Category Archives: San Diego Adventures

Phebe Comes to Visit

The saddest thing about graduating, perhaps, is the loss of all the holidays and breaks. I really enjoy planning trips and traveling, so this “lost” time really hit hard. Everything really came “crashing down” (excuse my melodramatic candor) when my Instagram and Facebook feeds quickly transformed into a mecca for bikini-clad girlfriends and #nofilter beach sunsets the first week of March. Luckily for me, I have one of the best friends in the entire world who decided to spend part of her Spring Break in beautiful Southern California for a week of shenanigans. It had a been a little less than a month since I had seen Phebe, but it felt like eternity.

Sushi Paradise

Sushi Paradise

Phebe arrived last Tuesday night after a whole day of traveling (4 airports, 3 flights, 2 layovers, in 1 Day)  and in typical Meg and Phebe fashion, we headed straight to a sushi bar in North Park, but not after wandering around for a bit to stretch out the legs and get some fresh air. After chowing down on some delicious California, Tempura, and Spicy Tuna Rolls at North Park Sushi and Grill, we headed back to Scripps Ranch to say hit to my parents and get ready for bed.

Pheb in La Jolla

Pheb in La Jolla

 

 

 

 

The next day was a pretty lazy day after November Project in the morning, but we headed down to La Jolla to get some shoes for Phebe’s meeting  and went to La Jolla to see the seals at the Children’s Pool and explore the area. We stumbled upon this amazing bakery/café and definitely  recommend it for lunch if you’re in the area – Girard Gourmet. Phebe got the Chicken Curry Sandwich on Eight Grain Bread and I got the Pear Cambozola w/ Glazed Pecans & Strawberries and substituted the dressing  for Balsamic Vinaigrette. That night, my Mom made a delicious Salmon dinner for us and we got to ride in our friend’s Tesla which was pretty cool!

On Thursday, we ventured up to the city of Angels for Pheb’s business meeting. Afterwards, we walked around the shops in Beverly Hills and ate lunch at my favorite restaurant, Urth Caffe. Phebe had this beautiful fruit plate (judge for yourself) and I indulged myself in their Caesar Salad (typical!). We wanted to beat the bad traffic so we headed south to the beaches in Manhattan and decided to get an easy 4 miles in before laying on the beach for a few hours. Heading home, we eventually got stuck in traffic, but it was well worth our boondoggle up to LA. I also decided that if I were to ever move to Los Angeles, I would love to live near the beaches. Meg in Manhattan Beach, anybody?

After a long and exhausting day in LA, we decided to stay in San Diego for the next few days. On Friday we headed to my favorite part of SD, Coronado (also known as Crown Town). We drove down and parked North West of the Del and spent the day on the beach. After braving the elements (we kept getting whipped in the face with sand by the wind), we got hungry and decided to head to my FAVORITE place – Miguels Cocina. Lucky for us, Happy Hour started at 3 so we indulged on some chips, guac and white jalapeño sauce (my absolute favorite thing there) before ordering our margaritas and entrees. That night, we were invited to see an old friend that had recently returned from Memphis, TN for a quick trip. As we made our way up to Bay View Park, we realized that we didn’t have any costumes for St. Patrick’s Day, so we stopped at Buffalo’s Breath, the oldest and COOLEST costume warehouse, where we found tutus and matching gold sequin bras (yes, you read that correctly).

My three favorite holidays (in order) are: The Fourth of July (I LOVE AMERICA), St. Paddy’s Day, and Cinco de Mayo. That being said, I love to celebrate all three holidays to the fullest, which made Saturday a day to remember. After a few miles in the morning by the house, Pheb and I got decked out in all green and gold for a day of partying with our friends from TN. We started at our friend’s house in Pt. Loma for some early morning shenanigans before heading to Balboa Park for the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. We danced, got on stage (fine, that was just me) and made my Irish ancestors proud before heading back to Pt. Loma for some food, then back to the house for some pizza and a movie (Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion).

Sunday was a recovery day for the both of us and we headed back to the beach in Coronado, this time at the Amphibious Base for some more R&R after we bike and lifted for a quick workout. We were planning on going on the boat, but unfortunately, our hot water heater broke so we opted to get out of my parent’s way and head to Nado. Following our beach adventures, we stopped at our favorite coffee spot and grabbed some cool drinks at Coffee Cart (aka Madrid Cafe) before heading up to Del Mar for the sunset. I love watching the sunset at the cliffs in Del Mar and walking the railroad tracks afterwards and knew that Phebe would love it as well!

Phebe’s flight to San Francisco was on Monday afternoon out of Long Beach, so we quickly headed out of the house on Monday morning to Pacific Beach to walk around and catch some more rays!  After a few hours walking the beach, we got in the car and headed up to Long Beach before we said our goodbyes. Thankfully I’ll be seeing Phebe in a month back in New York.

Watching the Sunset in Del Mar

Thank you Phebe for sharing your Spring Break with me down in San Diego, I hope you had as great of a time as I did! Love you.

Wait, I just RAN a half marathon?

The end of my college athletic career was one of the most difficult transitions that I’ve had to go through, and to be honest,  it was really challenging to plan for (along with the transition into the “real world”). I no longer have coaches telling me what to do or where to be;  there are no more teammates to count on in moments of weakness or for congratulatory high fives in times of success; there are no more fitness tests to pass or mandatory conditioning sessions to attend. The biggest change to date, is that now there is nobody holding me accountable for what I do (or choose not to do).

After I returned to San Diego in late December, I quickly thrust myself into as many running and fitness groups as possible, in an effort to regain that lost sense of camaraderie that I had once shared with my 31 other teammates. My week quickly began to fill up: Monday and Wednesday mornings were spent at November Project, Wednesday nights I found myself at Milestone for run club, the weekends kicked off with Friday After Work run group, followed by a combo of yoga and running at bRUNch club on Saturday, while Sundays I alternated between long runs and Glider Port Stairs at Torrey Pines. I threw down #VERBALS for almost all the workouts, which meant that I had to show up or face public social media humiliation (aka getting called out for not showing up). I became part of a bigger fitness movement in San Diego, November Project, and  was no longer just another individual running a route through another neighborhood; It felt good to be part of a “team” again.

In January, I attended every single workout possible and felt stronger than ever. I used to resent running because A) I am not very fast and B) it was commonly used as a punishment for not being fast enough . Now that I was running for myself and had no “times” to meet other than my own personal goals, I finally began to find my stride, both literally and figuratively. Running was FUN, Burpees were celebrated, and I started to “eat hills for breakfast”. Who woulda thought?

As the runs became easier and the mileage began to pick up (meaning I ran over three miles), a couple of people at November Project began talking about the San Diego Half Marathon in March. Before I knew what I was getting myself into, I was signed up and dropped my #VERBAL, even though I had no idea what I was doing. Thankfully I was able to coerce my fitness loving mother and NP superstar into running it with me so I had some sort of guidance throughout the next seven weeks.

My training plan originally called for increasing my mileage from my four mile max to pounding out eight miles the first weekend. I quickly threw that plan away (and all my hopes for running a half) and began to follow my Mom’s more carefully structured plan which included lower mileage until weeks 5-7, in which we would increase slowly to ten miles the week before the race.

Flash forward seven weeks and I’m toeing the start line for the San Diego Half Marathon, a surge of nervous energy fueling my empty, nauseous stomach. I woke up on Sunday at 4:30, sick to my stomach, unable to get anything down; by the start of the race I had been able to eat two orange slices: things were not looking good to start. Nearly two hours later and we’re downtown at Petco Park to check our bags and get ready. We immediately found some fellow NP (November Project) runners and huddled together to keep warm in true NPSD fashion #weatherspoof. At 7:20 the first wave took off and we began on our beautiful journey through San Diego, around the airport and Marine Depot, up Washington (the dreaded hill), through Hill Crest, and finally down Sixth Avenue until we turned towards the finishers chute on Fifth.

Two hours, ten minutes and forty seconds later, I finished. Three seconds later Ang came crashing into me at the finish line.

Three months ago I would of laughed at you if you told I was going to run a half marathon, let alone anything more than five miles. Now I find myself laughing, looking back at the fun I have on runs with my new “team”. Thank you to all those who pushed me both physically and mentally the last two months (including my Mom) – you continue to be a much needed daily source of inspiration.

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MY NPSD Team

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Like Mother, Like Daughter

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Meg: Focused; Ang: Fun

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Race Day Prep

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Bib: Check

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Training Partners

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What’s good San Diego?

A lot of people have been asking me about what I’ve been up to since returning to California in December.  Instead of boring you with a wordy recap of the past three months, here’s a quick gallery with some highlights including new favorite restaurants, bars, workout partners, and fun memories.

Twenty-Two

Who would have thought that turning 22 would be tough? (Well tougher than I thought it would be anyways.)  Throughout the day, I kept thinking to myself, “I can’t believe I’m actually twenty-freaking-two. What the heck am I doing with my life?” With every “Happy Birthday” hug and text, I kept wishing I could turn back to 21. As an extremely goal oriented and competitive person, I set numerous (and sometimes lofty) goals for myself and when I don’t reach them I tend to get pretty frustrated. Seeing as I didn’t reach my goal of landing my dream job by graduation (then later postponed to my 22nd birthday), I was pretty disappointed with myself.

In retrospect, I have realized that what tends to mess me up the most in life, is the image in my head of how everything is supposed to be. In my head, I thought turning 22 meant I had my life in order (ha!) and I would be celebrating with my friends back in NY. My 22nd birthday, however, was spent with 75 new friends doing a very physically demanding stair workout at November Project, followed by a trip to Donut Bar and then later a run club with some other new acquaintances. It may not have been “perfect” by my consideration, but it did teach me that I can’t keep expecting to have everything worked out – I need to let things go and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Now that the dust has settled and I’ve found my footing, I’m set on making 22 the best year yet. I literally have the whole world in front of me and not a single thing to tie me down, which is both daunting and incredibly exhilarating at the same time. So here’s to another year of fun, family, friends, fitness, and of course tons of Megventures.

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Hate to say it, but T-Swift had it right, “We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way.”

Summer Wrap Up

As I sit here typing my summer recap, I can’t help but think these past few months were my “last summer”. I don’t mean to say that I won’t have  days at the beach, or weekend getaways, but going into my last semester of school, the only things I imagine in my near future are long hours, office cubicles, and an entry-level income. That being said, this past summer was one for the books and here are my top 10 favorite things about Summer 2014:

1. FOX Sports San Diego – Is it ironic that I start my list with an internship? Over the summer I worked in the marketing department doing everything from learning about OAP’s (On-Air-Promotions) to helping manage our two brand representatives ( the FOX Sports SD Girls) to writing press releases and drafting tweets. The stuff I learned was only half the fun though; the people I worked with (shout out to Megan, Gema, Jacquelyn, Katie, and Brie… the list goes on) were absolutely incredible. I can only hope that my first job will have coworkers that are half as amazing as these ladies. Did I mention that I also got to cool events and spend my summer at the ballpark? Talk about one killer internship!

2. World Cup – Do sports montages make you as emotional as they make me? When the US qualified for the World Cup and the #IBelieve commercial came out, I was ECSTATIC to say the least. The best part of the WC, besides the US making it out of the Group of Death, was Tim Howard‘s stellar performance (16 SAVES!), putting a GK in the spotlight (He was even named Secretary of Defense on Wikipedia!).

3. Fourth of July – The fourth is my favorite holiday by and far. But, what’s not to like? Hot dogs, fireworks, slip n’ slides and hanging with friends. This year I spent my 4th on Coronado, which is arguably the best place to spend a fourth. There is a sense of camaraderie because it’s such big Navy town and there’s nothing better than watching fireworks on the beach, right?

4. The Beach – What sort of San Diegan would I be if I left the beach off my top 10 things about this summer? There’s no greater feeling than the saltiness of the air, wind blowing through your hair and the sun beating down on your face. The beach and ocean are my place of solace – where I go when I want to escape and I am so blessed to have so many beaches at my fingertips.

5. San Francisco – One of my best friends and teammates, Phebe, lives in San Francisco and I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with her in Marin. It was an adventure (Megventure) filled weekend and you can see all the highlights in my blog here!

6. Boston – This past Spring, I was elected as Vice President of NYU SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee). This position led to an opportunity to represent NYU at the UAA SAAC (University Athletic Association) in Boston the first week of August. I, along with the rest of our exec board and Denise, our advisor spent 48 hours in Boston reviewing legislature, meeting our conference rivals, and conquering a ropes course. I walked away with 30 new friends, a sense of community within our conference, and a black eye (Let me tell you, tag is dangerous!).

7. FOX Sports (LA) – On my last day in San Diego, I drove up to Los Angeles to get a tour of FOX Sports 1’s studios and meet with some people in the communications department. My visit to LA reaffirmed my passion for working in sports broadcasting and desire to continue my career with FOX Sports.

8. Learning to drive stick – I’ve wanted a shiny, fire engine red, Jeep Wrangler for as long as I can remember; the only thing standing in my way (besides the cost) is the fact that I have no idea how to drive manually. One of our closest family friends, Yo and Trena, however, own a 1985 Jeep Laredo and on one of their last days in San Diego they let me “learn” to drive stick. After stalling out what seemed like 100 times and giving whiplash to my passengers, I finally was able to shift up and down through the gears while riding around the block.

9. Catching up with old friends – I was a little weary of returning to San Diego this summer because many of my high school friends were either back at their respective colleges, interning in LA/NY, or traveling the world. Luckily for me, two of my oldest friends, Lauren and Kayla were around this summer and we spent HOURS together giggling, reminiscing and just being girls. It’s sort of strange to think that I’ve known them since I was less than a year old and 21 years later we’re still friends despite all the places I’ve moved and events that have transpired.

10. Spending time with family – Family is not an important thing to me. It’s EVERYTHING. This summer I was blessed to spend so much time with my mom, dad and sister, along with my adopted family (the Staab’s). I know I can always count on them to have my back and support me in all my endeavors. As I end my last summer, I realized how much they’ve sacrificed for me to get where I’m at and I’m eternally thankful for everything they’ve done.

As the leaves turn to orange, the weather gets colder and football season hits full force, I bid adieu to my last summer. I will cherish it closely in my heart forever.