The Habit Burger Grill in San Diego’s Mission Valley area became the target of our burger craving today. I had asked my Facebook crew for suggestions on where the best places were in San Diego, and got a variety of responses. Most of the suggestions were for north county places, and Melissa and I didn’t really want to stray to far from our mesa. For some reason Habit Burger popped into my mind. We had eaten there once after a wedding in the LA area. I actually don’t remember being wowed by the particular location we first tried, but I did make a mental note to try it out again. We headed out to their Mission Valley location today, and pretty much ordered the basics- charburgers with cheese, fries with ranch, and drinks.

Before I get into the meal itself, let’s talk aesthetics and environment. It seems like the new trend in burger joints is to go with a hip and more modern look in their interiors. The Habit is no exception. We ended up finding a comfortable booth near the front. The Habit is also super clean. I visited the restroom to wash my hands and it was spotless.

Order taking was relatively painless. They do list off the ingredients rather rapidly so it probably would help if you’d been there once before to know what they normally put on it. The charburger (single patty) is what we had. I don’t think cheese is standard, so we made a point to order that. They also include lettuce, tomato, mayo, and one of my least favorite things- grilled onions. Grilled onions remind me of earthworms, so I opted out. Service was fast, and we didn’t have to wait long for our meal.

My very minor complaints are that they didn’t put mustard on the burger, which I assumed was on there and I forgot to ask about. I was too lazy to get up and get any though, I’m sure they probably had it. Second mild complaint as that they put too much mayo on the burgers. Although Melissa did make a point that it was at least actually good mayo that they were using. Next time I’ll remember to specify light on that. Those minor complaints aside, everything else was great. What most impressed me is that despite it being a relatively thin patty, they still managed to get it done medium. Most places that use thin patties serve up the meat completely nuclear. Melissa smartly had gotten sides of their ranch dressing for the fries. Not sure if they make the dressing from scratch or get it from somewhere else, but it was a good ranch.

As we were sitting there eating one of the guys working there (perhaps a manager, not sure) asked me about my camera. And instead of giving me a hard time for taking photos or being weird about it, he encouraged me to make a post to Yelp and share my experience. That shows a confidence that I can appreciate. He also dragged out three of the girls from behind the counter to pose for a photo, which you’ll see below. Oh, and he also gave me a ticket for a free burger! That definitely created a fan in me.

Best part about the whole thing was the price. I think our two combos may have been slightly more expensive than the comparable meal at In-N-Out (which I am also a fan of), but the burgers were honestly A LOT better. Not only that but the atmosphere is way more laid back and pleasurable to eat in. So I think I have a new habit. HA.

- Josh

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Two nights ago I was sitting at my computer. It was a little after 10pm. It had been raining all day and I knew that the reflections on the ground would be nice. There was humidity in the air, and things are cleaner after a rain. Still it was 10pm, I was essentially in my pajamas work clothes, and motivating myself to open the camera chest, pick equipment, get dressed, and venture out in the cold (for San Diego) night air would be somewhat of an undertaking. It helps when you have a crew to meet up with. Solo night photography even when you’re in a safe neighborhood is always a little weird. Unfortunately I haven’t been here long enough to form a new evening crew. So I was sitting at the computer, chatting with Nessa about my contemplations. I’ve met very few female photographers who are actually into the whole going out and shooting at night thing. “The lighting is unflattering for portraits,” Nessa says. I tell her I’m not doing it for portraits. She’s encouraging though, “if you like to do it, you should go out and do it!” I suddenly get déja vu and remember hearing similar encouraging statements from Ashley. So I motivate and I get out there.

Two things I notice. One is that despite being in the suburbs, downtown La Mesa at night is interesting to me visually. Second thing I notice is that after I take the first shot on the tripod, I put it away. And for the rest of the night save one exception, I shot everything hand held. Maybe these shots will be a little weirder than past night shoots, but I actually really enjoy being untethered by a tripod. It’s easier to get unique angles, it’s faster too. I took shots that I ordinarily might have skipped because of the time involved in setting up the tripod and adjusting it. Of course it helps that my cameras can handle low light situations, but I think if you practice your sniper breathing and steady your hands it’s possible with most fast lenses.

So this is my neighborhood at night. Obviously not a center for bustling night life, but even in stillness there is life.

- Josh

By the way if any of you new San Diego photographer friends of mine like this sort of thing let me know and maybe we can get an outing organized. And final note, photos look better on your wall than on your computer screen. Support us by buying a print, your walls will love you!

When I moved away from San Diego a million years ago (sadly it actually was a million years ago), I never thought I’d be back. I essentially grew up in the La Mesa area and considered it to be “the burbs.” I yearned for a big city experience. A place that had actual seasons, and somewhere that was truly different from where I had grown up. Moving to Chicago definitely fulfilled that criteria. And for many years I truly didn’t miss San Diego that much aside from the people aspect. Now that we’ve been back and we’ve gotten a chance to explore a little I’m realizing that I’m actually loving being back. For example, today my mom came over and took us out to lunch. She lives maybe 10 minutes away, but our area of town is much more walkable than hers’. So she can park at our house and we can all walk down into the village and try a new place, or visit someplace familiar. Today we tried the La Torta Cafe. It was pretty awesome. We had a carnitas torta that was incredible, a shrimp burrito, and carne asada quesadilla. They were all good, but the carnitas was the best by far. Mexican food is out of control in San Diego. Having lived in Chicago, Raleigh, Seattle, and Portland I can say without a doubt that even the best Mexican food in other cities doesn’t come close to Southern California. I’ve been freaking out on hot carrots since we got back. After we did lunch we walked across the street to show Melissa the first house I ever lived in. SO WEIRD! Then we went back to my house and my mom began phase one of her Christmas present to me- ironing my clothes. I know that sounds somewhat lame that I’d have her iron my clothes, but just for the record she actually sort of enjoys ironing. I put in Old School for her to watch and she tore through nearly half of my button down shirts like a machine. It’s a foreign concept entirely to me, but my clothes definitely need it after being boxed up and moved. We cheaped out on wardrobe boxes this time around. Of course even if we had bought wardrobe boxes my clothes weren’t exactly ironed up to begin with. Anyways I should probably get back to work now.

- Josh

The photo above is of the first house I ever lived in. To say moving back to a city that you’ve been away a total of one million years from, to live in a house that is a mere five minute’s walk from the first house you ever lived in is surreal to say the least.

This house reminds me very much of the Illinois state flag. Is this more surreal prophetic imagery anchoring me back to my new roots? Maybe I’m getting too deep.

Back to Casa de Continuum.

My mom and her Rowenta Focus iron. I have a Rowenta myself, but apparently not as nice as my mom’s iron. I can’t believe I am blogging about irons.