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| "See you next year, you selfish Brats!" |
2012 Already, man, time is flying.
Time for those ancient Mayan's to put-up or shut-up about the whole "Earth destroying asteroid" or "cataclysmic earthquake" or whatever.
January is here! Thank God because the whole LA Christmas scene was starting to get a little silly, what with the fake snow and winter jackets and the Christmas Arsonist who has been lighting fires all over town for the past few weeks.
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| Merry Christmas Everyone!! |
I was pissed at first thinking,
"What the Heck! Who do they think they are with their Christmas Trees and Carolers and Santa Claus and Tom Cruise..."
Anything Missing?
"Oh right, there's no Nativity Scene"
It took me awhile to realize that.
This display was actually what got me into the Christmas Spirit the most because it put on display all the things that distract from what Christmas is really about.
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| Thanks Scientology! |
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Well I'm happy to report that I have been working hard at the Country Club mixing Negroni's, Hot Toddy's, Brandy Alexander's, and Cadillac Margarita's (the secret's in the Agave Syrup).For the first couple weeks on the job, I adopted the "Fake it till you Make it" mentality, pretending to know how to make the majority of the drinks and sticking to the assumption that if I dumped enough alcohol into the glass, I wouldn't get too many complaints. That seemed to work.
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| Steph captured this moment while I was adding some final touches to my bow-tie | *Note the super fly timepiece she got me for my birthday |
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| The expression quickly changed when I discovered it was "Mexican Cruise Ship" night... |
For the most part, these women are perfectly classy white Protestants.
They order their "up" martini's and Pinot Noir's, smiling politely and well-wishing others out the door before rolling their eyes and switching to single malt Scotch.
Still there are those moments when the older women, the true Queens of Bel Air, come floating into the club, standing stoically, radiating importance.
They hang out at the back of the room accepting praise from the other women on what a fantastic dress they're wearing, how good they're looking, and how nice that endangered animal looks around their neck.
They thank these ladies in-turn, offering smiles which come off a bit too surprised and hysterical resulting from collagen injections rendering their facial expressions taut and inactive.
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| This is not that far off. |
Speaking of Asia...
We recently took a stroll into China Town for some dim sum with the extended family for cousin Mina's sad farewell from LA.
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| Natalie, Steph, Mina, Jeanne, and Jack |
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| I found a mask that looked eerily similar to someone | I know.... |
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| Nice! |
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| Thanks to the Instagram app, I can stylize my pictures into pretentious compositions. |
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Steph and I have had to bundle up lately as temps have dipped down into the low 60's at times, hopefully this will pass soon, until then, we wouldn't think about going to the beach without a sweatshirt or lightweight wind-breaker.
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| Happy Winter! |
One of our favorite Late Night Spots is Mel's Diner on Sunset Boulevard, where we've resurrected our Snuffy's Malt Shop favorite malt: Chocolate/Banana
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| Another photo enriched with an Instagram filter, feeling urban yet? |
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Well as you all know, my 24th Birthday was on Dec. 17th, I am still accepting any last minute gifts you may have forgotten to ship-off.
It went like this, Steph and I got some early morning breakfast and talked over what we should do to celebrate.
We could go back to Universal Studios, as we got suckered into buying 2012 season passes, but the weekend would certainly mean more crying children and tourists than usual.
The Disneyland idea was also hacked due to the same theory.
Naturally there was only one other alternative.....
VEGAS BABY!
We loaded up the car and drove four hours into the desert, having no reservation, we stumbled upon a great deal at the New York New York Hotel.
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| View from the 33rd floor. |
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| Paris |
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| In her element |
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| The Bellagio Fountain is imperative for any Vegas trip, you've seen it. |
The Vegas trip was great, we took our time walking up and down the strip and enjoying different restaurants.
A bit different that my two previous trips which involved waking up on some pool-side lounge chairs at 7:00am at the Flamingo hotel.
Or the other time where I woke up on the floor next to this guy.
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Back in LA, the club was holding their annual Employee Christmas Party.
I brought Steph as my plus 1, and we enjoyed a night of delish apps and all the wine and beer we could handle.
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| Steph was looking REAL pretty in her dress. |
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| Employees gathering for the raffle, I walked away with a nice little gift card. |
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The absolute BEST part of the past month was set in motion a few days before Christmas when my dad called and asked if I wanted to come home for the holidays.
Of course I did, but Christmas is the busiest time of year at the club.
I asked my boss if I could take-off and despite her hesitation, we discovered that all the other bartenders had agreed to work on Christmas, I was free to go home!
So home I went, and my mom had NO idea...
I snuck into the house and surprised her as her back was turned to me in the back room of the house by announcing
"Merry Christmas Mom!"
She turned around and experienced confusion/sheer-terror/disbelief/and elation, this took about 4 seconds.
The result was a ear-splitting scream and vice-like hug which lasted for some time as she sobbed and shouted.
It meant everything for me that I was able to go home for Christmas, I was starting to fear the loneliness I would be faced with by myself in my apartment.
Thanks Dad for flying me home!
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| Julie, Dave, and Hazel |
We ate downtown on Christmas Eve with our Coatta cousins and had a typical Curtis Christmas at Benihana.
*We realized just how much we've eaten there as a family when we would call out all the tricks that the chef would do next
"Do the volcano!"
"Ok pour the soy sauce on the rice and call it 'Japanese Coca-Cola'"
We know em all.
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| Downtown Milwaukee |
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| Mom and Ellie |
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| Christmas morning |
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| Steve! |
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| Effie had a skype session with Steph, who was enjoying Christmas in Kansas |
The day after Christmas we drove to Minnesota to see the rest of the fam.
Chuck slept in the car most of the drive.
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| You guys remember what Saddam looked like when he came out of that cave? |
Allow me to illustrate with far too many pictures.
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| She's already learning how to drool |
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| Hanging in the Johnny Jump Up |
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| Sammie and Granny |
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| Surprise Cat Picture! |
Love my family.
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Back in LA, back to usual.
Despite the lack of snow, I was still freezing in the Midwest.
It was nice to come back and head to the beach for a bonfire with the roommates.
Yesterday, Steph and I went to Pasadena to check out a glimpse of "Old Town" and saw the remnants of the Rose Bowl.
(Bummer Wisconsin)
The cafe we went to had some pretty awesome art hanging up, including this one of Cap'n Crunch
There is more to tell, including a pretty amazing Bar Mitzvah I attended down town, but that will have to wait until the next post.
My resolutions, if any, will include trying to post a bit more regularly, and perhaps expand my blog beyond my own experiences in LA, however thrilling those might be.
Happy New YEAR!
