Frisky sparkle in my eyes

 

Frisky sparkle in my eyes can appear for many reasons. It may be smth simple, like getting a text message from a guy, being like “babe are you lost or smth?”. It might also be cause I’ve been shopping so hard that all my muscles are sore as if I was working out instead of getting new fancy outfits. I get this sparkle when someone throws me in the pool and when tears roll down my cheeks cause that salsa sauce is damn hot. What can be better than devoting warm yoga practice to your own self and laying down in shavasana thinking of how awesome can this “right here right now” be if you put a tiny bit of effort to make it happen. What can be happier than little pleasures of life, like branching at Bruegger’s bagels with friends and randomly meet more people out there, cause that’s what Pacific Beach is about – you just meet everyone everywhere and they are all friends. What can be cooler than staring at Hugh Jackman’s abs in the new Wolverine movie and wonder who the hell decided to pick that Russian actress to play the evil part lol. Going to Horton hotel lobby downtown for an awesome piano performance and taking the most disgusting shots of tequila – ever. And then the next day have the most amazing homemade pineapple tequila shot, as if Universe knew exactly what I needed to balance back.

Find out that the yummiest coffee in the entire world is brewed by a tiny local San Diego company Better Buzz and sip it laying out in a bikini on the Bay. Talking to my Nika face for hours about everything in the world and being a little social butterfly, having a drink here and there. Switching from beer to daiquiris and vodka in just one night, and feeling like crap the next day. Making up new words and mixing up phrases by the end of the day, when I get tired. Thinking partly in Russian but mostly English. Smelling grilled meat and bacon. Playing in the pool, as if you are a five year old. Snuggling with dogs that you justmwant to hug every second, and appreciating friends that care so much that after grabbing a cab for you at 3 in the morning (which literally took me 3 minutes and 6 blocks to get home from a bar), they text you, call you and e-mail both personal and work e-mails (obviously getting an automatic reply “I will be back in the office on August 8^th blah blah”) to make sure I am alright. Realizing the sense of that phrase about friends being family we choose for ourselves and also, unexpectedly, the sense of life. Being here feels so comfortable and natural, as if I am visiting my family, as if any home I go is my home, as if every day was just meant to be.

There might be no mascara going on for these couple weeks but there is definitely that funky sparkle in my eyes. Life is beautiful, especially when ocean breeze replaces regular wind, and Hazelnut Divinity replaces regular coffee, at least for a little while;)

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. 

If ever there was an endless summer, this is it.

I don’t think I can call Cali’s famous attitude to life anything else but the Art of Coastal Living. You come here and realize that this place is obviously blessed by the Universe. It’s smth in the air that makes it special. May be salt from the ocean that you can’t actually rinse off. May be sand, that you have – not even kidding – everywhere, as soon as you step out of the plane. Your life just slows down all of a sudden, but surprisingly you have enough time for everything. There is no rush, even when you go 120 on a freeway. No rush when you surf. Or bike. Or board. It’s so laid back and easy here, your whole body is lazily catching warm sun rays, getting brown-ish from day to day, you inhale and exhale salty air as if you were doing yoga, calm, chill, centered. Here the only moisturizer you need to use is Ocean Potion sun block, instead of usual creams. The only fragrance is… sun block too.  Here you look good with no makeup on, and the only essential accessory is sunglasses. Here shorts and bikini top is the ultimate dress code. Here surf brands are always in, season by season, year by year. Here it does matter how comfy and soft your flip flops are, and how many blocks away from the beach you live.

I’ve always said it’s all about the people, not place that matters. It is about the people, yes, but it’s also the place, that makes a whole lot of difference. It’s kinda of surreal to be here though, to have girls nights and friends’ reunions, to find out that someone got a new house or a dog, someone moved, someone stayed. It’s cool to stop by in places, that have been here forever and see people, who are still serving sandwiches in café 976 on Cass, and realize that their menu like never changed. It’s awesome to know exactly where the closest Trader Joe’s and the nearest post office are. It’s nice to chat with new bikini shoppe girls and pretend that you are just a regular customer here and have no clue what’s going on behind this counter. It feels so right to wake up early without my alarm set and go for a run at the beach. It’s gloomy and windy in the morning, really refreshing to run bare foot and catch the waves, and play in the water, and get all sandy and dirty lol. To stand still for a moment and just stare at the ocean. To breathe deeply and lose the train of thoughts you had on your mind.

Cali can inspire by just being California. Here I find the perfect mix of people, beaches, places, ocean waves. This state centers me down. People, who I came here for make me so happy. Cali associates me with deep turquoise color.  A little darker than Tiffany’s, a little lighter than water in the Pacific. It’s the color of searching a little too long and then finally finding the perfect place. The perfect balance. The perfect yourself.

 If ever there was an endless summer, this is it.

Right here, right now.

92109, Pacific Beach, CA