it's hot out here kids.

sometimes i have bad ideas. like my idea to walk during my lunch break--which is technically 30 minutes--too short to do anything but eat and take a 10 minute walk. and then i remembered i no longer work on the coast, but rather in scorching el cajon. i get outside and desert heat attacks me. i'm like, hmm...maybe i'll go to starbucks instead. that was definitely the right call for my sanity. there will be no walking in el cajon until the month of october.

speaking of el cajon though, can i spread some love to a new find in my underestimated hood? so they have renovated downtown el cajon, which was formerly a total beige cesspool so lame that not even criminals visited--everything was just sort of boarded up, and mom and i went there a few days ago to a place called the New York Bakery. (in el cajon, i know, i know, hilarious). but anyway, it was *REALLY* good. they have this one thing that is basically a piece of soft focaccia with ricotta and mozzarella on it, like a cheese pizza with no tomato sauce...only sooooo much better. it was like a piece of puffy buttery cheese and even a little crisp on the edge. totally mouthwatering. karina can attest to its amazingness; she ended up eating like half of the piece i had when she was already full. also purchased and eaten on a different occasion was a sfogliatelle (pronounced: sofol-j'ah-TEL-e). it is a flaky shell pastry with a sweet ricotta/semolina filling that has some hints of orange rind or lemon rind. mamma mia! with coffee it was perfecto. and in el cajon no less. blissful. soon i will not need to leave a 5 mile radius and my 180 degree transformation from world traveler to modern hermit will be complete.

I have had to impose a moratorium on looking at houses. there are just some truly amazing deals right now, and i get all anxious that by the time i am ready to get into the market, they will be gone. i am convinced that everyone else on earth wants the same houses i do.