Hi from sunny (and damp) So Cal!

Ahh! It's nice to be home in Long Beach for the holidays! I arrived Tuesday night in the midst of Day 6 of seven straight days of rain - LA is not set up for this! Mudslides, floods, and general chaos hit pockets of areas for commuters and the like. Thankfully I landed in a respite of rain - had I arrived a day later and I would've been delayed by the torrential downpours. But it's not like this is Hurricane Katrina or anything, though the local news would like you to think otherwise. I can only take a few minutes of "STORM WATCH 2010" before I gag...I guess LA needs its drama.

Today I see blue skies and comfortable 60 degree temps. Yesterday my mom and Anthony went shopping for some last minute stocking stuffers and made it to Gloria's Cafe which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We ordered a couple of the specialties that were covered by Guy Fieri - Carne Adobada, and the Seven Seas Soup - delicious!! The soup was pretty amazing, it reminded me of a Vietnamese soup called Hu Tieu that my mom makes. My brothers and I call my mom's version the "Noah's Ark Soup" because it's loaded with pork, shrimp, crab, and a quail egg to boot. There are unlimited versions and you can really put anything you want in it - dried squid, octopus, pork stomach lining...whathaveyou.

Here are a few pictures of my trip thus far - a visit with my first niece, Luella, and some shots at Gloria's Cafe.

xo!