A simple video for Minneapolis based company Hipfox to use on their Amazon storefront.
San Diego Eats and Sights
Two weeks well spent in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego over Christmas and New Years. We biked, bused, and walked and enjoyed some good food and good sunshine. Below are a number of images i took mostly with my Iphone 5s (it’s true). I’ve also included a number of places we stopped for lunch and dinner in PB, La Jolla, and other parts of San Diego. Check it out and feel free to comment some of your favorite places! Enjoy!
Marino’s Italian (PB)
Red tablecloths, vinyl booths, Old school Italian dishes but the pizza was spectacular. We got the “Works” pizza twice. It also re-heats divinely in the toaster oven. It’s
Pho Minh (PB)
Across the street from Marinos
Very decent Pho and Bun. Small little family run place.
Hoboken Pizza and Beer Joint (PB)
Great New York slices. Eat in or take out, younger crowd. Good place to pop into for a slice. A deal on 2 slice and a pint combos. Open Late.
Rocky’s Crown Pub (PB)
This was two blocks from where we stayed. Burgers were fantastic. Only cheese burger and hamburger on the menu. ½ lb or 1/3lb. Can order fries too. That’s it. Good beer selection. Neighborhood bar. Sports on the tvs. Bartenders were super nice. Prices cheap. $7 burgers. $6 beers. Awesome.
Baja Beach Café (PB)
I was impressed with the tacos. They came 3 to a plate and were huge. Good flavor on the beef Street Tacos. Keith had the Cantina Burrito (chicken/cheesy) and loved it. Nice patio that puts you right on the beach path to watch the people.
Oscars Mexican Seafood (PB)
We were told to check this place out for great seafood tacos. Hence the name. There’s two locations. We biked up to the one on Turquoise street. It’s an order in at the counter, sit outside if you find room on the sidewalk bench kind of place. The first time we went, it was lines out the door down the street. Seems that is fairly normal on the weekends. Went again on a chilly day and not too bad of a wait for food. I should have just went simple and tried the fish taco. But the spicy shrimp sounded good. Meh. It was ok. Shrimp were small. Keith got the vegan chirizo taco which had a great flavor though they missed putting some of the toppings advertised on. Guac was excellent. Big and chunky.
So the first time we went to Oscars, it was so busy that we looked down the street and saw:
Los Dos Pedros (PB)
Your typical small, Mexican run, order at the counter, sit at the outside table place. Bright orange and yellow striped painted building! Can’t miss this place. Typical pricing on tacos. The fish taco was $1.99. It was crispy and fresh. The chicken and carnitas were bigger street tacos than LA and they came with quac on top!
Café Bar Europa
Tapas bar. We stopped in for drinks. They have live music most nights. The night we were there was Bossa Nova. Comfortable, snuggly couches to sit on.
Wheat and Water Pizza (LJ)
Wood fired pizzas and a number of local beers on tap. The charcuterie plates looked great, from my view. We ended up ordering the Spinach & house-made Ricotta Pizza. Topped with bechamel sauce and roasted garlic. Very good. Chewy crust and we even had left overs. Staff was super nice. Cozy atmosphere. They even changed the music when we asked. (Sorry, I wasn’t in the mood for the 70’s)
Also, right on La Jolla Blvd easily accessed with the bus stop ½ block away.
China Chef (LJ)
OK. This was “good” Chinese.
One of those family run places that has been around forever. Eat in or take out. We stopped in (again, on the bus line) and ordered the Ta Chien to go. It said it was spicy and we, living in MN, questioned the spiciness. The woman said she would make it extra spicy.
Recommended, totally. We also got an order of fried egg rolls while we waited. I’d skip those. Standard deep fried.
Speaking of good Chinese food:
I found an area on the map that showed a large number of far eastern restaurants. Up in Kearny Mesa area (south of the San Clemente Canyon Fwy and sandwiched between the 805 and the 163), lies several strip malls on Convoy Street with far eastern restaurants galore. Noodle houses, Korean bbq, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese….
Spicy City
Whoa. It certainly lives up to it’s name. Specializing in Sichuan and Yunnan dishes.
We ordered the Mapo Tofu and Shredded Pork w/Sichuan sauce. The flavors were amazing. The “heat” was definitely there. I was sweating. But it wasn’t just the heat, it was the combination of flavors in each dish that made me go back for another helping.
I would go back and try other restaurants in the area.
ICMonster
https://www.yelp.com/biz/icmonster-convoy-san-diego-3
A cute little Thai Rolled Ice Cream place a couple of doors down from Spicy City that was decorated with a velvet pink couch and a 4 ft Pink Panther doll. Great for Instagram selfies.
Tandoori Hut
Indian restaurant in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. We went in for lunch buffet. Keith says it was the best he’s had. (And he’s had a few, for sure.) And on a bus line!
Not Not Tacos
As they say, they’re not not tacos. Located in the Little Italy Food Hall (www.littleitalyfoodhall.com). Just a couple of blocks walk from the Little Italy Light Rail stop.
Lunch special (m-f): Any 2 tacos and a soda for $10. For tacos that run from $4.50 to $6.75 each, this is a good way to try them out. We ordered the Smoky Pork + Mac ( Smoky shredded pork topped with mac n cheese!) and the Korean Short Rib (solid flavor, meaty). A good snack to fuel up with before walking around.
Nico’s Mexican Food (Ocean Beach)
http://nicosmexicanfood.menutoeat.com/
The Ocean Beach location is the original location. The California Burritos are The.Best.
Repeat: The California Burritos are The.Best. Huge and stuffed with grilled steak, French fires, avocado and yummy goodness. We split one between us and were full for the rest of the day, practically. It’s a small place with a few seats and you order at the counter. Or take it to go and walk a few blocks over the Ocean Beach Pier and watch the surfers below as you munch.
https://www.sandiego.org/explore/things-to-do/beaches-bays/ocean-beach.aspx I enjoy that the website describes Ocean Beach as “funky” and “eccentric”. It reminded me of Venice Beach a little.
Los Angeles
It was a well deserved week of sunshine and warm weather. Keith and I took the opportunity to cat sit for friends in Santa Monica. I didn’t take a laptop. I only took one camera body and one lens and my Iphone 5s (i know, right?). We rode the bus. (bus pants!) We biked. We stopped where we wanted. We walked blocks and blocks. We ate tacos. And thai. And donuts. And burgers. Walked the beach at sunset and sat in the sand and watched the ocean. I delighted in seeing some of our favorite places and I loved that we discovered new places as well. Things change so quickly around LA. But some stay the same. The traffic moves along fast and slow and so do the people. Places that were there a year ago no longer are. Places that were there 5 years ago still remain.
Here is a collection of images. Things I found interesting. Things that I stopped and turned around and went back to look at. Mostly Iphone pics but I did plan ahead for some trips and took my Canon along. So those are mixed in there as well. Enjoy!
Robeez Video Short SS2018
Another video for Robeez. A little shorter for social media. Enjoy!
New Video for Robeez
I directed and produced a couple of videos for Robeez to use on their Amazon site and social media. Enjoy!
Robeez Catalog
I'm so proud of the work I've been able to do with Robeez lately. We finished photographing their SS2018 clothing line earlier this summer. Below is an ad they placed in Earnshaws Magazine using one of my favorite images from our shoot. Can't wait to share more from this adorable kids and babies clothing line!
Hotel
While looking around the internet, I found this hotel for sale in Germany. The idea was intriguing. Run a hotel. Hmmm. And the price was completely reasonable. I contacted the owners. Their mom had just passed away and none of the children wanted to run the hotel. The parents had come from East Germany where the father was a miller and baker during the war.
Here are several images I photographed during our tour of the property in Bad Kreuznach. It was like going back in time.
Single Room
Breakfast Room
