go see do: g is for gaslamp

This weekend our go see do project was G so we started the day with a trip downtown to the Kebab Shop for some Greek food/gyros. David has been trying to take me there for a few months now and this was our first chance to go. It was amazing and I am now hooked on their falafel döner (fried chickpea balls wrapped in flatbread with greens, tomato, onion, cucumber and a creamy garlic yogurt sauce). I could eat one every day, thank you very much. David got the lamb döner which was also very delicious and then we got a minted orzo salad with feta and a bebe caprese salad. Both were severely overshadowed by the döners though.

I love this picture of my boys.

We had considered going to the gem show at Balboa Park Natural History Museum but then figured that it would cost us $40 to see a bunch of rocks so we opted out. Plus finding parking at the park on a Saturday . . . kill me now. It looked really interesting though. If someone else was paying we would have loved it! So, instead we found the Marston House Gardens.

David took a random turn and came upon the most lovely tree lined street and found the Marston House. We put Will in the stroller and walked around the gardens. It was so pretty and it felt like we were somewhere else entirely. I love living in San Diego but sometimes if fun to pretend we live somewhere like England or the Hamptons. Ha!

have I mentioned how much I love hydrangeas?

That evening we headed to the Gaslamp Quarter for dinner with some friends.

First we went to Basic Pizza and I was wowed once again by some awesome food. It's a really industrial, urban place that's definitely not meant to accommodate young children and their "what do you have that's non-alcoholic?" parents. However the staff was so nice and helpful and made us feel like we weren't huge pains their collective necks (which we totally were).

"cheesy" caption. ha! I did it again!

We got the mashed potato and bacon white pizza (which I loved), a ricotta and spinach white pizza and a red pie with pepperoni, sausage and onions. They were all really good with chewy rustic crusts and really simple, but delicious, toppings.

pepperoni, sausage and onion red pie

Then we finished off the night at Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in the heart of the Gaslamp. We didn't take picture of our hot fudge sundae because I was gobbling it up too fast. However, we did ask the annoyed clerk handing out caramel chocolates at the front door to take our picture. And then I got flustered because our photo shoot was causing a traffic jam on the sidewalk and a passer-by said, "Hey look! It's the Duggars!" And that just really made me laugh.

Brad, Kara, Hallie, us, Kyle, Jamie and Boston

Then I weighed myself this morning and I am not pleased. But what did I expect eating all that naughty food? If only I were the metabolic type. Sigh.