Parties, Pork Roll, Princesses and Ponies

The last few days have been pretty busy - full of parties, pork roll, princesses and ponies. My cousin Chris and her 5 year old daughter Emily arrived on Saturday afternoon. We had just enough time to have a bite to eat before I left for my going away party.
Here's a little re-cap of what we've been up to.

Party Time! 

Margarita machine, Eduardo the burro pinata, and me - hard to tell who was most popular at the party!

Saturday night my amazing friends Erin and Matt hosted the Hasta la Vista Fiesta. Erin was in Margaritaville all night long - keeping us supplied with tasty drinks. Eduardo, the burro pinata, was hiding some adult goodies - lottery tickets, candy cigarettes, condoms, water pistols and, of course, Jesus themed games. There was a full house all night with friends eating, drinking and being merry. What a great way to say "see you later" to all my wonderful L.A. peeps!

Somehow I was sober at the end of the party and decided to go back home rather than spending the night at the Matthews'. I get home around 2 a.m., open the door slowly, trying my best to be quiet and  not wake Chris and Emily. The door opens a few inches and then stops - the chain lock is on the door! Now what?! I call Chris's name a few times, there's no response. I head over to my neighbor Emilie's place, thinking maybe I can crash on her couch, but there are no signs of life. I open the door again, squeeze my arm in and start working on breaking into my own apartment,  the whole time praying that Chris and Emily don't wake up and see my hand reaching in through the open door. I got it open in just a few minutes - a feat both miraculous and frightening! As I make my way to my room Emily opens her eyes, "Hi, Jessie!". "Hi honey. Go back to sleep, it's late". What a night!

Pork Roll

Chris, Emily and I headed to the Farmers' Market on Sunday for some lunch and the best crepes Chris has ever had. There, in the middle of the Farmers' Market, is a butcher that sells pork roll! If I had learned of this earlier, I wouldn't have had to travel all the way back to Jersey for it! Tacos for lunch and damn good crepes for dessert.

We went over to Santa Monica beach where Emily entertained herself picking up driftwood and seaweed while Chris and I chilled (literally, it was cool and breezy) on the sand. We came across a guy on the pier with his pet parrots. Emily got to take some pictures with them - highlight of her day!

Princesses

Disneylaaaaannnnddddd!! Yesterday was a blast! We weren't in the park more than 5 minutes when Emily got to meet Cinderella, the princess she was dressed as. I think the grown ups were more excited about Emily going on the "big girl rides" like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain for the first time than she was. She earned herself some cotton candy after Big Thunder and after Space Mountain, she made a request for a "soft" ride. Erin and Matt voted Emily "coolest kid ever" - she was so awesome! Her favorite ride of the day - It's a Small World - I guess you can't go wrong with the classics.

Ponies

After a very long day at Disneyland, Chris and I needed a nice "soft" day today. We went to Griffith Park where there is lots of open space for kids to run free. Emily rode the ponies and then spent hours at a playground while Chris & I sunned ourselves. Being with a child is exhausting!

I'll take Chris and Emily to the airport early tomorrow morning, then spend the day to getting things ready for Tony and Pat's arrival. They're in Amarillo, Texas tonight and should be in L.A. in a few days. I still can't believe I have less than a week left in L.A.!