Four Days in November

11.26 ~ Thanksgiving at my sister's house. Since Grandma died, our family spends the day with my sister and her in-laws. She's got it good - she cleans the house, everyone else brings the food then cleans up. I bring my Tupperware and a fork (I'm good that way!). I really wasn't in the mood to be social, put on the happy face, etc. But, it's family. And I needed a hefty dose of it! My brother + his kids were in San Diego with his wife's family; but my niece was in from Las Vegas (she's in the Teach for America program). I got to talk with Dad for a while, got to cry to Mom for a while, got to laugh with Trey & Mia for a while, got to eat for a while. It was all good. I left that night feeling full of food and family.

11/27 ~ Connected with my cousin Nepunnee at Duke's in Malibu. All she wanted was to drink with family! And I, of course, was more than happy to oblige. I'm so impressed by her - she was this extremely shy child, clingy with her mom, barely talked; now, she's talkative, bright, funny and wants to have a drink with her favorite cousin! :) We shared family stories - hookers, dogs, Transformers, Grandma's pies, cousins + family. It was a great time! Makes me want a family reunion...

11/28 ~ Had an incident at the hair salon - glasses off (can't see a damn thing!), hair in foil, Glamour magazine at my nose, trying to read. Next to me is an empty salon seat then two stylists each with a customer. The 4 of them are talking about the Tiger Woods incident...blah blah blah...

"Well, he is half black and all black men are violent. Just look at that Chris Brown."

I lowered the magazine, squinting my eyes to see who's talking. It's 2009, right? I didn't hear that, right? It's 2009, right? I don't even know what kind of look was on my face. Probably not a very good one.

Stylist #2: "That...was...just one incident." I was fuming, so anything said after that was static and noise.

I wanted to say something intelligent and wise. All I could think to say was something vile and angry. And, I sat there. Silent. I'm still shaking my head.

Later that night, Diana, Scot, Rochelle and I met at the Troubadour in West Hollywood for the English Beat show. We danced up in the VIP loft area which is all fine and dandy; I just love dancing down in the crowd. It was a very good show! I've been to a lot of Beat shows. A LOT. And this one was very good - everything fired on all cylinders: the band, the crowd, the vibe, the songs, everything. They're off to Hawaii this week; then back to ring in the new year in Redondo Beach.

11/29 ~ private shopping event @ Nordstrom! We get food, personal shoppers and the store to ourselves for at least an hour. I did some Christmas shopping and holiday shopping for meeeeee (boyfriend blazer, 2 sweaters, adorable holiday top). I'm in love with a fabulous Marnie hobo bag - navy leather, brown strap, big and gorgeous. It's even marked down to $1,290.90!

Left the event to have sushi @ Midori (our favorite all-you-can-eat sushi place) with Joe. LOVE HIM!! I'm glad we had the chance to catch up, haven't seen him in a while. We always have a good time together, no matter what we do. Just seems that we have a particularly splendid time eating at Midori...

And, today...it's pay rent and back to work. Pffttht!