For my 23rd birthday, my boyfriend Noah and I went to San Diego for a weekend getaway. I believe our events schedule was a little superior. Hence, in light of numerous people hitting me up for recommendations in San Diego, ranging from the Lafayette Hotel to restaurant recommendations and fun activities, I thought I would go ahead and give my recommendations. Hence, I will give you the perfect (and long overdue) birthday itinerary, the San Diego edition.

Day 1: Friday

We left home around 10:20 am down in Orange County and headed off to our first stop, Little Italy. We had lunch reservations at Vincenzo’s and I was intending on purchasing one of the many cute chopstick holders at a particular shop for my matcha station. I ended up purchasing a white rabbit ceramic chopstick holder amongst the sea of other cute options.

LUNCH AT VINCENZO’S

I got a rich tortellini and a very strong limoncello.

I had to make a pit stop at my absolute favorite art material store, BLIC. It was having a going-away sale in light of the store’s move. Noah snapped a picture of me taking forever in the brush aisle.

Around 4pm we made our way to my birthday hotel, the gem of the trip, The Lafayette Hotel and Nightclub. It is maximalist to its core. Leopard print, ominous red walls, wine glasses on the fireplace mantlepiece, and Diptyque soap everywhere. This was my hotel. It was me.

We quickly checked in, and while I was admiring the concierge/cafe bar desk, our front desk girl asked if we would like assistance being led to our room. I was more than happy to be shown around. We rolled our bags through the main bar which was still decorated with Christmas from the month before. Whole Christmas trees hung from the ceiling like ornaments and the statue of my diva Atlas crouched atop the center of the peeled orange adorned bar. The place was practically set for a movie. I noted the location to myself for the future if I had the budget to shoot something moody here. We made our way outside and I was in awe of the pool. Lounge chairs rimmed the edges which were also rimmed with poolside rooms. I thought maybe next year I would save extra money to stay in a poolside room. That way I can wake up, roll out of bed, swim, grab a morning drink, then shower all before 10am. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

pumpkin by the pool and our matching pair of red ballet flats

When we were escorted to our room, I was so excited to see what I had been anticipating for months. In my head, I pictured a great big bed with possibly a reddish canopy with tassels and the Lafayette logo at the foot of the sheets. I would put my bags on the cushioned seat at the end of the bed or possibly have Noah and Kelsey take my picture paparazzi style. Perhaps I would wear the bathrobe to be a little extra. It was going to be so fabulous and my excitement peaked as we finally stopped at a door. So you can imagine how thrown off I was when I was greeted with the sight of…bunk beds.

After the front desk girl left us, we howled in laughter and disbelief at the bed. I did not reserve these beds? Possibly it was a mistake? No. Due to my cheapskate behavior, I booked the cheapest room on Expedia, assuming we’d get the single bed room. No, we were given a bunk bed room. I felt this was in proper Sophie luck and fashion that of course on my weekend with Noah we’d get bunk beds. Kelsey remarked that this was very “sibling-core.” Oddly enough, the bunk beds were very functional. We were tired from our journey around Little Italy and needed an hour break before dinner. With Wizard of Oz on the TV and Kelsey in the bottom bunk and Noah and I in the top, we dozed off into a power nap.

Our dinner reservation for that night was at the beautiful Seneca. Seneca is an Italian rooftop restaurant that wasn’t more than 10 minutes away from the hotel. It was just around the block! With my newfound best friend, the OpenTable app, I had booked us a table that was just in the middle of the interior and exterior part of the restaurant.

*Kelsey and I getting ready in the bathroom.*

For those of you going to Seneca, just park in the underground hotel parking structure and go into the elevator to the floor that leads you to I believe the third floor till you arrive at the front desk. There they will tell you to head towards a separate elevator that will bring you to the rooftop restaurant. Upon the doors opening, we stepped into a closed off waiting room with stars in the ceiling and plants guarding the walls. After pushing through the doors, I was delightfully surprised at how nautically decorated the restaurant was. The front desk had shells built into the frame, and the three of us took the fish-themed restaurant matches (a trend I found will follow me throughout my San Diego restaurant crawl).

We were seated in the direct middle of the indoor and terrace seating. The inside part looked like a bowling lane, but in the fanciest way possible. The terrace portion had the cutest striped furniture and a fountain statue of Poseidon. I loved the plates, with the sardine details and the warm yet low lighting. The rooftop view was very romantic and sometimes we would lean against the window within the indoor seating just to see how far up we were.

I ordered a bowl of Cavatelli Alla Sugo Di Agnello, Kelsey got the Casarecce Alla Vodka, and Noah asked for the Calabrian Sausage Pizza. I enjoyed the texture of the lamb sugo in my pasta, it was equally meaty and saucy. The noodles were very thick and chewy as well.

We tipped the waiter off that we were celebrating a birthday, and we were given a complimentary birthday tiramisu. We all agreed it was a little on the soggy side, which sounds ridiculous given the nature of tiramisu, but it was way too soaked through. However, I would rate the food overall a 9/10 - Kelsey still raves about her Vodka pasta.

The Seneca Bathroom

where Kelsey and I did NOT makeout!

Returning to Lafayette, I bid Kelsey goodbye and goodnight as she drove back home. Noah and I threw our jackets into the hotel room and hung out by the crowded bar at what was almost 10 pm.

With the strongest Negroni in my hand, we ventured into the Gutter, a dark wood game room complete with pool, bowling alleys, and vintage arcade games.
We hovered around the crowded bar for a while as we people watched. Many couples and dates had gathered here for the moody night atmosphere.

We played for an hour and sipped our drinks by the fountain, where the rest of the Gutter attendees took refuge to smoke and vape as they clutched their drinks. Thus, we concluded our night and returned to our bunk beds while cars pulled up and party goers arrived to fill up the bar and jazz club for an endless night of fun.

~ Noah watching Game of Thrones from the bottom bunk bed~

A Perfect San Diego Birthday Itinerary ~ Day 1

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