A Keiki Luau In Venice

One of the best things about friends growing up and having kids - aside from cool people for the future - is that the parents put on fun parties for the kids. And the grown ups who love them.

That meant pretty much all of Venice was out on Sunday for the Birthday Luau for my little friend, Tallah Tiger. Venice became Kaua'i for a day, complete with Polynesian dancers teaching the hula and the haka to the kids (and some gamer adults).

Mai Tais and Sangria were on tap for the adults, and the floral shirts, grass skirts, and lei adorned partiers spilled out on to the walk streets as the reggae band turned it up a notch. The dancers followed suit, and soon were literally on fire when they spun their flaming torches. Awesome.

My phone became full and wouldn't let me take any more photos, but trust me that it only got more fun and more gorgeous, and all the limbo dancers enjoyed each other as the sun set on another glorious Venice tiki weekend.

Mahalo to Mersedeh, Chris, Tallah, and all the friends who make every event such a good time!

ALOHA!!!

A Golden Weekend In Venice

Once upon a time, there was a nearly perfect weekend in Venice, California. There was an October heat wave, making it an almost unheard of 95 degrees at the beach. Many were heard to be complaining ... but when there's talk of early flurries in the rest of the country, I count my many blessings. Heat is one of them (though I too have been doing rain dances).

We beat it on Friday night by seeing Frozen on the Santa Monica Pier. The Front Porch Cinema series has begun, and you can check out movies under the stars and over the waves for the next few Fridays. The kids knew every single word and the grown-ups enjoyed feeling cooler.

There was no place else in the city to be on Saturday besides the beach. Even being fully submerged in the water, one still felt hot, but it was extra-awesome down there because all the tourists have left for the season, and we had Playa de Los Amigos pretty much all to ourselves. The skies were so blue and bright, they almost hurt to look at, but I entertained myself for quite a while just watching the cloud formations take shape while I hallucinated from the heat. Check out these birds! Sky paintings.

My dear little buddy Beckett turned 2, and we celebrated with a spin around the neighborhood aboard his little birthday train express. All the kids loved it, especially when the guy did doughnuts in the road.

The grown-ups were not successful in getting the conductor to cruise us down Abbot Kinney with out open bottles, but not for lack of our trying. It's not really street-legal, I guess ...

Saturday night found us back at Foodshop, celebrating the birthday of our dear Sweet D with the delicious burger night, and a slew of fine friends. The greatest of times.

Sunday ... Nothing. But. Beach. What else? We're so lucky to have this divine splendor right there for the enjoyment, and Sundays are the best days to revel in all its glory.

Top it off with a little Chez Jay sunset dinner, and you're talking about a weekend for the books.

And we all lived happily ever NOW!