IN A STATE OF (DIS)GRACE

POST-CHRISTMAS FEELING: Crappy.

I feel like a crappy mess. If I had to break it down, I'd say that I am suffering from 2 parts of feeling sick (a stuffy nose and itchy throat sucks) and 2 parts of feeling fat. No, wait... 8 parts of feeling fat. I act like this is all new to me, but it's a song and dance that I am all too familiar with: I get down with the post-Thanksgiving weight-loss plan, only to let that go to shit when I fly back East for Christmas. But it's not like you can help it. When you go home to a Filipino Christmas, you best realize that there is a food involved... and TONS of it. You've got eats during Noche Buena, and while that usually consists of arroz caldo and a list of sweets and desserts, you tend to indulge in obscene amounts of these things.

The food-fest continues on to Christmas breakfast, Christmas lunch, and then the Good-God-Almighty Christmas dinner. This year our dinner was made up of both traditional Pilipino and American-based dishes. To name a few...

Pancit Bihon
Dinuguan
Lechon
Roast Beef w/Baby Bok-Choy
Roasted Chicken
Sarciado (Fish)
Hawaiian-Style Macaroni Salad
Curried Chicken & Rice Salad

There were others, but my head is clouded right now. I popped a Sudafed in my mouth earlier, and now I'm starting to feel the effects... I'm loopy.

And I'm struggling to type this entry.

I think I'm stopping for now ...

So sleepy.

EAST COAST HOLIDAY (PART II)...

And so my East Coast holiday week continued on...

TUESDAY: I woke-up to find my nephew asleep in the family room. Dad was quietly watching TV beside him, in case he happened to wake-up or start crying. I, on the other hand, bundled up and hopped into the car and drove into the city. Despite the freezing temps, the skies were clear, and the sun was shining. As I drove into the city, all the sights and sounds started to familiarize themselves with me once more. The monuments looked as grandiose as ever, the tourists were out despite the temps, and the beat of the city was steady and up-beat.

I drove up 17th Street, and passed thru the National Mall. Then I got on Connecticut, before taking a turn or two and finding myself along M Street. I led myself into Georgetown, and I was overcome with the sense that I was really "home." Winter in Georgetown is, to me, quite special. The sidewalks are crowded, restaurants are bustling, and the shops all call out to shoppers with an array of "sale" signs in different colors, shapes and sizes.

I crossed the Potomac via Key Bridge, and entered Arlington. I ended up at Shirlington to 1) grab a cup of Caribou Coffee (one of my "homecoming" rituals), and to 2) pick-up another bottle of wine (or two) at Harris Teeter. Then I headed back home to take care of my nephew, who is super adorable.

Later that night, I drove to Centerville to meet up with a gang of friends for a pre-Holiday get together. It was great to see the familiar faces, and to exchange stories and updates. After dinner, I headed back home with a pit-stop at The Cantina, where I helped myself to a couple of drinks. I went to bed a drunk man that night.

WEDNESDAY: Christmas Eve, for me, was spent with the kids. Joie dropped off Lexi and Noah at the house, and around 11AM, the parental units dipped out to hang with my aunt and uncle who were in town for the next few days only. I spent the next 9 hours being "Super Uncle." I had to learn how to handle the crying 5-month old AND tend to the needs of my four-year old niece as well. The first couple hours were quite nerve-wrecking. But once I got the hang of it, I was balancing life like a pro. I had Noah in one arm, while I chopped, prepped, and cooked a curried chicken rice salad, AND prepared little meals for my niece throughout the day. I juggled bottles, formula, food, diapers, tears, wailing, and "Ninong, can you play with me?" all throughout the day. By the time Mark and Joie came home, I was done. And though I needed a nap, the adrenaline I found just being around my neice and nephew was so great...

As a fam, we wrapped presents, and helped prepare food for Noche Buena (arroz caldo, fried Cornish hens, and other stuff). Lexi fell asleep soon after, but Noah stayed up for the count, and was all smiles when we greeted each other "Merry Christmas!"

THURSDAY: I got up and drove into Old Town to attend the 10AM Mass at St. Mary's. Mom/Dad served/attended Mass the night before, but I didn’t go with them since I was still babysitting the kids. Mark and Joie had a later start, so I went ahead of them.

I sat behind the most annoying couple with children ever; the guy was a total tool. I love kids, but it’s rare that I see parents playing with kids and encouraging them to act a fool AT CHURCH. Super distracto!

After Mass, I drove through Old Town to take in the sights once more. And I noticed a man coming out of the Starbucks at the end of King Street, so I bee-lined for the next available street meter. I ran inside, ordered a latte, and picked-up a couple of last-minute gifts. You gotta love Starbucks stores that are open on Christmas Day...!

I went back home to take part in more prep for Christmas dinner. Friends and fam trickled in and out through the night, and there was a lot of catching up, story-telling, and fun times to be shared.

FRIDAY: I had a late start to my day after being up late to clean up after the guests had gone. Mom passed out early, and Dad followed her a little later. My brother actually went into work early Friday morning, and Joie was prepping little Noah for his afternoon doctor appointment. I, on the other hand, was getting ready to drop my parents off at the National Theater in the city to watch West Side Story.

After dropping them off, I went to Pentagon City to meet up with an old elementary school friend. We had lost touch after graduating high school, but we ended up finding each other on Facebook (go figure). So we met up and hung out while my parentals were enjoying the show. We caught each other up on the latest and greatest, and then we reminisced about the good ol’ days.

When the show was over, I hurried back to scoop up Mom/Dad, and then we headed home. Mark and fam came back later that night, and then we hooked up with some friends and went to the Shadow Room just outside Foggy Bottom on K Street. Some other folks we know were planning on showing up there, so we gave the place a try. Some of the gang had trouble with getting in, but me and the siblings got in right away. When we all eventually got inside, we found Gina at the bar, and the night took it’s course. Sho’ nuff… We were plastered, and good times were had by all. Despite the wanna-be pretentious-ness of The Shadow Room (goodness, what a joke), we had a great time. And it was an added bonus to see some familiar faces (Rach, Ramir, Cookie, Edsel, Karen, etc.). Gina-G got sick, so we had to take her car and get out of the city. We ended up meeting the Enrico brothers at IHOP in Potomac Yard, where we – later on – ran into a bunch of other familiar faces (Gemini, Lauren, Joyce, John, Brandon, etc.). SMALL WORLD it is… that Metro DC area, I tell you. A fight broke out at the table next to us – where a random group of people were seated (some South Asian, a black girl, a few white girls, and some other Asians --- VERY random, but multi-cultural at best…ahaha!). Black girl and one of the Indian guys got in a fight. Coffee was thrown, as were other liquids, then they were asked to leave. GHETTO.

We finally got back to Ft. Washington, scooped up our car at Siena’s, and drove Gina back to her house… helped her to her door (poor thing fell out her car), and made sure she was inside. When we got home we found the kids asleep in the family room with their grandparents; of course, Nunu was placed in-between grandma and grandpa; little spoiled one. AHAHAHA.

SATURDAY: Got up late again, and Mark and fam got ready to attend the Villanueva family get-together. I, on the other hand, left for Waldorf in the afternoon to meet Juvale and Nikki at Starbucks. Mom and Dad got ready for a party of their own, too.

I met Jev and Nix in Waldorf, and I got to meet little Nadeya. She is such a cutie! It was so good to catch up with Nix and Jev, and so we hung out for about an hour just quickly catching up.

When that was over, I headed back home and started to pack. Mark and fam came back, and we eventually went to the pho place up the street for a quick bite. We saw Gina there, and later on Laya came through to join her.

After dinner, we went back to Mom’s/Dad’s and Mark and Joie started to pack away their things into their car. I started laundry, and started to pack my bag. I said my good-byes to my siblings and nephew and niece, and they were headed back to Lorton. I finished up packing, and got ready for bed.

SUNDAY: Mom/Dad and I got up early enough, and we headed to St. Columba for the 10:00AM Mass. After Mass, we scooped up my luggage, and then went to grab a bite in Alexandria. Uh, the parentals love Chinese buffets, so that’s what we did. Ugh. Then they dropped me off at Reagan, and the long journey back to L.A. began.

The journey itself was un-eventful. I did grab a bite at Bonfire by Todd English while waiting for my connecting flight at JFK – a great way to end my trip. I kicked off my personal holiday week with a dinner at TE’s Olives in DC, then wrapped-up at TE’s Bonfire in NY. Then it was back to L.A. for me.

It was a perfect Christmas… and I have memories to last me a lifetime. Thank you, family and friends, for helping me to find the holiday spirit that I couldn’t seem to find before.

EAST COST HOLIDAY...

It's been quite a "vacation" for me so far. I got to LAX super early last Wednesday night, which was a good thing since the lines were insane. I think it took me a good hour and a half to wait in line to 1) check-in my bag, and 2) wait to go through security. My flight wasn't until 12:35AM, but I got to the airport a little after 9:00PM since my roommate had an earlier flight to catch.

After all was said and done (with regard to security and check-in), I got to a bar at 10:30PM... and luckily made it in for "last call." Ummm, it's LAX for crying out loud! THEY CLOSE THE LAST BAR AT 10:30PM?! WHO? WHAT? WHY? I had to make the most of it, so I ordered a double Makers and diet (Coke). Instant buzz. In my buzzed state, I ended up grabbing a hamburger and small fries at McDonald's before going to the gate. We ended up not leaving LAX until an hour past our scheduled departure time, so I naturally missed my 8:30AM connecting flight in Atlanta. And I hate Atlanta airport because the terminals are super huge, and the hallways are L-O-N-G. As usual, I got stuck with the gate at the end of the hallway. There was no way I would've made that flight even if I could fly. Luckily, they had me on the next flight out (which was scheduled to leave at 9:30AM). I finally got to Reagan National just a little past 11:20AM.

Damn Delta.

I spent the first day home fighting jet-lag. Mom had ordered Chinese and chicken wings with mambo sauce (oh yesssss!), and that pretty much sealed my fate for the next 10 days. I'm barely half-way through "vacay," and I've managed to eat everything in sight.

THURSDAY: After chillin' for most of the day/afternoon, I finally got off my ass and jumped into my dad's car and headed across the state line into Northern VA. I met my fam friend, Marz, at Target in Springfield (worst mall ever), and picked-up a couple of things for my niece/nephew. Then I went to my brother's house not too far away, and had dinner with them. It was great seeing them! It was especially great to hang out with my niece and nephew... who are both adorable. On the way home, I stopped by "The Cantina" --my friends' (Siena and Aydee) house (5 mins away from my parents') and hung out there for a bit. Drank.

FRIDAY: I woke up and saw that Rachel Ray had some repeat show with the New Kids on it, so I watched it. HA. There are some seriously psycho, hard-core fans out there. All I have to say about them is "WOW." The guys were a trip, though. I love how candid they are.

I got myself out of the house, and went to Potomac Yard... hit up Target and Shoppers to pick-up some groceries. (I got salad stuff as if I'm really NOT gonna eat mom's cooking; no matter how "fattening" it can be.) And later that night, I went back into Arlington to scoop up my friend, Leah, and we drove into the city to meet Carrie for dinner. We went to Todd English's Olives off K Street. At first glance, it was OK. My friend went to the bathroom, and was grossed out. In general, the dining area was a little drab, and maybe just "old," but the food made up for that. We started out with an amazing pork loin (basically liempo for you Filipinos). I would never eat that fatty mess, but for some reason it tasted SO good that night. Carrie ended up with the Maryland rockfish, Leah had the steak and frites, and I had the scallops -- everything was GREAT. We even stuck around for dessert: a chocolate molten-ish cake. Uh, yum.

When dinner was done, we ended up dropping by Carrie's office, and got the grand tour. She even took us to the roof, were we had a nice view of DC's financial district. After that, we headed to the U Street corridor to go to Red Lounge. It was highly recommended, so we went to check it out. Gina and Siena, two of our friends, were already there. It was sort of whack. The crowd was NOT what I expected for U Street... and the music was kind of lame. They played some old songs which were a throw-back to the late 80s/early 90s, and that was nice. But other than that, the DJ would play some whack shit... We spent more time going outside to grab a smoke than actually hanging out inside. At one point, they wouldn't even let us go upstairs (too crowded) so we kept "the party" downstairs. We made the best of it. Two things, though, that made it quite "memorable..." #1) someone was walking in the lounge dressed in a PIG outfit; straight-up out of Disney World or something... and #2) Carrie was being picked up by Jimminy Cricket (or someone that reminded us of him). WHACK. After that madness, we tried to go to Ben's Chili Bowl, but it was crowded. (Was I really on U Street?!) So we hopped in our cars and went to DC Cafe instead. We called it a night after that.

SATURDAY: I slept in, and pretty much did nothing all day. I wrapped some gifts. Then I went to Mass with mom and dad... and after that, we stopped by the new pho place in Ft. Washington (a minute from my parents' house). YUM. Who knew there was pho in Ft. Wash?! We were the only ones in the restaurant for a while, but then people started to filter in, even my friend, Leah, and her cousins. Later that night, I went back to The Cantina, and then Primo took Gina, Siena and I to Krispy Kreme in Alexandria for donuts and hot chocolate. On the way home, we did a drive by through National Harbor. So many pretty lights! HAHA!

SUNDAY: Sunday was my nephew's Christening in NoVA. So the parentals and I drove to the church sometime after noon. The ceremony was quick, and Noah didn't cry. Thank goodness! He was adorable in his all-white outfit, complete with white baby Chucks! (Pix to follow...) We spent most of the day at Noah's God-parents' (Abby and Alex) house for the reception, so there were lots of laughs and catching up... and lots of food. When we finally got home I was tired (and tanked; love homes with fully-stacked bars...), so I chilled the rest of the evening.

MONDAY: I got up this AM, and headed back into NoVA to do some shopping at Tysons. It was, and still is, FREEZING! Although there were tons of sales, I was just not feeling the crowds. I walked the whole mall once and it tired me out. Thankfully I scored jack-pot at Benetton (60%-off the whole store!!!), and picked up a few gifts. I headed back to Springfield to return something at Target, and I ended up picking up a few toys for some of the kids. I made a quick stop at Safeway and World Market in Kingstowne to buy the stuff I need to make my curried chicken and rice salad for Christmas dinner (my contribution this year). I made it home before dark...

I am freezing right now, and I'm debating whether or not to make it back to "The Cantina" to chill... I feel like the weather is definitely not working for me. The cold is unbearable, and I'm trying to enjoy my time here. I just hope the cold lets up a little. The niece and nephew are supposed to come over tomorrow, so hopefully I get to babysit. But other than that, I will have to make it through without turning into a freakin' block of ice.

Gotta love these East Coast winters, yeah?