Los Angeles. Day 7. Ancient Aliens: Declassified.
We got up late and went down to breakfast.
We sat with Judah, who had just come back from hashkama minyan at YICC. He decided to go up and then Sherri and Gabriella came down. About 15 minutes after they had already been downstairs Sherri suddenly said, “oh may God, I forgot to send the woman upstairs to open the door for Judah!” At the same time we saw Judah slowly making his way back, clearly upset his wife and daughter had forgotten him. It was hilarious, not for him though. I think that’s when Hallie gave him a good hug, so things kind of balanced out. We kind of puttered around the hotel for a while before finally getting dressed. We spent some time in my mother’s room, then some time with Sarah and Samson and Kivi and Rafi. Finally we got dressed and headed over to The Mark, where they had davening and kiddush.
Upon arrival, kiddush was in full swing. They had some interesting foods. Lots of nuts again and a lamb chulent that Tzvi liked.
Lunch was good again - good assortment of Mediterranean things. My father made a speech thanking people from New York and named every single person who flew out. Babi did not make it to lunch. Hope she’s not getting sick, because she refused to bring her aid with her to LA (even though my parents were going to pay for her to come), and my father made a whole speech about how he won’t be available if Babi gets sick.
Again Hallie and the Miller boys ran around and tired themselves out all through lunch, so when it ended, Talia took Hallie for a walk (she fell asleep right away), and me, Tzvi, my mother and Gabs walked to Beverlywood to Rachel’s Shabbat Kallah (Tzvi didn’t stay, he just came for the walk).
In LA, it seems that Shabbat Kallahs are more like big gatherings on Shabbat afternoon. There must have been 50 people there. It was set up really nicely with tables, decorations, pictures, etc. It was basically a shower without presents. The chocolate mousse was delicious. A bunch of Rachel’s friends made speeches. The best one was from her friend Ziva who presented the crowd with old Facebook posts and we had to guess whether they were from Austin or Rachel.
Shabbos ended and we couldn’t figure out what to do. Originally we had planned on having Tzvi’s parents babysit while we went out to dinner alone. Given everything, we decided to give up on that and said we’d all go walk around the Grove. Somehow we decided even that was too much, so we decided to just go for ice cream. We went to our favorite ice cream place in LA - Salt and Straw. Once again, it was amazing. That place always delivers. Tzvi had a cone with coffee bourbon and cookie dough, and I had a cone with roasted strawberry and white chocolate and then some salted caramel thing. We sat outside and watched a homeless man who was passed out on the ground be helped by a dozen cops, paramedics and firefighters. Then Hallie started talking to another homeless man. I love LA.
Then we went over to Tzvi’s parents place, fed Hallie some more frozen fish nuggets and lit channukah candles. We also sat on their couch going through their DVR; it was basically hours and hours of MSNBC programs, Hallmark Christmas movies, and about 12 hours of a show called “Ancient Aliens: Declassified.” By the time we left Tzvi was already scratching and sneezing from the dog. We left and went back to the hotel and went to bed, ready for the day ahead.
Oh, and Babi was taken to the hospital with colitis, in case you didn’t see that one coming. And yes, of course, my parents were the ones who went with her… the night before the wedding. Pop Pop, we’re all proud of how you stick to your guns!
