In search of...

Last weekend my sister invited my mom and I to downtown. Usually when we go its because we are in search of something. This particular instance we were in search of a spoon. I'm not talking about any regular ordinary spoon, that would be crazy. See my sister was in search of spoon that would be long enough and wide enough to reach the bottom of a huge pot of posole. A spoon that would scoop the ideal proportion of hominy, meat and juice. So on Saturday around 11:00 a.m. we jumped on the freeway and headed to downtown. I'm never one to object to a downtown trip so I was ready to go as soon as it was suggested. 

In search of this special spoon our first stop would be 9th Street.  This street is know for endless options of party supplies, cooking supplies and food vendors. Knowing that their would be a wide variety of street vendors, we skipped breakfast and decided to eat on 9th Street. The trouble would be deciding on what to eat.   

Fruit in a cup, maybe for a snack? We'll circle back. 

Ice Cream? We should probably have food first. 

Garbanzo beans? Hmm that's an interesting option. 

Shrimp and Cheese? That's an interesting combo. 

Fruit juices, to quench your thirst?

Still need food before dessert. 

I would normally go for a hot dog, but with so many options I decided to skip it this time. 

I think Ice cream is a favorite on 9th Street. 

Annnnd... I think we have a winner! We went with this vendor she had a wide selection of tacos, pupusas, quesadillas, gorditas, hot dogs and fruit juices. 

I went with a Gordita! The lady gave me the option of putting whatever I wanted, so I picked carne asada as the meat, nopales, grilled onions, lettuce, green salsa, cheese, and sour cream. For a drink I had strawberry juice. It was the PERFECT meal!!! Insert drooling emoji. 

My mom went with a pupusa. 

My sister went with pupusa, taco and for a drink she had the spinach pineapple juice. Needless to say we were all happy! So our spoon search continued. 

Yes, those are reindeer piñatas on top of a crate of toilet paper. 

See.

If you are planning a Mexican theme party, 9th Street is the place to go!

Or if you are having any type of party that requires a piñata, 9th Street is the place to go! 

Once we found the special posole spoon we went to the fashion district and did some shopping and then headed home. On our way home we saw the most beautiful sunset. It should be noted that the sunset photo has no filter. 

If you would like to see my other downtown post check these out:

1. My DTLA Favorites

2. CicLAvia

3. Heritage

4. Night on Broadway

5. Flower Mart Finds

6. Museum Day

7. ...when it was in the 80's & not a cloud in the sky.

8. Stainless Steel Curves

9. Lucky

P.s. These photos were taken on my iPhone and edited with a Color Story app. 

S'mores Regrets

One of my favorite drinks at Starbucks is the S'mores Frappuccino. I know sounds a little childish and even a little cliche, but its true. Anyway, for months now I have been craving coffee like nobody's business. In particular, iced coffee. This is weird for me because I've never been a coffee drinker. As a matter of fact, I can only handle coffee in small quantities. Coffee makes me nervous, gives me the jitters and makes my stomach go a little crazy.  Due to this crazy iced coffee craving I missed out on my favorite drink, the S'mores Frappuccino! I just realized last week that its discontinued! Aghhh!!!! Why did I let this happen to me?!?!?  Pumpkin Spice season is here and I don't think I'm ready!  This week I had an Iced Pumpkin Spice drink  but I was really wanting an iced coffee. Also, when am I'm going to get over the iced coffee craving?

p.s. This post is not sponsored by Starbucks. 

p.p.s. Sorry for so many exclamation marks! 

p.p.p.s I did have an actual s'more this month when I went to the beach and enjoyed this bonfire with family and friends.  

Tecate, Pueblo Magico

I promise this post is not about a hike or nature. There will be however some pictures of flowers and I should warn you, this post is picture heavy. 

I digress. 

Last weekend my sister, mom and some of my dads family took a 3 day trip to Tecate, Baja California. My dad was not born in Tecate but his grand parents and parents moved there when he was a baby and they raised  him there until his early 20s. If anyone ever asked where he was from, he would always say "Tecate!" My grandmother kept the home her parents built when they first arrived in Tecate, and till this day this house is still part of our family. It's our family vacation home. My dad and grandmother would love to spend any time they had in Tecate. 

The last time I was in Tecate, was about 10 years ago. I clearly remember the trip because it was so cold, I was willing to ditch my family and take a taxi back to LA. This was obviously before Uber. After 10 years, I finally returned! I wish my return was with my dad and grandma and this will always be one of the many regrets I live with. 

Anyways, we planned this trip probably two months ago and I've been excited ever since. The week leading up to this trip I started to realize this would be the first time I would go without my dad and how excited he would be about this trip if he was still alive. 

Okay, enough of the sad sappy stuff. Our trip started on Friday morning, after nearly three hours of driving we were almost there.  We exited the highway and entered a winding path into Tecate, in which you drive through small towns known as Jamul and Dulzura. 

Before we knew it we were 2 miles away from Tecate. 

Once we crossed the border and dropped off our bags at my grandma's house, we went straight for the tacos. 

Three to start. 

One more for good measure.

After we devoured the tacos, we went to the market to stock up on some goodies for the weekend. 

I bought a can of this sauce because of the packaging, but now that I read it, I think I should have bought more than one. I'll let you guys know how it is once I try it.

Did I mention my grandma's house is literally right in front of the border? That's the border patrol jeep at the top.

A puppy contemplating life. 

Once the sun was starting to slowly set, we walked down to the town. To our surprise, there was some sort of function happening. We are not exactly sure what the reason of the event was but we did conclude that it was some how related to Beauty and the Beast, there were Belles everywhere. As we walked the park, we came across a few musicians ready to play for us. 

Once night had fallen, we made our way back home. To our surprise, a street vendor was there to greet us. When we first laid eyes on him we weren't sure what he was selling nor what he was pushing. But judging by the fire coming out of his cart, we were very much interested! Once he stopped he opened up a drawer in his cart and showed us the goods. Sweet potato, pumpkin and bananas smoked and cooked. He gave us our pick of a combination of all or a bowl of just one type. Once decided he served it in a bowl and drizzled it with syrup and condensed milk. Oh my this was so delicious! I went with pumpkin and banana. 

I forgot to mention his cart made noise like a train, it was the coolest thing ever!

Okay, the next morning we got ready and went out for breakfast. I wish I would have taken photos of the breakfast because it was delicious. After breakfast we went to look for flower pots. The prices on the pots are so cheap we all went a little crazy. I spent $14 and bought 5. We filled up two cars of pots and headed back to the house. 

Grapes from my grandmothers house. 

Afternoon snack? Yes please. Raspados this time. 

On Sunday morning, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and crossed the border with our cars. We parked in a nearby parking lot and walked back into Tecate. We did this to save time. You see, if you try to cross the border later in the day you will spend at least 2 hours waiting in line. Because my grandmothers house is so near, we were able to just walk back. The morning walk felt so refreshing.  The sun was slowly rising and there was a cool breeze in the air. The streets were empty and it felt like the entire town was asleep except for us. 

Before our departure we went back down to the town and ate fish tacos. These are my mothers tacos. We walked the town again in search of Mexican style dress my mom wanted which lead us near the park once again. 

With our bellies full of tacos and ice cream, and our bags filled with chips and tortillas we walked back once again to grandmas house. We packed up everything that was not initially packed in the cars and walked back to the border. We crossed the border with ease and made our way back home.  

It was a super hot weekend that revolved around family and food. We stayed up talking till midnight on the porch escaping the heat of the house. We ate an ice cream every day that we were there. We ate tacos everyday that we were there. We remembered our lost ones. We laughed about memories. I'm excited for more trips like this and keeping the memory of our loved ones alive. 

I honestly can't complain of this perfect mini getaway... Wait a minute I forgot one tiny fact! Mosquitoes!! OMG if you ever find yourself in Tecate take a heavy duty bug repellent. My legs were mauled by mosquitoes. Okay maybe that's an exaggeration but I had so many bites, I'm just  now slowly recovering. I may not be able to wear shorts for the remainder of the summer.