Comic Con!!

Saturday, we got up early to drive to San Diego.  Luck was upon us, as we didn't run into too much traffic and made good time.  We parked at the hotel, and hopped on the shuttle to the San Diego Convention Center.  Our badges were for Sunday only, so we could only do outside stuffs on Saturday.  We walked and walked and walked.  It was hot and we were tired so we ended up back at the hotel early, where the Mae (we have a tendency to put "the" in front of names in my family) (also, Mary is called Mae sometimes) promptly fell asleep.  In fact, all of us were asleep by 10pm.

Sunday, we hit the road at 7am in order to get to the Hall H line bright and early.  Clearly, however, not early enough.  Some folks were in line at 5:00am.  The Hall H line was the longest line I've ever seen, or stood in.  Christina and I were interested in the Fringe Panel at 10am.  Mary wanted the Merlin panel at 10:30am, and the Dr. Who panel at 12:30, but we convinced her to get in line with us and sit through Fringe.  Good thing, too, as we missed Fringe altogether. Christina went for breakfast.  Mary and I sat through the Supernatural panel for Dr. Who.  Breaking News! I think I love Dr. Who and I've never even seen it.  Maybe I just love Matt Smith.  Anyway, I've Netflixed all the past episodes (recent past, not 60's past).

We walked the exhibit hall floor for a bit, Mary bought a Firefly t-shirt, and then we waited in line (short one) for a Harry Potter panel. Then, off to home, tired but happy.  

Happy girl waiting for Harry Potter panel

Now, my girl is back home already.  I missed her as soon as she went up the escalator.  Thanks for coming to Comic Con with me, Mary.  I love you to pieces.

Too Soon!!!

So, my niece Mary came to see me.  Well, okay, she came to see Comic Con, but since I was her adult supervision, she was forced to spend time with me, too.  Nah, she wasn't forced. We had a blast together. 

Before she came, I kept debating going right from the airport to the beach, since it's so close, or going to the beach another day. I consulted the 5-day forecast, which said that Thursday would be the hottest day last week, so I said, "Beach on Thursday."  Oh, also before she came, I may have made these statements to her: "LA is super sunny. It doesn't rain in July. It gets chilly at night."  Guess which of those was a lie?  Trick question--they were all lies last week.  Thursday was cold and gray. It rained! And she never ended up needing the jacket I made her bring.  However, I was correct about needing sunscreen and reminding her to put it on every day.  So, there's that. 

Happy girl at LAX

Mary arrived on Wednesday, which turned out to be the hottest day, and we walked Hollywood Blvd, then went to the 99cents store (she thought I was kidding when I said we were going there).  After that, we were kind of beat, so we just stayed in for the night. I was going to suggest a trip to the Red Box, but nerdy girl, spying my DVD collection,  shyly asked, "Um, can we watch Firefly?"  Of course!!!  And thus, I have made her a Firefly fan.  Also, she pretty much memorized that annoying theme song on the first episode and kept singing it to me.  

Thursday, well, you know.  We went to the beach after all, and I tried to convince her and myself that the marine layer would burn off.  However, after 30 minutes I couldn't deny the fact that it was 65 degrees and windy, and my poor little girl's teeth were chattering.  We did have a lovely moment in which she read me a story from The Tales of Beedle the Bard.  After we came home and showered, we headed over to Burbank for dinner and a movie.  We saw Brave and cried.  It's so good.

at the beach

Remember back in, oh, 2009 or something when I talked about starting a tour service for time-strapped tourists?  Friday proved that I really should look into that.  We had things to do. She wanted to visit the Getty because a woman in Illinois told her about it, and we needed to find a fruit guy so she could taste fruta like her sister did on her visit to LA.  I wanted to talk her someplace nice for lunch.  Mission accepted.  Since we hadn't seen a fruit man yet (really, LA?), I took her to the one place I know I'll always find a fruit man--across the street from my office.  Fruit procured, we headed to the Central Library so I could show her MY favorite place.  

Mary at the library

Library done, we headed to the Getty Museum, where we admired the still-gray view, the Klimt exhibit, and the earliest known example of photo bombing. 

Gardens at Getty Center

check out the guy in the back

Then, off to a late lunch (or early dinner) at The Newsroom.  Finally, after attempting to visit Gallery 1988 for the Arrested Development-themed art exhibit (for the second time), we went to the Griffith Observatory and caught a show at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, after admiring the night (but still hazy) view of LA.  Phew! I'm tired.  

Mary indulged me with a cheesy pose.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Comic Con!!!

Last Night (and the night before, and the night before that)

My niece Mary is coming to town!!!!!  I'm so excited.  I love seeing LA through new eyes.  I love showing off the sites and sounds of my city.  Know what I don't like? Cleaning.  Now, I know, she's 16 and according to her Mom, used to being messy.  But I'm NOT 16, so it's a little embarrassing to have her come to my house and have my room like exactly like hers.  

Now, I've known she was coming for quite some time.  Like Christmas, maybe before.  She's coming out so we can go to Comic Con together.  You know, Comic Con, who's tickets went on sale in January or February? Yeah, so I've had plenty of warning.  But I'm a Master Procrastinator, and I didn't start any proper cleaning until last weekend when I cleaned the hell out of my kitchen.  But Wednesday seemed so far away then.  

Cut to Saturday when I suddenly realized that I have four days to really, really clean my apartment, rearrange the sun room/yarn room/guest area, and try to get the vacuum to make some kind of sucking motions.  And Laundry! And wash my car!  OMG, I'll never finish!!! And with that declaration, I didn't.  I kept willing myself to do more, but the sofa's siren call was too much.  

So, last night, I sat down and decided I'd done enough.  I piled all the yarn on one side of the room, leaving enough space for the futon to unfold, and I shall give her the option of sleeping on the sofa if she'd like.  I vacuumed as best as I could.  Then, I went to Subway for a sandwich, and 7-11 for ice cream (Drumsticks are 2/$3).  When I got home, I settled down for a night of movies. 

I'm sure Mary won't mind.