San Diego Part Five: The La Jolla Open Aire Market

I love going to the market. This is a big surprise, when I was a kid I absolutely hated markets. The Open Aire Market in La Jolla is my absolute favourite Market. Halifax and Calgary have great markets but they do not really compare to the market held in La Jolla on Sundays.

Today the Market was a lot less busy than our visit last year. With all the rain I guess it was hard to tell if it would be worth setting up for vendors, our trip was dry and it looks as if the afternoon just keeps getting nicer weather wise.

We decided to skip lunch at home and have street food at the Market, Kevin had gyros and I ordered what they called a breakfast pizza with a gluten-free crust. Unfortunately I have yet to find a gluten-free traditional pizza crust that holds up to a traditional pizza crust. This was the best crust I have had so far that was gluten-free; over all the pizza was great! Cooked in a portable wood-fire oven from Cucina Caprese it was a great quick meal (it took about 10 minutes from order to plating).

I should note, before we actually ate our market meal we were lured in by Sugar & Scribe Bakery. We cannot pass by cupcakes! I had the red velvet mini; it was amazing! We were told it was the top red velvet cupcake in San Diego and I believe it. From what I was told (from Elaine) the vanilla was also very good! It was Sugar & Scribe Bakery’s first trip to the market. I hope they had a good reception; we sure enjoyed their offerings!

After the gyros and pizza we had a mocha Rickaroon. For $3 it was a perfect dessert for two very full people to split. I tried a couple different bites; the mocha was definitely my favourite. Like so many of the vendors at the La Jolla Open Aire Market you are able to have these treats shipped out to you. They were really good, filling snacks. Bonus Rickaroons are gluten-free and paleo friendly, right up our (non on vacation) alley!

You can actually walk the market and sample before you buy. It is so nice to check everything out and then make your decision from the different vendors. Be careful, it is hard not to fill up on samples before you buy! 

Last year when we visited there was an amazing collection of vintage posters and artwork. Incredible old ads for designers, the price tags for these items were steep but they are still fun to look at! 

I love the La Jolla Open Aire Market, you can find everything from Asian-fusion street food to treasure found on scuba diving adventures. You can get a quick massage or have your knives sharpened. There is even live music to entertain you while you shop away your Sunday!

Don't forget to grab a bag of San Diego Kettle Corn before you leave so that you can enjoy the market all day long! 

For more info on the  La Jolla Open Aire Market click here. 

A couple tips to help you enjoy the Market more efficiently:

1.   Bring cash, there is an ATM but it charges you nearly $4 to withdraw money. Add in a cross-border charge if you are Canadian. Many vendors offer the Square for card payments at a much lower cost than withdrawing money, very cool and something you may want to look into if you are a small business.

2.   Bring a bag; we totally forgot to do this! Your arms will fill quickly with items you will pick up.

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Why I Love All The Underated Bits of Being Adult

I could try to feed you a load of bull right now and tell you I love going out, that I am a social butterfly and that I love meeting new people.  But, I am coming to the realization that I am an old kermudgin (spell check is telling me that’s not a word, screw you spell check) and that I would rather over work and malnourish my body than miss any sleep and drink.  Yes, I still get the urge to tear up the town but those hopes can be dashed by the slightest little thing.

No longer am I thinking about the craziness that happened over the past weekend and hoping for wildness that is at least on par with the previous weekend. I am too busy feeling shame for being so dedicated to this job that instead of eating a real sandwich for lunch I ate an ice-cream sandwich from the convenience store across the street because it was WAY quicker than anything else… at 5:30pm. I don’t normally eat carbs so I now feel all 53g in that ‘sandwich’; I have similar sentiments to the side order of penny candy I am munching on as I write this mandatory daily blog.

I also have an embarrassingly high stack of McDonald’s Monopoly pieces on my desk and every single spot (except for the rare winner pieces) on our (Jenny Fines & I) two Monopoly boards has been filled. I try to keep all my winning tokens in my car so I can remember to order them and not throw them out with the duds.

This blog is inspired by this article on BuzzFeed that is totally on my level right now, even though I am still in the young half of 20s (24 suckkkas).

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/29-underrated-things-about-being-in-your-late-twenties

This weekend we went out and it was exhausting. Seriously, I felt like the VIP in the club was a cattle pen. 

This never would have been my feeling three or four years ago, after deep consideration (and rib cage bruises from a grad dress that fits me better now than it ever has in the past) I have come to appreciate that I am getting old.  I related WAY TOO much with this buzz feed article.

No longer do all my stories shame my parents, I have surrendered to being a true cardigan wearing adult.

My Minor Addiction to McDonald's Monopoly Explained

Monopoly is back at McDonald's and I have found myself there pretty much everyday since it launched. 

We have our team boards posted up here at the office, everyone's contributing to the team effort (some more than others). When I worked on the front line in high school we would secretly save all the extra tokens and collect them... just in case. Not that we could win legally as a group of employees. 

What can I say, I am a little obsessed with McDonald's Monopoly. Have you ever won? Does McD's Monopoly give you the same thrill I get when it starts up? Also, I love the double thrill of it being coupon season at McDonald's and Monopoly... I am so lame. 

Let me know if you have any trades you'd like to make ;)

My First Visit to Confusion Taco Food Truck

Have you been to Confusion Taco yet?

Stop reading and track that food truck down right now if your answer is anything less than, “not this week”.

Serious taco game rides around in that truck everyday. I FINALLY got to lunch at Confusion Taco during the food trucks visit to Castlegar this Tuesday.

Boy was I impressed; friendly staff, an impressive collection of hot sauces and amazing food at a great price. It was the perfect treat and it makes me want to skip packing Tuesday lunches all the time.

I always ask for a recommendation on my first trip to a new spot, I asked them to give me their best; the fan favorite and they presented me with the Baja Fish. I LOVE a good fish taco and this taco was better than some of the fish tacos I have had in SoCal. Seriously, you won't believe these bad boys are served out of the back of a truck. My big thing is that a taco has to be moist with salsa and sauces and not messy. Not a drip from this taco and it was still full of amazing flavor from the cilantro slaw, salsa and avocado mayo. And the tempura pacific cod was perfectly cooked, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. I would never have picked a fish taco for myself (I usually stick with beef and chicken outside of California), but I am sure happy they picked it for me!

Next time I am going to have a heavy dose of Confusion, I think I will skip breakfast and wait till lunch for the Sloppy Jalope. And, maybe even a Great Canadian Taquito for a 3 o’clock wall snack. Here is a look at the menu (right).

Thank you Confusion Taco, you made my lunch delicious, the best way to start a short work week!

Here is snapshot of their spicy schedule:

-Castlegar: Tuesdays (across from Kootenay Market)

-Fruitvale: Wednesday and Friday

-Salmo: Thursday

For more on Confusion Taco check out their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ConfusionTaco

Things I Am Just To Lazy To Accomplish

My boyfriend has been away for nearly a week now and I started my adventure in living in the Kootenays alone strong.

I packed my lunches. I made supper. I did the dishes after eating. I even continued washing my hair regularly and did not sport pony tails.

All that impressive up keep has now vanished. I have a growing pile of dishes. I ate $2.00 worth of penny candies as part of my lunch today. And, I powdered my greasy hair this morning.

My life has turned into a BuzzFeed article once again. This time it is titled, ’24 Basic Life Activities You’re Too Lazy To Accomplish”.

Key points on this list (for me anyways) are:

6. Even calling somewhere to get food delivered. I’ve had breakfast for 9/10 meals since the BF left.

9. Walking the two extra blocks to your bank instead of paying a grey box $3. This is a problem regardless of the boyfriend situation.

13. Going grocery shopping at an actual grocery store.

I live way too close to a 7-11… okay; I live even closer to Ferraro Foods.

17. Or even doing laundry at all, when you can just buy a new pack of underwear. If only we had a Victoria Secret in these parts I would be so guilty of this one…

23. Fully spelling words. I am a lazy texter, consider yourself lucky that I get past, “Hello”.

But, this one is the one I am most guilty of:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexnaidus/basic-life-activities-youre-too-lazy-to-accomplish