A Merry, Merry Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE
Mom and Dad went to The Lion King at the Paramount Theater the night before, so I woke up out at Grandma H. and Papa's house. The real treat here is that I got to meet my Great-Uncle Bob Herzog, Papa's brother who lives in Memphis, TN. I'd heard so much great stuff about him and was so glad to finally meet him. What a sweet-heart! Mom and Dad picked up Grammy Sam from the train station and arrived around 1:30PM or so. It was a nice and casual day of Guinness for strength and Cosmo's for the ladies. And as the tradition goes, we dined on Chinese take-out and drank champagne while watching Caddyshack. There were plenty of laughs before going to bed (in front of the tree) in anticipation of my first visit with Santa.

SANTAGOSHI CLAUSAGAWA

Here I am at the downtown Seattle Nordstrom's having my picture taken with Santa. I had no idea Santa was from Japan!!

CHRISTMAS DAY
We all woke up today and sat around the tree opening presents. I of course got way too much stuff. But I'm not complaining because it's all very cute. After Grandma H. cooked up some delectable eggnog French toast, we all piled into our cars and headed down to Olympia to share in the festivities with the Wildenhaus family at Bob and Mary's. It was great to see all of my extended family again and we celebrated with a lovely meal and good times. Unfortunatley my parents decided to take me home just as everyone else began to play games, but it was probably for the best as it was past my bedtime.

THE DAY AFTER
Great-Uncle Bob doesn't buy Christmas gifts... He treats everyone to posh dinners. This year we went out to The Waterfront Seafood Grill. What a nice place!! I can't speak from experience, but the food looked great and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. And if you ever go, be sure to order the baked Alaska as they do it like no one else does.

THE VERDICT
With one Christmas finally under my belt, I can surely say that it RULES! But really, getting together with friends and family is something that my family and I love to do any time. I'm very sad to have to say goodbye to Grammy Sam and Great-Uncle Bob, but I know it's just for now... I'll be seeing them again. Mom, Dad and I are trying to recover this week before our fun getaway in Leavenworth with Grandma H. and Papa. Ciao for now!

Non-Stop Party People In The House

SOUNDTRACK
Radiohead, Bjork, Tortoise, Christmas themes, unidentified tango marches

BREAKFAST WITH THE CRANES
Friday morning Mom, Dad and I met up with Scotty, Michelle and Jack Crane at The Hi-Life in downtown Ballard for some yummy breakfast. I think this is our 3rd time there and we just love it. The breakfast served as our holiday get-together because the Crane's couldn't make it to an evening we were hosting for them last week due to illness. They gave me a very neat onesie from Clover that has the image of Ella Fitzgerald on it. How cool is that?!

IQ BEATS COMPANY CHRISTMAS PARTY
OK, this is all heresay as I was not there, but here is a PG-rated account of Mom and Dad's night out. After dropping me off out in Issaquah for the night, Mom and Dad went to The Buenos Aires Grill to meet up with the rest of the IQ Beats team members and their significant others. It was everyone's first time there and the feedback is that they were all very pleased. Mom and Dad ordered a mixed grill of meats called a parillada. It consisted of: skirt steak, hanger steak, sweet breads, chorizo, and chicken... All grilled and quite yummy. This is a bit differnent than the Brazilian churrascaria-style that they love so much, but great none the less. Dad picked out a yummy Argentinian Cabernet that went over well with everyone. Karen Vander Weide, one of the singers IQ Beats uses, coerced a patron in the bar to give up one of his Vegas Robaina Cuban cigars for she and Dad to share. Then someone started ordering cake shots (Absolut Citron with Frangelico). Things went downhill from there.

The restaurant is very cool though. At different points throuhout the evening the staff cranked up the music and a beautiful couple tangoed through the restaurant to cheers and vigorous clapping. Eventually their parade ended up with a scorching romp back and forth atop the bar. The whole time Mommy was suggesting that tango dancing might just be something they need to learn how to do. Daddy became engrossed in a coversation with the owner about his love for a Brazilian-style churrascaria. Marco then handed Daddy a stack of business cards for his next venture, The Ipanema Brazilian Grill. This will be opening at 1st and University by the Harbor Steps and will be serving steaks on swords at your table in the churrascaria style. Brazilian music and caipirinha's will assure a good time. Mom and Dad can't wait!!

Mom and Dad finally arrived home at about 4AM after a few more rounds of cake shots and a couple more barhops to the Nitelite and Scarlet Tree. Mom claims that she would have been up for more, but had to get home because her boobs were so hard that she could crack a walnut between them. Ahhh, the joys of nursing.

MEET THE GRANDFOCKERS
Since Mom and Dad were whooping it up in Seattle for the night, I got dropped off with Grandma H. and Papa. It was the usual affair of a lot of snug time with the grandpeeps. They had invited Anne-Marie and Brett to come over for a hang session, so it was a fun group of my favorite folks. And this time around everything was OK in the food department as Mom had left us with 9 bags of her boob juice since last time she came up short. Grandma H. gave me a bath in the morning, which is a nice idea but not as comfy as at home since she doesn't have the ergonomic bathing tub like we do. But alas, at least I was clean for 5 minutes before my next blowout.

CHRISTMAS GIFT TIME AT OUR HOUSE
Since Mom and Dad weren't going to have a free night before now and Christmas, they decided to open their gifts for one another on Saturday night. It was fun for me to watch the wrapping fly for the very first time in my life. But that was short-lived since 90% of the gifts they had for one another were in gift bags - They both absolutely suck at wrapping gifts. Here are some highlights for Mom: pretty lingerie, a pink iPod mini, pizza cutter (something she's wanted for a few years now), and her custom-made Ella sweatshirt. Dad scored with: several CDs as well as the Nirvana box set, new Nike golf shoes, a beautiful black velvet jacket, and both a framed photo and photo album containing old pictures of Dad's dad.

HOLIDAY CHEERS WITH THE HASAGAWOTTS
Sunday night gave us the pleasure of a visit by Geoff and Miyuki Ott. Mom put out an assortment of cheese like you've never seen (I'll be talking to her about cutting back on her cheese expenditures so that I might have a chance to go to college someday) and they all enjoyed some champagne. A very nice time spent with friends during the holiday season.

Santa, Nordstrom and Blowouts

It was another exciting morning! Mom, Dad and I were up at the crack of dawn and out the door soon after as I was going to meet Santa for the first time! We had a date at 8 AM...a date for a photograph that is. Mom had heard that the Santa at Nordstrom was the best this year so to Nordstrom we went by golly! All was fantastic until about 5 minutes before my big introduction. I just couldn't hold it any longer...a blowout like you have never seen! It was up my front, up my back, down the sides, you name a place and it was there. Some first impression, huh? But despite the embarrassement, I managed to put on my biggest smile. Say cheese!!!

What a Weekend

This past weekend was one that I will remember for at least the next 30 seconds I tell ya! Not only did we celebrate Papa's birthday by all getting together and eating an incredible meal of Indian food prepared by Grandma H on Saturday, but I also was finally able to meet my Great Godparents, Deb and Lance. They are as special as my parents have been telling me since the day I was born. On Sunday, I went over to our friends the Anderson's (Jeff, Jessica, Brenna and Audrey) for brunch along with our friends the Johnson's (Todd, Traci, Justin and Kailiana) which was super fun because there was a wind storm and it knocked all of the power out. No power meant that all of the food had to be cooked creatively on the Weber BBQ grill...yummy! And the party does not end here, Sunday night I was able to be introduced to my parents good friend Shannon from Toronto. She and her bro, Marc (who is expecting his first little person on January 11th), drove down from Vancouver, BC just to meet me! Wow! I am even popular in other countries! I am going to need this week to recover from all of this excitement. Did someone say naptime?

I'm Going To Be An Actress

This past weekend my Mom and Grandma H took me to Los Angeles. Wow was it exciting! I handled my first plane ride no problem and I was on my best behavior the entire weekend. While in LA, I was able to meet my Great Auntie and Uncle Tom, my cousins Chad and Jordan and my Great Grandma, "GG". But perhaps the most important discovery that I made while there was that I am going to be an actress. I mean come on, who could deny that a life of palm trees, fast cars and big houses could be that bad?