a sneak peak at the city and a boats tour

Yesterday we cruised through the city and made a boats tour through the San Diego Bay.

CBD

an old hotel

an old brick house

Now the boat tour starts:

We came aboard the Marietta and had a nice guide named Marco. He is a former US Marine and was able to tell us a lot about the US Navy.

USS Midway

CBD

CBD

the Fish Market Restaurant

fishing pier

speed boat in front of hotels

a liner who brings American cars to Japan and/or South America

---------------------

And now lets talk about the day before yesterday. I think you heard or red it, that we had a huge black out here in southern California. It was just a lot of fun for us.

We all had a great afternoon, evening and night.

Because nothing was working, no supermarket open, no gas station nor any restaurant, we had to improvise. We had a gas grill outside and of course it was working, so we talked to Stella and Richard our hosts and decided to have dinner together, because their oven wasn't working like ours. And a very nice thing happened, a neighbor, Takehashi, came over and because he is a sushi chef we had sashimi and he made some fried fish and also fried rice. We had a huge variety of food, we made scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, we had potato salad and some left overs from our BBQ the day before. We had salad and Stella and Richard brought a huge bunch of candles, sushi, bread and pizza.

We made pizza on the BBQ grill and we figured out, it is the best way to make frozen pizza.

We sat there in the dark, just the light from the candles and the moon and had such a fun night, unbelievable.

So if you missed the huge 'event' here are the news:

So the power came back late at night and we heard all around people who clapped on hands or just screamed because of happiness.

We will start our last day in San Diego today, we are all very sad, but we will have a nice last day here. We will have dinner with Stella and Richard again. And afterwards the two will show us what 'rocks' in the city's gas lamp quarter.

Wish you a great day.

 'power' full greetings

mElinus

Yesterday in sunny San Diego

Yesterday, it took us a while before we could start our day trip. But after a lot of computing and emailing and mailing, we finally made it in the car and more or less straight to Coronado Island.

Because everything was so beautiful and we haven't done really spectacular things, I just want to show you some nice pictures:

view from Coronado bridge towards down town San Diego

view from Coronado bridge towards Coronado Island

after lunch we strolled through Coronado

old entrance

thats how people live here ;)

the sun and stars

a beautiful entrance in a private garden

after our stroll we went to the beach and visited the pier

the beach left from the pier

the beach right from the pier

surfer waiting for a wave

after some fun hours at the beach we headed home

back to San Diego via Coronado bridge

 a beautiful sunset towards town town

a ship is coming to San Diego


We had a wonderful day at the beach, with fun in the water and enjoying the sun.

Afterwards we went to the supermarket and bought some really big steaks for our BBQ we had for dinner. The steaks were better than in every restaurant, just perfect. And since we know how to make Margaritas, it's our drink for the evening and night time :)

I send you a lot of sun!!

little tanned greetings
mElinus

what happened the last 3 days?

The day after we went to the outlet shopping center we decided to see something from the inner country. We drove 1 hour NE to Temecula. It is a city which is famous for the old town, with its wine bars, lil' shops and a lot to see. 

(from anne4property.com)

We walked along the historic streets on wooden sidewalks with music playing from the lamppost and the sun burning our skin by at least 96°F/ 36°G.

It was pretty warm but I thought it's OK, only the guys complained about the heat. When I went to the tourist office, the lady told us it isn't hot today because it's under 100°F. 

:)

(from temecularealestateandliving.com)

Later we drove further east to the wine country of Temecula. We visited one winery and bought 2 bottles of wine at the Callaway winery  (still in the fridge).

....

The next day nothing really happened, we went to the beach in La Jolla and had dinner with our incredible hosts. This evening was amazing, we had so much fun and absolutely delicious strawberry Margaritas. Stella and Richard are awesome!!!!
....

Yesterday the weather wasn't perfect to go to the beach and so we decided to stay in San Diego and visit the 

Festival of Sails and the USS Midway. 

We also watch the sun set and it was soooo romantic!!!


Thats for now and all of you who took the challenge to find out whats wrong with the picture from my last post, will get a post card, just write me your address in Facebook.

I wish you all a great week!!

coffee thirsty greetings
mELinus

shopping and other surprises

Yesterdays was a day full of surprises and I will have one for you too. After a late start in the day we drove to an Outlet about 20 minutes from San Diego and shopped until the credit card got hot.

outlet center

When we realizes we wont make it through the whole center, we decided to go back to the car and drive home. But we wanted to see everything and so we drove to the end of the outlet center and then we saw this:

border fence

We have known that the boarder to Mexico is not far from San Diego and the outlet is even closer, but this close, we never thought that. We shopped the whole day and did never realize that the fence from the boarder is just a stone throw away. 

boarder and Mexico 

To our left was the shopping center and to our right was Mexico. We were stunned.

borader with shopping center

It was a very difficult experience for us and we talked about it a lot when we drove back to San Diego. But the day was great we have been very exhausted of all this undressing and dressing again. The best thing was, it's Labor Day weekend and that meant a lot more savings for us. Yayyyy!!

AND NOW 

something new for you. Please look at the following picture and tell me what is wrong in it. Write a comment under the post with your thoughts and I will pick someone and she or he will get a postcard from sunny funny San Diego!!!

Whats wrong in here???

So lets start and have a nice day!

finger crossing greetings
mElinus

harbor & beaches in Oceanside

Bench in Oceanside

Yesterday we made a beautiful trip to sunny Oceanside, just about 30 min. north of San Diego. I mean it would have been 30 minutes if you are going straight, but it's vacation and that means once in a while you do not have to do straight things. We drove up the Hwy. 101 and had stunning views over beautiful beaches and harbors. The waves have been great and we saw a lot of surfers. So yesterday was all about "Harbors & Beaches".

not Hollywood but beautiful as well

When we arrived in Oceanside, we needed a break from all these impressions and of course to get something to eat. We had lunch at a roof top restaurant in Oceanside and the pic below shows our stunning view over the harbor of Oceanside.

lunch view

It was an amazing time, because the food was good, the music absolutely perfect and the breeze from the ocean was the perfect addition to the midday sun.

blue water, blue sky and white boats....

We even saw some monsters at the beach ... ;)

sand monster

The best was the parking lot, because it was way more than this. A lot of campers and families had their vacation homes there and enjoyed the sun, the ocean and the beach right at their 'door step'.

beachy parking lot

When we came back to our vacation home, we had a nice talk to our lovely host Stella. She is amazing, I mean she is way more than that. No 5 Star hotel can offer this love, dedication and personal passion for details. I can't say how much I love her and her husband. 

Last but not least we had dinner at FLEMMINGS in Down Town San Diego with steak and mashed potatoes, exactly how it should be.

Now I am looking forward to another wonderful day at sunny California and wish you at least a sunny day, where ever you are.

sand between my toes greetings
mElinus

First Breakfast in San Diego

As promised here are some pics of my first day in sunny San Diego. And by now, I can say, I LOVE IT. The city is beautiful, the ocean is stunning and the people are the nicest you can wish for your vacation.

BREAKFAST

My first breakfast in San Diego were Texas Eggs Benedict with hash browns and a cappuccino at 1pm in the gaslamp quarter.

GASLAMP QUARTER

This area is so beautiful and the perfect place to watch people and enjoy a breeze from the ocean in the wonderful California sun.

DOWN TOWN NEAR GASLAMP QUARTER

We took the stairs up to the top of the San Diego Convention Center to get the stunning view at the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge.

SAN DIEGO CORONADO BAY BRIDGE

What an amazing start in San Diego. Afterwards I laid on the beach and got a lil' sun burn.

Today was great and we will go out for dinner tonight.

Wish you all a sunny day tomorrow.

overwhelmed greetings

mElinus

nice birthday surprise

Yesterday I got so many presents and cards for my birthday, good friends called and emailed me and after a long day I checked my FB and Etsy account. And I could not believe it, but I sold 5 of my collection cups. Ok, it wasn't that surprising, because I wrote with So Min Lee already and made a rEserved ISTING for her, but it was a very nice birthday surprise. 

My fist collection cup was shipped to Wisconsin, USA. This time all 5 sets are going to be used in South Korea. 

This two sets are my favorites, because they are such a nice 'couple' and the decor is just perfect for a dreamy tea or coffee meet up with a good friend.

This one is my favorite when it comes to design, because even if its more than 40 years old, it looks modern and stylish to me.

And last but not least, these 2 beauties. The golden one is very classical and fits for nearly every occasion. The pink / purple one is very girlish, I think and gives your table a nice splash of color.

But for now I have to say god bye to all 5 beautiful German collection cups and send them on a long journey to South Korea.

I am happy that I sold them, but I really like these cups, so I am also a little sad. But I am happy in the other way, because I found some beautiful 'new' ceramic pots, cups and plates during the last weeks and they will be up soon.

'carefully packing' and 'left-over birthday cake eating' greetings

mElinus

How to: go on vacation

I made a new treasury, because I wasn't on vacation yet and I would love to pack my things and start traveling.

So I made a treasury for all those out there who are like me, without the possibility to go on a trip soon.

Please check it out and tell all the creative and talented 'Etsians' what you think.

So get ready for you cyber trip:

HOW TO . . .  go on vacation

1. you have to save money. 

2. you have to find a place 

3. you hvae to book a flight 

4. youn need a suitcase

5. you will need a hat and a luggage tag 

6. you hvae to pack your towels 

7. you have to pack an extra pair of sun glases and your camera 

8. you need your ticket

9. you need your passport 

10. you have to fly 

11. you have to find your destination 

12. you can make sight seeing

13. or go to the beach 

14. for swimming  

15. or surfing 

16. and hopefully you will got lost in your thoughts ...

So who will come with me and start the trip??

Please click here to see the whole Etsy Treasury

wistfully and expectantly greetings

mElinus

Funny Book from Hong Kong

While I was in HongKong I found this little funny book in a sweet little shop. They had some funny gadgets and also kids stuff. 

When I saw the little book I thought, maybe it's a book to explain older kids the topic death and how it comes that people they know pass away (in a child-friendly way). I grabbed it because it might be a good one for my god-daughter.

After I skimmed through the book and couldn't hold my laughter because it is so hilarious, I had to buy it!

Just to give you an inside few, I took some pictures from one really funny little story:

I had to hold it open ;)

It is so so funny, how Doug is trying to make a joke!!

And Phils reaction is so understandable!!

Even now, after I read it the 20th time, I can't stop laughing!!

What do you think, isn't it funny. I mean death is not really funny, unfortunately I know it, but I think it is sometimes good, to take a step back and not everything so/to serious.

I wish you all a great day and of course a wonderful weekend!!

Oh and please remember, next week we will have a new Etsy shop of the week, so please scroll a little down and take the chance to write a little comment for Anna and her great work @ anoteworthyoriginal!!

Thank you!!

funny greetings

mElinus