Southern California.

[91daysincalifornia]

About me - Ana

About me

I am a passionate and high energy digital marketing communications strategist and a pioneer in the crowdfunding industry. I have more than 10 years of experience in building and helping companies grow. I love working with innovative tech or product companies. I consult small business and startups in: Communications & PR strategy, digital marketing strategy, social media and influencer marketing, and customer experience. Select Client List: IncMind, Medlantis, Chealse Roofing, Eyes of Veena, TurnKii, BrainYno, DylaniumKnits. My clients were featured in: Huffington Post, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, the Montreal Gazette, Yahoo News, GalTime, Fashion Times, LA Splash, Vogue Italy, TrendHunter, Industry London, Yahoo News, NBC & many more. I co-founded Luevo.com, the first product-based fashion crowdfunding platform & learning hub for emerging designers. We had two amazing seasons with 9 fashion week partners in US and dozens of projects and success stories. I am currently pursuing my dream as a full-time professor and coaching the net generation of marketers. Do you want to get your business or startup in front of the right audience? Connect with me! #growhthacker #ecommerce #tech #startup

Learn more about me on my LinkedIn profile.

[91daysincalifornia]

I feel so bad for not writing in so long. But the weather got exceptionally nice and I couldn’t help but spending more time outdoors away from my laptop.

In this post I will quickly revisit a trip to the San Diego Zoo, a visit we wouldn’t have taken if it wasn’t for our guests from Toronto (lets call them S&V). They helped convince Mr. M, who in reality doesn’t take trips to the Zoo.

A quick tip: If you plan a trip to the Zoo and you might want to visit other attractions in the area, grab a pass, it will save you money in the long run. A one day entry will cost you around $50 per adult, whereas a pass can cost you anywhere from $80 but gives you access to 44 attraction in around the San Diego area.

We really didn’t spend enough time at the Zoo and we missed out on certain sections. Bring comfortable shoes (really comfortable) and plan to spend at least 4 hours there (actually plan to spend the whole day there :)) Bring lots of water, and lunch – although there are a lot of restaurants, you can imagine it will be pricier.

We first took the gondola that took us to the other end of the park, and I think that’s the smartest way to see the park, as you can cover almost he entire park by foot, coming back down. From the Arctic zone where we saw swimming polar bears to the  koalas everything was a big “wow” . We hung out with the Pandas ( sooo cool) and I personally really enjoyed the Aviaries (my BIG dream is to have a house with an aviary, so this was a special treat for me).

I hope you enjoy the pictures. We had tons of fun…

  A metal eating giraffe!

Love birds in love

Flamingos!!

Panda being Panda

Hmm.. parrot!

Scary!

Hanging out with Pandas

Duck face

Don’t wprry this Mammoth was fake!

Funny ducks

Bamboos as they should be

Ana in an Aviary – love it!

    Escape in Southern California: The San Diego Zoo I feel so bad for not writing in so long. But the weather got exceptionally nice and I couldn't help but spending more time outdoors away from my laptop.

[91daysincalifornia]

By far this has been the best Valentine’s day ever! The truth is, Mr. M and I are in love. We’ve been in love for more than 7 years (yes we successfully passed the 7 year itch test of time). We never took Valentine’s day too serious, we both know it is a modern day Hallmark made holiday and  we don’t do the typical dinner and red roses thing ( people, just think economics: it makes no sense!!! and you should love each other equally as much every day of the year anyway….)

But this year was different… we’ve spent this past year (actually more than that) working away at our startup (Luevo) and we spent less time on us. We are great business partners, but that just means we spent less time at just being (life) partners. So this year, we took advantage of this dictionary saint day and did something special.

I bought him a card. A romantic card with two lovers under an umbrella in the rain. And wrote him a poem, which I can’t recreate entirely, but the basic idea is “..we will discover life together.. “. So as lovey-dovey as it can be.

Mr. M. did something more He surprised me with a sailing cruise trip with the Bill of Rights schooner.  It was amazing! At a price of 2 for 1 it was the best, more romantic and cost efficient Valentine’s day date ever! The trip is 6 hours long and it goes from one end of the San Diego Bay in Chulla Vista all the  way out in the ocean, past Point Loma. We brought our own lunch and wine, and it was perfect.

Finally, Mr M. bought the perfect gift for a techy fashionista like me: the Zen Asus Smartwatch. So now I can be even more connected to the internet than ever!

Check out the  pictures, hope you like them!

  This concludes our Valentine’s day date!

Waiting for the sailing to start

Aircraft carriers parked in the San Diego Bay like minivans in a Costco parking lot

Me and Mr M. love 4ever!

We were served snacks including heart shaped chocolates :)

The bridge going over to Coronado

Another schooner

The faster schooner

My V day gift: Zen Smartwatch

Everyone could help on deck

the Sunset caught up with us

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean – best!

Beautiful sight of Point Loma

Sil is up but we are not really sailing

Spending Valentine’s day in California By far this has been the best Valentine's day ever! The truth is, Mr. M and I are in love.

[91daysincalifornia]

I haven’t heard of Joshua trees before I got to Southern California. I knew Mr M.’s family visited the Joshua Tree National Park a few times, so naturally I was excited to visit.

What are Joshua trees? They are a Yucca plant species that grow as trees. Climate change has affected their habitat and 90% of them may disappear by the end of 21st century. Fun fact: They were named Joshua trees by Mormon settlers that thought their branches resembled Joshua’s arms  raised up to the skies in prayer. What do you guys think?

The drive from San Diego to Joshua Trees National Park is very beautiful. The scenery changes from green hills ( well, they are green now, in “wet” season) to snow covered mountain peaks to the desert. And don’t forget the weird boulder formations that build up mountains left and right of the highway.

Once you close on to Palm Springs, you see the fields filled with windmills, it’s almost like you’re driving into them.  Finally we made to the park. We stopped at: Hidden Valley (a place where cattle thieves used to hide in during the Wilde Wilde West days), Keys View (where we got the best view of Palm Springs ) and Cholla Cactus Garden ( a place filled with crazy cacti – and be warned don’t touch them, not even the little guys that are broken on the ground. They are called Flying Teddy Bears but they are evil!)

Let me know what you think of the pictures and if you have any questions about this place let me know!

A.

This boulder looks like a talking hand, no?

We can climb them too!

Blue reptile with furry bug in mouth ?!

Joshua Tree reaching out to the skies

Close, but yet keeping a safe distance!

We found the largest Joshua tree!

Joshua Tree Park desert

Windmill farm

Cacti Garden

Bear Mountain, skiing awaits us on he other side!

Me + Joshua playing shadows

I am hugging a baby Joshua tree

Cactus growing up

Cacti Garden

Wild Wild West

They are evil I tell you!

The roads are amazing

View from the top towards Palm Springs

The Joshua Tree

Love Mr. M.!

1 Month in California and we went to Joshua Tree Park I haven't heard of Joshua trees before I got to Southern California. I knew Mr M.'s family visited the…

[91daysincalifornia]

Yesterday the  Superbowl captured the attention of the American nation, so Mr. M and co. got  out and about. We visited vineyards in the Temecula Valley and then we took a stroll in Temecula Old Town.

Imagine Temecula like a much hill-y more picturesque Niagara on the Lake (trust me it’s quite possible).  I imagine Tuscany to look a lot like this place.  Not only that it is like summer here, but the green hills are rolling forever into white-capped mountains and there are vineyards everywhere! You don’t need to like wine per-se to enjoy this place, but it certainly helps.

We did our wine tasting at Wien’s Family Cellers, it cost us 15$ per 6 tastings, and I have to say all the wines were fantastic. The one that we chose to buy was actually a sparkling wine called Amour De L’Orange, it had a nice hint of orange that reminded me of Mimosa drink.

The other two wineries we visited and really enjoyed the atmosphere: Wilson Creek and Mount Palomar. Wilson Creek has live music, a restaurant and a really nice picnic area next to the creek. So buy your wine, bring your cheese and you have yourself a magical afternoon! Mount Palomar on the other hand is a very big property with many gardens, sitting areas, decorative fountains and statue. The place is the absolute perfect location for a wedding or a special occasion.

And finally we did a drive by Palumbo Family Vinyards and Winery , a place I am sure I will visit again with Mr. M. It is small, cosy and romantic and I love supporting family owned businesses!

If you are in the area, visit the Temecula Old Town, it is like it is taken out of a Wild West book cover! Wooden sidewalks, old banks and even an “emigration office”, I loved this town!

Check out the pictures, they are amazing and I hope you like them too!

A.

Mount Palomar Winery

Mount Palomar Winery

View from Mount Palomar Winery

View from Mount Palomar Winery

Mount Palomar Winery

Mount Palomar Winery

Mount Palomar Winery

Mount Palomar Winery

Wilson Creek Winery

Wilson Creek Winery

Wilson Creek Wineyard

Palumbo Family Vineryards & Winery

Temecula Old Town

A Horse Sculptures Exhibit was around the Corner

I would love to eat here!

I found the emigration office!

Bring your livestock!

This was a ghost-town because of the super-bowl!

Lovely wine and olive oil tasting place…

Bring your livestock and your smartphone!

25th Day in California: Superbowl and Temecula Valley Yesterday the  Superbowl captured the attention of the American nation, so Mr. M and co. got  out and about.

[91daysincalifornia]

Finally, Mr. M and I had the opportunity to sail here, and hopefully this will be the first of many more sailing adventures for us! We found this wonderful couple that own a Flying Tiger 7.5 meter sailboat (very sports-y, yum!) and they took us out for a sail!

Check out the views from the water, doesn’t San Diego look a lot like Toronto?  The beauty about sailing here is that you can do it EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR! Also, there are dolphins and sea-lions so that’s always fun! While sailing in the Bay watch out for: submarines (if you carry a radio they announce when submarines come up), other boats (there may be races) , kayakers, motor boats, ferries, people that don’t know what they are doing etc. To me, this seems like a busy area to sail, but that’ s because I am used to Georgian Bay (where if you are lucky you see one other boat on the water).

The weather was perfect for sailing, the wind got stronger towards the end of our almost 3 hour ride,  maybe to about 10 knots? But the maximum speed we had was 8 knots and we did mange to put out the spinnaker once. This boat is definitely for those with an affinity for speed and not for cruisers.

Hope you like the pictures!

A.

San Diego from the Bay

Mr. M. being happy

Sail-Boat in San Diego

You can charter this old America’s Cup boat

the Spinnaker is up!!!

Looks like To , doesn’t it?

The Maritime Museum in San Diego

They have aircraft carriers and submarines here!

You can tour this aircraft carrier

Weeee…..

On the low side of the boat so I keep warm in the sun!

They even get rainbows here, without the rain!

Just the “bow” without the “rain”

24th Day in California: Sailing in San Diego Bay Finally, Mr. M and I had the opportunity to sail here, and hopefully this will be the first of many more sailing adventures for us!

[91daysincalifornia]

I know today most of the East Coast is buried under a white blanket of snow, but I’d like to report from the west coast – we got rain! Since I got here (Vista, California), this is only the second day it rained this year, so it had to get recorded.

In Southern California it can rain anywhere from 13 to 57 days a year, it depends where you are. And this area will get around 30, most of each in the winter time. So far we had two rain days. People drive slow, hummingbird mama stays tight on top of her nest, and I took pictures.

I hope you enjoy them! I found a funny face strawberry, and I might send it to the editors of BoredPanda . What do you guys think? And what should I name it? Berry Funny Face Strawberry? I am such a nerd…

A.

  Raining in the pool

Wet Zen Garden

Funny Strawberry

Look how happy it is!

It almost looks French!

Final one from the photoshoot…

Day 20 in California is the second day of rain I know today most of the East Coast is buried under a white blanket of snow, but I'd like to report from the west coast - we got rain!

[91daysincalifornia]

What’s #2 activity for Mr. M. and me  in the winter? BOAT SHOW! In Toronto we usually have the boat show in February, and it’s held indoors – and it’s really a pain, as you can imagine it usually is minus some degrees, and we are all bundled up and with boots.

Well, not here. In San Diego the boat show is held at Sunroad Resort Marina – and it is an in-water show. Basically, take off your flippy-floppies and hop on from boat to boat.

I know that our first real boat (meaning not a dingy – something we can take to Niagara for the weekend) will be in the 27-34ft range. The boat slips are quiet expensive in Toronto, and you pay per length. Besides most of the times it will be just us sailing and we don’t need anything more.

I particularly like the Hanse very much so :) As it says in the pictures below, it is Made in Germany. They nailed down the interior design, it is sleek, spacious although they could use another window for more light in the galley. These boats are somewhat of a compromise as while they are very comfortable they are not luxury, and while not the fastest bat they are build with performance in mind.

We also checked out a catamaran, which surprisingly it is so dark in the berths, and some Beneteau built motor-yachts which as giant as thy seemed on the outside they were not that impressive on the inside. I guess they just don’t try to maximize the interiors as much as they do on sailboats.

Still, I really hope our next boat will be a First series from Beneteau. I absolutely love their designs, and the Spartan look gives me a feeling of adventure. Mr. M. also kinda likes them, they go fast!

I hope you enjoy the pics!

A.

  On the way to the boat show in a limo..

Limo crowd

Going to the boat show!

Dufour 410 – like!

Sailboats

Mr. M.

Sailboats!

Cats are not bad I guess…

Huge master suite in this catamaran!

That’s what he wants! (C70)

Muskoka chairs

BB&B

Yaeh.. I don’t think so..

Hanse, made in Germany

Hanse interior

Like my outfit?

I can do this!

Cup holders everywhere!

Very nice design of this 38.5 foot Hanse

Who wouldn’t like this as their beach house?

One of the motor yachts we toured..

It was that big!

And another one..

That was it folks!

Amazing sunset as usual!

Running away from the sunset

San Diego downtown

He cut us off. But it’s ok cause he’s a honey badger!

Day 19: San Diego Sunroad Boat Show What's #2 activity for Mr. M. and me  in the winter? BOAT SHOW! In Toronto we usually have the boat show in February, and it's held indoors - and it's really a pain, as you can imagine it usually is minus some degrees, and we are all bundled up and with boots.

[91daysincalifornia]

Days 17-18 in California: Startup San Diego

Days 17-18 in California: Startup San Diego

Today and yesterday we attended different events as part of the Startup San Diego event. It was co-hosted by a bunch of people and incubators, including Randy from Zesty, EvoNexus and 3rdspace.

Yesterday we partook of the TechCrawl. Starteed of at RedDoor Interactive, a very  cool marketing company. Loved the atmosphere, a large open space and hey treated us well with burgers and drinks!

Next…

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[91daysincalifornia]

Days 14 - 16: Sick days in California

Days 14 – 16: Sick days in California

Today is finally the first day I feel 99% back to normal.  So tonight will be my first post in over week that it’s actually up-to-date. I can even give you a hint, it will be about the Startup events that are taking place around town ( San Diego to be exact). Tonight we are ending it off with a Meetup and an after party  hosted at 3rdspace( I assume an incubator here, I’ll let you know more about…

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[91daysincalifornia]

I am thankful for long weekends! Today is Martin Luther King Day in the US, so Mr. M.’s family has the day off. We took a drive out to Pasadena and visited the Norton Simon museum.  I recommend to drive on HWY 15 rather than Hwy 5 if you can, it’s a prettier more scenic drive!

Generally speaking I am a bit nervous about going to museums. I don’t think I enjoy it as much as the others more arts-y individuals.  I don’t know styles,  schools or general history of arts. I don’t think I am capable of understanding art as it is meant for it to be understood.  When I see a 1500’s painting on a plain museum wall today, I need a lot of background information so I can immerse myself in what it may have been to see it for the first time in the 1500’s.

I also  think we also suffer a little bit of ADD in today’s age, being exposed to so many and diverse media. My brain can’t pause and reflect on so many pieces of art from so many different time periods, so I typically come our tired and confused, ask me what my favorite piece was and I’ll probably draw a blank.

But let’s go over what I really liked about this museum. It was very welcoming as it showcased art outdoors and in its beautiful garden.  It is not that big, I actually enjoyed each section thoroughly. The best part was that most pieces had a description of the author, the subject and the piece of art overall. This really helped and it made a difference for me. I guess in most museums you’d have to take the paid tours in order to get that kind of information (the self guided tour was offered here as well).

I took pictures of the pieces that I enjoyed the most, hope you enjoy them as well!

Probably the only good looking dude I’ve seen immortalized in a 14th century painting

the Loving Couple – Statue made for a Hindu Temple

Here are some pictures Mr. M. took with his fancy Canon camera. These are beautiful, enjoy!

Rodin’s The burghers of Calais

The Garden

Norton Simon Museum

I felt her look

Nice perspective

San Marco anyone?

Degas

I can’ t remember who this was, but look at the effect!

Romania’s only Brancusi

Van Gogh

An then we walk around downtown Pasadena which is just down the street. BTW – super nice place! Plenty of restaurants and bakeries, yum! We’ll be back!

A.

  Day 13 in California: Norton Simon Museum and Pasadena I am thankful for long weekends! Today is Martin Luther King Day in the US, so Mr.

[91daysincalifornia]

Woo-hoo! Beautiful Sunday here in Southern California and so we go with Mr. M.’s family to Cabrillo National Monument. Perfect timing too, as it is the recommended weekend to go whale watching.  Cabrillo National Monument is set on  a peninsula in the northern part of San Diego, on a military base.  If you come here on any weekend you will most likely experience a line-up of cars, don’t be alarmed, and wait :).  In fact, it is cheaper to drive in, you only pay $5 per car and the pass is valid for a week. Apparently if you walk or bike in it is $3 a person, so if you are more than one person – drive (carpooling finally makes sense lol).

So this place is a must see in San Diego. Words can’t describe the natural beauty, the majesty of these cliffs. I can only imagine Cabrillo sailing in with his men and seeing the rough edges and the bay of what is now San Diego.

Try to come in before 1 PM so you can make the walk to the tidepools worthwhile. The tidepools, are exactly that, pools of water that form when the tide is low, so you can actually walk on the shore and view sea-life in these pools.  Also, if you are interested in whale watching there are certain times of the year when they migrate by the bay, so check it on their website. Remember to bring binoculars, otherwise all you’ll see is basically this:

Check out the beautiful pictures , and don’t forget to bring comfortable shoes it’s about 1 Mile walk uphill!

Moi at the Cabrillo Monument!

hmm… clams :)

Colorful sealife at the tidepools

More clams.. seafood anyone?

seriosuly…

Silly Shadows playing…

The ocean edge

Somewhere out there is Tijuana

I love Mr. M.!

From wood to solar

Lighthouse

A whale

Agava Trees (or palnts?)

Agava

Yes, yes, me and Mr. M.

Cemetery for solders

  Have you been reading my blog? Than you know I love sunsets, and sunsets in Southern California are the best! Today we went to Sunset Cliffs, not far from where we were.  The name says it all, hope you enjoy the pictures!

A.

We stayed back, but otehrs didn’t…

I love palm-trees resting against the sky!

The young couple climbing up the hill

Sunset photographer..

Or photographer in the sunset?

Loving couple

The most loving couple!

Fun architecture!

Day 12 in California: Whale Watching at the Cabrillo National Monument Woo-hoo! Beautiful Sunday here in Southern California and so we go with Mr. M.'s family to…

[91daysincalifornia]

Southern California is this magical land where you can grow almost any kid of flowers any time of the year (well, at least so it seems). Water is very expensive here so if you  are an avid gardener it will cost you. And water is also scarce, it only rained once this year, and while it was enough to keep the fields green – it might not be enough for your garden. I’ve seen a lot of home gardening centres that specialize in succulent plants, beautiful and resistant to draught.

Nevertheless,  here the paradise flower grows like bushes on the side of the streets, neighbourhoods are beautifully landscaped with very colourful flowers and so is our garden.

This post is for my mom, who loves flowers and grows as many as she can (mostly they live indoors with my parents over the winter). I also hope my friends at Happy Flower can have a look over these pictures and share their thoughts on what they are, I am afraid I am florist illiterate.

Enjoy!

Of course in exotic places such as this you’ll also find the “No Fly Zone” plants too:

A.

Day 11 in California: Flowers Southern California is this magical land where you can grow almost any kid of flowers any time of the year (well, at least so it seems).

[91daysincalifornia]

Day 10 in California: The Coconut Love Affair Continues

Day 10 in California: The Coconut Love Affair Continues

If there is one thing people know about me is that I love coconuts (check out my food blog here). I’ve always loved coconuts, way before the ‘nut craze. I used coconut oil, coconut flower and coconut sugar – budget permitting (it’s an expensive love affair). I also own coconut scented shampoo, body mists, body lotions and creams… I mostly get them as gifts, and trust me, buy me anything coconut-y…

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[91daysincalifornia]

After learning that I have a photo-sensitivity that actually triggers a skin reaction when I take Ibuprofen, I only had two options: stay away from Ibuprofen when sick – or- avoid skin exposure to sun. I decided to do both, so yesterday was my first day off Ibuprofen and today we decided to bike around just before sunset (while wearing SPF and long sleeves).

Vista California is home for about 3 months. It is not as exciting as La Jolla, Carlsbad and other cool places we visit and blog about. But it is still the town we call home for now, so we thought we’ll give it a ride.

Some neighbourhoods are quite pretty, with large homes and properties and beautifully manicured lawns. But there are also a lot of trailer parks, mobile homes, people just hanging out in front of laundromats in the middle of the day.  I wonder if this is an example of typical American income inequality, it probably is. Basically on one side of the street there is a gated community and on the other we are being chased by dogs from a nearby farm. Weird.

Nevertheless, the palm-trees and the sunset make up for everything. The view is stunning, rolling hills everywhere . And I mean everywhere. We only biked for 1/2 hour today as we both (mostly me)  ran out of breath while “rolling” on these hills.

Hope you enjoy the pics, they are taken from Mr. M.’s Go-Pro.

A.

  Day 9: Discovering Vista, California After learning that I have a photo-sensitivity that actually triggers a skin reaction when I take Ibuprofen, I only had two options: stay away from Ibuprofen when sick - or- avoid skin exposure to sun.

[91daysincalifornia]

Day 8 in California: Visiting La Jolla

Today we had a full day. Perfect blue skies, 21+ degrees, just a typical winter day in Southern California. After dropping off Mr. M.’s mom we headed off to La Jolla. For those that don’t know, La Jolla is that part of San Diego that almost anyone would love to live in. The city lies comfortably by the ocean, it is pretentious and expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to live there. Except for the seals, the seals are almost a deal-breaker for me.  The seals are hanging out  around the cove on any rock they can find because they are protected by law, and so they multiplied and continue to grow their population. The problem with them is mostly the smell (although some residents are complaining about the noise too, and swimmers have recently had some nasty encounters with the aggressive sea creatures). So yeah, it stinks…

Anyway, while in La Jolla we jumped on our laptops and did some emailing, you know start-up work.  We did our work at Starbucks (of course) and a local patisserie – Aroma. Aroma is a really nice place, and they have a very large variety of lunch items. I recommend if you ever try this place just go with what they are good at –  patisserie. Unfortunately their tomato & basil soup was a disappointment and crepes were a shy far distant cousin of what crepes should really be. And never, never, ask for Ice Tea in the States. Seriously, I don’t know why I do this to myself, every time. It is unsweetened and usually tastes like dirty socks tea. You can tell from the pictures below.

  Finally, we saw the ultimate sunset over the Pacific Ocean, at Torrey Pines Park.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

A.

[91daysincalifornia]

Day 7: There is something about food

Another day of not doing anything has passed. I guess this Canadian flu is sticking around. So while I was having naps following the Californian sun like a Mayan clock I realised I didn’t take many pictures because  nothing really happened.

So today’s post is about food. Yummy food.

Let’s take this fresh tomato salad as an example.

Simply put: Cut in halves the cherry tomatoes and  chop up green onions. But the secret ingredient? The Mediterranean Tapenade from Costco. I really hope this beauty is available in Canada. I can’t wait to spread it all over pasta next time I cook!

Here is the final result:

For some reason when I am sick I crave sweets. I am a big foodie, so I have a big appetite any-time, even on a sore throat; but when I am sick, sweets take priority. So besides chocolates, truffles and other Christmas delicious left-overs, I indulged in  gourmet French preserves this morning. I heard you can find it at either Winners of Marshalls.

And finally, for those that know.. I found Romanian “Deli K’at Vegeta” (basically a salted yellow powder made out of dried veggies + MSG that is used as an additive to soup base and other  Eastern European foods). It was added to the soup.

Here is to hoping tomorrow will be a better day and I will finally enjoy 21+ degrees in winter!

A.