Long before we moved to San Diego, I surprised Josh with a weekend trip to San Diego for his birthday.
We were at the airport and he had no idea where we were headed!
We had such a good time that 6 months later we again visited San Diego, but this time for my birthday.
San Diego is the perfect destination to enjoy the sunshine, pool time, famous San Diego burritos and the picturesque beach.
Fast forward a couple of years and we’re officially San Diegans! We loved it so much we decided to move to this beautiful city and sprawling region.
For us, a perfect weekend involves great food and drinks, a fun activity, and usually close proximity to water!
This past year I gave my birthday wish list to my partner, Josh, and asked him to surprise me with a theme for my birthday.
Surprises are a big thing in our relationship. We both really enjoy coming up with fun and unexpected happy moments for each other.
This year he surprised me with arguably the perfect theme: a Bridgerton birthday.
Bridgerton-themed birthday Learn how to host your own Bridgerton-themed birthday here. If you want to see it check out my How to have a Bridgerton themed birthday blog post here.
He even made a calendar of events for the weekend!
Josh kicked things off by making me a special birthday smoothie and coffee (leave a comment if you’d like the recipe)
He had some additional birthday surprises to wrap up so I enjoyed my workout on the Mirror journaled, and took a walk through our orchard.
When I walked back inside he presented me with my own Bridgerton outfit!
I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I felt like a character in the show!
It was definitely main character energy!
After that, he presented the newly renovated Bridgerton courtyard garden as a sort of “soft launch” and we spent the rest of the weekend adding lights and flowers to make it even more beautiful.
Then we headed off to brunch and to run a couple of birthday errands.
We decided to try Sunny Side Kitchen, which is rated as one of the top places on Yelp in San Diego. I enjoyed a panini, caramel iced coffee, and fresh lemonade.
I tried to save half my breakfast sandwich but I ended up eating the entire thing! It was SO good!
After a few quick stops, we headed back home where I relaxed by the pool, swam, and — of course — watched Bridgerton.
Last year I asked Josh to surprise me with a special birthday cocktail and I loved it so much that I asked him to make it again!
He named it Roya’s Rosy Breeze. It calls for fresh orange juice, dried stained glass citrus slices, and rosewater, among other exotic ingredients.
We enjoyed the sunset and some jacuzzi time then had some homemade pasta and salad.
I love this recipe because it seems super-rich but it’s really not that bad for you considering its pasta!
You can freeze the pasta, then just make the fresh sauce and you’re good to go! Credit goes to my Mom Joon for sharing such a great recipe!
The next day was Sunday, which was my actual birthday.
We enjoyed a fun Bridgerton-themed brunch in our new Bridgerton garden courtyard.
If you want to throw your own Bridgerton-themed brunch, check out this blog post where we go into all the details to help you create your own experience.
We were so full from waffles and champagne by this point, so for the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed chill time by the pool until it was time to get ready and head out to a birthday dinner in North Park, San Diego.
I spent way too much time looking up restaurants on Yelp trying to decide where we should go.
I wanted somewhere that had a good atmosphere but also great food and drinks.
Since we make a lot of great food at home I prefer to try restaurants that offer something I typically wouldn’t make at home.
When I came across Kindred, I knew that was our place.
It’s a Vegan restaurant that has goth vibe and a pulled “pork” jackfruit sandwich that I couldn’t stop thinking about!
They actually don’t take reservations, but somehow Josh was able to talk them into reserving a table for us!
If you’re curious about our experience there check out my Kindred yelp review for more details.
They even treated us to a birthday dessert!
It was time to head back home as Josh had one more surprise up his sleeve.
Every year I usually bake a cake for Josh’s birthday so imagine my surprise when he turned the tables and made me a beautiful unicorn cake.
One thing I really love about Josh is I will casually mention something and he’ll take note of it and somehow remember and surprise me in some way later.
We went to a birthday party years back and they had the most beautiful unicorn birthday cake ever.
The only problem was it tasted TERRIBLE. It was the worst cake we had ever had. Fondant isn’t always ideal.
We were so sad because it looked so good!
He remembered how excited I was to eat that cake and then how disappointed I was when I took that first bite.
Now we had our own unicorn birthday cake that he made from scratch!
I blew out my candles for a second time that evening and started cutting into the cake.
I couldn’t believe it but he had actually made a 7-layer rainbow cake!
It was incredibly moist and really fun to eat. I was so proud of him for making a 7-layer cake without any help from me!
I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect birthday weekend in our new home and look forward to many more here at The Ranch.
A few of our most recent blog posts
Our 2022 Reflection & Year in Review
Our First Anniversary – How we Celebrated & Surprised Each Other! Plus First Anniversary Gift Ideas
Hi there, my name is Roya — that means dream in Farsi– I am a creator, marketer, adventurer, dreamer, curator of experiences, and plant-based lover of food on the search for the best plant-based restaurants in the world.My husband Josh and I own several acres in San Diego and it is our mission to live our best life while eating food that is fresh, healthy, tasty, AND good for the environment. Follow along on our journey with us.
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