Moving to La Jolla

Well, not me. My niece moved to La Jolla late August for her grad studies, and work. She says that she has always wanted to live in San Diego. She said the same thing about Kauai/Hawaii when she moved there a few years back for work, but got homesick, and moved back to L.A. So, not sure for how long her San Diego fever will last, but for now, she is enjoying it. And I'll be visiting La Jolla more often, because I always have an amazing time with her, and with my younger niece as well except that she is up at Berkley.  

We had sushi at Shiku for breakfast because that's what Ellie wanted. Then she wanted to hangout by the beach. We started at Coast Walk Trail on an excruciating hot day with a ton of visitors, and a big line to see Sunny Jim's Sea Cave. She couldn't believe that all those people were willing to wait more than 30 minutes to see a grotto for a fee. She said that she has seen many grottos in the past, and they were free to visit minus the crowd.

I was there on a Sunday. During the week, it's quieter. We still had a nice time. The crowd were patient, sociable, and friendly.

After moving about for some time, the high temperatures, and humidity started to wear us down, and so, we ended up back at her apartment. Ellie is a great artist. I don't know, maybe I'm bias, and a proud aunt. She started taking art classes at the age of four. She paints everything, including her wall decors, trainers, and skates.

There is a whole story about the skateboard in the photo. When Ellie finished her undergrad at NYU, she was overwhelmed by the amount of packing she had to do, and decided to throw out her skateboard. I offered to take it with me to L.A. So, I carried it through JFK with people staring at me. The airline stewardess rolled her eyes when she saw me with it. At LAX, a teenager asked me if the board was mine. I told him that it belonged to my niece. We both had a good laugh about it.

She uses a labor-intensive special method to do her paintings. A large piece takes her at least six months to finish.

We were both really tired, not because we did a lot, but because it was so darn hot outside. I crashed on her sofa, and took a short nap. She relaxed on the carpet. Soon, we both realized that if we don't get up, and get some coffee, we'll fall into a deep coma. Before leaving though, I had to find out the story behind her painted guitar.

Philz Coffee. My first time there. She had the Mojito, and I, the Tiramisu which was definitely decadent, and I highly recommend it.

We ran a bunch of errands after our mandatory dose of caffeine. I tried to find her a coffee table as a housewarming gift. No luck. Will keep looking. But no visit is complete without a stop at a bookstore. We went into B&N, and I bought a book from one of my favorite authors, Eckhart Tolle. OMG, I have so many unread books at my house. I need to seriously stop shopping, and read what I have in stock before getting something new.

 

Time for dinner. We weren't that hungry, but the day was coming to an end. Ellie had to get ready for her first day of meeting her instructors and classmates, and I had to head back home. We went to Puesto La Jolla. It has a pretty front patio, but we opted for air-conditioning.

The classic guacamole, summer enchilada, and passion fruit margarita mocktail were excellent. We ended up taking food home, and having it for dinner the next day.