Yuletide In Los Angeles

With an early morning departure from PHL, we arrived in LAX and phoned our private driver, whose services were provided by The Gateway Hotel to transport us to Santa Monica.

After quickly checking in, we headed to Mendocino Farms to meet Jay, Sasha, Owen and their nanny Paige.

We would be going to dinner at Sasha's sister Whitney's house in a couple of hours, so I passed on food, but the others enjoyed light snacks so as to not arrive starving. 

Whitney and her husband Adam live in a lovely building in West Hollywood.  Julie and I felt like we might be barging into their Christmas Eve dinner, but Whitney and Adam made us feel very welcome for a delicious meal and enjoyable evening along with Sasha's mother.

Awakening on Christmas morning, we headed over to Owen's house to see what Santa brought for him.

We loved watching Owen open presents and then play with his new toys.

I should mention that Owen is still enamored with a TV show called Trash Truck, and we watched that show's Christmas special a few more times.  He loves his toy trash trucks and other wheeled vehicles.

One of his big presents was a bicycle. He's not quite big enough to ride it yet, but that challenge will soon come to pass for this adventure-loving little guy.

A few friends came over to join the festivities.

Jay and Sasha prepared a tasty smorgasbord for brunch, including Jay's high school friend Shorty.

Here's a photo of the primary contingent in the living room.

The festivities continued with an even larger contingent joining us at Libby's house in Venice for Christmas dinner.

Elegantly and lovingly restored by Libby and a team of workers, her home is lovely and comfortable, as well as beautifully decorated with vintage pieces.

The delicious meal centered by a roast added many vegan options.

We enjoyed a thoroughly wonderful holiday stay in Santa Monica, with returns to favorite places we've visited previously, like parks, coastal walks and restaurants like Duke's in Malibu.

Using a Musician's Friend Gift Card our generous friends Karen and Randy gave me for my birthday, I bought a guitar and that I had delivered in Santa Monica so I can now use it when I'm out there.  Extravagant as it sounds, the guitar only cost me $30 out of pocket, including taxes.  It plays quite well.

Always a music lover, Owen rewarded me by occasionally playing rhythm instruments along with me and clapping at the end of a song.

Julie and I also met up with Karen and Randy at Hennessey's Tavern in Hermosa Beach.  It was great catching up with these good friends in person over dinner and drinks.

We still miss living in the South Bay, so going to Hermosa's Pier Avenue was a bonus for our holiday trip to Los Angeles.

The next morning, we headed for San Diego.