First of all I'd like to give a shout out to my mom for giving us $50 extra dollars, so we could enjoy ourselves during this stressful time. Trust me, we SO did.
Since we had to wake up and start the day at 6:30 am, we were starving by the time we were asked to leave the apartment (8:30 am). So first thing on our minds was finding a good breakfast joint. After some searching, we came across a restaurant called "The Mission".
They seem to have a couple locations in southern California, but the closest one to me was in North Park. The reviews on this restaurant were absolutely outstanding and supposedly named one of the top places to eat in the country. How much validity there is to that statement, I don't know, but I intended to sample it first hand.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a very kind lady, who seemed to actually enjoy working there. With a cheery smile, she sat us at a booth per our request. Within a few minutes a gentleman came to our table, ready to take our drink orders. With just as big a smile as the hostess, he quickly whisked off and grabbed our drinks. Within that time, we found what our stomachs desired and were able to order our food once he returned. He mentioned the "special" for the day and immediately my uncle and I changed our minds. With a little "tweaking" of the dish, we turned there special into a breakfast delight.
My son stuck with his original order of french toast - his favorite - and a smoothie. My uncle and I ordered there pulled pork quesadilla - pulled pork with scallions, cabbage, salsa, and pepper jack cheese - with a whole wheat tortilla. To amp it up, we added avocado with some scrambled eggs inside and asked for a side of rosemary potatoes. My uncle chose a virgin bloody mary and I chose a typical orange juice, with a small ice coffee.
The waiter was so incredibly nice that he went and got my son's order in first and made sure it was out faster than ours. Seeing as how he was a rowdy and hungry 5 year old, I was so freaking pleased. Within a few moments, my son was devouring his french toast and smoothie. A few moments later my uncle and I laid our eyes on what became a memory that will surely last a lifetime.
These quesadillas were 4 HUGE slices that were fully loaded. The potatoes were cooked to pure perfection and needed nothing but a pinch of salt. The meat inside was incredibly tender and juicy, resembled a slow roasted pork sandwich that had been marinated for days. Everything else tasted as fresh as if it was pulled from a garden and chopped just for us. The salsa was an excellent quantity, not overpowering any flavor at all, but simply complimenting it. The scallions were an amazing addition and are a new favorite of mine for pairing with pulled pork. The purple cabbage was crisp and fresh without any odd taste and the avocado was precisely ripened. The eggs were cooked to a fluffy goodness that was mouthwatering and made me awestruck. The entire plate was bigger than I could imagine and everything was piled on. Overall, I was astonished that I hadn't tried it before.
My son loved his smoothie, my orange juice tasted freshly squeezed, the coffee was "ok", and the virgin bloody mary was pretty good in my uncle's opinion.
If you recall, I tried a restaurant called "Breakfast Republic" a few times and even did a review for it (see it HERE), but I have to admit that "The Mission" beat out "Breakfast Republic" by a long shot. The service was impeccable and even faster than "Breakfast Republic" (not that their service was bad at all), their food seemed a slightly higher quality, and the atmosphere wasn't nearly as loud as "Breakfast Republic". "Breakfast Republic" is a 8/10 now - because everyone could use improvement - but "The Mission" has a well deserved 9/10 for me - only because the coffee wasn't exactly up to par in what I had hoped. I absolutely think this needs to be on your bucket list and I absolutely think that the hype is 100% real!!!! The price was extremely reasonable and the experience will be one you'll remember.
After stuffing our faces and devouring plates full, we decided to head over to the La Jolla Goodwill to see if they would have any good finds for the day. It isn't our normal Goodwill, but we wanted to switch things up. Unfortunately we didn't find anything really stupendous, but my son found a really neat Lego box set of Toy Story, completely brand new! The box was a written on, but everything was factory sealed. For only $2.99, it was a score I couldn't pass up for him. Since he had to have his room torn apart and woke up at the crack of dawn, I felt he needed a little "good boy prize".
Feeling a little defeated after not finding anything at Goodwill, we headed over to Bath and Body Works to claim two free lotions. My uncle chose "Orchard Leaves and Blue Sky" - an airy outdoor smell that has a "clean" scent - while I chose "Hello Beautiful" - a mild flowery perfume smelling scent. 
Pause - I understand that it's peoples job to help customers and try to steer us in the right direction of what were looking for, but if I tell you we are just browsing or if I'm smelling stuff, I promise I mean it. I don't mean, tell me all about your favorite scents, your favorite shirts, or how the store close by is going out of business. Just saying. - Unpause.
I also had a freebie from Victoria Secret, so I quickly grabbed my special item and then it was off to lunch for us! We were famished - mostly because we spent quite a bit of time trying to find the perfect scent and the perfect lotions. Also we love sampling lotions and washing our hands with the soaps.
Lunch was something we've had time and time again, but it's a classic and a huge favorite. Want to know what it was and the mini-haul we got? Check in tomorrow for Part 2!!!
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