I got to spend this past weekend in San Diego to celebrate my sister getting engaged! If you missed it, Stephen met me in LA on Friday and we surprised my sister, Jane, as her boyfriend Collin as proposing to her. To then celebrate, the four of us drove to San Diego for the weekend! It was a quick trip, but I wanted to go ahead and share what we did. San Diego was so gorgeous and I would love to go back for a longer stay!

Where We Stayed:

We stayed at the Pendry San Diego and it did not disappoint! It’s a luxury boutique hotel that is located in the middle of downtown; we were able to walk to so many things so we couldn’t have asked for a better location. The Pendry is also so beautiful! The lobby area and rooms were gorgeous, I mean, the interior is on point! Definitely gram worthy 🙂 The staff was also wonderful. One night I needed a safety pin to hold together my shirt lol, and housekeeping brought up several right away. Later that night Stephen and I also got gelato at the Provisional which is a kitchen, cafe, and mercantile, and then they gave us a scoop on the house! So nice! The other thing I loved about the hotel was the bars and restaurant/cafe attached. The Provisional was one of them, and it was a really cute spot to grab coffee and something sweet (like gelato) in the afternoon or evening. They also had a bar area, plus a full sit down restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If we had more time I definitely would have tried a meal there! There was another bar attached to the hotel called Fifth & Rose where we got after dinner drinks one night. It was super convenient having these two cute spots directly attached to the hotel.

What We Did:

-San Diego Bay & Seaport Village: After breakfast Saturday morning, we walked down to the bay and just walked along it and took in the views! Seaport Village is also there with different vendors–food, drinks. jewelry, etc. I ended up getting a couple necklaces and Stephen ended up getting some beard oil. Just a fun place to walk around to see the boats and browse!

-Balboa Park: Later on Saturday we drove to Balboa Park, which was just a 10 minute drive from the hotel. It’s called a park but it’s much more than that. The grounds themselves are HUGE –there’s museums, art exhibits, food and drink vendors, the San Diego zoo, etc. It’s all in the same area. We just parked downtown and walked through the park and spent an hour or two there. When the weather is that nice, it’s just fun to walk around and take in the sights!

-Harbor Island: This is a port in San Diego which we went to Sunday morning. Just another beautiful spot to walk along the water and take in the views of docked boats and the city across the bay.

-La Jolla: We drove over to La Jolla Sunday afternoon which is about 15 minutes outside downtown San Diego right along the coastline. The views of the coast were insane! We just walked along the coast here and went to “Seal Rock.” Basically the part of the cove where all the seals and sea lions are out on the bay. So cute!!

Where We Ate:

-Cafe 222: Since we had Jane and Collin’s puppy (Luna) with us, we tried to look for places that were dog friendly! Luckily San Diego has a bunch of those. This was a breakfast spot we found that had really good reviews and was known for their famous waffles! It was really casual and low key. Nothing fancy but the food was good, it was reasonably priced, and it had an outdoor patio where we could have Luna. Get the blueberry cornmeal waffle if you go here!

-Devil’s Dozen: This little spot came as a recommendation from Caitlin (@her.atlas). As a side note, if you go to San Diego, you MUST check out her blog and IG. She lives there and gives the best recs! And is just super cute in general. She knows I love doughnuts and said we had to check out Devil’s Dozen, and this little spot didn’t disappoint! So many good doughnut flavors (both cake and yeast), and had tables outside and on their upstairs patio. Dog friendly too!

-Lionfish: This is another restaurant that is part of the Pendry. It’s not directly attached like the others but it’s just next door. I had read really good reviews about this place and since it was right next door we decided to try it. The decor is really cool, and the food was so delicious! So a win win. We got sushi and grilled octopus as appetizers, and I have to say the octopus was one of the best apps I’ve ever had. This is a must get! For dinner I got their special, my sister got their salmon, and the boys ordered more sushi. All of it was delicious and our server was excellent also.

Provisional: This is one of the restaurants connected to the Pendry where we got the gelato! Super cute inside, and we went here for gelato and coffee Saturday afternoon and then went back for gelato that night. It was so good we couldn’t stay away! Even if you aren’t staying at the Pendry, I would definitely recommend checking out this spot.

Fifth & Rose: This was a (cocktail) bar located off of the Pendry as well. We grabbed a drink here after dinner at Lionfish. It’s a perfect spot for a nightcap before heading back to your room!

Stone Brewing: This is a brewery that we went to on Sunday on our way to La Jolla. They have a huge indoor area and outdoor patio. We sat outside for 2-3 hours and just had some good craft beer and apps! For food we ordered the pretzel and the quail bites–both were so good. We actually ended up ordering another pretzel when we decided to stay for more beer haha. For beer I got there Core Four flight! Their 4 most popular beers. It was so nice to spend the day outside just enjoying drinks, food and the weather!

Oscars Mexican Seafood: This was a little taco spot in La Jolla that we went to before heading back to LA. It’s definitely a little whole in the wall but the tacos were GOOD. We tried going to Taco Stand which came highly recommended but when the line was an hour long out the door we ended up here! I got the battered fish taco and the octopus taco on the flour tortillas. We also got fish ceviche! There isn’t any indoor seating but there is seating outside.

George’s At The Cove: This is a restaurant in La Jolla that we didn’t get a chance to go to but one of my friend’s recommended. She said that you have to get a table on the 3rd floor terrace for drinks and small bites–it has the best view! The reviews are also amazing. Next time we’re there we will definitely have to include this place!!

Have you been to San Diego? Any other recs?! If you have a chance to visit, I highly recommend!