Dee Writes

There is a quote I love from the book “I Was a Teenage Fairy” by Francesca Lia Block that got me thinking; if San Diego was a woman who would she be? The quote goes like this:

“If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model and the San Fernando Valley is her teenybopper sister, then New York is their cousin. Her hair is dyed autumn red or aubergine or Egyptian henna, depending on her mood. Her skin is pale as frost and she wears beautiful Jil Sander suits and Prada pumps on which she walks faster than a speeding taxi (when it is caught in rush hour, that is). Her lips are some unlikely shade of copper or violet, courtesy of her local MAC drag queen makeup consultant. She is always carrying bags of clothes, bouquets of roses, take-out Chinese containers, or bagels. Museum tags fill her pockets and purses, along with perfume samples and invitations to art gallery openings. When she is walking to work, to ward off bums or psychos, her face resembles the Statue of Liberty, but at home in her candlelit, dove-colored apartment, the stony look fades away and she smiles like the sterling roses she has brought for herself to make up for the fact that she is single and her feet are sore.”

If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model and San Fernando Valley is her teenybopper sister and New York is a dyed red-haired Jil Sander Suit and Prada pump wearing cousin who acts hard but is soft on the inside…

What is San Diego?

I imagine San Diego as LA’s closest cousin. Though she is not nearly as glamorous or pretentious, she possesses an undeniable beauty she seems somehow unaware of, which makes people like her more. Her skin is tanned no matter what time of year and her hair is sunbleached and always slightly windblown and if you were to kiss her the taste of her lips would be salty. She wears stylish sundresses or jumpers with sandals on her sandy feet and wide, floppy brimmed hats. She spends days lounging on the sand with short swims in the icy cold water of the Pacific or hiking the abundance of trails, and she eats salads and lots of water. She spends her nights drinking craft-brewed beer, dancing on tables or bar tops, and eating burritos stuffed with carne asada, guacamole, and french fries. Her Instagram is full of pictures of sunsets, shots of her and her many friends out at some event or another, and her rescue terrier, Toto. She drives a Hybrid and practices yoga, but there is a sub-woofer in the trunk and she blasts Kendrick and Cole at top volume on the way to and from class. She is wildness mixed with responsibility, privilege mixed with a dash of the hood, a bundle of contradictions comfortable in her skin.

If you live in or have visited San Diego, what do you think? Is my description accurate? How would you describe your City? Please let me know in the comments!