Another week where I avoided a sunburn...

I'd like to take a second to warn all future San Diego tourists. Here in beautiful, upscale La Jolla, there is a famous beach called La Jolla Shores. Often people will refer to the beach as a "black beach" since the sand is saturated with a mineral that turns the sand a black color. However, the beautiful blackened sandy beaches of La Jolla Shores should not be confused with Black Beach. Black Beach happens to be the only nudist beach in the San Diego area!! I (thankfully) didn't make the mistake of attending, but I am told that a collection of older, European men are the usual attendees to Black Beach. You have been warned! haha

Last weekend, my roommate Anne and our friend Kelsey decided to bask in the sun on the black sands of La Jolla Shores (see the picture at right). The sand was warm, and the company was fantastic. However, I can say one thing: if one is looking for a private, secluded beach ... they should probably avoid CA entirely! haha. While snoozing on my bright orange beach towel, I was nearly hit with flying sand toys or running college students more than once. And once in the water, let's be honest, the waves are going to push people wherever they want to (even if it's on top of a pregnant mother wading 10 feet behind them. Yikes!).

On Sunday, my friend Jonathan and I decided to explore a different famous beach of San Diego, Pacific Beach. This beach was unsurprisingly just as busy as La Jolla Shores, but the waves were so much better! In fact, I secretly sat on the beach watching all of the surfers trying to pick up tips, since I will taking a surfing lesson at Pacific Beach (compliments of Qualcomm) in a couple of weekends! Jonathan and I body-surfed in the waves for hours, which is simply attempting to catch a wave and surf it without a surfboard. We finished off the day by grabbing some pizza and Jamba Juice smoothies.

My roommate Anne and I drove into work early on Tuesday in order to leave in the early afternoon and do some shopping in Pacific Beach. We went with some of Anne's cousins and shopped for hours. We capped off the shopping afternoon by picking up some sushi and sake at a little Japanese house next to the beach. I must admit that I have become a sushi addict since I have arrived in CA. I'm sure this surprises many of my family members, given that I spent the majority of my life avoiding it! haha. My favorite sushi rolls? California rolls and crunchy rolls are near the top of the list!

Thursday this week offered me an opportunity that most interns can only dream of: I was paid for 8 hours of work to attend a free San Diego Padres baseball game! I joined about 300 interns at the game against Minnesota for a day of fun, beer, and baseball. You can see a picture of me and some of my friends at the game to the right! Sadly, the Padres lost 4-3, but I am used to baseball teams losing (thank you, CO Rockies! haha).

Last night I ventured off to Little Italy in downtown San Diego. We sat outside on a patio at a chic Italian restaurant called Cafe Zucchero. Between the savory Italian smells wafting around us to the live music being played across the street, the whole experience was absolutely divine.

I realize that this blog entry has been absent of much of what I am doing at work, but have no fear! I am still putting in the 40 hours a week like the rest of working America. The next big action item on my plate is a 1 hour "milestone presentation" I will be giving to all of the multimedia managers on Monday. I am a little nervous as I hear they ask very difficult questions, but I am also very excited to present the status of my projects I have been working so hard on these last 5 weeks! But for today, I am going to set work on the back burner and head out for another beach adventure. And although my friends and I haven't determined which beach we are headed to today, I can guarantee you that the infamous Black Beach won't be my the list! As always, I love and miss you all dearly.