Free time, Friends from afar, and Flu shots

This weekend was the first weekend I've had off in 4 weeks.  Also, our friend from back East, Lauren Vasta, was coming in to town for a visit.  Needless to say, I was excited.  Unfortunately, my immune system was not.  It finally gave up the ghost just coinciding with Lauren's arrival last Wednesday.  We went out to dinner at La Puerta in Gas Lamp (excellent Mexican food) that night and I wasn't doing too poorly, but the next morning I woke up feeling like someone had taken sandpaper to my throat.  To be fair, I was already starting to get sick earlier in the week, but seemed to be fighting it off, or at least holding it at bay.  Then I had the bright idea of getting the flu mist, and I think my immune system decided if I wasn't going to be nice to it, it wasn't going to be nice to me. 
Thursday was rough at work but I soldiered on (sailored on?), and that night we went to a Padre's game.  One of my fellow residents has season tickets and he'd worked a deal with his ticket seller to be in the "steal a base" competition.  Between the innings two people run from opposite outfields to second base, grab one of 2 bases set out, and run back.  He'd been training for a week, doing deep lunges and such.  However, they announced the race and our friend was still sitting amongst us.  Someone had screwed up and he didn't get his chance to compete (my theory is they felt he'd dominate and make all future events look pathetic and weak in comparison).  On Friday I was sent home from work and slept for numerous hours trying to recover from the most epic sickness that anyone has ever had, and Maureen and Lauren went to the beach.  That night I awoke from my Odinsleep and we went to Cafe 21 and sampled many fine sangrias (...sangriai?).  We met up with some friends out in town and then came home and watched The Avengers.  This paved the way for an epic Saturday of epicness.
I was somewhat recovered from my illness so we went to Little Italy for their farmers market.  We got to show Lauren the goat cheese seller who looks like a goat, we got some new delicious avocado cilantro hummus, and some sweet strawberry rhubarb jelly.  Then we returned to the apartment and watched some college football.  We then went out to Pacific Beach Shore Club to enjoy the view and also see the beach.  By "the view" I of course mean the people watching.  I described Pacific Beach to Lauren as San Diego's version of the Jersey Shore.  It did not disappoint.  There were the Red Bull-Vodka slushies in chalices which I had promised.  There was also a white trash costume party.  It took us about an hour and a half to realize that this is what was happening because most of the outfits weren't that different from what you usually see in PB.  It was awesome.  The beach was also beautiful.  We then came back and went out to Neighborhood in East Village.  We immediately went back to the wall of kegs and went into the speakeasy, Noble Experiment.  Lauren got a big kick out of it and it was a blast.  We then wandered around downtown San Diego hitting up Zanzibar for dinner, Henry's for dancing, and Salt Box for a night cap before heading home.  It was a great weekend and I'm mostly recovered from my cold.  It was great to see Lauren Vasta and we can't wait to have her out again.  Anyone else interested in coming out and visiting.  This is a taste of what you have in store.  Come on out.

 Padre's game vs. LA

The bustling Little Italy farmer's market

Enjoying Noble Experiment

The wall of skulls at Noble Experiment

Dinner and Beverages at Zanzibar