Feb 17 2012

Street Tacos And Pool Filters

After completing the Las Americas shopping excursion with Sylvia, we indulged in some fantastic Mexican food from Los Panchos in Chula Vista with Rodrigo. I had the carnitas “street” tacos which are always so amazingly good. After lunch I lent Rodrigo a hand with pressure cleaning his pool’s pump filter. My instrumental job was to push the “Filter Pump” button on and off at precise, crucial, life-and-death, save-the-world, get-Apollo-13-back-safely intervals. My heroic efforts paid off and clean, filtered water once again flowed from the jets. You’re welcome, world.

Cute Lilo
Model Stitch
Los Panchos
Carnitas Tacos
Filter system
Control panel
The Algae Galaxy
Good pressure
Clean water

Feb 17 2012

Las Americas – Part Two

Went back to the Las AmericasPremium Outlets in San Ysidro (just a stone’s throw over the border fence from Tijuana) with Sylvia to pick up some items at the Disney Store that we put on hold a couple of days earlier. This time we got to talk to our friend Sandra, who is the store’s manager. While there, I took a couple of shots of princess artwork that were on t-shirts. For some reason I just really liked the artwork. Very sketchy looking. We walked around the mall for a while and noticed something we’d never seen before. We’re pretty sure that most people never notice it. It was a statue of St. Isidro, the patron saint of the city of San Ysidro, displayed on the upper level above the Information Center entrance. Also came a across a pretty cool sculptured relief of a bullfighter on one of the mall walls. These two things alone should tell you how close we were to Mexico. Also got some more shots of colorful kiddy rides outside some to the stores. After we finished the walking and the shopping we drove through a McDonald’s located at the outlet mall to share an order of wonderful-smelling french fries. It’s become a tradition. On the drive back home we noticed a giant blow-up Ronald McDonald sitting cross-legged on top of another McDonald’s waving to us drivers on the freeway. Their french fries didn’t seem quite as appetizing.

Feb 16 2012

Final Morning At Heather’s

Without getting into the traumatic aviary events of this morning involving Kevin and Olive, I did have some quality bonding time with both Gordon and Theo. I tired to explain to them why I was leaving after the few days of our fun-filled rabble rousing. I also had some fun with Lauren’s letters. Messing with things is fun.

Feb 15 2012

A Day Of Shopping With Sylvia

Drove with Sylvia all the way the down I-5 to the very last U.S. exit before hitting the Mexican border to accompany her on a shopping trip to both the San Ysidro Village shopping center as well as the much more attractive Las Americas Premium Outlets. At San Ysidro Village we went into Marshalls, Anna’s Linens and Ross but didn’t find anything she wanted at any of them. I however found some interesting items to shoot inside Marshalls. Across the street at Las Americas we visited New Balance, Skechers and Nike (needless to say I wouldn’t mind NOT smelling new shoes again for a while) as well as the Disney Store. Didn’t make a purchase at any of those places either except to put things on hold at the Disney Store for a return trip on Friday. Not a very productive shopping trip but still a fun social outing with my long-time friend. After walking through the indoor food court and burning the roof of my mouth on a sample of scalding baked potato that didn’t have much flavor, we ended our outing with a visit to Sprouts Farmers Market for her weekly vegetable purchase.

Viewing Tijuana
Last exit
Outside Marshalls
Inside Marshalls
Marshalls skull
Marshalls platter
Outside Anna’s
Inside Anna’s
Outside Ross
Ross shoes
Ross pig
Ross toys
Border fence
Outside New Balance
Inside New Balance
Outside Skechers
Inside Skechers
Outside Nike
Inside Nike
Las Americas
Outlets Info Center
Food court
Food court
Big Bird ride
Pooh ride
Disney Store
Disney Store
Inside Disney
Mickey statue
Pillows
Woody doll
Claw aliens
Seven Dwarfs
Stitch mugs
Sprouts
Inside Sprouts
Sprouts produce
Bell peppers
Apple varieties
Asparagus tips

Feb 15 2012

Gordon, Day Four

Got this lazy, morning shot of Gordon on my fourth day of house-sitting in Chula Vista. This is when he wasn’t sleeping on either my feet, hip, lap, chest or back. Life’s good for Gordon.

Feb 14 2012

Mary’s Birthday Dinner

A group of my friends and I met at Pat & Oscar’s at Plaza Bonita in National City to celebrate our friend Mary’s birthday with a socially-fun and consumably-delicious dinner. In attendance were Mary and her husband Dave with their daughter, along with Sylvia and Rodrigo, Chip and Bethany with their two children, and Stacy. Oh, and me to document the evening and represent for Hungary. My meal of choice was the toothsome Penne Pasta Alfredo. There was a hushed rendition of “Happy Birthday,” a few presents to open, two shared plates of ice cream and cake, and a few bathroom trips that were politely ignored by most.

Happy Birthday again, Mary!

Feb 14 2012

From Heather’s To The Tapias

I walked the hills and dales, crosswalks and sidewalks (using the very same legs I was born with, just scaled up a bit and a tad more hairy) from Heather’s house, where I am house/animal-sitting, all the way over to Sylvia and Rodrigo’s home. Fortunately for me and my legs both families are located in the same city and within blocks of each other. Picked a picturesque and crisp, sunset-y time of the evening for the walk, with long shadows and striking sun rays over the Pacific. Ahhh, San Diego in February.

Feb 14 2012

Valentine’s Day Lunch At The Tapias

For my Valentine’s Day lunch I enjoyed some delicious Sylvia-made chicken enchiladas with her and Rodrigo. Stopped by her parents’ house to drop off some of that very same enchilada goodness and then it was right back to the Tapias’ house for some required Valentine sweetness, again compliments of Sylvia’s amazing baking abilities. We delighted in her incredible walnut brownies topped with a dab of buttercream frosting, a smidgen of chocolate ganache and decorated with some candy hearts. Shame how Valentine’s Day is just once a year.

Feb 14 2012

Those Cats, Gordon And Theo

Quick snapshots of what it’s like to be either Gordon or Theo, from the house of Heather.

Gordon
Theo

Feb 13 2012

Rolled Tacos, Rain, A New Living Room and Pirates

So the second half of my day went like this: got picked up by my friends Sylvia, Lilo and Stitch and we drove to Colima’s (where we were blocked and cruelly tempted by a gigantic Entenmann’s truck) to exchange US currency for some always-great Mexican food which we quickly and efficiently devoured at her house with Rodrigo.  Ironically that same food was then modified into waste, so in effect we wasted our money. Mealtime was when the sky decided to open up and drench San Diego. We spent most of our post-lunch afternoon indoors rearranging their living room furniture into a much more open, comfortable and pleasing layout for hosting guests and watching TV. We tried it out by getting cozy and watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The new layout worked great. By the end of the movie we were all comfortable and pleased. The day ended with yet another fantastic sunset over the Pacific.

Feb 13 2012

Lauren’s Alien

One of Lauren’s many playthings. This one electronic, interactive and squishy.

Feb 13 2012

Finch And Felines

While house-sitting for friends of mine in Chula Vista I got these images of their two cats showing more than a passing interest in their Zebra Finches. Nature’s frenemies.

Zebra Finch
Gordon
Theo

Feb 12 2012

Afternoon With The Tapias

After being picked up by the Tapias, we made a quick stop at Costco for weenie burps and gas. (Insert your own personal understanding of that sentence here.) Drove south past San Diego Bay, and just north of downtown we saw a pirate ship fire its cannon in mock battle. After another stop, this time at a Target in Chula Vista to pick up a couple of copies of “The Help,” we purchased some delicious-looking/smelling Mexican pastries from La Concha Bakery. Once back at their house we enjoyed a fantastic pasta dinner that Sylvia made, followed by finally indulging in those custard-filled Conos we picked up from the bakery. This was a good snapshot of hanging out with Sylvia and Rodrigo when we aren’t walking in some beautiful corner of San Diego.

Feb 12 2012

My Host

So I started another multi-day house-sitting stint for some friends in Chula Vista and I was greeted by this little beauty on the pillows on my bed in the guest room. Cute, I guess, but don’t blame me if I have some Chucky dreams tonight.

(Just kidding, Heather. It was cute to find.)

Feb 12 2012

Stunned Finch Chick

A little, yellow Finch chick banged itself into our living room window this morning and then flopped down onto the patio. It seemed a bit stunned but otherwise none the worse for its mishap. After a few minutes of sitting long enough for me to get some photos, it flew first onto our barbecue and then into one of our pine trees. From there I’m assuming it returned to its parents for some much-needed feeding and dramatic storytelling.

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