Tag Archives: Del Mar

Where The West Is Fun: The San Diego Country Fair 2017

The beginning of June also signals an annual family tradition: The San Diego County Fair! This year’s theme is “Where The West Is Fun”, but isn’t a fair always fun? The sights, the sounds, the smells of The San Diego County Fair all let you know the start of the summer is here and it all just takes me back to when I attended the fair with my sister and parents, known as The Del Mar Fair when I was younger. Now, my husband and I take Dominic every year because I want him to also grow up with the same wonderful memories of The San Diego County Fair. We attended The Fair recently, and you still have time to enjoy all that The Fair has to offer. It runs from June 2 to July 4, and all ticket information can be found here. A way to save and get the best “bang for your buck” at The Fair would be to buy the “Passport to Savings” coupon book (either at The Fair or online), sponsored by Albertsons and Vons. It’s only $5 and comes with a free San Diego County Fair admission return ticket ($18 value), plus one of the coupons is for a free Souvenir Cup with purchase from one of the food vendors, Fresh Pretzels. The cup is refillable throughout the time of the fair, which is only $2.60 each refill! We buy it every year because it’s filled with amazing savings at vendors all over The Fair, but hang on to it because the savings can be extended to outside The Fair to places like 7-Eleven, Broken Yolk and California Sock Company!

Cheers and happy trails!

THINGS TO DO & THINGS TO BUY

The Garden Show

The O’Brien Stage

There is plenty of entertainment at The Fair at various stages throughout the fairgrounds. A full schedule of the remaining entertainment can be found here:

Entertainment at The San Diego County Fair

Bing Crosby Hall

The Bing Crosby Hall is one of several exhibition halls, perfect for shopping for those uncommon goods!

I’ve always wanted a nesting doll, and now I have one thanks to Russian Souvenirs!

My newest pin and Dominic’s newest spinner

THE FUN ZONE

Dominic’s absolute favorite ride, hands down. My husband and son ride it every year!

THE FOOD!

All Dominic wanted was the waffle from Chicken Charlie’s, but Deon and I opted to use the Fresh Pretzels coupon to get some fabulous food and a souvenir cup!

Of course I would buy a dessert involving cheesecake dipped in batter and fried!

The last bite of the day: Bacon wrapped deep fried jalapeno poppers!

Dominic ending the day with the frog he won at The Fun Zone and a final drink from our refillable Souvenir Cup

Thank you San Diego County Fair for another wonderful season! Until next year!

FTC Disclosure: I received complementary media passes to enjoy the San Diego County Fair. Although I did receive complementary passes, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

Weezer: Dominic's First Concert!

This past weekend, we took Dominic to his very first concert: Weezer at the Del Mar Racetrack! It was a bit gloomy, raining on and off throughout the day. We even considered not going at one point, thinking the reports of “thunder showers” would be correct and we didn’t want to subject our boy to the potential of catching a cold. But we decided to brave the weather since we would be inside for a bit watching a few horse races prior to the concert. Anyone who arrives prior to the last race can see the concert for free, and I have to thank my co-worker, Rene, for giving us passes for free stretch runs! We had dinner first, then my hubby wanted to place his first bets on horses. There was three races left for the night, and Deon won the first two! He had a blast and wants to return again this season. After the last race, we all headed for the venue area and rocked the night away to Weezer.

The music lover in me has always wanted to see Weezer in concert. When we found out about the show, I just thought how awesome it would be to have this be Dominic’s first concert, and he could say “When I was five, my parents took me to see Weezer!” They performed all of the popular alternative radio station hits: “Hash Pipe”, “Island in the Sun”, “Beverly Hills”, “Say it Ain’t So”, “Buddy Holly” and my favorite, “Undone – The Sweater Song”. They even did a Blur cover, which was a pleasant surprise. To commemorate the day, I bought us all concert shirts. Dominic’s is still a bit too big, but it will allow him the chance to grow into it, giving him more chances to wear it.

Below, I’ve included the set list for the show, and I will upload the video of “Undone – The Sweater Song” soon (you’ll be able to see it underneath the set list). Dominic said he had fun, and it made for a wonderful day at the Del Mar Racetrack!

A tiny big gloomy, but nothing torrential.

Someone was a winner!

Really good line up this summer!

My boys are ready to rock!

Not only was it Dominic’s first concert, but it was the first time for me and Deon to see Weezer as well. They were fantastic!

Dominic is a natural. He took a look around at the crowd and emulated the Weezer hand symbol (his daddy decided to follow suit).

Note: I got Deon’s shirt in London two years ago, and boy did it get a lot of attention that night! If you can’t tell, it says “If found please return to the pub.” When Janice and I were in London back in 2012, I saw a guy wearing it as we were going up an escalator in a Tube station. I then found it at a souvenier shop towards the end of our stay and had to get it for Deon. He loves it!

Mark this one in the history books for Dominic’s very first concert!

Edit this setlist | More Weezer setlists

(Video coming soon!)

Absolutely Fabulous: The 2014 San Diego County Fair

It’s that time of year again for The San Diego County Fair, and this year’s theme was called “The Fab Fair” featuring all things Beatles. Of course that made me happy because it meant lots of British references, and I’m all about anything that brings me closer to the UK! It took two days with my family and one day with a friend/co-worker to get through the San Diego Fair this year. As it happens every year, we were able to partake in the sights, sounds, rides, games and of course the fab food. Next year, I’m going to take my family on a Tuesday to take advantage of “Taste of the Fair”, where some food vendors offer a sample portion of one of their menu items for just $2, which is worth the price of admission itself! I spent just $10 on food that day and was able to sample five different items. I hope the pictures speak for themselves of what a great time we had at this year’s fair. The San Diego County Fair is open until July 6th, 2014, which gives you just a few more days to enjoy one of San Diego’s finest traditions, including the 4th of July!

Inside “The Fab Fair Experience”. It was a wonderful, musical feast for all of the senses.

This was an awesome interactive display of Abbey Road!

Old school records, speakers and a display on how records are made. So nice to give the younger generation a wonderful musical education!

“A Hard Day’s Night” is one of my favorite Beatles albums.

One day, we will take Dominic to England to experience everything my husband and I have. I know he’ll love it! (Crossbody purse by Bagjunki)

Food and fun await!

My boys at The Transformers display through Chevrolet. Bumblebee has always been my favorite.

My hubby is so happy to know our boy is growing up a daredevil and will ride pretty much anything with him!

Dominic said, “Dada, help me kill zombies!”

Our little snake charmer!

Prizes we won each other: Deon won Dominic the minion, Dominic won me the donut, and I won the “Coon-munk” for Deon (we didn’t know what to call that cute cross between a raccoon and chipmunk)!

Dominic was ready to try some awesome fair food…

But none of us were brave enough to try the Triple Decker Krispy Kreme burger!

My first two dishes of the day: Deep Fried Cream Cheese with sweet chilli sauce and a Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese Melt. The deep fried cream cheese was fantastic and everything I hoped it would be, but the pulled pork sandwich left much to be desired. Oh how I wanted it to be good!

Next on the menu: Deep Fried Birthday Cake and the Spaghetti & Meatball Sandwich. The spaghetti sandwich was quite good. I think I was hoping the deep fried birthday cake was a cake pop dipped in batter and deep fried…hmmm, maybe a new recipe I should try out?

Fashion Blogger Day at Flower Hill Promenade

This post is just the first of a flurry of events I have attended in the last couple of weeks, which means I’ll be posting something everyday this week! This event was a couple of weeks ago, and was at Flower Hill Promenade in Del Mar. We pass this mall whenever we take a trip to Los Angeles, or whenever we go to the San Diego County Fair. I’ve been to this mall a couple of times in the past, but never ventured deeper than a restaurant or the movie theater, and I haven’t been there since their renovations (for instance, that movie theatre is now a Whole Foods). When an invite was posted on the San Diego Style Bloggers blog to check out their newest boutiques called “The Row”, I jumped at the chance to see what’s new.

Our day began with delicious drinks and starters, courtesy of Sea & Smoke. There, we met up with Heidi and Lauren of J Public Relations and a couple of ladies with Flower Hill Promenade. We had a tartine with cheese, spinach, and figs, and a lovely selection of meats, cheeses and nuts. The drinks were a citrus spritzer, along with my staple of coffee. All of it was perfect, light and delicious.

The Lexington Cardi by Street Chic. Outfit post to come!

Of the five bloggers present, I hung out with Bianca of The In Between Girls, and a new addition to the San Diego Style Bloggers network, Abigail of The Fabulous Life of a Natural Disaster. When we were given our itineraries, the three of us immediately wanted to go to the same place first: Vixen Pop Up Boutique! We were greeted by owner Vanessa Johnson, who gifted us with cute little friendship bracelets made by a local surfer. The space is quite large and full of fashionable items from clothing, to accessories, to home goods. We also got to meet Alison Choi, founder and owner of Street Chic, who had some real estate in Vixen, stocked with her fabulous clothing and jewelry, in addition to some curated items. I bought the Lexington Cardi, pictured above.

1. Vanessa, owner of Vixen, with Abigail and Bianca, choosing their bracelets; 2. My picks.

With Bianca and Abigail at Vixen.

Because the weather started to deteriorate, we had to limit our visit to the shops immediately around us. I couldn’t take too many pictures of the shops upstairs because the rain really started to come down. Below are the few pictures of the shops we actually went into prior to the weather change. Rest assured that this won’t be my last visit to the Flower Hill Promenade. Thank you to J Public Relations and Flower Hill Promenade for hosting a fashionable and fun day!

Love this seating area in Lone Flag, which is a concept space and shop, filled with high quality core products ranging from homeware to clothing, shoes, and accessories for both men and women.

Rais Case & Mr. B’s Luminaries are two different shops sharing the same space. Rais Case presents pieces made with repurposed materials to make unique accessories. Mr. B’s Luminaries offers all natural, individually hand poured candles, good for you and the earth. Both very green endeavors!

Van de Vort showcases lovely statement pieces, encompassing the style of the California woman. That dress is adorable, and I love the couch, very elegant!

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