The Huntington, Massive burritos and liter beers...

I took the day off and spent the day showing Tommy The Huntington Botanical Gardens and Art Collections. I was given a year membership as a gift and have been enjoying spending time soaking up an oasis of culture.

We explored all of the gardens. My favorite are the Japanese Gardens.

The dry landscaping gardens

The Bonsai Court

The Lily Ponds

The Desert Garden

Blue Boy by Jonathan Buttal is The Huntington's most famous painting.

Sarah Barrett Moulton's Pinkie is my favorite painting in the collection.

After our afternoon of art and gardens we checked off another Must see /do/eat off of Tommy's list. We headed to East Los Angeles to experience the Mt. Everest of burritos at El Tepeyac.

The burrito is the size of a lap dog. NO JOKE! Jonathan Gold from LA Weekly says it best: The Manuel's Special, or Hollenbeck, named after the local East L.A. police division, is more or less an old-line Mexican restaurant's entire menu wrapped into a tortilla the size of a pillowcase -- rice, beans, stewed meat, guacamole and lakes of melted taco cheese. Buy one and feed your family for a week.

After a nap we headed to Westwood to check out the UCLA scene. Tommy wanted to hit up O'Hara's (a.k.a. Maloney's) where beer is served by the liter. Seriously???

We ended the night at Duke's in Malibu. The tide had come in and the waves were crashing feet from the bar. What a perfect day!

Tommy's Birthday Continues...

Tommy and I spent the morning at my Church before heading to the beach for the afternoon. He has been reading and we've been discussing the book, Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow. It discusses and reveals why men are the largest unreached people group. Murrow, who lives in Alaska, references Saddleback Church and commends the motto of, "Give men high standards: ask something of them." I enjoyed taking Tommy to hear Pastor Warren speak on Radical Hope and showing him around the campus.

Next stop? In-N-Out Burger. That's what a hamburger's all about. Not a bad birthday lunch. (Today is his actual birthday.)

We drove to Huntington Beach to walk on the sand, watch the sunset and check out one of Tommy's favorite of all favorite restaurants, Duke's. We also got to stop and visit with my friends, Rachel and Mickey, who live a few blocks from the sand.

A view of the Huntington Beach Pier from inside Duke's.

Our last stop was dinner at Javier's in Crystal Cove. It's one of my favorite restaurants and their spinach enchiladas are incredible. We also tried their version of queso. Tommy's version es el mejor!

And ending the night with some birthday flan.

Tomorrow, we head up Pacific Coast Highway to enjoy the scenic route and get our ocean beauty fix. This weekend has been good stuff!

Tommy's 30th Baseball Birthday Bash

Tommy turns 30 this weekend and I just had to have a party for him! He's a major baseball fan (has been to / attended a game at all but a few West Coast MLB stadiums). It was fun to be a party planner but I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon. Tommy was a good sport about having his party guests consist of my friends and my family. :o)

A baseball cake with 31 candles... to celebrate 30 years and 1 to grow on.

I made (yes, as in assembled and then put the ingredients into the crock pot, supervised and then garnished...) tortilla soup...

...and served tamales, rice and salad too. Tommy made an Memphis style queso with spicy sausage, Velveeta and Rotel and we served it with authentic Mexican chips.

The boys and their brews... my mom and sister were here too, but hiding from the camera.

With Heidi and Carolyn.

A little guava rum from my parents. We searched for his favorite, Guava Berry... but I guess we'll have to go back to St. Maarten to enjoy that libation.

Tommy may be the one person that I know that hates presents. A puzzling phenomenon. But he didn't throw too big of a fit. I chose the theme, "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read."

Doens't he look thrilled to be sung to? :O)

Tommy's angels. It was fun for me to have Tommy meet / spend some time with my best girlfriends. He's heard so much about them and vise versa and I loved watching all of the interactions.

Happy Birthday, Tommy! I hope that you enjoy your California birthday week!

Orange County vs. Chicago

Tommy is here! He is in California. Finally! I picked him up at LAX after smooth travels. We made a stop in Seal Beach (my dream spot to live) to visit with my parents and some family friends. From there we took the long way to Buena Park via Sunset Beach and Huntington Beach. Why Buena Park, you ask?

Well... because Tommy had to do a little comparison taste test between the Portillo's in Chicago and Portillo's in southern California.

To me a hot dog is a hot dog. But I'm learning Portillo's is the real deal. The real Chicago dog experience.

And I think that Tommy would agree.

Christmas Day

Merry CHRISTmas! I enjoyed the day with my sister, brother-in-law, nephews and parents. My sister hosted a relaxing day with an abundance of gourmet yummies.

My nephews (19 and 16) graced us with their presence to open presents!

Andrew became a Twilight Zone fan while spending time with my parents last summer. Now he's got episodes a plenty!

We set a dollar limit and draw names for our gift exchange. This year we did one gift per couple. I didn't make the rules... power to the singletons! :O) It just meant that I didn't have to share my gift! LOL! I scored a 2 year 24 Hour Fitness membership. Darn New Years Resolutions

<br>

I drew my mom and dad. They put a wii and wii fit on their wish list. I can't wait to see the two of them box, bowl and do yoga in the comfort of their own home...

The obligatory Christmas morning photo.... sleepy eyes, no makeup and pajamas. Comfy cozy.

We spent the afternoon at the movies where we saw Sherlock Holmes along with the cajillions of others that had the same brainiac idea.

Jake and Mayo were model onlookers of the festivities.

Mayo wore her Santa Baby uniform... courtesy of her Aunt Melinda.

After a delicious meal of prime rib we looked out to see a gorgeous message from God.

I hope that y'all enjoyed your traditions today!