The Sagacity of Winnie the Pooh

On pondering the excitement in my life right now, I thought I'd share this quote with you.

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”

This Mr. Pooh is a bear after my own heart.  At his innocent core he understands that food goes beyond sustenance; it's an entire world of possibilities, of taste bud temptation and tummy tantalization.  It's a comfort, a reward, a hobby.  And it's what keeps me going, both nutritionally and creatively.  It's like in Sister Act II, when Whoopie says to my girl Lauryn Hill, "If you wake up in the morning, and you can't think of anything but singing, then you should be a singer, girl."  Well, I wake up in the morning, and I can't think about anything but eating.  Now, aside from pie eating contests, tell me how I can make "Eater" into a profession.  Would you?

How You Doin', San Diego?

To most people, San Diego would be considered an exotic extended vacation spot.  To most Californians, it's just a great weekend beach getaway.  Shawn, Brittany, and I took advantage of its proximity last weekend, and met up with the excuse of seeing the well-known (in Europe) French dj, Bob Sinclar.  Shawn had been to one of his shows before in Ibiza, but it was all new for Britt and me, and we were all psyched to be paying $15 for a show that usually bills at 80 euro.

We spent the weekend at the chic Palomar Hotel in the Gaslamp District, where Brittany's friend Lizzie gave us the VIP treatment, even having special treats waiting for us in our room upon arrival, including a bottle of champagne on ice!  The four of us went out for tapas before us three made our way to Fluxx to get our European beats on.

We were right in the front, close enough to reach out and fist bump Bob Sinclar, and in the prime location for people to make obnoxious excuses for why they should get closer than us.  One obnoxious Frenchie pulled out his passport to prove that he, as a fellow national, should be front and center.  Another claimed that he was Bob Sinclar's brother (Me: "Well, then.  You see him all the time.").

He mixed a lot of different songs, playing a handful of his own (including the Italian "Far l'Amore" and a favorite, filmed below from the back of the club, "Love Generation"), and several others, to which we danced the night away in the presence of awesome girls wearing hooded fur vests, a psychedelic battalion of lasers, and a consistent repetition of Sinclar's hilariously accented, "How you doin', San Diego?!"

On Saturday, Ian and his girlfriend Kelsey joined us for some fun in the sun.  We hung out at the hotel pool for a couple hours before heading to the top of the Hyatt in Seaport Village for fancy drinks and incredible bay and sunset views.

That night was just one thing after the next.  We ended up in South park, hanging out at the Station Tavern, chowing down on local Mexican and artisan ice cream, and poking into eclectic boutiques. 

The next morning we headed to Little Italy for a unique brunch at Craft & Commerce.  To understand their refreshing spin on breakfast, just know that Shawn's Eggs Benedict was on top of a jalapeno-glazed biscuit and I had duck leg confit.  Yum!

Afterwards, to escape downtown and get out on the water, we took the ferry over to Coronado and made our way to the Del, where we enjoyed floofy vacation drinks on the deck and walked along the sun-drenched sand.

As a final treat to cap off our quick getaway, we got to meet up with our high school friend Darrin, who just happened to also be in SD that weekend.  We realized that we hadn't seen each other in a whopping three years.  It's incredible how old friends can bridge time gaps and catch up in a matter of minutes and a bottle of wine.

Haven't had a weekend getaway in a while?  What are you doing?  Get going!