San Diego

It has been a while since I have been out to San Diego. Ernestos cousin Mauricio (or Wicho) was getting married. We decided to take advantage and stay for a long weekend. The trip started off great with an unexpected seat in first class.....on a friday afternoon? It was my lucky day. I enjoyed the long flight with a nice lunch and made jewelry, (here is your necklace Fred-Smokey Quartz, retails for $98).....this sparked a conversation with the guy sitting next to me. His daughter also makes jewelry. I told him about the website Etsy and how my neice Kelli sells her jewelry there. We covered so many topics and by the end of the flight I could've hugged him. I have to say, this does happen to me quite a bit...Im a plane talker. I will have the most interesting conversations with people I just met, of course you know I can open up to anyone... Turns out Joe is a blog-ass too and used to have an Indian Guru....I cant wait to tune in to his memoirs, as he calls them. (make sure you send me your link Joe) Darn it! I should have taken his picture...

I did snap this pic right by the airport.....OOOOOOOh San Diego.

Ernesto had left for San Diego Thursday after work so when I arrived on friday at 430p, he and Jerry picked me up and we headed straight to Pepe and Veronica's place. They have a beautiful view from their deck overlooking a golf course. It is the perfect house for entertaining!

Everyone came over there and played pool, swam in the pool and ate dinner. Tavo and Erin brought over little baby Cruz.....only 10 days old, so tiny and cute! Saturday was the wedding and since it was at 2pm we didnt go to the beach as we usually do. We relaxed with coffee and hung out..I was trying to finish a ruby necklace to wear with my dress, but didnt get it done:( I did have a new pair of earrings on though and sold them that night!)

Mauricio and his new bride Maria looked beautiful! The wedding was great. It was in a church in Carmel Valley. You can see the view behind the alter is awesome.

There were 2 hours to kill until the reception so we went with Ernestos brother, Tavo to a place called Brigentines for a drink and some apps. It was overlooking the Del Mar racetrack and was right by the beach. We pulled down one street to look at the water. We asked a random guy to take this pic and he did a really nice job, Its a framer! I love the huge agaves and all the cactus and flowers that were blooming. When we arrived to the reception the mariachis were already playing. Ernesto's dad was right up there with them singing. His voice is so amazing. I took a very short video, which I posted on youtube We were seated at table 18 along with Nester's siblings and there spouses. The colors were so vibrant...oranges and reds....of course like every wedding I go to, I wish I could have another one. It would be so fun to pick everything out again... Here I am with the other in law sisters.
Yes, I pulled a Barbie. I wore 2 different dresses that day. Did you notice? We always tease my sister in law Barbie, because for 10 years, at every wedding she will bring a dress to change into for the reception. I didnt know that the wedding was during the day, so I just didnt want to wear my black dress at 2pm. I went to Ross in the morning and bought the cream dress for the church. I kind of liked that Barb..I may start doing that regularly too!
Here we are with the bride and groom.
Maria is Italian and of course the groom is an Espinoza. Both sets of parents speak only very broken English, It was so cute when they each made a toast to the new couple. Here Ernesto is with his cute parents.
Amazingly, we were home by 1am. Luckily, it was not in Mexico or we wouldve been waiting at the border for hours. It was at the Hilton and I think they had to stop the music at midnight.

On Sunday, Ernestos padres planned a big carne asada. It started at 1am with menudo when we got home from the wedding. It is a tradition that you have menudo after a wedding... or maybe it is just after any late night out. It is said to be a cure for a hangover. You wouldnt think that it is that good, being how it is made with cow (or maybe pig?) stomach lining cut into bite size pieces. Netos dad spent the whole morning Saturday chopping it. Doesnt look apetizing at all, does it? Once you add hominy and cook in a delicious red chili broth for hours it starts smelling great! When you serve it in the bowl you top it with fresh cilantro, onions, lime and pureed chilis. DE-LISH!! I had 2 bowls after the wedding and 2 for breakfast.

Family started to arrive at 10 am and it was non-stop for the whole day. I was eating non-stop as well. How can you stop when there is salsa, ceviche and tacos in front of you? It was so beautiful outside so we were in and out of the house, relaxing in the sun....They all know how I love birdies, so when they saw this pretty yellow one on the fence they called me over. He didn't even seem that scared, just sat there singing. beep-beepErnesto and I planted this cactus about almost 8 years ago. We did a lot of planting on one visit and this cactus was only about 1 foot tall....now look!Finally at 11pm, after a few games of Pass the Ace and 2 BOTTLES of tequila, everyone was gone. Too bad the Menudo was gone too, I have a feeling some of the guys could've used a cure. It was such a long day, but so much fun! I am so lucky to have such great in-laws!