So the aunt who used to "make her own cigarettes" came to visit...

My mom's littlest sister, my Aunt Tina, and her husband, a gas factory named Uncle Tony, headed West last week to commemorate their 25th anniversary. Since they hadn't been on a plane together since their honeymoon, the trip was long overdue.
I had to work during the days while they were here, but we spent the evenings drinking beer and overeating delicious food. Tina taught me how to make homemade pizza crust, and Tony showed me that Mack's gaseous output is actually "girlie." Then, sometime between 5:30 and 8, they curled up on the sofa like giant cats and slept to the rhythmic beauty of Tony's Large Man Snores.

On the weekend, though, I got to get in on the vacation fun. Tina & I headed to the Huntington Botanical Gardens while Tony hopped a bus to Sears to get new loafers. Prior to our garden outing, Tina had been impressed by the snapdragons in my yard, excited by the landscaping at the Venice Canals, and enamored with the foliage on the walk streets in my neighborhood. Once we went to the Huntington Gardens, however, Venice lost its botanical superiority and started to feel like old bread.

Orchids may be hard for most people to grow, but clearly most people aren't in charge at the HBG.

The rose gardens made me feel like a queen in her court, and the Dame Helen was the most delicious smelling one. Can you believe roses bloom in December?This is a bad picture of the Chinese garden. Imagine if it was a good picture. That is how awesome it is. There's also an Australian garden, a Japanese garden, a subtropical garden, a palm garden, a Shakespeare garden and a succulent garden.

In case it's not obvious, something about the succulents made this my favorite garden. They're so dangerous and so weak at the same time. Like puppies and newborn babies.See what I mean about the dangerous.
This is a century plant. No, it is not about to eat Tina alive. It's what happens when agaves go wild.

We also went to El Matador Beach this weekend. I first went there to remove a layer of guilt that came with an unusual hangover, but today I finally discovered what all the real buzz is about. I thought I saw the "caves" on my first visit, but today Tina, Mack and I scooted around rocky outcropping after rocky outcropping, crawled through uncertain holes and eventually found our way to an actual real live ocean cave. Then, my inner mother warned me that if the tide came in we'd be stranded forever and die alone, so we headed back to our "cave" and grubbed on a picnic lunch.

Mack introduced Tina to the famed Sea Vaginas.

Just call us Lewis & Clark.

Basically we are pirates.

Beach picnics in December. Thank you California.

We headed back to Venice so T&T could catch a sunset while they're here, and they got a doozy of one. Sailboats, crashing waves, soaring birds. It almost even made Mack feel romantic. Almost.