Home for Christmas

I realize it's been ages since I've posted anything. It's not even for lack of worthy content. It's mostly because I lack the motivation and/or time. That said, this may not be the best topic for my comeback post, but I just finished my Wills and Trusts outline and I'm in desperate need of a finals break. What better way to take a mental break from finals than to think about the post-finals awesomeness that awaits me? Sure I have some amazing plans for when I get to CA in less than a week (but I'm not going to talk about them), but hopefully most of those plans will be couched in eating everything I've been missing for the last YEAR. Hear that people, I haven't been in CA for an entire year! That is far too long to deprive oneself from both the friends I miss and the following culinary delights:

1. Baker's - Other than the fact that it is the place where I grew up, Baker's maybe the best reason to visit the I.E..
2. Earl Grey Tea Latte from Coffee Bean Tea Leaf
3. Avogobble (avocado and turkey sando) - and anything else with avocado I can get my hands on.
4. In-N-Out
5. Islands - Though it hasn't been discussed, I assume this restaurant will make it's appearance on my New Year's trip up to NorCal.
6. Del Taco - Chicken Soft Taco, fries, and a Cherry Coke please!
7. Rosies - Greatest burritos eva!
8. Mom's ribs - It's kind of ironic, my mom's cooking is definitely of the Midwestern variety (meat + potato + vegetable + crock pot = meal), but I can only get it in CA.
9. Mom's potroast
10. Sunday Steak - Being able to barbecue year around is not a luxury I'm afforded in MN (or ever considering I don't know how to do it). I love going home where almost every Sunday my Dad and/or Bro grills.
11. Cheeseboard - Dare I dream. Sadly, I'm not sure I'll make it to Berkeley this year and Cheeseboard tends to be closed around the holidays, but this would certainly be a New Year's week miracle! ...If I were going to Berkeley this year, this list would easily double.
12. Homemade Mexican food - preferably with sangria, made by people I love, and eaten over the course of several hours.
13. HOF's Hut - This is the post-Castle breakfast tradition that I look forward to almost as much as the night that precedes it.

Vegas Family Vaycay

For Christmas this year my family road tripped it out to Vegas so my parents could use their time-share before the year ran out. My parents do not drink, gamble, or like to spend lots of money, so I can't tell you why my mom chose Vegas, but to Vegas we went. Ultimately I think the trip was more about my mom trapping the whole family together for several days without interruption from friends or work than going to Vegas.



Here is me, my sister (Jackie), and my brother (Billy...er Bill, whateve) all cozy in the back seat during our 4 hour drive through the desert! Surprisingly the desert is pretty and I got my 60 degree Christmas wish!




We established quite the routine while in Vegas: wake up, daytime outing, dinner on the strip, look at things on mom's list of free things to see in Vegas, go to bed, repeat the next day.

For our Christmas dinner we went to Margaritaville at the recommendation of Jackie, who is the only Miller who has been to Vegas for "recreational" purposes before. She promised a diverse menu at reasonable prices. While she did a great job remembering that the place has killer nachos she forgot about the bikini clad dancer who slides down a volcano water slide into a margarita glass and then dances around a giant fishing hook suspended above the bar. Merry (uncomfortable) Christmas!



This is a pic of my parents at Christmas dinner before we told my dad his hair looked ridiculous.



We went to the Hoover Dam for one of our day time outings. This pic was taken by a pair of random high school guys who I'm pretty sure were hitting on Jackie. They did an excellent job at getting all of the construction, but none of the dam in the picture.



The fountains at the Bellagio were probably the best of my mom's free attractions. All of the shows were to Christmas music and my sister and I took this really attractive picture. The downside of a hotel piping Christmas music out doors is that it inspired my father to dance and embarrass us all. We have a video, but I'm not going to subject myself to unneeded embarrassment twice. I'm pretty sure the family standing next to us thought he drank too much.


The worst attraction on my mom's list, as you can tell by my brother's face, was the singing statues in Caesar's Palace. The mall stores were more entertaining; what the heck kind of stores stay open in a mall past 11pm? Also entertaining was antagonizing my brother's bad mood. I took pictures and Jackie sang the song Cheer up Charlie, replacing all the Charlies with Billys (Jackie loves the movie Willy Wonka. I hate the movie as a result of being forced to watch it so many times during my childhood). Billy is wearing what Jackie and I lovingly refer to as the lumberjack-et.

I'll end this post with a funny pic of Jackie taken somewhere between our hotel and the New York, New York roller coaster. I was not there because, while I love my family, I needed some alone time and stayed back at the hotel. While not the conventional Christmas, we had a great time and I am reminded that I have an awesome (-ly odd) family!

Some Random Bullet Points

A new entry is long overdue and, I promise, is on its way. These quick blurbs will have to tide you over.

• A red cup full of eggnog latte goodness was the perfect start to my day. Welcome back holiday drinks!

• I was reminded again of how different growing up in MN would be compared to CA when on a radio poll for most unusual places people have made-out the answers included: a corn field, a highway snow bank, and a Wal-mart dressing room.
  

• It's November 5th and still no major snow fall. In fact, it's been in the 60s for the past couple days. No complaints here.