Interstate. Five. North.

The last exit before you hit Mexican border is San Diego. Pretty much you never drive in that direction. Every time you hop in the car, the navigation lady says “Interstate. Five. North”. And yes, there are these dots in between three easy words that already became my US summer soundtrack. And no, it’s not a flawless word combo, which according to Wikipedia means “the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean”(what the hec is largely parallel?), it’s three separate words, each living its own life, but altogether they sound like fun! Like shopping malls and Meditation Garden, like La Jolla shores and Los Angeles, like gas stations and  little road trips.

 Like summery, simple, sweet pleasures of 2013.

What have I been up to this week? Well, a ton of food and a lot of drinking. Late drinks in Cass street Bar (yes, it is located on Cass street, how damn smart you are, dude!) and playing pool, and random talks, and breakfast at the same place the next morning. Sandwiches of all kinds, plain bread and whole grain, toasted and not, but mostly turkey inside. Avocados so soft and ripe, that you spread slices on your toast, as butter. Pieces of lime in every bottle of Mexican beer. Morning runs and evening yoga practices. Laying out when it’s nice out and reading a book when it’s gloomy – but obviously by the ocean. A lot of versions of my regular Latte drinks, including Madagascar Vanilla Latte from Best City Bagel place in Hillcrest, and White Chocolate Almond from Café 976. I drank those over long talks with friends I’ve been missing for two years, and totally new people in my life. I drank it over an old book from the city library and the last Mustang magazine, overhearing someone talking about the same stuff at the table nearby. It’s so funny, how people talk about the. same. stuff. Over and over. In any language. Work. Family. Friends. Cheating. Liberal. Democrat. Drama. Love. Thru the centuries, words and accents changed, topics stayed.

I’ve been picking up on shopping a little bit, just kinda started thou. Got a  haircut and the best head massage I ever had. Literally fell asleep in hairstylist’s hands. People watched, no, people stared at Comic Con, which is that huge popular art event that takes place in San Diego every summer. Smth like Halloween, but you can only put costumes of your favorite movie creatures on. Zombies, for instance. It was actually a lot of fun, especially once we got shots of tequila in the bar and for some reason continued with whiskey in the next one. Oh, bar hopping, as you can see, took place too. I am doing grocery shopping, as if  I was local, in Sprouts and Trader Joe’s instead of Ralphs where all the tourists hang out. In these farmer’s markets-kinda-stores, you can find all the “Cali-eats-healthy-no-chips/coke/Hershey’s-yes-we-go-vegan staff”, local fruits and vegetables, paper bags at the check out etc.

It’s crazy how most of my friends all of a sudden got married and bought houses. It makes me so happy to see how they remodel those, pick paints and carpets, garden and and work on their “forever” houses. How they get dogs and open wine bottles, how girls are proud of their husbands and boys talk about their wives all the time. How new and young these families are. I love little interior details, minor mood swings and major life changes. They give me this awesome vibe of trying, and even if good things don’t come easy, they come, eventually, and inspire both of you.