Lilly + Potential Wedding Spots in San Diego

Another friend in town for a visit! My college co-volleyball-fanatic freak Lilly was in town for a few days (the bf/future fiance was at a conference)... I haven't seen Lilly for about 2-3 years? We were crazy about volleyball back in college (this was before my obsession transferred over to ultimate frisbee) spending good chunks of the weekends and reading periods playing ball... And then in New York, we spent some time together on the ski slopes. Lilly was amazing at mastering the snowboard in one season. It blew me away how quickly she picked it up...

So we spent a good chunk of a day talking about her future wedding. :) Hee hee.... and decided to check out some local places as potential wedding spots. Here are a few pictures from some places we checked out. I guess it's good for anyone looking at this and thinking of a wedding in SoCal?

Paradise Point

on Mission Bay

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It was a cute resort on an island in Mission Bay. No high rise buildings, but rather little bungalows spread out through the resort. Apparently, in its hey day, it was a private vacation spot for celebrities, and the "lagoon" was used in the movie Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor. Huh.

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Lilly at Paradise Point

(indicating this is the first spot we're checking out)

Sunset Point
View from Sunset Point
Pine Hill
Lagoon

Pine Hill to Lagoon area
Turtles!

Estancia in La Jolla

An upscale luxury hotel in La Jolla next door to the Salk Institute. Since it was up in the hills of La Jolla, I thought it may be on top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, but no. No ocean view. Apparently, behind the hotel are several several-million dollar homes obstructing the view of the water. However, it's a pretty hotel. We did a quick run through and took a couple snaps.

The Lodge at Torrey Pines
La Jolla

Another upscale luxury hotel next to the famous golf course at Torrey Pines. We just stopped by for Lilly to pick up some info, so no pictures. But she was very impressed with the decor in the lobby. I guess I should go check it out sometime. All I noticed was that the bellhop and valet guys were wearing kilts and we were surrounded by some oooh-la-la cars, i.e. Maserati or things of that sort.

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L'Auberge

in Del Mar

This place had a cool name and sounds kinda fancy. They have a large terrace where weddings sometimes take place. I think small receptions can take place there as well. They also have a banquet room, but we didn't have access to it as some event was going on. What is more popular (and quite beautiful) is for the wedding ceremony to take place at Seagrove Park, a park on the cliffs a block away from the hotel with the reception occuring at the hotel.

Lilly relaxing on the Terrace



Seagrove Park



You can hear the crashing waves!
Wild squirrels! (and so FAT)

NEW TALLY:

College - 4

NYC - 1

High School - 0

Time flies

Coco's starting to look a little older, huh? I think he's turning 10 this year...

He's not looking very happy because he was scared of my camera and didn't enjoy taking this picture with me.

Future Jammer HB!

When is comes to comparing San Diego to New York City, I think my friends prefer the West Coast. Either that or EVERYONE has conferences in San Diego...

Since moving to our new home in December, we've already had several visitors! Not including relatives, the tally we have going is:

College friends - 2 (Neill and Gary)
New York friends - 1 (Paul)
High School friends - 0

As of this weekend, College friends get another mark! My good friend/ex-college-roomie Helen was in town for a conference and visited us. We spent a nice afternoon at the Wild Animal Park checking out gazelles, rhinos, and okapi... The next day, we introduced her and Christian to Guitar Hero. Uh oh, this is like DDR revisited. Back in the day, Helen stayed in our apartment in NYC and mastered Dance Dance Revolution in ONE day... Well, she didn't get the opportunity to perfect her skills, but she certainly managed to define her style (and flying hair) while Christian was mastering his facial expressions. Check them out!

New tally:

College - 3

NYC - 1

High School - 0

New Addition to the Family

Dave and his 2 new babies...

We got a Toyota Prius! Next to its 10 year old sister


We've recently watched An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car? I'd highly recommend both these documentaries to everyone!

It feels good to be environmentally conscious... We're doing everything we can to be green, from using high efficiency lightbulbs EVERYWHERE in the house, Energy Star appliances (refridgerator, washer), to an energy conserving TV (LCD is much better than a plasma)... We've already seen a big difference in our electric bill!... And so far, the car is averaging almost 40 mpg!