MindThatMoves

Blog, Blog, Blog…

Blog: TheMixster.com

Blogger:Taylor Doms

Hometown:Manhattan Beach, CA

Favorite Happy Hour: Dirty Del’s because it’s in my neighborhood and en route to the Gaslamp. $1 Shots (including Whiskey!) from 10pm to midnight every night.
Best Bar to take an out-of-towner to: Noble Experiment

What is something only a local would know about San Diego?
“Flip Nights” at Sea Rocket Bistro! At the end of your meal, your server flips a coin and if you call it correctly, you get one of the entrees removed from your bill!

Tell us about your blog.
TheMixster.com is a nightlife and culture site, created less than a year ago, that obsessively seeks to fulfill a multitude of purposes: Mainly, to inform our community of all the best things “under the radar.” From dance music, fashion, restaurants, events, and a whole lot of quirky stuff in between, we aim to spotlight the hardworking and talented people and businesses in San Diego who are moving our city forward. Plain and simple, but in a weird, colorful, shamelessly semi-nude, and complicated kinda way.

Why’d you start your own blog?
I’ve worked at several locally-based publications; and while each varies drastically from one another, all of them had one thing in common: A dismissive approach to one of San Diego’s most fascinating emerging trends - Electronic Dance Music and correspondingly, it’s an evolving community of taste-makers and fans. So I started my site to not only raise awareness of the genre itself, but to bring all the talented producers, DJs, and amazing underground events to SD’s consciousness. I also wanted my site to be multifaceted and approachable, so that even my parents would want to read the site (aside from intrinsic obligation). My writers and I also review restaurants (which has always been a passion of mine), spotlight the local art scene, and as of late, creating unique best of “guides” appealing to the interests of locals, new transplants, and tourists alike.

What do you want to get out of your blog?
Everyone seems to be in some sort of über warped social “routine” and I just want everyone to do something different, even just one night a week. Support San Diego - eat locally, go to art shows, go see different local bands and DJs, and to explore all the amazing, and at times, all the delightfully weird things San Diego has to offer.

What do you consider yourself: Scenester, Hipster, Punkster, Nerdster or Funkster?
[Laughs] I consider myself to be all of the above. I’m a quirky girl who just simply hates the fact that she can’t ever get all of her different circle of friends in the same room at the same time. The “Mixster” is essentially a fun-loving, ever-curious, social creature who seeks to “Mix it up” and explore everything happening in our city. Not just going where all the “cool kids” are going or where the party bus is taking everyone else.

Favorite club/bar when the sun goes down?
Depends on the night! But El Dorado, Syrah, Voyeur, and U-31 I seem to float between the most. I’m honestly surprised though you didn’t ask me what my favorite bar is when the sun comes up! Waterfront, in case you were wondering.

Favorite local DJ?
One!?! For me especially that’s like opening a Pandora’s Box of drama. Favorite Producer: Anthony Ross, Favorite Party DJ: Bubblegum Sci Fi and Favorite DJ Duo: SQZMYLMNS (Kid Wonder & Saul Q).

How’s the San Diego nightlife scene?
At the present it’s bustling and exciting, but more importantly it is constantly evolving and becoming something even better, month after month. It’s kinda amazing really. But then again, San Diego is kinda amazing.

You’re a foodie too. If you had one day left in San Diego, where would you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and what would you order?
Breakfast: Whisknladle, their Chilaquiles are ahhmazing! Lunch: Cuatro Milpas - Chicken Taco, side of their handmade tortillas, rice and beans. Dinner: Hane Sushi - Spicy Scallop hand roll, Hamachi Jalapeño Ponzu, Panfried Rice topped with Spicy Tuna. Dessert (I have a bad sweet tooth) - Lemon Ricotta cupcake from CUPS, and a Moscow Mule from El Dorado.

New Year’s Resolution?
To actively seek out more creative minds and brilliant writers to add to the MIX team, so we can cover so much more: inside and perhaps, maybe even outside of San Diego?!

Blog: iheartspandex.com

Blogger: Larinna Richards

Hometown:San Diego

Favorite Happy Hour: Analog
Best Bar to take an out-of-towner to: Beaumonts

What is something only a local would know about San Diego?
Cowles Mountain is a popular hike for locals. It’s a great workout and takes you to the highest point of San Diego County, the view is incredible.

Tell us about your blog.
i heart spandex is a personal diary of a southern California native, my adventures in maintaining an active lifestyle and love of all things stylish in sports.

Why’d you start your own blog?
My love of sports apparel started several years ago when I worked for a name brand sports apparel company. Since leaving, I haven’t been able to shake my love for stylish sports apparel and gadgets, which is why I started iheartspandex.com in August 2010.

What do you want to get out of your blog?
I enjoy researching new apparel and products for my blog and sharing them with my readers. It gives me an outlet to continue working in something I am passionate about.

What’s one piece of sports apparel or gadget you can’t live without?
My Nike Shox.

Favorite fitness mobile application?
Jillian Michaels Slim-Down Solution.

Of course we have to ask, how many pairs of spandex do you own?
I think I own about twelve.

New Year’s Resolution?
Finding new hikes and workout classes to try in San Diego.

Blog: MyBurningKitchen.com

Blogger: Darlene

Hometown:San Diego

Favorite Happy Hour: Morton's Steakhouse
Best Bar to take an out-of-towner to: The Pearl

What is something only a local would know about San Diego?
Orville Redenbacher died at the Coronado Towers in his Jacuzzi.

Tell us about your blog.
It's not a hoity-toity, organic-only, frou-frou food blog - I want it to be accessible to anyone. A lot of it is based on personal experiences, whether I'm cooking or eating out. There's also bit of observation which I comment on, like what people wear at farmers’ markets for example. I try to be as truthful as possible with some humor thrown in. My husband occasionally guest blogs for me which lately has been on his fish sandwich adventures - and Nigella Lawson.

Why’d you start your own blog?
It started off as a personal blog with no direction. I would post photos of things I had cooked, which was usually a disaster, hence the title. When I moved to Los Angeles temporarily for a job, I was surrounded by all these great restaurants and the cupcake movement had just started to gain momentum. That's when I started blogging more seriously and it continued when I returned to San Diego.

What do you want to get out of your blog?
I want to be able to look back at my posts and remember events or how I felt at a particular time, like my obsession with driving all over LA to checkout different cupcake places, or the time I completely screwed up baking cookies, or all the cakes we taste-tested for our wedding in 2009. It's a journey that I hope people will follow with me.

If you had one day left in San Diego where would you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and what would you order?
For breakfast, I'd have a glazed donut from Stardust Donuts in Imperial Beach. El Zarape (the original location) for lunch for their Lobster Tacos and dinner would be at Yakitori Yakudori for their bacon-wrapped asparagus skewers and chicken gizzards.

What’s the #1 food item in San Diego?
The California Burrito, a carne asada burrito with french fries stuffed into it. There's a Mexican place around every corner with their own version of it.

Best new restaurants?
R Gang Eatery in Hillcrest serves inventive, handmade tater tots. The tots fried in duck fat are the bomb. Tabe BBQ is also very high on my list - out of all the food trucks based in San Diego, their food is the best and freshest.

How do you typically choose a restaurant: price, location, atmosphere, or cuisine?
Atmosphere and cuisine. Distance is not an issue - I would drive to the edges of San Diego County for good food.

New Year’s Resolution?
To prevent all this good food from collecting around my waistline.

Blog: 100beers30days.wordpress.com

Blogger: Laurie Delk

Hometown: Asheboro, North Carolina

Favorite Happy Hour: My favorite right now is Quality Social. Their charcuterie is amazing!
Best Bar to take an out-of-towner to: For Craft beer lovers: Hamilton's, Small Bar, and Toronado. For the ‘wow’ factor, definitely Stone Brewing Co.

What is something only a local would know about San Diego?
TapHunter.com. It is the online bible for local beer lovers.

Tell us about your blog.
100 beers. 30 days. is all about spreading the Craft beer love. Several times a year, I embark on tasting and reviewing 100 beers of a style or movement in a month. So far, I have completed 100 Stouts vs. Porters, 100 Belgian and Belgian-Styles, and 100 American Breweries. With each challenge, charity events and fundraisers are a major force. I also release an annual 12 Beers of Christmas, food and beer pairings, beer events coverage, and a variety of seasonal features. So, I am pretty much drinking beer year-round. It's a blast!

Why’d you start your own blog?
I'm a girl who loves a challenge. I wanted to get people drinking Craft beer in a fun and interesting way. So I figured, if I'm going do this, I should go for the gusto. I don't do anything halfway, but it was incredibly important for it to be beneficial beyond knowledge, which is where the charity aspect comes in.

What do you want to get out of your blog?
For me, it's all about learning and enjoying. It's more about what I want others to get: The discovery and development of Craft beer, it’s amazing complexity and variety, and the fantastic culture surrounding it. It's like the best club you never knew you wanted to join.

Have you been discriminated about your beer knowledge because you’re a female?
Actually, the beer community has been incredibly supportive and interested in my point of view. Coming from a wine background, I have a perspective many aren't expecting. Yes, I get the testosterone-driven, "I know more than you" response, but as soon as those people start talking to me, they realize I know what I'm talking about. I get a good internal giggle when that happens.

I know it’s probably a tough answer, but what’s your all-time favorite beer?
A next-to-impossible question - depends on my mood, honestly. At present, I am loving on the sour beers. If it's not Russian River Supplication, it’s a Cantillon Gueuze.

Favorite Brewery?
In Europe, Cantillon. As for America, I plead the Fifth.

What makes for a good beer?
As I said in my first article with Happy Hour Magazine I truly believe that a good beer is any one you enjoy drinking at the moment. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.

How do you choose the beers that you review?
Some happen by chance, but most are carefully selected within the range of a 100 beers. 30 days. Challenge. Unexpected entries will always be welcomed for the ride, but mostly I plan far in advance and know exactly what I want.

New Year’s Resolution?
Discover more rare and hard-to-find beers. I'm a collector at heart and I LOVE a good challenge.

MORE MIND THAT MOVES INTERVIEWS:

//Wesley Keegan, Founder of TailGate Beer