Sayulita Mermaid Yogis Retreat: Part III

Where did August even come from?

I'm pretty sure that yesterday I was stoked about kicking off summer on Memorial Day weekend and somehow here we are, at the beginning of the end of my favorite season.

Sure, in San Diego it seems like we have an endless summer... and we sorta do. But I have 20+ years of East Coast seasons baked into my circadian rhythm. I can't help but feel like August is an endcap. Actually, I just saw a perfect description on Instagram this morning: August is like the Sunday of summer.

As of right now, I have yet to plan any end of summer activities and it's making me antsy. The only thing I have decided to do this month is participate in the #MermaidYogas yoga challenge on Instagram, even though I have a lot of catching up to do already! One of the prizes is the gorgeous Glide Lotus SUP Board... I'd say winning one of those puppies would be a pretty epic way to round out summer.

But in the meantime, the challenge is a nice way to stay connected with a fantastic group of merbabes who I first got acquainted with last November, when I went on a retreat with the founders of the Mermaid Yogis movement: Amelia of Stoked Yogi, Mandy of Zen Girl Chronicles and Janalyn of Horizon Light Productions.

Starting the challenge and seeing a bunch of these chicas at the One Love Movement yoga event on Saturday made me miss our adventures in Sayu and I remembered for the millionth time that I really needed to finish recapping our retreat on this blog. Plus, all of these wonderful women have just announced different retreats coming up this fall. So if you're thinking about going on your first yoga retreat, take this as a glowing endorsement for some of my favorite mermaids around!

Taco Bout a Dream Come True

Secretly? This little blog is really an exercise in manifesting. Call it Secret-ing, call it bhavanizing, whatever you call it, I'm doing it with every post I write. All with the hippie belief that by putting good energy out there, I will welcome more of the same back into my life.

I mean, at the end of the day that's why I write... to connect, to attract people and places and moments into my life that add meaning and beauty and adventure.

But of all the amazing things this blog has manifested so far (and there have been a lot), last Wednesday night took the cake.

A decade ago, I was 19, driving around backroads in Connecticut, listening to this new CD I'd just bought by a singer songwriter named Tristan Prettyman and daydreaming about what my life would be like if I lived in San Diego.

And last Wednesday? Oh, I just casually had dinner with Tristan at Puesto downtown at The Headquarters. No big deal.

Hiking to the Hollywood Sign

When I'm disastrously hungover there's only one thing in the entire world that I want to do and that is to hike 4+ miles... uphill... in the unrelenting heat of the blazing sun. But, you know, like only if my other favorite activities such as moving houses or doing backbreaking yard work are off the table.

As my ever-so-patient boyfriend can attest, when we travel (and sometimes when we don't) I have a knack for packing in activities that require peak physical abilities the day after a night that required peak drinking abilities. And our recent Hollywood getaway was no exception. The day after we marathon drank for seven hours at the Magic Castle, I had a lowkey little hike planned for us to the Hollywood Sign.

Only it wasn't exactly lowkey or little...

A Magical Evening at the Magic Castle

A couple of years ago, two of our friends told us about their amazing visit to The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. At the the time, their mention of the Castle was like a record screeching: the Magic what!?

I had never heard of the Castle, but they explained that it's the private clubhouse for over 5,000 magicians who are a part of the Academy of Magical Arts. It's where they take master classes to learn new effects, practice their magic informally in front of guests at the bar, and attend lectures. There was only one problem: it's invitation only.

This, obviously, only made me very determined to get in.

I added a visit to The Magic Castle to my 30 Before 30 bucket list earlier this year and spent the following months trying to score an invite. I'm sure if you live in LA and know people who know people, it's infinitely easier, but for me, getting into The Magic Castle required some work. I followed everyone who hashtagged or geotagged the Castle on Twitter and Instagram, in hopes that they would share their methods. I followed dozens of magicians who lived in LA. And then I started getting smarter about my strategies.

Restaurant Review: The Baked Bear, Pacific Beach

Duh.

That's all I could think when I was first invited to The Baked Bear, the ice cream cookie sandwich chain that was started by two San Diegans in Pacific Beach.

Ice cream? Check. Cookies? Check. Delicious toppings? Check. Ability to customize your ice cream cookie sandwich to your heart's content? Check.

Why didn't I think of this!?