My enormous wine glass and I celebrate the birth of Our Lord.
My first Christmas in L.A, and I was lucky enough to be welcomed to spend Christmas Eve with the Cruz Family! I was so grateful to be given such hospitality and warmth this holiday season. Also, LOTS of food. Lots of Puerto Rican fare, to be exact…
Rice and beans, pernil, veggies, and a malta. It doesn't get much more Latino than that. 
Yes, there were pasteles. No, I didn’t have any.
In addition to hanging with Heather and Alexis, and getting to know Alexis’ mom, Julie, better, I also got to meet some awesome new folks. His bro, Eric, and Eric’s girlfriend, Lila, as well as his friend Kyle and Kyle’s girlfriend, Jessie. Very cool people to chat with (and get tipsy with). Did you see the size of the glass of wine I’m holding in the first photo??
There was also a very pretty dog in a cute dress that said Santa Baby, and a very cute little dog in a shirt that said Elf-sized. Which he is. And I totally wasn’t expecting presents – I was at someone else’s family function, after all – but I got presents, and I thought it was so super sweet that Julie went out of her way to welcome me in this way.
I keep meeting super-nice people out here. I know that there are self-serving douchebags in L.A, but I haven’t met them yet. Maybe, just maybe, I can keep it that way? We’ll see.
In any case, I had a wonderful evening filled with amazing food (Heather’s first turkey rocked!), awesome people, and great conversation. Who could ask for more?
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you’re finding a way to be happy today, wherever you are, and whoever you’re with.
Noche Buena for real!