Rancho Bernardo, San Diego

Been in San Diego since Monday, with all-day meetings Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. Thank goodness we finish today at 3, or else I'd be missing out on all that sunshine! (It's actually kinda gloomy/cloudy today). Yesterday we held our meeting off site at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, and it was such a beautiful resort!! I tried to book that hotel, actually, but it was all sold out for some event. It is a huge hotel, and each room had its own little balcony overlooking the mountains. The best part about the place though, was that there was an on-site Starbucks cart, and you could pick up your regular Starbucks order and charge it to your room! That, to me, is pure bliss and should be mandatory at all luxury hotels.

Orange and lemon trees were scattered throughout the resort, which just made the place feel that much more Spanish/tropical. Seriously, I am falling in love with this place. I used to think of San Diego as a very urban, and maybe even a bit run-down city. Actually, I don't know what I thought. I just didn't expect that in the more inland places (where I am), it would be so beautiful. The houses are very cute - all one storey, maybe two or three tops.

I went a bit crazy taking pictures around the resort yesterday during our breakout session and lunch time. It was so sunny that we Canadians decided to hang out by the pool during our breakout session. It was so warm on the lounger that I seriously contemplated staying there for the rest of the day. There were opportunities for some cool macro shots, but because the sun was so bright I couldn't really see the screen so not all of them turned out nicely...

Tonight we're heading down very close to the Mexican border to go to an outlet mall for some serious shopping. Las Americas is supposed to house the only Neiman Marcus Last Call in California! I've already made a list of all the must-hit stores in there. Tomorrow before we leave, we still have to go to Target (again), See's Candies, and In-N-Out Burger!! I'm also going to be getting up early and head down to La Jolla in the morning to take some cool beach shots before we leave this pretty place.

Seriously, if you don't see me in Canada this weekend, you'll know I'm still hugging the palm trees.